Matt McMurry will join Mario Farnbacher behind the wheel of the No. 86 Meyer Shank Racing Acura NSX GT3 Evo, uniting a pair of newly crowned IMSA champions with the GT Daytona championship-winning team.
The 21-year-old, who claimed the LMP2 title in the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship, will take part in his first full season of GTD competition with the Ohio-based team and Farnbacher.
McMurry replaces Trent Hindman in the car’s full-season lineup, due to Hindman’s expected bump to Gold driver rating by the FIA.
The former youngest starter at the 24 Hours of Le Mans boasts previous GTD experience with Park Place Motorsports and took part in last year’s GT World Challenge Europe Endurance Cup in a Honda-badged Acura NSX GT3 Evo for Jenson Team Rocket RJN.
McMurry also spent time at Honda Performance Development in an internship role this summer.
“It’s an honor to be selected to join the Meyer Shank Racing team again,” said McMurry, who had two previous prototype starts with the team.
“I can’t imagine a better place to be for the 2020 IMSA season than in an Acura NSX GT3 EVO at MSR.
“It’s a perfect fit coming from a great run in the NSX in the Blancpain Endurance Championship, a successful internship at Honda Performance Development, and an IMSA LMP2 championship.”
Farnbacher, meanwhile, will return for his second consecutive season with MSR after notching one class win and four additional podium finishes alongside Hindman.
“As always with a new driver pairing, we will have to get to know each other a little bit better since we have never driven together but hopefully we can do that during some testing which will start soon,” Farnbacher said.
Team co-owner Mike Shank said he’s looking forward to building on the team’s championship-winning season.
“Mario has done a stellar job and he has been a big asset to this team and getting the championship,” he said. “Having Matthew come back onboard is also very exciting.
“He’s had plenty of seat time in the NSX over in Europe this year and he should be able to find his feet quickly over here.”
The status of Hindman within MSR remains unclear.
The team’s second Caterpillar-sponsored Acura, which featured an all-female lineup last year, is understood to not yet have been finalized.