Whelen Engineering Racing Heads to California for America’s Tire 250 

Monterey, Calif. (19 September 2017) – Whelen Engineering Racing drivers Eric Curran and Dane Cameron will return to IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship competition this weekend as the team heads West to Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca in Monterey, California for the America’s Tire 250 (broadcast: Sunday at 5:00 PM ET on FS1).

The two hour, forty-minute race is the final sprint event of the 2017 calendar, with the IMSA season set to close once again with the 10-hour Petit Le Mans on October 7th. 

Following a six-week break since the previous IMSA Prototype race at Road America, Curran and Cameron are eager to get back to work this weekend behind the wheel of the No. 31 Whelen Engineering Cadillac DPi-V.R. The duo, which paired for the 2016 IMSA Championship, continued their winning ways for Whelen in 2017 with a run to victory at Canadian Tire Motorsport Park and will look to add another win for the No. 31 this weekend.

With an impressive record of success at the Monterey circuit that includes two GT class victories (2012, 2014), California-born Cameron has good reason to be looking forward to a return to the fabled facility following the break in the IMSA schedule.

“It has been a long time since Road America—I am ready to go right now!” said Cameron, who scored third co-driving with Curran in the 2016 visit to the track. “I grew up in Northern California so Laguna Seca was where my family went to watch races, and has always been my home track. I’ve had some good races there through the years, and am definitely looking forward to driving the Whelen Cadillac there this weekend. We’ve got two more races to try to win this season, and we’ve been working hard to be able to close out the year on a very strong note.”

Growing up in Massachusetts, Curran wasn’t exposed to the 2.2-mile circuit until he had already developed into a professional racing driver. But despite not having any childhood memories of the track, he was a quick study at the low-grip road course as evidenced by his 2006 run to the pole and flag to flag victory there in World Challenge.

“I love Laguna Seca and I cannot wait to race our Whelen Engineering Cadillac DPi-V.R there this weekend,” said Curran, who took a GT class podium in the Whelen Corvette at the track in 2013. “Going from the Daytona Prototypes we raced the past few seasons to the new Cadillac DPi-V.R means that every track is a new challenge for us to learn what this Cadillac needs. There are some very fast corners there and it is a smooth track, but there isn’t much grip. With the mix of slow and fast corners, the engineers have to come up with a great balance. I think it will be awesome to drive there so I am really looking forward to it after what has seemed like a long break!”

Whelen Engineering Racing: America’s Tire 250 / Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca

2016 Eric Curran, Dane Cameron  Started  3rd, Finished 3rd (4 laps led)

2015 Eric Curran, Dane Cameron  Started 7th  Finished 5th