Dalziel: Era Provided “Lifeline” to Continue Racing Full-Time

Photo: Era Motorsport

Ryan Dalziel has revealed that Era Motorsport gave him a “lifeline” to continue racing full-time after initially contemplating a career switch.

The U.S.-based Scot, who is coming off his second LMP2 class victory in January’s Rolex 24 at Daytona, joined the Kyle Tilley-owned operation in 2021 to drive alongside Dwight Merriman, a partnership that has produced four wins as well as a runner-up finish in the 2022 IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship title race.

For Dalziel, an overall winner at Daytona, who also holds prototype class wins at Sebring, Le Mans and Petit Le Mans, the 41-year-old had been considering his options following several partial season programs after the demise of Extreme Speed Motorsports in 2018.

“This is no secret and I said this in Daytona this year. There was a point where I felt like I was done,” Dalziel said.

“You go into these bad situations in racing where you’re not in competitive equipment, you’re maybe under-funded or doing a partial season or not able to put all of the resources in the car.

“Ultimately that comes down on, ‘Is the driver getting too old?’

“For me, after the Patron ESM thing, it was hard to find a full-time job after that. I floated around for a couple of years on partial programs and COVID.

“Before Era hired me for 2021, I was looking at different career paths. I wasn’t sure if that was me or my competitiveness or my drive or my age.

“I then got given a lifeline with them, which I’m very grateful for.”

Dalziel, who started his U.S. racing career in Atlantics with Michael Shank Racing in 2002 before moving up to Champ Car competition, made the switch to sports car racing, primarily competing in Grand-Am from the late 2000s.

“When I came into sports cars as a young guy, I remember getting my ass wiped by Scott Pruett, Max Angelelli, [Terry] Borcheller and guys like that,” he recalled.

“I remember in one part of my naive immature mind thinking, ‘How am I getting beat by these old guys? They’re old enough to be my dad.’

“Then respect comes into it and you quickly learn lessons very early on that.

“There is longevity in this level of racing. A lot of it comes down to the individual. Do I think I’m still as fast as I was at 25?

“No I don’t think I do but I think I’m also more valuable to a team now then when I was at 25.

“You have to get more determined to be better than you were the previous year because year gets a little tougher. The aches and pains get a little more every year.

“I made it a point when I turned 40 to try and get into the best shape I’ve been in for a long time, which I’ve did. I’m down to the weight I was ten years ago.

“That’s the only way you can do it. I used to respect looking at guys like Pruett who could get out of the car after doing two or two-and-a-half hour stint and the guy never had a bit of sweat on him.

“A lot of it comes with getting to do this incredible experience year after year and not taking too much time out of cars.

“I drive a lot of different cars and try and stay as sharp as I can. Don’t get me wrong. It’s humbling when you have two teammates like Connor [Zilisch] and Christian [Rasmussen] that come in as the part-timers.

“I also had this with Pipo [Derani] join Patron ESM. The young guys came in and all of a sudden you think you’re quick and you realize you have to up your game.

“I continue to try and push myself.”

Dalziel said he still has the fire in him to compete, which he said has been the ultimate sign to continue racing into his 40s.

“I think as long as you find yourself in a good program and you can execute and make minimal mistakes, you don’t cost the team a bunch of money on being stupid and crashing into things… That’s the way I’ve always looked at it,” he said.

“As long as I’m still doing my job, I don’t think age comes into it. But everybody has different reasons to stay competitive.

“I love the sport; I still love it. I still get goosebumps driving into places like Daytona and I think the day that you [don’t] hate to lose is the day you stop.

“Winning is always amazing but the day that losing doesn’t rip your heart out then you continue on.”

John Dagys

John Dagys is the founder and Editor-in-Chief of Sportscar365. Dagys spent eight years as a motorsports correspondent for FOXSports.com and SPEED Channel and has contributed to numerous other motorsports publications worldwide. Contact John