2019 IMSA Predictions: Acura Team Penske Will Be Top-Five Contenders

The 2018 IMSA Weathertech United Sportscar Championship season proved to be a rocky start for the two Acura Team Penske ARX-05 entries.

With the No. 7 entry of Ricky Taylor and Helio Castroneves capturing a race win at Mid Ohio, and the No. 6 Acura DPi of Dane Cameron and Juan Pablo Montoya averaging fifth place in the Prototype Championship battle — MotorMan Dan predicts that the Acura Team Penske organization will be among the top five contenders racing for the win throughout the 2019 schedule.

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For Acura Team Penske Lead Engineer, Jonathan Diuguid, he said on IMSA.com Wednesday, automotive reliability was among the team’s strengths heading into the 2018 IMSA season.

“We did significant mileage prior to the season and none of those issues arose during any of that. So, from a car-preparation standpoint, I think we relied a lot on the experience of the guys that worked here and have done this before to try to make sure we don’t repeat some of the mistakes that other teams have. I think we did a good job on that. That being said, everything can always get better.”

— Diuguid, IMSA.com

In the quest for improvement, Diuguid said Team Penske must minimize mistakes.

“As a group, everybody has a long list of notes on what we can improve,” Diuguid said. “By no means are we going to sit on our hands and look back and think we did everything correctly, because I think we still have a lot to learn.

“Just tying up loose ends from a team standpoint and a strategy standpoint and making sure we minimize mistakes. Even in the endurance races, you make one mistake and you’re out of the race. The (No.) 7 car this year at Daytona, they got into an accident when we were running in the top three and then that was their race and they couldn’t recover from that. So, I think just minimizing mistakes on all fronts, car preparation, drivers and engineering is the main goal.”

— Diuguid, IMSA.com

The initiation of a full-time motor racing team in any racing series, especially a team with a history of success like Team Penske making a return to sports car endurance racing, can be a rough mountain to conquer. Success in IMSA’s premier series, regardless of class, takes engineers who designs and fine tunes race cars that suit each co-driver’s style of driving while the drivers themselves, are trained mentally and physically in piloting their aerodynamic machines (of course money and sponsorship are vital in a team’s ability to perform). Engineers work day and night to produce hundreds of race cars every season for their drivers to hit the ground running from Daytona to Road Atlanta.

With the off season already in full swing, IMSA teams such as Team Penske, will be eager for on-track, left and right turning action at the Roar Before the Rolex 24 and beyond. Until then, a family Turkey dinner and spreading Christmas cheer is next on the agenda.

 

Saddle Up, Ford Mustang To NASCAR Cup Series in 2019

Aric Almirola Ford Fusion car on display at Sebring International Raceway in 2017. (Photo by Dan Fisher)

For every journey, there is an end.

As for Ford in the NASCAR Cup Series, replacing the Fusion with the Mustang in 2019 is the beginning of an era for the Blue Oval.

Though expectations are high in the Ford camp, the pre-production script for the Mustang’s full-scale assembly comes first, said NASCAR.com on Tuesday, April 17.

According to Ford officials, the Mustang is still going through initial testing and will be formally submitted to NASCAR for approval this summer.

“NASCAR has a really good process that continues to get better every year,” Ford Performance Global Director Mark Rushbrook said during a Tuesday teleconference. “It’s a very well-defined process for timing. The submission will happen through June of this year, and then depending on how things go on that initial test, that will lay out the rest of our timeline.”

— NASCAR.com Press Release

With the Chevrolet Camaro in its first year competing full time in the Cup Series while fielding entries to teams in the NASCAR Ixfinity Series, it would seem that Pony car competition is beginning to grow in NASCAR’s top level series.

As Ford Performance Global Director, Mark Rushbrook, said in the NASCAR.com Press Release, NASCAR Cup teams with Ford entries look forward to the Mustang’s 2019 debut with great interest.

“We tried to leverage the skill across all of our teams,” Rushbrook said. “We’ve had active engagements from Roush Fenway Racing, Team Penske and Stewart-Haas Racing. They’ve been the main contributors to this, but (all of the teams) are anxious to get the best car on the track in 2019, so they’ve been very active with us.”

— NASCAR.com Press Release

Once the Mustang makes its debut in the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series at Daytona, expect Ford teams to saddle up and rub shoulders with the Camaro and Toyota Camry.