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IndyCar
INDYCAR: Shank Enters Jay Howard For Indy; Needs Engine
Michael Shank Racing has filed its entry for the Indy 500 with Jay Howard and has all of its funding in place, but tells SPEED.com they still need an engine.
Jay Howard impressed on his Indy 500 debut in 2011 with a car entered by Sam Schmidt Motorsports and run by Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing. (Photo: LAT)
He won America's most prestigious 24-hour race as an underdog entrant less than three months ago, and now Michael Shank hopes to keep the underdog streak alive by achieving his life-long dream of fielding a car in America’s most famous auto racing event.
As a product of the American open-wheel scene, Shank, a native of Ohio, transitioned from the cockpit to team ownership in the late 1990s, fielding F2000 and Atlantic teams before making the switch to sports cars in the GRAND-AM Rolex Series. Since establishing himself as one of the most respected team owners in the GRAND-AM, Shank has been on a quest to add a full-time program IndyCar program and is tantalizing close to making it happen.
With his victory at the Rolex 24 At Daytona serving as his biggest achievement in the sport, Shank is now focused on making it into the field of 33 at next month’s Indy 500 with nine-time IZOD IndyCar Series starter Jay Howard, who qualified 21st and finished 30th last year in his first Indy 500.
After taking delivery of a Dallara DW12 chassis in December, Shank has finally found the budget to make his team’s debut at the 96th running of the 500 and has a proven driver to put the car in the show, but there’s one major piece of the puzzle still missing.
Rather than wait and hope for an engine partner to sign on, Shank told SPEED.com he’s chosen to enter Indy without an engine solution in place to demonstrate how serious he is about joining the series.
“There’s a bit of inherent risk we have to accept, but I also understand that people need to see that we’re real,” he said. “This isn’t smoke and mirrors. I want to show people that we are serious, and the best way to do that is to stop talking about it and to do it. We’ll run this team efficiently like we do in sports car, but we’re ready to go forward today. We have the operating budget in place to do the Indy 500. We’re good there.
“Now we need a motor. That’s what we need. We’ve been building this team for two decades now and are at the doorstep of running at the Indy 500, and it would be a shame if a motor is the only thing holding us back. That’s all we’re missing at this point.”
As a product of the American open-wheel scene, Shank, a native of Ohio, transitioned from the cockpit to team ownership in the late 1990s, fielding F2000 and Atlantic teams before making the switch to sports cars in the GRAND-AM Rolex Series. Since establishing himself as one of the most respected team owners in the GRAND-AM, Shank has been on a quest to add a full-time program IndyCar program and is tantalizing close to making it happen.
With his victory at the Rolex 24 At Daytona serving as his biggest achievement in the sport, Shank is now focused on making it into the field of 33 at next month’s Indy 500 with nine-time IZOD IndyCar Series starter Jay Howard, who qualified 21st and finished 30th last year in his first Indy 500.
After taking delivery of a Dallara DW12 chassis in December, Shank has finally found the budget to make his team’s debut at the 96th running of the 500 and has a proven driver to put the car in the show, but there’s one major piece of the puzzle still missing.
Rather than wait and hope for an engine partner to sign on, Shank told SPEED.com he’s chosen to enter Indy without an engine solution in place to demonstrate how serious he is about joining the series.
“There’s a bit of inherent risk we have to accept, but I also understand that people need to see that we’re real,” he said. “This isn’t smoke and mirrors. I want to show people that we are serious, and the best way to do that is to stop talking about it and to do it. We’ll run this team efficiently like we do in sports car, but we’re ready to go forward today. We have the operating budget in place to do the Indy 500. We’re good there.
“Now we need a motor. That’s what we need. We’ve been building this team for two decades now and are at the doorstep of running at the Indy 500, and it would be a shame if a motor is the only thing holding us back. That’s all we’re missing at this point.”
2013 INDY 500 Practice
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