MSR Confirms Exit from IMSA at End of Season

Photo: Jake Galstad/IMSA

Meyer Shank Racing has confirmed its exit from IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship competition at the end of this season, as the Ohio-based squad focuses on an expanded effort in the NTT IndyCar Series in 2024.

The team, which has competed in every top-level IMSA season since 2004, is understood to have explored alternative options to remain on the grid after its parting ways with Acura, amid Wayne Taylor Racing with Andretti Autosport’s expansion into a two-car factory Acura GTP team next year.

Team co-owner Mike Shank, who told reporters that its IMSA plans were “up in the air” as of August, has reiterated on Tuesday that it will be taking “a year away” from top-level sports car racing.

MSR has been linked to a possible Alpine A424 effort in the WeatherTech Championship that could come online by as early as 2025.

“Making the decision to take a year away from IMSA was not an easy one by any means,” said Shank.

“Our guys live and breathe this team, and have committed most of their lives to working on these cars and traveling to races – and many of them have been with us for nearly 20 years. For Jim [Meyer] and I, our main focus was getting our guys set and making sure they were all going to be OK, which we were able to do.

“There are a lot of projects that we have going at the shop, and of course some of the guys will be helping with our growing IndyCar program.

“The third Indianapolis 500 entry for Helio [Castroneves] is a very big deal and I’m glad to have the right people in place to help us be as ready as possible for him to go get that fifth one. And then when we need to prepare for the IMSA program, we’ll still have this great group together and ready to go.”

Acura nor Honda Performance Development have yet to make a statement regarding the end of its IMSA partnership with MSR, which began in 2016 with a Honda-powered Ligier JS P2 before the team transitioned into running factory-supported Acura NSX GT3s in the GTD category, a return to prototypes with the Acura ARX-05 in 2021, followed by the ARX-06 LMDh car this year.

MSR, which won this year’s Rolex 24 at Daytona and was subsequently penalized by IMSA following a tire pressure manipulation scandal, heads to next weekend’s Motul Petit Le Mans with an outside chance of the GTP class title.

“I have so many people to thank who have had such an impact on me and how this team has grown,” Shank added.

“Jim France has been a supporter of us since we joined the series in 2004 and he’s someone that I cannot thank enough. Jon Ikeda, David Salters and everyone at Honda, HPD, and Acura, gave MSR a shot and trusted us to run this program for the last few years and we have accomplished some pretty awesome things since running together.

“All of my crew and drivers who have been with us – and we have a pretty large list – I can’t thank them enough. Most of these guys have changed my life since I started this team in Grand-Am.

“Like I said, we are not going anywhere, we’ll be gone for now, but definitely not forever. Taking next year to step back and focus on our IndyCar program will be important for us as a team.”

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