DAYTONA, USA – In a thrilling return to form, Road Shagger Racing started off their 2023 season in the best possible way, capturing their second IMSA Michelin Pilot Challenge victory at Daytona.
Ernstone started the race 9th and drove the stint of his career; slicing his way through the field multiple times, while running consistent laps near his qualifying pace, which by the way was the fastest he’d ever lapped the Daytona circuit.
As a penalty for my Daytona crash in 2022, the team wouldn’t let me get out of the car until I got it to the lead.
Gavin Ernstone
After getting close to the front a few times, Ernstone finally reached the lead on lap 59, a full 2 hours and 21 minutes into the race. He ran one more quick lap -just a half second off his qualifying pace- on old tires before coming in to hand the car off to Morley.
The team welcomed many new members over the off-season and quite of few of them headed over the wall for the first time in Daytona. They absolutely nailed the four-tire stop and sent Morley back on track well ahead of his competition, where he settled into a comfortable 15 second lead.
But as with most Michelin Pilot Challenge races, it’s not a matter of if, but when a full course yellow will come out. The yellow came with 50 minutes remaining and wiped out Morley’s comfortable lead.
After pitting for new front tires, Morley restarted in 3rd and dropped back to 4th while taking a safe and conservative approach during the restart. He was then able to easily pick off the two Hyundais in front of him, as Daytona is their weakest track, and set off after Mike LaMarra in the mighty Honda.
The Civics had been lightning fast all week and LaMarra was showing good pace as Morley closed in. With 20 minutes still remaining in the race, Morley took his time, studying LaMarra’s strengths and weaknesses, determined to make his overtaking attempt as safe a possible.
Once it became obvious the draft-past approach wasn’t going to work, Morley knew his best chance was into turn three. With 8 laps to go, LaMarra made a mistake in turn one, allowing Morley to get a small run towards turn three. LaMarra left the door open and Morley stormed through.
Once he was in the lead, Morley put his head down and attempted to drop LaMarra, but wasn’t able to replicate his earlier pace, as his car had gone loose with the new front tires. After over-driving turn one himself and opening the door for a move by LaMarra into turn three -which Morley survived- he decided to focus on just keeping things clean and nailing his corner exits.
The strategy worked and he crossed the line 0.427 seconds ahead of LaMarra for the Road Shagger’s first win since Sebring in 2021.
The Audi was incredible today. Daytona has always been its best track and we’ve proven that by winning every race we’ve finished there.
Jon Morley
Daytona was the first round as Car Chief for longtime Road Shagger Dallas Mucci and he nailed it. The only mechanical issue experienced by the team throughout the five days on track at Daytona was a splitter issue due to a worn out part.
“My love for this team has always been here no matter what position I’m in,” Mucci said. “To have the trust of you guys for Chief, and to start the way it has is what people dream will happen, but rarely does. It’s something I’ll always remember and will keep the hunger going for more and more wins to keep contributing to the team’s success. I am one part of a big well-oiled machine and it took all of us to get it done and I loved every second of it.
Mucci’s mechanical prowess and attention to detail will be critical as the team transitions to the new Gen 2 Audi RS 3 LMS for the remainder of the season. The new car arrived too late for the team to run it at Daytona, but they plan to test it soon and have it ready for Sebring in March.
Road Shagger Racing is a professional motorsports team racing in the TCR class of the IMSA Michelin Pilot Challenge. They race an Audi RS 3 LMS TCR SEQ and are sponsored by Streamline Home Loans, Simply Vegas Real Estate, The Simply Group, Clear Title and Race For RP. All of their races are available for live streaming on NBC’s Peacock and their full racing schedule is available at RoadShagger.com.
Gavin Ernstone's Road Shagger Racing 