Tough day at the Brickyard for Michael Shank Racing

INDIANAPOLIS (26 July 2013 )- Michael Shank Racing with Curb/Agajanian had high hopes for Friday’s Brickyard Grand Prix, but the annual visit to the Indianapolis Motor Speedway didn’t end the way the team had hoped.

The team finished seventh with the No. 60 Curb Records Ford-Riley of John Pew and Ozz Negri, and the No. 6 Tuvacol/AERO Ford Riley of Gustavo Yacaman and AJ Allmendinger coming home in 10th. The Michael Shank Racing crew performed quick pit stops and raced within the top-five for much of the event, but despite the group’s strong effort, results did not pan out for either team entry.

Michael Shank Racing will take the double top-10 points and shift their focus to Round 9 of the 2013 GRAND-AM Rolex Sports Car Series championship as the series heads north to Road America for the VISITFLORIDA.com Sports Car 250.

"For the most part, the cars performed really well,” said team owner Mike Shank. “The problem is that the engine balance of power is off really bad right now and the Fords are suffering. So we are going to have to have some changes or we aren't going to be competitive. We will see what happens for Road America. The team performed really well, as did the drivers. We had a brake problem late in the race on the No. 60 car that kept us out of the top-five. But for the most part it went OK other than the fact that we just don't have any motor. From a rules standpoint they aren't allowing the Ford to do what it can do. We are buried unless they change the engine rules. So we will see. We will be capable of doing well at Road America, but we have to have something to stand on."

“It was nice to be back at Indy,” said Yacaman, who added the Rolex Series start at the Speedway to his Indy Lights experience on the track. “Qualifying was a good experience. It was good to get the top-three qualifying spot. Too bad we didn’t get the result out of this. I really thought we had a chance for the win. The car was OK but, looking back, we didn’t go with the right aero package. I guess we’ve got to move on to Road America and hope for better things.”

“We just didn’t have the straight line speed that the other guys did so we weren’t able to make any impression and move up, even when we ran in a draft so it was a frustrating opening segment,” said Pew. “The team kept working on the car and it got much better as the race went on, but we still were not where we needed to be today. Hopefully there is a better balance with the motors in the future.”

“We were a sitting duck on the straight,” said Negri. “Our car was good on the infield, but we didn’t take tires on the last stop and at the end of the race, I didn’t have any more tires. My brakes were gone—I couldn’t brake where I needed to brake. It was one of those frustrating races that you have to try and survive—guys are hitting you right and left—I got spun and it’s tough. Once you spin, you go on the marbles and you can’t take the junk off of the tires. It was a very frustrating day.”

Michael Shank Racing will be back in racing action August 10 for the VISITFLORIDA.com SportsCar250 at Road America.

Michael Shank Racing