Acura MSR battles to late-race podium at Road America

ELKHART LAKE, Wis. (2 August 2025) – Acura Meyer Shank Racing (“Acura MSR”) saw its two-race IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship victory streak halted Sunday at Road America, but Renger van der Zande made a late charge to secure a podium finish for the No. 93 Acura ARX-6, which started on the pole by Nick Yelloly.

With most of the opening half-hour run under caution due to a pair of incidents, Yelloly led 24 laps over the opening stints before pitting to turn the Acura over to van der Zande. Returning to the race in fifth and with 48 minutes remaining, van der Zande was third out of the pits behind two Porsches following his final stop under caution – but was fifth on track behind a pair of BMWs that pitted earlier under green. Van der Zande managed to brilliantly get by both Porsches on a single pass – going to the inside to get one car, and then passing the other after going to the outside. With some zesty action in traffic, he managed to close on the BMWs with five minutes remaining, before ultimately running out of time.

Colin Braun started fourth in the No. 60 Acura ARX-6, falling back to ninth after opting to pit during the second caution and hoping for a turn of strategy. Tom Blomqvist took over in seventh with 87 minutes remaining, but a penalty while Braun was coming into his pit box then mired him in heavy traffic. Blomqvist continued to fight, working his way from 11th (and 22nd in the overall field) to place seventh at the checkered flag.

Only two races remain for the GTP competitors, who return to action with the TireRack.com Battle on the Bricks at Indianapolis Motor Speedway on Sept. 21.

Meyer Shank Racing Team Quotes:

Renger van der Zande: “Road America is always exciting, but it’s always a bit of a gamble somehow with the strategy here and that’s the way it turned out again. I think the BMWs were towards the back, and they took a gamble on when they pit and they won. So congrats to them. I think they had a faster car too, but we were not so bad either. We had good pace in the car and got good points for the manufacturer championship, so I think it’s a good day for us.”

Nick Yelloly: “So, P3 at the end of the day, and good championship points. Closed the gap in the constructors championship to the leaders, which was always the aim from the get go. Obviously, a bit disappointed not to win the race having started on pole. But overall, a solid weekend. Another podium for the 93 crew and something to build on leading up to Indianapolis.”

Tom Blomqvist: “Obviously a challenging race. Just got unlucky there strategically and I wouldn’t say we did a perfect job.  Then unfortunately, we had a bit of an unlucky incident in the pits and I hope the guy’s okay. It’s just such a tight, crowded pit lane and hard to avoid some incidents. With the penalty, it just kinda put us on the back foot. But, we did what we could to muster the P7 finish. Onward to Indy.”

Colin Braun: “On the 60 side, a little bit of a tough day. Obviously, we kinda split strategies there at the start just to do something different. I think all the manufacturers did and it kinda put us in the back a little bit. Then we got a yellow at the wrong time, unfortunately. Coming in for the driver change, I kinda turned into my pit box and a crew guy from BMW came out wide of the tire changer. Unfortunately, we collided, we got a drive through penalty and of course I hope he’s OK. Then we were kinda boxed in for the rest of the race. Happy for the 93 guys to get another podium for Acura.”