Mike Shank is able to come ashore.
Shank spent the weekend of the 2024 Rolex 24 at Daytona on a ship in Key West – his spouse’s thought, he says – simply to get away from the truth that he wasn’t there on a pit field. He nonetheless watched the race, however didn’t wish to be at Daytona not taking part. And it was painful.
“Floating was unnatural for now… I imply, I’m not younger anymore, however I’m not sufficiently old to retire but both. So there are some extra issues we wish to do,” Shank says.
And he and Meyer Shank Racing with Curb Agajanian may have the chance to do these issues, one thing that wasn’t obvious in January 2024.
Most everybody is aware of the story of how that occurred, however the Cliffs Notes model is the crew obtained caught manipulating the tire stress information that was despatched to IMSA to ensure the groups had been adhering to the minimal pressures set by the sequence and Michelin, through the 2023 Rolex 24 at Daytona, which MSR received. Found weeks later, the punishment for the infraction wasn’t that the crew misplaced their victory. Tom Blomqvist, Colin Braun, Helio Castroneves and Simon Pagenaud obtained to maintain their Rolexes. However they misplaced 200 factors, ending with fewer than if that they had completed final. For some, it wasn’t sufficient punishment, however it value the crew, and Blomqvist and Braun, the championship.
The larger punishment was that on the finish of the 2023 season, MSR not had a sports activities automotive crew. Wayne Taylor Racing with Andretti was now operating two Acura ARX-06s when the fourth weekend in January rolled round. And Mike Shank was on a ship.
MSR received the 2023 Rolex 24 at Daytona however was subsequently discovered to have been manipulating tire stress information – a situation that value it the championship, and for 2024, a sports activities automotive program. Motorsport Pictures
However MSR did have a sports activities automotive crew, simply no automotive. Shank saved his complete sports activities automotive crew on board, doing various things on the store and with the IndyCar aspect of the operation. He knew he wished to be again within the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship, with any individual. And that weekend on a ship in Key West solely stoked the hearth.
“It was fairly large,” he says of the way in which it drove him to make one thing occur. “I didn’t wish to exit that approach. We wished to jot down historical past right here a bit, and we’re going to, and we get that chance. I’m grateful for it and and I actually put that on all of the those that work at MSR, that simply have an unwavering lust for profitable and doing nicely and doing it the correct approach. It’s not all the time good, by the way in which … we clearly have our bumps and bruises to point out it. However we push arduous.”
The chance to jot down historical past, the prospect for an additional championship, the possibility for that elusive Twelve Hours of Sebring victory… all that has come again to Shank and MSR. In 2025 the crew will run not one, however two ARX-06s; the No. 60 will return, plus the No. 93 that will probably be engineered by Honda Racing Company personnel. If there’s a greater redemption story, tell us what it’s. And no matter damaging issues occurred prior to now, they’re outweighed by the success.
“What I feel that claims is that they they actually appreciated how we went racing with all of them these years, whether or not it was a P2 automotive, the NSX for 4 years with two championships, after which to DPi,” says Shank. “We have now had this steady relationship of giving on either side and a workability between our teams, particularly technically, that I feel is tough to beat. I feel that mattered on the finish, the historical past.”
That historical past consists of two GTD championships, the 2022 DPi championship, and getting back from the Daytona penalty to just about win the inaugural new-era GTP title. With that document, is there any motive to alter the strategy? Maybe, as a result of the game is altering, and the competitors has solely superior.
“We’re going tougher than we went earlier than,” he says. “Technically… we’re doing extra issues technically than we’ve ever accomplished in our lives. We have now extra individuals working for us than we’ve ever had, to do particular disciplines of sports activities automotive racing. They’ve their very own division now, and that’s in a field, so we’ve needed to compartmentalize that simply to maintain profitable.
“That’s the stress. We really feel that’s all that issues on this aspect of the aisle right here, in sports activities automobiles, we’ve got to be up within the high three on a regular basis. And if we’re not, then we have to do what we have to do to get there. I consider what it takes to be within the high three right here now could be 30 % extra, technically, than it was again then. And we’re growing our price range to have the ability to sustain with that demand for development in expertise.”
There are some issues that the sports activities automotive aspect can take from the IndyCar aspect as nicely. Almost each IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship GTP crew has an IndyCar crew or a connection to 1, and that’s not accidentally. For Shank, his IndyCar crew and the 2021 Indy 500 win with Castroneves doesn’t occur with out his sports activities automotive racing roots. Now there are contributions to be made within the different path.
“I all the time mentioned sports activities automobiles is like peace and love, and IndyCar is like, militant,” he says. “It’s actually the way it feels to me. And we’ve been capable of mix, I consider the militant half. You want a militant a part of it to be actually good. And that’s one thing that Penske does nicely. It took us slightly longer to get that, I feel. However having each, I feel we get it now. After I say ‘militant’, it signifies that we do the identical factor each single time; we don’t deviate. And if there’s an issue, we go off the department, then repair the issue, return to the checklist.
Shank provides a few of the credit score for Helio’s fourth Indy win to the information and expertise MST constructed up on the sports activities automotive aspect. Barry Cantrell/Motorsport Pictures
“Sports activities automotive is slightly slower paced, however the sports activities automotive aspect now could be working extra alongside this military-like factor, which I feel is a very good factor.”
The relationships with Honda Racing Company on the IndyCar aspect additionally saved the dialog going. Shank had each intention of including to the 20 straight seasons he competed in IMSA, beginning in 2004. And he wished to remain in on the highest degree, or in no way. There have been talks with different producers, however in the end, the lengthy relationship with HRC received out.
“I feel the historical past of us collectively, in all methods, weighed into that,” he relates. “It’s outcomes, it’s individuals, it’s compatibility, it’s all the things you have to achieve success at this excessive degree these days, which is so superior from 5 years in the past or six years in the past. I feel they noticed that we had the potential to develop with that technically, which is admittedly necessary, which implies we’re not caught in our older methods of how the P2 automotive ran or the DPi automotive ran.
“As a bunch, and I battle with it immediately, we’re going to be, between each applications, I feel 100 individuals subsequent 12 months, when six years in the past, we had 18. It’s arduous for lots of people, together with myself, to broaden. However I feel Honda acknowledged that we reacted to that fairly nicely, they usually trusted us that we might react to that, having expertise with us, and that we’re able to pursue outcomes at Daytona subsequent 12 months.”
Shank says he doesn’t low cost the dimensions of the problem forward, coming again right into a sequence that has grown, that has extra eyes on it, that’s getting extra consideration from business companions. He realizes the strides different groups have made. However he’s assured in MSR’s readiness for the duty.
“I do know it’s gotten higher. I do know it’s superior. That’s why we’re advancing, proper? We’re making an attempt to return out of the field at velocity and with the ability to compete within the high three,” he says. “That’s our purpose straight away, qualifying the highest three and ending the highest three, and we’ve got two automobiles at our disposal to get that accomplished.”
And when the fourth weekend of January arrives, Mike Shank will probably be on a pit field at Daytona Worldwide Speedway. Someone could also be watching the race from a ship, however it received’t be him.
