HRC US Confirms Two-Car MSR Acura GTP Effort for 2025

Photo: Jake Galstad/IMSA

Meyer Shank Racing will return to IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship competition next year, having been confirmed to field two Acura ARX-06 cars, replacing the Cadillac-bound Wayne Taylor Racing with Andretti operation.

Announced by Honda Racing Corporation USA on Thursday, the Ohio-based team has inked a multi-year agreement which will see HRC US engineer one of the GTP entries and MSR overseeing the second Acura.

Drivers have yet to be confirmed for the new program, which will kick off in January’s season-opening Rolex 24 at Daytona.

“Running our own GTP car is the next, exciting step for our associates at HRC US,” said HRC US President David Salters.

“We race to develop our people and technology and we are thrilled to be partnering with MSR to race our ARX-06 against some of the world’s best sports car teams.

“This is why the next logical step for us is race engineer our own car: buckle-up HRC boys and girls.”

MSR and Acura’s relationship initially came to an end at the conclusion of the 2023 WeatherTech Championship season, following a season-high three victories, including the Rolex 24 at Daytona amid a tire manipulation scandal that led to post-race penalties to the team.

They had since focused exclusively on running a multi-car Honda-engined program in the NTT IndyCar Series.

“First, on behalf of everyone at Meyer Shank Racing, I want to express our gratitude to David Salters and everyone at HRC and Acura for giving us this opportunity,” team co-owner Mike Shank said.

“We are supremely grateful to have earned this new opportunity and everyone on the team is looking forward to day one in our new relationship with Acura, and the new role we’ll be playing in HRC US’s IMSA program.”

Taylor: WTRAndretti Set to Go in “Different Direction”

The returning partnership with MSR comes amid WTRAndretti’s expected switch to Cadillac V-Series.R entries next year, replacing the departing Chip Ganassi Racing squad.

“I would like to sincerely thank Wayne Taylor, the WTR with Andretti team and its talented drivers,” said Salters.

“We have shared some brilliant and successful times together; and we look forward to finishing 2024 with more top-level racing.”

WTRAndretti co-owner Wayne Taylor declined to confirm its new partnership with Cadillac, which is expected to be formally announced shortly.

“We have had a successful run with HRC and Acura these past four years,” Taylor said.

“When it came to renewal, we listened and took their future plans into serious consideration, but in the end, felt we needed to go in a different direction moving forward.

“With three key races left in the season, our plan is to continue to focus on winning more podiums and races for Acura and to end the year strong.

“We are looking forward to announcing our plans for 2025 in the very near future.”

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