You’re not getting older, you’re getting better.
We don’t usually think of that old saying when it comes to race cars, but it’s apropos for the Corvette Racing team, which seems to be improving by the day as it gets ready to make its 300th global start at the IMSA SportsCar Weekend at Road America.
The faces have changed over the decades since Corvette Racing arrived on the scene at the Rolex 24 at Daytona back in 1999, going on to win 115 races out of 255 IMSA starts and earn 14 manufacturer championships.
One driver has been a standout for the program, Antonia Garcia, who has been around for more than half of those 300 starts.
The milestones continue. New Corvette Z06 GT3.R scored its first @IMSA win at CTMP in July. Now this weekend at @roadamerica marks the Corvette Racing program’s 300th all-time start 👏 pic.twitter.com/fmrz1pEY2x
— Michelin Racing USA (@MichelinRaceUSA) August 1, 2024
And he doesn’t appear to be slowing down any. In fact, just three weeks ago, he and teammate Alexander Sims drove their No. 3 entry to the Corvette Z06 GT.3R’s first IMSA win at Canadian Tire Motorsport Park. This year marks the arrival of Chevrolet’s first GT3-homologated cars for customer teams in the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship, with two entries from Corvette Racing by Pratt Miller Motorsports in GTD Pro and another from AWA in GTD.
“When I heard about the 300th, I wondered how many of those I did,” Garcia said in an interview this week with speedsport.com.
In fact, since joining Corvette Racing in 2009, he’s made a whopping 153 starts.
“It all adds up – many championships, many races. I’m very proud of what I accomplished with Corvette Racing, and what they gave me to have such a great career with them,” he says.
“Now I’m one of the oldest guys in the team, and I see so many familiar faces around the paddock that have been part of Corvette Racing the whole time. That’s what makes the whole thing so successful – everything runs pretty smooth.”
#TBT Corvette Racing at Road America through the years.#Corvette #CRbyPMM pic.twitter.com/hV1AAjzmYw
— Pratt Miller Motorsports (@PrattMillerMS) August 1, 2024
Indeed, just Friday, Garcia had the fastest GTD Pro practice time at Road America with a time of 2 minutes, 5.369 seconds around the 4.048-mile track – with the big event set for Sunday afternoon.
Garcia makes no secret that he has always loved that track and always has fun there. “It’s a driver’s track, and you can make a difference.”
Source:
speedsport.com
Related:
Corvette Racing at Road America: Catsburg Leads Corvette 1-2
Corvette Racing at Road America: Going Back-to-Back?
Corvette Racing at CTMP: A Corvette 1-2 in Canada!
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