{"id":49327,"date":"2025-02-01T09:17:00","date_gmt":"2025-02-01T15:17:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/racedaysa.com\/?p=49327"},"modified":"2025-02-01T09:17:50","modified_gmt":"2025-02-01T15:17:50","slug":"shank-adds-rrdcs-phil-hill-award-to-his-hardware-collection","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/racedaysa.com\/index.php\/2025\/02\/01\/shank-adds-rrdcs-phil-hill-award-to-his-hardware-collection\/","title":{"rendered":"Shank adds RRDC’s Phil Hill Award to his hardware collection"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Mike Shank, left, receives the RRDC Phil Hill Award from RRDC president Bobby Rahal. (Brian Cleary image)<\/p><\/div>\n

 <\/p>\n

By John Sturbin, Raceday San Antonio<\/em><\/p>\n

Native Ohioan Mike Shank, whose \u201csmall-town\u201d work ethic shaped his successful IMSA and INDYCAR teams, is the 2024 recipient of the Phil Hill Award presented by the Road Racing Drivers Club.<\/p>\n

Shank was honored by RRDC President Bobby Rahal, the 2019 Hill Award-winner, during the organization\u2019s annual members\u2019 dinner in Daytona Beach, Fla., on Jan. 22. The ceremony was a prelude to the 63rd running of the Rolex 24 at Daytona, season-opener of the 2025 IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship.<\/p>\n

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Mike Shank (Image courtesy of Meyer Shank Racing)<\/p><\/div>\n

The Phil Hill Award has been presented annually since 1993 to the person the RRDC believes has rendered outstanding service to road racing. The recipient may be a driver, entrant or member of a sanctioning body. A native of Miami, Fla., Hill competed in Formula One from 1958 to 1966, emerging as America’s first F1 World Driving Champion in 1961 with Scuderia Ferrari.<\/p>\n

Hill died on Aug. 28, 2008 at age 81 in Salinas, Calif. The award is a tribute to Hill\u2019s accomplishments not only on the racetrack _ he won three grand prixs during his career _ but also recognizes his contributions as an ambassador for worldwide motorsport.<\/p>\n

“I’m overwhelmed,” Shank said during an interview with NBC sports commentator and RRDC member Leigh Diffey.  “I think it\u2019s an unbelievable honor and it just makes me feel pretty small. Everything I did in racing I did just to survive and try to advance to where I wanted to be. But to get recognized by the RRDC with the Phill Hill Award is beyond words.”<\/p>\n

Michael Shank Racing entered the sports car racing ranks in 2004, competing in both IMSA and Grand-Am competition. The 2017 season saw Shank partner with entrepreneur Jim Meyer as co-owner of the rebranded Meyer Shank Racing. A resident of Indianapolis, Meyer retired as CEO of SiriusXM in December 2020, a post he had held since 2013.<\/p>\n

MSR began its INDYCAR journey at the 2017 Indianapolis 500 with driver Jack Harvey of Great Britian in a technical partnership with Honda and Andretti Autosport. The team impressed by overcoming several Month of May setbacks en route to earning the Clint Brawner Award for crew chief Adam Rovazzini. The team ran partial INDYCAR seasons until 2019, before moving to a two-car, full-schedule effort in 2020.<\/p>\n

Competing in his 12th<\/sup> INDYCAR race, Harvey secured his first podium result on the Indianapolis Motor Speedway Road-Course. Harvey went on to post back-to-back front row starts in 2020 at the GMR INDYCAR Grand Prix and at Road America in Elkhart Lake, Wis.<\/p>\n

MSR\u2019s INDYCAR effort made headline news in the 105th<\/sup> running of the Indianapolis 500 on May 30, 2021, when native Brazilian Helio Castroneves won a record-tying fourth 500 in his debut with \u201cthe little team that could\u201d from Pataskala, Ohio. Fan-favorite Castroneves joined Houston native A.J. Foyt Jr., Al Unser and Rick Mears as the only four-time winners of \u201cThe Greatest Spectacle in Racing.\u201d Castroneves has since retired from fulltime driving and is an ownership partner in MSR.<\/p>\n

“This is an awesome award and it represents something so special in racing,” said Rahal, winner of the 1986 Indy 500. “To me, Phil Hill was not only a great driver, he was a true gentleman and a great proponent of the sport. He represented motor racing to the world, especially in this country, in such a manner, such a fashion, that is something you had to admire.<\/p>\n

“We’ve had a lot of great recipients of the Phil Hill Award over the years, and this year’s honoree is no different. When you think about who should get this award, you think of somebody who does it all and did it on his terms.<\/p>\n

\u201cFrankly, it was pretty easy to decide this year. We have a lot of respect for Mike Shank and all he’s done over the years. And some days probably didn’t look so bright (for MSR) but here he is representing Acura in IMSA and Honda in INDYCAR. Michael, congratulations, man. I think you are a worthy recipient of this great award.”<\/p>\n

Apparently inspired by Shank\u2019s honor, Tom Blomqvist wheeled the No. 60 Meyer Shank Racing with Curb Agajanian Acura ARX-06 to a runner-up finish on Sunday, Jan. 26, in the 63rd<\/sup> Rolex 24, America\u2019s premier twice-around-the-clock endurance event. Blomqvist, of Great Britain, shared the MSR entry with native Texan Colin Braun, six-time INDYCAR champion Scott Dixon of New Zealand and Sweden\u2019s Felix Rosenqvist. Braun, a 36-year-old native of Ovalo, Texas, is the 2014 and 2015 WeatherTech SportsCar Championship Prototype Challenge Champion.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m just incredibly proud of this group _ we\u2019ve been together 10 weeks now,\u201d Shank said post-race. \u201cTo pull off this podium from a day that wasn\u2019t going our way\u2026Tom just took a car that was just not happy with us and turned it into something that was just epic. I can\u2019t thank every single person from Acura MSR and HRC for staying with it, not giving up and trying to find ways to make it work and get us started on the right foot. I think we have a real shot at working for this championship and we\u2019re looking forward to it.\u201d<\/p>\n

The No. 7 Porsche 963 driven by Felipe Nasr of Brazil, Nick Tandy of Great Britain and Laurens Vanthoor of Belgium claimed the overall and Grand Touring Prototype (GTP) class wins for team-owner Roger Penske _ the Phil Hill Award winner in 2008 who celebrated his organization\u2019s third overall Rolex 24 victory. Nasr crossed the finish line of Daytona International Speedway\u2019s famed 3.56-mile tri-oval in the No. 7 Porsche 963 a close 1.335-seconds ahead of Shank Racing\u2019s Acura.<\/p>\n

\u201cObviously a great result, and what a way to start the season and the rebirth with HRC and Acura MSR,\u201d Braun said. \u201cSecond is a great result and Daytona is so important and winning is everything, so in one way it\u2019s an amazing start and in another it\u2019s like \u2018Aw, man.\u2019 But the guys executed really well. Both Felix and Scott did a great job and Tom killed it at the end.<\/p>\n

\u201cConsidering this is kind of the start of this new program, I think it\u2019s going to be a really good season. We have a lot of really good things to build on and continue to refine and improve and we\u2019re looking forward to keeping it going.\u201d<\/p>\n

The outcome was \u201c24 Hours of Redemption\u201d for MSR, which won the 2023 Rolex 24 at Daytona with its LMDh GTP hypercar racing Prototype shared by Castroneves, Braun, Frenchman Simon Pagenaud and Blomqvist. However, the team and drivers were penalized post-race due for an infringement on the rules _ they call it \u201cfudging\u201d _ concerning tire pressure. IMSA\u2019s Paddock Police determined that tire pressure data intentionally had been manipulated, leading to a $50,000 team fine, expulsion of race engineer Ryan McCarthy for the season and probation for the team.<\/p>\n

MSR and its drivers were allowed to keep the win and their Rolex watches, minus any Michelin Endurance points and reduced championship points. MSR subsequently shut down its sports car program for the 2024 IMSA season.<\/p>\n

Shank, 58, is a native of Gahanna, Ohio _ a suburb of Columbus in northeastern Franklin County. The city\u2019s population was 35,726, according to the 2020 U.S. Census. Shank began racing professionally in 1989, earning notice as SCCA-Ohio Valley Region Novice Driver of the Year. A skilled mechanic, Shank won the 1996 Toyota Atlantic C2 Championship before making a one-off start in the fledgling Indy Racing League\u2019s Las Vegas 500k at Las Vegas Motor Speedway during the series\u2019 inaugural 1996-97 season.<\/p>\n

Shank, who logged one driving start in the Rolex 24 at Daytona in 1999, opted to retire from the cockpit in order to focus on running and expanding his team. Competing in the Champ Car Toyota Atlantic Championship, Michael Shank Racing\u2019s driver lineup included Kenny Wilden, Sam Hornish Jr. and John Rutherford IV, son of three-time Indianapolis 500 champion and 1980 CART champ Johnny Rutherford of Fort Worth.<\/p>\n

Hornish went on to win the 2006 Indianapolis 500 driving for team-owner Roger Penske. Wilden was runner-up in the 1999 Toyota Atlantic Championship and Shank earned \u201cTeam Owner of the Year\u201d honors twice in four years before deciding to move his team into the Grand-Am Rolex Sports Car Series in 2004. MSR led the first sports car race it entered and finished on the podium in its second race at Homestead-Miami Speedway.<\/p>\n

MSR scored a breakthrough victory in the 2012 Rolex 24 at Daytona with drivers A.J. Allmendinger, John Pew, Oswaldo Negri of Brazil and Justin Wilson of Great Britain. Shank Racing celebrated its 250th<\/sup> Prototype start in the 2016 Petit Le Mans _ winning the season-ender at Road America in Braselton, Ga.<\/p>\n

In 2017, Shank\u2019s team managed the factory IMSA Grand Touring Daytona (GTD) program for Acura Motorsports with a two-car Acura NSX GT3 effort. Shank was awarded the 2017 Rolex Bob Snodgrass Award of Excellence, presented by The Gorsline Company, during the Rolex 24 event weekend. The award recognizes the team owner who demonstrates the qualities of integrity, passion for the sport and love of cars for which Snodgrass was known during his life and career.<\/p>\n

The team scored the first North American victory for Acura in 2018 on the Raceway at Belle Isle in Detroit and claimed back-to-back championships in 2019 and 2020.  In 2021, MSR represented Acura in the IMSA WeatherTech Sports Car Championship with the Acura ARX-05 Dpi.<\/p>\n

Shank’s IMSA organization now has amassed over 350 sports car starts, three championship victories, three Rolex 24 wins and two Petit Le Mans victories.<\/p>\n

Past RRDC Phil Hill Award Winners<\/strong><\/p>\n

1993 _ John Bishop<\/p>\n

1994 _ Juan Manuel Fangio II<\/p>\n

1995 _ Leo Mehl<\/p>\n

1996 _ Charlie Slater<\/p>\n

1997 _ Danny Sullivan<\/p>\n

1998 _ Rob Dyson<\/p>\n

1999 _ Bob Fergus<\/p>\n

2000 _ Elliott Forbes Robinson<\/p>\n

2001 _ Bill France<\/p>\n

2002 _ Jim Downing<\/p>\n

2003 _ Derek Bell<\/p>\n

2004 _ Brian Redman<\/p>\n

2005 _ Jim France<\/p>\n

2006 _ Roger Werner<\/p>\n

2007 _ Skip Barber<\/p>\n

2008 _ Roger Penske<\/p>\n

2009 _ Bob Bondurant<\/p>\n

2010 _ Nick Craw<\/p>\n

2011 _ Rick Mears<\/p>\n

2012 _ George Follmer<\/p>\n

2013 _ Peter Brock<\/p>\n

2014 _ Hurley Haywood<\/p>\n

2015 _ Vic Elford<\/p>\n

2016 _ Scott Pruett<\/p>\n

2017 _ Chip Ganassi<\/p>\n

2018 _ David Hobbs<\/p>\n

2019 _ Bobby Rahal<\/p>\n

2020 _ Jack Roush<\/p>\n

2021 _ Scott Atherton<\/p>\n

2022 _ Mark Raffauf<\/p>\n

2023 _ Bob Riley<\/p>\n

2024 _ Mike Shank<\/p>\n

The Road Racing Drivers Club was formed in 1952 to give championship-caliber drivers a voice in their sport _ particularly on the issue of safety. It has evolved to serve the future of road racing by mentoring new drivers on both amateur and professional levels. Club membership includes leading industry professionals, race officials and motorsports journalists, in addition to prominent racing names.<\/p>\n

In 2011, the RRDC launched a free on-line training seminar _ www.SAFEisFAST.com _ featuring RRDC members and other industry experts in high-quality videos covering subjects from physical and mental preparation to driving techniques, driver safety to car setup and sponsorship. The videos are updated regularly. Each week, a professional from the world of motor racing answers readers’ questions on the site in a feature called \u201cAsk a Pro.\u201d<\/p>\n

In addition to Rahal, the RRDC hierarchy includes John Fergus as vice president\/treasurer and John Clagett as secretary.<\/p>\n

RRDC presents three annual honors _ the Phil Hill Award, the Mark Donohue Award and the Bob Akin Award.<\/p>\n

Membership in the RRDC is by invitation only. Additional information on the organization may be accessed at www.rrdc.org<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

  By John Sturbin, Raceday San Antonio Native Ohioan Mike Shank, whose \u201csmall-town\u201d work ethic shaped his successful IMSA and INDYCAR teams, is the 2024 recipient of the Phil Hill Award presented by the Road Racing Drivers Club. Shank was honored by RRDC President Bobby Rahal, the 2019 Hill Award-winner, during the organization\u2019s annual members\u2019 […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":678,"featured_media":49331,"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":[12,27],"tags":[865,22,984,986,985],"class_list":["post-49327","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-indycar","category-motorsports","tag-imsa","tag-indycar","tag-mike-shank","tag-phil-hill-award","tag-road-racing-drivers-club"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/racedaysa.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/02\/ShankPhilHillAward.jpg?fit=1200%2C800&ssl=1","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p7hzTZ-cPB","jetpack-related-posts":[],"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/racedaysa.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/49327","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\/678"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/racedaysa.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=49327"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/racedaysa.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/49327\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":49333,"href":"https:\/\/racedaysa.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/49327\/revisions\/49333"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/racedaysa.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/49331"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/racedaysa.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=49327"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/racedaysa.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=49327"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/racedaysa.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=49327"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}