RWR Set for Daytona Driver Lineup Shake-Up

Rick Ware Racing is set for a shakeup to its driver lineup for the Rolex 24 Hours of Daytona, with two of the four drivers that took part in the Roar Before the 24 dropped and another NASCAR Cup Series driver poised to join the grid.

Sportscar365 understands both James Davison and Mark Kvamme will no longer form part of the team’s Riley Mk. 30 Gibson LMP2 driving squad in the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship season-opener.

Cody Ware and newly named Aston Martin Autosport BRDC Young Driver of the Year Johnathan Hoggard are confirmed for the race, however.

While the revised lineup will be announced in the lead up to Daytona, Cody Ware, son of team owner Rick Ware, revealed that a NASCAR driver is in frame for one of the seats.

“Without going into details I will say we do have a fellow NASCAR Cup driver that’s potentially going to be coming on with us at the 24 hours,” Ware told Sportscar365.

According to an IMSA spokesperson, the deadline for driver changes is Jan. 17.

RWR was forced to leave the official pre-season test early after a crash for Davison on Saturday, with the car only completing 22 laps.

Although only bodywork damage was sustained to the car, the team didn’t have possession of a spare rear deck.

“Unfortunately Multimatic didn’t have any spare tails pieces,” Ware said. “We had a nose available but on the parts trailer they didn’t have a tail they were willing to give us.

“Everything they had bought to Daytona was allotted to the Mazda group, because we actually run the same tail as the Mazda DPi.

“If we had a tail we could have slapped our second nose on and tail on and we could have still been logging laps.”

Ware said the focus now turns to preparation for the race and ensuring they have all the parts that are needed.

“The bodywork damage is nothing more than a couple of hours worth of work,” added Ware.

“Just getting prepared, making sure ahead of time that Multimatic has all of our parts we need for spares for the race so we don’t have the same issue in the 24 hours.”