Michael Shank Racing completes successful test at Daytona Tuesday

Daytona Beach, Fla. (20 November 2013) – Michael Shank Racing was back in action at Daytona International Speedway on Tuesday as the IMSA TUDOR United SportsCar Championship held its first official test ahead of the 2014 season.

#60 Michael Shank Racing Riley Ford EcoBoost V6: John Pew, Oswaldo Negri

Photo by: Trevor Horn

“It was an immensely positive test,” said Negri. “The MSR guys were working endless hours to get the car ready for this test. Lots of new stuff - basically from the aerodynamics to the suspension to the engine parts so we had to be very careful how we ran it. You don’t want to go out there and just run so we were very cautious and did short runs in the beginning just making sure the engine components were working well and the aero pieces were fine and not dragging on the ground or hitting the ground. Once we got the system working, then we started developing the car and that to me was huge. The amount of progress we made in a couple of hours yesterday was tremendous. I was very happy and encouraged yesterday by the way we progressed. I’m very happy with the Ford power.”

“We had a list of things to get through and we got through most of them yesterday,” added Pew. “A lot of things with the new engine and the new bodywork, and an all new setup on the car, we weren’t really trying to go for maximum speed but just trying to figure things out as far as the reliability and what not. We made a lot of progress. I was sorry to hear about what happened with the No. 90 and the No. 5 cars but I’m really glad the drivers are okay. I‘m glad the series is looking at the causes and the prevention of things like that in the future. So a little disappointed we’re not running today but we made a lot of progress yesterday.”

Due to two separate incidents involving two different Daytona Prototypes on Tuesday the test was cut short with IMSA and Continental Tire jointly deciding to suspend testing for all prototypes on Wednesday.

“Yesterday was a very good day for us, we didn’t have the issues that the others did but I understand the caution that Continental wants to have until they understand the situation fully,” offered team owner Mike Shank. “But I’m not too worried about it, I’m sure they’ll get it worked out. We made giant gains, but it’s not done yet – we need more. That’s the biggest problem - that we didn’t get to go another day and we needed it. We’ll keep doing everything we can. I’m really happy where we are with the progression of the motor. It’s a huge task to ask that motor to last 24 hours right out of the box. So it’s really good. On a separate note, this new relationship with the two teams-- Ganassi and Shank with Ford-- is really working well. We’re getting stuff done and accomplished and working together for Ford.”

Michael Shank Racing plans to be back in action for a private test in December, and will also spend time doing wind tunnel work ahead of ‘Roar Before the 24’ which will take place January 3-5.

Michael Shank Racing