Daytona Beach, Fla. (5 January 2019) – The 2020 season started off strong for Heinricher Racing with Meyer Shank Racing at the Roar Before the 24. The annual test weekend at Daytona International Speedway saw the combination of Misha Goikhberg, Alvaro Parente, Trent Hindman and AJ Allmendinger on track for three days in preparation for this year’s Rolex 24 At Daytona.
Parente, Hindman and Allmendinger have a successful history together, having scored a second-place finish in an Acura NSX GT3 at the Rolex 24 with Meyer Shank Racing in 2018. With the addition of Goikhberg, the lineup was set for the start of the test weekend.
On Friday, Hindman laid down the initial fast lap during practice one, with Parente posting the fastest lap of the first day at 1:47.830-seconds.
Day two was busy as the team prepared for the final two practice sessions ahead of an afternoon qualifying session to set pit stall locations for the Rolex 24 later in the month.
Hindman returned to his qualifying duties, having scored three pole positions for MSR last season. Another strong run, with a fast time of 1:46.952 seconds, qualified the No. 57 Acura in fifth position at the end of the 15-minute session.
“Throughout qualifying today, we still worked quite a bit on getting our car dialed in and we know a pretty definitive direction that we need to go for the Rolex,” said Hindman. “The mixed conditions made things a little interesting but for the most part I think we are really happy with the car that we have. We are pleased with the garage and pit stall location that we are going to get out of this qualifying run. All in all, I think it was a really good qualifying across both the 57 and 86 team cars. Big thanks to Heinricher Racing, Meyer Shank Racing, Acura and HPD for a great weekend so far.”
Heinricher Racing is eager to start the 2020 season on a high note and with confidence after a strong test weekend.
“This was a strong weekend for Heinricher Racing and a promising start to our season,” said team principal Jackie Heinricher. “It’s definitely great to be back with Mike and the entire MSR team. With Alvaro, Misha, Trent and AJ, we have a great team of drivers. I think this showed in the pace we had on track—the type of pace we’ll need to contend this year.”
In addition to seven-plus hours of on track action, the Roar Before the 24 weekend consisted of a range of media activities including interviews with NBC. In just three weeks, the Heinricher Racing with Meyer Shank Racing crew will return to Daytona International Speedway for the Rolex 24 At Daytona (January 22-26).
Broadcast 1/25
NBC 1:30-2:30pm ET
NBCSN 2:00-6:00pm ET
NBCSN App 6:00-11:00pm ET
NBCSN 11:00pm-3:00am ET
Broadcast 1/26
NBCSN App 3:00-6:00am ET
NBCSN 6:00am-12:30pm ET
NBC 12:00-2:00pm ET