Heading Home: Performance Tech Motorsports at Sebring International Raceway

DEERFIELD BEACH, Fla. (March 12, 2019) – Performance Tech Motorsports enters Round Two of IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship action with a second-place finish to its name and a home track advantage. The team’s IMSA Prototype Challenge program also gets back to work for Round Two with a three-car lineup.

Performance Tech Motorsports next challenge for its LMP2 program is the Mobil 1 Twelve Hours of Sebring presented by Advanced Auto Parts. The 12-hour endurance race is scheduled for March 13-16 in Sebring, Florida. The IMSA Prototype Challenge series competes Wednesday, March 13 and Thursday, March 14.

In the Rolex 24 At Daytona Performance Tech proved it is not speed alone that wins endurance races. Thanks to smart driving and strategy the team finished second in the LMP2 class at Daytona International Speedway. The No. 38 Centinel Spine ORECA was in position to take over the lead when the final red flag was thrown, ultimately ending the race.

Performance Tech will aim to capitalize on clean racing and competitor error to finish first at its home race. Veteran Kyle Masson, former Prototype Challenge driver Andrew Evans and endurance driver Cameron Cassels will be at the helm of the No. 38 LMP2. Another IMSA ladder system success story with former IMSA Prototype Challenge champions and Sebring race winners behind the wheel.

“Sebring is a really tough track because it can take so much out of you,” O’Neill said. “It’s so physical, but our guys are up for the challenge, they’re prepared. We’ve tested there a lot because it’s our home track. They’ve all competed at Sebring before, they’ve all done well there.

“Having the experience from the Prototype Challenge series will help them know what to expect in the twelve hour. I think they all will do a great job, they drove really clean race at Daytona. Kyle stepped up and Cameron proved he was ready to move up the ladder. Having a race under the belt will only make it stronger.”

It’s been nearly two months since the LMP3 program has seen race action leaving the team anxious to get back on track. Sebring International Raceway hosts a one hour and 45-minute race for a field of nearly two dozen LMP3 cars. Performance Tech will take advantage of its lineup’s talent and the durability of the LMP3 to sweep the podium. The team ran a conservatively strong race and pushed through the three-hour endurance event to finish fifth, seventh and 13th overall in the season opener at the Roar Before the Rolex 24.

“I think we proved that we had a really strong lineup in Daytona,” O’Neill said. “We ran a conservative race and still ran up front. In Sebring I think we’ll see a couple guys on the podium. We tested the P3 cars in February, so everyone has a lot of time on this track. After the gap of time between the Roar and Sebring this can feel like the first race of the year all over again. We combat that with a little testing and get everyone up to speed and comfortable.

Blake did a great job in his first ever race in the car, I think he’ll be better in Sebring. James and Cameron really make an impressive team, they do so well together. Brad and Dean will do well, Brad did the Michelin Encore with us, so he has some experience at the track. Everyone on our team has a lot of talent this year so we just have to give them the car to win.”

Performance Tech Motorsports’ weekend begins Wednesday, March 13 with practice for the IMSA Prototype Challenge series. Thursday, March 14 is race day for the Prototype Challenge series, the green flag drops at 12:35 p.m. ET. Throughout the day Thursday the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship will practice with qualifying taking place Friday, March 15. The 67th Annual Mobil 1 Twelve Hours of Sebring presented by Advanced Auto Parts begins Saturday, March 16 at 10:40 a.m. The race is broadcast on CNBC, NBCSN, NBCSports and IMSA.tv. For a detailed schedule, check your local listing or imsa.com.