{"id":14375,"date":"2018-01-19T18:30:13","date_gmt":"2018-01-20T00:30:13","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/racedaysa.com\/?p=14375"},"modified":"2018-01-21T13:32:36","modified_gmt":"2018-01-21T19:32:36","slug":"fords-young-guns-prepare-to-take-on-daytona-international-speedway-road-course","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/racedaysa.com\/index.php\/2018\/01\/19\/fords-young-guns-prepare-to-take-on-daytona-international-speedway-road-course\/","title":{"rendered":"Ford\u2019s young guns prepare to take on Daytona International Speedway road course"},"content":{"rendered":"

By Holly Cain, NASCAR Wire Service<\/em><\/p>\n

DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. \u2013 By all regards it\u2019s a new generation, crossover all-star pairing for the Ford teams in next Friday\u2019s IMSA Continental Tire SportsCar Challenge four-hour BMW Endurance Challenge season-opener at Daytona International Speedway.<\/p>\n

\"\"

IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship
The Roar Before the Rolex 24
Daytona International Speedway
Daytona Beach, FL USA
Friday 5 January 2018
#7 Acura Team Penske Acura DPi, P: Helio Castroneves, Ricky Taylor, Graham Rahal
World Copyright: Jake Galstad
LAT Images<\/p><\/div>\n

Young NASCAR drivers Cole Custer, 19, Austin Cindric, 19, Chase Briscoe, 23 and Ty Majeski, 23 will pair up to compete in ultra-fast Ford Mustang GT4s for Multimatic Motorsports on the afternoon before the Rolex 24 At Daytona green flag drops.<\/p>\n

And while some of those NASCAR stars have a bit of road course experience, the opportunity to run in next weekend\u2019s endurance race on the 3.56-mile Daytona road circuit will be both an eye-opener and an adrenalin rush.<\/p>\n

Cindric, who finished third in NASCAR\u2019s Camping World Truck Series last year, is the only one of the four to have notable time competing in road racing. He finished 14th in the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship GT Daytona (GTD) class in the 2016 Rolex 24. And in addition to next Friday\u2019s Continental Tire race, he will again race in the twice-around-the-clock Rolex season opener, this year driving in the Prototype class.<\/p>\n

\"\"

IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship
The Roar Before the Rolex 24
Daytona International Speedway
Daytona Beach, FL USA
Friday 5 January 2018
64, Ferrari, Ferrari 488 GT3, GTD, Bill Sweedler, Townsend Bell, Frank Montecalvo, Sam Bird
World Copyright: Richard Dole
LAT Images<\/p><\/div>\n

For Custer, Briscoe and Majeski this will be their debut on the 12-turn, 3.56-mile Daytona road course that incorporates both the track\u2019s famous high-banked speedway and it\u2019s technical, infield course.<\/p>\n

Not only will the young drivers benefit from road course experience, but the extra time competing together as they head into a season featuring unique and exciting seat plans in the Xfinity Series. While Custer returns to the series in the No. 00 Stewart-Haas Racing Ford, Cindric, Briscoe and Majeski will share Roush Fenway Racing\u2019s No. 60 Ford under the guidance of two-time series champion crew chief Mike Kelley.<\/p>\n

The four-hour sports car race will be a good \u2013 and competitive get-to-know-you \u2013 opportunity for the Roush teammates to learn about each other and for the brand of racing.<\/p>\n

\u201cDefinitely something totally different from what I\u2019m used to doing and growing up doing,\u2019\u2019 said Briscoe, last year\u2019s Camping World Truck Series Rookie of the Year. \u201cIt\u2019s cool, I\u2019m glad Ford is letting us do it. It\u2019s been nice to be able to come here and be with people I know like Cole, Austin and Ty.<\/p>\n

\"\"

IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship
The Roar Before the Rolex 24
Daytona International Speedway
Daytona Beach, FL USA
Friday 5 January 2018
#86 Michael Shank Racing Acura NSX, GTD: Katherine Legge, Alvaro Parente, Trent Hindman, A.J. Allmendinger
World Copyright: Jake Galstad
LAT Images<\/p><\/div>\n

\u201cI\u2019m excited to come back for the race. It\u2019s cool how many fans come just to watch practice. I\u2019m excited to see what this place is like come race weekend.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019ve only run two road course races my entire life so it\u2019s going to be a big challenge. Just trying to figure out where to find some speed at. You feel like you\u2019re getting everything you can out of it and you\u2019re still two seconds off the pace.\u201d<\/p>\n

Actually, Briscoe wasn\u2019t too far off the pace at all.<\/p>\n

During the annual Roar Before the Rolex 24 test two weeks ago, drivers and teams turned three days of laps. Cindric and Briscoe were second fastest in the opening session and Custer and Majeski were third.<\/p>\n

In four more sessions, the NASCAR pairings were primarily top-10 on the practice chart. Cindric and Briscoe were consistently top-six among the nearly 40 teams that participated.<\/p>\n

\u201cChase and I were teammates [at Brad Keselowski Racing] in trucks, so we have a pretty good working relationship already,\u201d Cindric said. \u201cSo for us to share a car is pretty easy. I do have a bit of a senior role if you will, because I have [road racing] experience, but I think we\u2019ll all be fine. He\u2019s gotten right up to speed and I couldn\u2019t be happier to be a part of it. I honestly think we have a shot at a podium or win.<\/p>\n

\"\"

IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship
The Roar Before the Rolex 24
Daytona International Speedway
Daytona Beach, FL USA
Friday 5 January 2018
#23 United Autosports Ligier LMP2: Phil Hanson, Lando Norris, Fernando Alonso
World Copyright: Richard Dole
LAT Images<\/p><\/div>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s more of a program from Ford for Chase and Ty to get them some road race experience. Cole has a lot of road course experience. It\u2019s a fun program to be a part of and super unique to what any other manufacturer is doing, cross-pollinating their development programs which is kind of a new concept.\u201d<\/p>\n

While Custer \u2013 last year\u2019s Xfinity Series breakout star and winner of the season finale in Homestead, Florida \u2013 may have some road course experience, his driving partner Majeski does not. At all.<\/p>\n

\u201cTurning right is (the biggest adjustment), something I\u2019ve literally done none of my entire life,\u2019\u2019 Majeski said with a laugh. \u201cJust a whole different set of instincts to get speed out of these cars and I\u2019m learning all I can.<\/p>\n

\u201cOnly my second time ever on road course and multi-class thing is a lot different. Everything seems different, huge new experience. I\u2019m leaning on Scott Maxwell, my teammate, a lot. It\u2019s been a huge learning experience so far, but gone well so far. Looking forward to sinking my teeth in even more.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s just different. ABS brakes, traction control, no spotters, big mirrors, just a whole different world, different experience in general but a lot of fun. You can drive these cars really hard because of all the gadgets on them.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"\"

IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship
The Roar Before the Rolex 24
Daytona International Speedway
Daytona Beach, FL USA
Friday 5 January 2018
#6 Acura Team Penske Acura DPi, P: Dane Cameron, Juan Pablo Montoya, Simon Pagenaud
World Copyright: Jake Galstad
LAT Images<\/p><\/div>\n

Not only will Majeski get some tutelage from his co-driver and sports car standout Maxwell, but Custer has also proven himself one of NASCAR\u2019s better road course competitors despite his early experience level.<\/p>\n

He has three top-10 finishes in three Camping World Truck Series road course races, including a pole position and runner-up finish in Canada in 2016. His best road course finish in three Xfinity Series races last year was an eighth place at Road America in Elkhart Lake, Wisconsin.<\/p>\n

\u201cAlways good to get out there and feel different characteristics of a road course and I\u2019ve learned a lot from Scott Maxwell,\u2019\u2019 Custer said. \u201cFord had the idea to get us all more experience. It\u2019s a really great thing them helping us.<\/p>\n

\u201cI think every driver wants to run these road course races, especially ones that are prestigious like this.\u2019\u2019<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

By Holly Cain, NASCAR Wire Service DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. \u2013 By all regards it\u2019s a new generation, crossover all-star pairing for the Ford teams in next Friday\u2019s IMSA Continental Tire SportsCar Challenge four-hour BMW Endurance Challenge season-opener at Daytona International Speedway. Young NASCAR drivers Cole Custer, 19, Austin Cindric, 19, Chase Briscoe, 23 and Ty Majeski, 23 will […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":14378,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"ngg_post_thumbnail":0,"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[11],"tags":[16],"class_list":["post-14375","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-nascar","tag-nascar"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/racedaysa.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/01\/IMSA_Roar_Castroneves_Taylor_Rahal_010518.jpg?fit=4214%2C2810&ssl=1","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p7hzTZ-3JR","jetpack-related-posts":[],"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/racedaysa.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14375","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/racedaysa.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/racedaysa.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/racedaysa.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/racedaysa.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=14375"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/racedaysa.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14375\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":14383,"href":"https:\/\/racedaysa.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14375\/revisions\/14383"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/racedaysa.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/14378"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/racedaysa.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=14375"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/racedaysa.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=14375"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/racedaysa.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=14375"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}