TMW: Cadillac Pairs with JOTA For WEC Effort
Hertz Team JOTA will be a factory Cadillac team with a two-car program starting in 2025.
The Morning Warmup
Aug. 7, 2024
Today’s Top Stories
1) Cadillac pairs with Hertz Team JOTA for 2025 Hypercar program (FIA WEC)
The U.K.-based squad confirmed the news Tuesday, with plans to switch to the factory GM deal after previously serving as a Porsche privateer effort. It will replace Chip Ganassi Racing in the partnership with Cadillac Racing, expanding to a two-car program as WEC looks to mandate two-car efforts.
This new pairing will be referred to as Cadillac Hertz Team JOTA.
“Cadillac is proud to be racing against the best in the world as part of the FIA World Endurance Championship, and that includes Hertz Team JOTA,” John Roth, Global Cadillac vice president, said in a press release.
“We are thrilled to welcome Hertz Team JOTA next year, bringing decades of racing and technical expertise together, to achieve continued success on the track and create new advocates for our brand around the globe.”
JOTA has been a stalwart of sports car paddocks, but primarily made its name in LMP2 competition. Along the way the comapyn earned 10 podiums at Le Mans, including multiple class wins. It stepped up to the Hypercar class in 2023 and scored its first overall win in May’s 6 Hours of Spa-Francorchamps.
Its 2024 effort - the team’s first as a factory operation - will offer it a chance to chase more overall wins moving forward.
“JOTA has always strived to become a manufacturer team, so now joining forces with Cadillac is the realization of this goal,” Hertz Team JOTA director and founder Sam Hignett said. “Having competed against the Cadillac V-Series.R for the last two seasons, we have experienced how competitive it is and we are genuinely honored to be entrusted with fielding its cars from 2025 onward.
“We are in the privileged position to have enjoyed record-breaking success in the FIA World Endurance Championship, especially at Le Mans, and we are very much looking forward to continuing this success with Cadillac and Hertz.”
The new-look effort’s driver lineup will be revealed at a later date.
(Source(s): Stephen Kilbey / RACER)
2) Bell crew chief Stevens out after surgery during Olympic break (NASCAR Cup)
Christopher Bell will be without crew chief Adam Stevens when NASCAR returns from its Olympic break.
Joe Gibbs Racing (JGR) announced Monday that Stevens underwent surgery for a double knee injury sustained during a family vacation. He’ll be replaced atop the box by car chief Chris Sherwood while he’s out.
As a result of the operation, Stevens will be operating out of the company’s race shop instead of traveling with the No. 20 team. He’ll be able to communicate with the team and access necessary resources through JGR’s war room.
“I hate that I won’t be at the track for a few weeks, but I will be fully engaged remotely,” Stevens said in the release. “I am very thankful for the depth and strength of his 20 team and don’t anticipate my physical absence having any effect on our performance. The surgery went well, and I will be back at the track in a few weeks.”
This is the second time Stevens will miss races since he joined Bell and the No. 20 team in 2021. He previously sat out a race for a lug nut violation in 2021.
Bell and Stevens have found great success in their time together, making the Championship 4 in each of the past two seasons. They currently sit eighth in the 2024 standings with three wins.
(Source(s): Kelly Crandall / RACER)
3) CARS Tour DQs Lapcevich from North Wilkesboro win (CARS Tour)
Treyten Lapcevich’s breakthrough CARS Late Model Stock Tour win has been stripped away three days after the race.
CARS Tour officials announced Tuesday that Lapcevich and Chad Bryant Racing’s No. 77 team had been disqualified from its win at North Wilkesboro Speedway due to an unapproved part.
Corey Heim has been retroactively declared the winner of Saturday’s Window World 125.
A CARS Tour statement read:
Upon further investigation with CARS Tour technical officials and the team’s owner, Chad Bryant, it has been verified that the unapproved part was indeed on the car throughout the event. Lapcevich’s team, Chad Bryant Racing, admitted to misinterpreting the rule as it is printed and CARS Tour management accepted that explanation.
Short Track Scene caught up with Chad Bryant, who confirmed plans to appeal the decision.
It read:
< “We believe in the process and the ownership and management group to make the right decisions going forward and to fix the broken system,” Bryant said. “CBR looks to be an integral part of the process in the future.
“It was a miscommunication between series officials and the team. I’m disappointed with CARS Tour’s decision and in the coming days, we do plan to file appeal. In my 30 years of motorsports, Chad Bryant as an employee or an entity has never been disqualified from any motorsports event ever.”
The former winner, Lapcevich, doubled down on the sentiment, claiming the team “plan to fight this one out until the end.”
(Source(s): Matt Weaver / Short Track Scene)
Race Recaps
Dirt
Front Row Challenge: Kyle Larson out dueled Corey Day in an exciting feature to claim a victory at Southern Iowa Speedway. (Bill Wright / TJ Slideways)
Capitani Classic: Rico Abreu kicked off Knoxville Raceway’s biggest race week with a win Sunday night. (Bill Wright / TJ Slideways)
News and Notes
NASCAR
We’ve got another Bianchi Bomb. The Athletic’s Jordan Bianchi reported Tuesday that Talladega Superspeedway is likely to join the semifinal round of the playoffs next year.
NASCAR’s heading back to Richmond Raceway this weekend. Martin Truex Jr. wants to finish what he started this spring. (Jim Utter / Motorsport)
Travis Peterson will serve as Michael McDowell’s crew chief at Spire Motorsports in 2025. (Kelly Crandall / RACER)
Here are the drivers to watch when NASCAR returns to action in Virginia. (Dustin Long / NBC Sports)
NASCAR prospect and short track star Brenden ‘Butterbean’ Queen is a close friend of title-winning Cup crew chief Cliff Daniels. It’s a special relationship that stems from their formative years. (Matt Weaver / Sportsnaut)
NASCAR’s Netflix show was widely-praised as a success. But ongoing charter negotiations could be delaying the next season. (Matt Weaver / Sportsnaut)
IndyCar
Romain Grosjean has a unique trick to help his team with data analysis. (Joey Barnes / Motorsport)
Recent events have shown how beneficial a reserve driver on-site could be for IndyCar teams. Why haven’t they implemented it? (Jack Benyon / The Race)
When IndyCar returns to action, Indy NXT contender Louis Foster is aiming to lock down the series title. (Marshall Pruett / RACER)
Arrow McLaren has shown potential. McLaren Racing CEO Zak Brown believes consistency is what is hampering the team relative to its rivals. (Charles Bradley & Filip Cleeren / Motorsport)
F1
In an exclusive with Motorsport’s Filip Cleeren, Daniel Ricciardo discussed the balance of aiming for a Red Bull seat while fighting off an outright F1 exit.
Here’s a behind-the-scenes look at Red Bull and Ford’s 2026 F1 engine project. (Ronald Vording / Motorsport)
Pierre Gasly arrived to an Alpine team centered around Esteban Ocon. How did he wrestle the team away from him? (Edd Straw / The Race)
The arrival of Carlos Sainz alongside Alex Albon could cause a significant challenge for Williams engineers, per chief engineer Dave Robson. (Chris Medland / RACER)
Williams is preparing to focus on three areas of its 2024 car after the break, while shifting its design focus to 2025. (Filip Cleeren / Motorsport)
Max Verstappen is on his worst run of form since 2020. How does it affect the F1 title fight? (Scott Mitchell-Malm / The Race)
Supercars
Super2 champion Kai Allen has secured a top-flight ride with Grove Racing, replacing Richie Stanaway in 2025. (Andrew van Leeuwen / Speedcafe)
Boost Mobile owner Peter Adderton says he’ll field Stanaway as a wildcard if he doesn’t secure a full-time seat for next year. (Simon Chapman / Speedcafe)
Supercars is assessing race formats for next year amid disappointment over the SuperSprint format. (Andrew van Leeuwen / Speedcafe)
It’s also working on a prototype tire for 2025. Chaz Mostert will have sampled it at The Bend Motorsport Park by the time you read this. (Andrew van Leeuwen / Speedcafe)
Walkinshaw Andretti United is fielding all-black Ford Mustangs moving forward after positive feedback from fans. (Andrew van Leeuwen / Speedcafe)
Sports Cars
Gradient Racing will switch to Mustangs in the IMSA GTD class next season. (Richard S. James / RACER)
Conquest Racing and Turner Motorsport were able to celebrate first wins last weekend at Road America. (Richard S. James / RACER)
Dirt
Short Tracks
Andrew Grady doesn’t believe his CARS Tour suspension and press release tell the full story of what transpired last weekend at Hickory Motor Speedway. (Matt Weaver / Short Track Scene)
The CARS Tour’s planned Friday trip to Ace Speedway has been postponed a week due to Hurricane Debby. (Matt Weaver / Short Track Scene)
Moto
Yamaha is reportedly in talks to sign Augusto Fernandez as a MotoGP test rider for next year. (German Garcia Casanova / Motorsport)
Silverstone is a fan-favorite track on the MotoGP calendar. So why can’t it draw a crowd? (Simon Patterson / The Race)
Marc Marquez didn’t chase a podium as hard as he could have at Silverstone. He admits a Saturday Sprint crash played a role. (Rachit Thukral & German Garcia Casanova / Motorsport)
Maverick Vinales feels Aprilia’s MotoGP situation is continuing to worsen. (Rachit Thukral & Gerald Dirnbeck / Motorsport)
Rally
It’s on. Thierry Neuville sees Sebastien Ogier as a title rival leaving Rally Finland. (Tom Howard / Motorsport)
Finnish prospect Sami Pajari has impressed Toyota and could be a driver option for 2025. (Tom Howard / Motorsport)
Other
Years removed from the COVID-19 pandemic, Japanese motorsport is finally appearing to be back on the rise. (Jamie Klein / Motorsport)
On Track This Week
All Times ET
Wednesday, Aug. 7
Dirt
World of Outlaws Sprint Cars Knoxville Nationals (Knoxville Raceway): 6:30 p.m., DirtVision
Xtreme Outlaw Midgets (Action Track USA): 7:15 p.m., DirtVision
Short Track Super Series (Cornwall Motor Speedway): 7:00 p.m., FloRacing
Short Tracks
Battle at Berlin (Berlin Raceway): 5:30 p.m., FloRacing/Racing America
-
Thursday, Aug. 8
Dirt
World of Outlaws Sprint Cars Knoxville Nationals (Knoxville Raceway): 6:30 p.m., DirtVision
Lucas Oil North/South 100 (Florence Speedway): 6:45 p.m., FloRacing
Xtreme Outlaw Midgets (Linda’s Speedway): 7:15 p.m., DirtVision
Short Tracks
Weekly Racing (Thunder Road Speedbowl): 7:00 p.m., FloRacing
Fast Fact
The Craftsman Truck Series has competed four times at Richmond Raceway since it returned to the series schedule after a 15-year hiatus in 2020. Of those, three have had the fewer cautions (four in 2020/23, three in 2022) than any of the 11 held pre-hiatus. That said, the 2021 race (11 yellows) came in one caution under the series record at the track. So this weekend’s race could go either way.
Special Thanks
The Morning Warmup is fueled by our supporters. They include:
Primary Sponsor: David Colyer
Affiliate Sponsors: Bob and Sally Wichert, Cat Hicks, Jory Fleischauer, Mary Dzuro, Nathan K. Thomas, Spencer Pullins, Tyler Sorenson.
Paddock Supporters: Allison Bodiford, Billy Rowlee, Buzz Baylis, Contessa Nyree, Hannah Landvater, Jeff Brown, John R. Wilson Jr., John Wimmer, Matt Call, Michael S. Lee, Nathan A. Ulery, Seth Whitsel and Sue Parzych.
Want to see your name here? Support Motorsports Beat on Patreon.