Eversley, Read Set for Sprint Cup GTD Effort in RWR Acura

Photo: Peter Burke/IMSA

Ryan Eversley is set for his full-time IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship debut, having been confirmed as part of Rick Ware Racing’s new WeatherTech Sprint Cup effort with an Acura NSX GT3 Evo22.

Eversley will team up with Silver-rated Aidan Read for the eight-round GTD championship that kicks off with the third race of the overall season at Long Beach in April.

The veteran NASCAR squad will also be embarking on its first season of WeatherTech Championship competition after most recently running a Riley Mk. 30 Gibson LMP2 car at the Roar Before the Rolex 24 in 2020 before an accident led to its withdrawal.

It had supported Eurasia Motorsport’s effort with a Ligier JS P217 Gibson in last year’s Rolex 24 but has not been represented in the series since.

“Last year we competed in the 24 Hours of Daytona in the LMP2 class, and had a great run, finishing fourth,” said team owner Rick Ware.

“Later in the year, an opportunity arose for Ryan Eversley to make his NASCAR Cup Series debut with RWR at Road America.

“After that weekend, Ryan and I continued to have conversations about running full-time in IMSA for 2022. It’s been a long journey, but I can’t think of a better driver to jumpstart our IMSA program.”

Eversley said: “Rick, HPD and I have been working on putting something together for a while, so it’s great to show the fans what we’ve built.

“I’m very excited to represent Acura at their home race coming up in Long Beach, as well as the rest of the Sprint Cup schedule in our Acura NSX.

“Aidan and I got to work together in the NASCAR Cup Series last year, as he was my engineer and I think that gives us a unique place to build from as co-drivers. We’re both very eager to get to the race track and I know the fans are going to love this NSX program.”

The 38-year-old former TC America champion, who is contracted to Honda Performance Development, has also confirmed a partial-season Michelin Pilot Challenge effort with LA Honda World Racing.

“We welcome Rick Ware Racing into the HPD/Acura Motorsports family,” said John Whiteman, Commercial Manager at HPD.

“Ryan Eversley, of course, has a long affiliation with HPD and was part of our original Acura NSX GT3 driver lineup in 2017. Ryan also helped lead the successful introduction of the Honda Civic Type R TCR to North America winning a driver’s championship.

“Aiden Read made a most impressive debut in IMSA competition in 2021, and we believe he will be an important addition to our Acura program this year in IMSA competition, along with everyone at Rick Ware Racing.”

The second evolution of Acura’s NSX GT3 platform made its debut in last weekend’s Rolex 24 at Daytona with Gradient Racing, which has so far only confirmed a Michelin Endurance Cup program but is expected to contest additional races this season.

An additional Acura GTD entry could also debut as early as next month’s Mobil 1 Twelve Hours of Sebring.

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