Heart of Racing Aston Returns; 32 Entries for Road America

Photo: Barry Cantrell/IMSA

The IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship will have its largest grid since January’s season-opening Rolex 24 at Daytona, with 32 entries set for next weekend’s IMSA Road Race Showcase at Road America.

It includes the return of The Heart of Racing, which missed the last two WeatherTech Championship rounds in Florida.

Ian James and Roman De Angelis are listed in the No. 23 Aston Martin Vantage GT3, with team principal James replacing Alex Riberas in the intended full-season lineup.

In a previous statement, the team had taken a “conservative approach” to its own return to racing amid the coronavirus pandemic, although provided few details on the exact reason for pausing the program.

Released on Wednesday, the entry list features no other additions or major changes since the last regular season rounds for all four classes.

Meyer Shank Racing, which did not take part in the IMSA WeatherTech Sprint Cup-only race at Sebring, is listed as expected with its pair of Acura NSX GT3 Evos, while Simon Trummer is back in the No. 52 PR1/Mathiasen Motorsports Oreca 07 Gibson after missing last week’s Cadillac Grand Prix of Sebring due to travel-related restrictions.

Spencer Pigot subbed for Trummer in Sebring, claiming LMP2 class honors with full-season Bronze-rated driver Patrick Kelly.

The only other driver change comes in DPi, with Chris Miller in the No. 85 JDC-Miller Motorsports Cadillac DPi-V.R, as scheduled, instead of Stephen Simpson, who was a last-minute call-up for Sebring.

GEAR Racing, which promised to be back on the grid for Road America with its all-female lineup initiative, is not on the entry list.

It comes after the Mark Ruggieri-owned team withdrew its GTE-Pro entry from the 24 Hours of Le Mans.

The two-hour and 40-minute race, which will be broadcast live on NBC, is set for Aug. 2, with load-in and practice for WeatherTech Championship competitors beginning on Friday, July 31.

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