Road Race Showcase
Road America, Elkhart Lake, WI
2:30 p.m. EDT Sunday, August 4, 2019
6 p.m. Same-Day NBC Sports Network
Live Coverage on NBCSports.com, Radio Le Mans and IMSA.TV.com
ACURA, HPD AT ROAD AMERICA
• Acura Motorsports and HPD have recorded seven victories at Road America, dating to 1993, when Parker Johnstone and Dan Marvin drove their Comptech Racing Acura Spice SE92P to the Camel Lights class victory.
• In 2008, David Brabham and Scott Sharp took their Highcroft Racing Acura ARX-01b to the LMP2 victory at Road America. After Acura had stepped up to the LMP1 class in 2009, the company scored a double victory in 2009, with Brabham and Sharp claiming the overall win in their new Highcroft Racing Acura ARX-02a. Owner/driver Adrian Fernandez and Luiz Diaz won LMP2 and finished third overall in their Acura ARX-01b.
• Level 5 Motorsports drivers Christophe Bouchut, Diaz and Scott Tucker combined to win the LMP2 category in 2011, piloting a Level 5 Motorsports Lola-HPD B11/40 Spyder.
• HPD posted another double triumph at Road America in 2013. In a wet/dry contest, the Muscle Milk/Pickett Racing HPD ARX-03c, driven by Klaus Graf and Lucas Luhr, claimed the overall and LMP1 victory. In LMP2, it was Level 5 Motorsports again taking the class win, with Simon Pagenaud and Scott Tucker driving an HPD ARX-03b.
ACURA TEAM PENSKE
• Propelled by back-to-back wins at the Acura Sports Car Challenge of Mid-Ohio and the Grand Prix of Detroit, plus podium finishes at the Acura Grand Prix of Long Beach, Watkins Glen and Canadian Tire Motorsports Park; Dane Cameron and Juan Pablo Montoya lead the DPi Drivers’ Championship standings by three points [207-204] over Pipo Derani and Felipe Nasr.
• Driving the second Acura Team Penske entry this season, Helio Castroneves and Ricky Taylor also are in the thick of the championship battle, currently ranked third with 198 points. The pair finished third at the season-opening Rolex 24 at Daytona, second at the Twelve Hours of Sebring, and third at the Grand Prix of Detroit.
• Acura also leads the DPi Manufacturers’ Championship, with 230 points to 227 for Cadillac, following seven of 10 races. Mazda is third with 216 points, followed by Nissan with 202. In addition to its victories at Mid-Ohio and Detroit, Acura has had at lead one car on the Victory Podium at all seven races this season.
• Juan Pablo Montoya and Dane Cameron combined to bring the Team Penske Acura ARX-05 prototype home first at Mid-Ohio, the first win of the 2019 season for Acura. In Detroit, Montoya started from the pole and maintained his advantage throughout the opening stint before handing off to co-driver Cameron. The two combined to lead all but seven laps of the 58-lap distance to score their second consecutive win of the year.
• The Acura ARX-05 is the latest in a line of endurance prototypes to be fielded by the company, dating to 1991, just five years after the launch of the Acura brand. Based on the successful ORECA 07 chassis, the ARX-05 DPi features Acura-specific bodywork and utilizes the race-proven, production-based Acura AR35TT twin-turbocharged 3.5-liter V6 engine.
• To celebrate IMSA’s 50th year of endurance sports car racing, both Acura Team Penske entries this year feature “throwback” orange and white liveries commemorating the consecutive IMSA Camel Lights Comptech Acura championship seasons of 1991-93.
MEYER SHANK RACING
• In the GTD category, the Meyer Shank Racing team and drivers Trent Hindman and Mario Farnbacher extended their championship lead during the past month with a class win at Sahlen’s Six Hours of the Glen and a second-place finishes at Canadian Tire Motorsports Park and Lime Rock Park
• MSR drivers Farnbacher and Hindman now have a 30-point lead in the championship, with 183 points over 153 points for their nearest rivals, Robby Foley and Bill Auberlen.
• In the ultra-competitive GTD Manufacturers’ Championship – a total of nine automotive manufacturers take part in this production-based series – Acura has climbed from fourth to first over the past month. Acura now has 184 points, to 177 for Lexus. Lamborghini is third with 176 points, followed by Porsche with 168.
• For 2019, MSR has entered into a partnership with businesswoman/racer Jackie Heinricher and sponsor Caterpillar to field the #57 Acura NSX GT3 Evo for an all-female driver lineup anchored by the four-time Acura race winner Katherine Legge. Co-drivers include two-time IMSA champion Christina Nielsen, and fellow former IndyCar Series driver Bia Figueiredo, who will join Legge at Road America. Legge stands eighth in the GTD Drivers’ Championship with 135 points.
• A new video from Acura explores the relationship between the Acura NSX supercar and its race-winning counterpart, the NSX GT3 Evo. Trent Hindman demonstrates the distinctive approaches to performance of the two cars in 0-60 runs, braking tests, ease-of-use evaluations and, of course, ultimate lap times at the Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course. The video can be found at https://youtu.be/tJkR2tIODko.
WHERE TO WATCH
• Same-day US Network television coverage from Road America begins at 2:30 p.m. on Sunday, August 4, on the NBC Sports Network. Complete, live race coverage also will be available on NBCSports.com and the NBC Sports App with NBCSN authentication.
• Fans can listen in to audio commentary via IMSA.com, RadioLeMans.com and Sirius XM Radio; and follow the race live via in-car cameras, IMSA Radio and timing & scoring available worldwide on IMSA.com and the IMSA mobile device App.
• Video recaps from Acura Motorsports activities at Road America will be posted on the “Honda Racing/HPD” YouTube channel. Produced by the Carolinas Production Group, the videos can be found at: https://www.youtube.com/HondaRacingHPDTV.