Heinricher Racing Disappointed with Detroit Finish After Strong Weekend

Photo by Brian Cleary / BCpix.com

Detroit, Mich. (1 June 2019) – Strong balance, quick pit stops and a solid race car were the perfect combination for a podium finish for Heinricher Racing with Meyer Shank Racing at the Chevrolet Sports Car Classic. Unfortunately, getting turned by a competitor late in race left the No. 57 Caterpillar Acura NSX GT3 in ninth place.

Katherine Legge and Christina Nielsen were battling for the podium on Saturday after starting on the front row for the 100-minute IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship sprint race. The pit crew delivered a well-executed stop on Lap 22 and the duo were never out of the top five for the first 50 laps. In the closing minutes of the race, Legge was chasing down third place when an incident on Lap 51 turned the No. 57 Acura. Legge was able to right the car but finished down the order.

“I am proud of the immense effort of the drivers during the entire race weekend,” said team principal Jackie Heinricher. “I thank the entire MSR team for providing us an amazing car. We have extraordinary teamwork and that is crucial in racing. And motor racing at this level of IMSA is extremely competitive between the top athletes in the sport. Christina and Katherine, being two of the top drivers, put up an amazing fight!  I’m very proud of the Heinricher Racing team and thank Caterpillar for their support and partnership. We look forward to Watkins Glen!”

“I was happy with how my stint went and overall we had a really good car today,” said Nielsen. “The team gave us a car that deserved a podium. The pit stop was good, the driver change was good, everything was just where it should be. Everyone put in great effort all weekend. The result just doesn’t reflect it. Hopefully we will walk into a similar package at Watkins Glen.

“We had such a strong package this weekend,” said Legge. “All weekend long the car was on rails and the guys really tuned it to be a great car to drive. Detroit is a tough track because it’s narrow and really tough to pass. Unfortunately, we had that incident in the end there and I got turned around. I wish we could have brought home another win for the team here in Detroit, but we will have to take what we learned and apply it to Watkins Glen.”

The team will head to the Sahlen’s Six Hours of Watkins Glen, the next event on the IMSA schedule on June 27-30.