{"id":5282,"date":"2022-11-15T12:33:22","date_gmt":"2022-11-15T17:33:22","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sundaymanagement.com\/?p=5282"},"modified":"2023-05-03T15:53:16","modified_gmt":"2023-05-03T19:53:16","slug":"rebel-rock-racing-grows-imsa-program-with-vp-racing-challenge-campaign","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sundaymanagement.com\/index.php\/2022\/11\/15\/rebel-rock-racing-grows-imsa-program-with-vp-racing-challenge-campaign\/","title":{"rendered":"Rebel Rock Racing Grows IMSA Program with VP Racing Challenge Campaign"},"content":{"rendered":"

Targeting Michelin Pilot Challenge GS title, enters VP Racing Challenge in final run for Camaro GT4.R<\/em><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

DAYTONA BEACH, FL (15 November\u00a02022) \u2013 Rebel Rock Racing will expand its involvement in IMSA competition in 2023, widening its focus to compete full-time in two championships. In addition to fielding the No. 71 Urban Grid Chevrolet Camaro GT4.R in a bid for the title in its fifth full season in the Michelin Pilot Challenge (MPC), Rebel Rock will prepare a similar Camaro for the debut season of the VP Racing SportsCar Challenge.<\/p>\n

Robin Liddell and Frank DePew will again co-drive in the 10-race Michelin Pilot Challenge. DePew will also pilot a Camaro in the new VP Racing Challenge, which consists of a pair of 45-minute sprints on six different weekends. Both series open the 2023 campaign at Daytona International Speedway.<\/p>\n

The two drivers have five victories over the past four MPC seasons. They won at Canadian Tire Motorsport Park and Road America in 2019, then won at Road Atlanta in 2020; Sebring International Raceway in 2021; and at Lime Rock in the recently completed campaign. Rebel Rock managed to finish a team-best fifth in the 2022 GS standings \u2013 with its sights now set on the title for 2023.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019re really focusing on running for the IPC championship,\u201d DePew said. \u201cThat means keeping our nose clean as much as possible. We\u2019ve been testing to improve our reliability, and I\u2019m working on improving my driving. We\u2019ve been able to contend at every track; we\u2019ve just messed up a little bit here and there, which hurt us.\u201d<\/p>\n

DePew has cut back his busy work schedule to enable him to spend more time concentrating on his race craft.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019ve slowed down a bit at work, so I\u2019m going to have more time,\u201d DePew said. \u201cAdditionally, I\u2019m going to compete in the VP Challenge. We\u2019ll be bringing two identical Camaros to the track \u2013 one set up for each race \u2013 and that\u2019s really going to help me. Up until now, I\u2019ve had very limited track time prior to races, and we haven\u2019t had much opportunity to test. I\u2019m also working on getting in better shape to be ready for the season. One thing that\u2019s interesting is the different mindset from being the starting driver in an endurance race \u2013 where you need to preserve the car \u2013 and running in sprint races.\u201d<\/p>\n

The team will also be looking for a strong farewell for its Camaro.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt will be the last year of homologation for the GT4.R,\u201d Liddell said. \u201cIn the bigger picture, it\u2019s the end of an era. A number of us on the team \u2013 myself included \u2013 have raced Camaros from Day 1 of the modern era. In 2010 we debuted the [Rolex Series] GT car along with the RS car, and we\u2019re been running them ever since with a couple of gaps. We\u2019ve won a lot of races, with the Z-28, SS, ZL1-GT4, all the different models. With no plans for GM to build a GT4 car for the foreseeable future, we have longevity with the car and our people, and if we put everything together and stay consistent for next year, I think there\u2019s every possibility that we can win the championship.\u201d<\/p>\n

Liddell is also looking forward to running the second car in the new series.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis will give Frank a lot of additional seat time which will help to build his confidence in the car,\u201d Liddell said. \u201cOur focus is still on the Michelin Pilot Challenge, but the VP Challenge will help Frank continue to grow as a driver. Adding to our existing program will be tricky as in reality it will require an additional team of guys to make it work, but nonetheless it\u2019s achievable and the timing just feels right.<\/p>\n

“If we can win on our good days, and finish in the top 10 on our very worst days, there\u2019s no reason why we can\u2019t challenge for the championship.\u201d<\/p>\n

The VP Challenge format will be a pair of 45-minute races following two 30-minute practices and 15-minute qualifying, featuring Silver- or Bronze-rated drivers in the GT4 and LMP3 categories. The season opens Jan. 20-22 during the Roar Before the Rolex 24, and will race at Sebring during the WEC Prologue on March 11-12, followed by running in the MPC weekends at Canadian Tire Motorsport Park, Lime Rock Park, Virginia International Raceway and Michelin Raceway Road Atlanta.<\/p>\n

The Michelin Pilot Challenge opens on Friday, Jan. 27, on the eve of the 61st Rolex 24 At Daytona.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Targeting Michelin Pilot Challenge GS title, enters VP Racing Challenge in final run for Camaro GT4.R   DAYTONA BEACH, FL (15 November\u00a02022) \u2013 Rebel Rock Racing [\u2026]<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":5283,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[19,9,1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-5282","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news","category-feature","category-uncategorized"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/sundaymanagement.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5282","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/sundaymanagement.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/sundaymanagement.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sundaymanagement.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/4"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sundaymanagement.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=5282"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/sundaymanagement.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5282\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":5284,"href":"https:\/\/sundaymanagement.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5282\/revisions\/5284"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sundaymanagement.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/5283"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/sundaymanagement.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=5282"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sundaymanagement.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=5282"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sundaymanagement.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=5282"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}