Being unable to defend his Rolex 24 at Daytona victory will not stop Mike Shank from getting back into International Motor Sports Association racing.
Shank has been the overall winning car owner in the past two Rolex 24 at Daytona races. But a three-peat will not be in the works, because the owner will not be able to field a car in the event Saturday.
A little over a month after the Rolex 24 at Daytona last year, it was found that Meyer Shank Racing's winning team was in violation of manipulating tire pressure data during the race at Daytona. This led to massive penalties for the team, including 200 drivers and team points and all its points toward the Michelin Endurance Cup. Along with that, the team was fined $50,000 and lost all its prize money from the race at Daytona. Its team engineer, Ryan McCarthy, was suspended indefinitely; and Shank was placed on probation through June 30. McCarthy has since been fired from Meyer Shank Racing.
The backlash of the penalties has led to Shank shutting down. This was mainly due to the penalty costing MSR its IMSA GTP contract with Honda Racing Corp. Honda condemned the actions of the team and decided they were enough for it to leave the organization. This put Shank in trouble and made leaving the sports car world the best option for the time being.
This means that for the first time in over 20 years, Shank will not be in Daytona for the Rolex 24 at Daytona.
"My wife said, 'I've to get you as far away from that place as we can,' so we're going down to Key West to hang out in the sun and watch the race on the TV on the boat," Shank told NBC Sports.
The sweets sounds of the off-season coming to an end pic.twitter.com/957oPFHYi9
— Meyer Shank Racing (@MeyerShankRac) January 23, 2024
The plan for Shank is to put full focus on the NTT IndyCar Series in 2024 with drivers Helio Castroneves in the Indianapolis 500, and Felix Rosenqvist and Tom Blomqvist racing in the championship.
There will be no entries from the Meyer Shank Racing camp in Daytona this year, but Mike Shank plans to make a return to IMSA for 2025.
