By Mark Robinson

IMSA NewsWire

SEBRING, Fla. – Hundreds of heroes have created their legacy over seven decades of racing at Sebring International Raceway. Before that, thousands of military members prepared to take on heroic tasks in World War II when the racetrack site served as a U.S. Army airfield training base.

To commemorate the efforts and sacrifice of those brave veterans, officials from IMSA, the track, the city of Sebring and others gathered Wednesday evening to dedicate Hendricks Field Memorial Park, a small circular greenway in the track’s infield that was once the literal center hub of the airbase.

Hendricks Field was constructed in the second half of 1941, completed just weeks after the attack on Pearl Harbor that launched the U.S. into World War II. It was the first U.S. Army training base for the B-17 bomber known as the “Flying Fortress.” According to Wayne Estes, president of Sebring International Raceway, more than 10,000 pilots trained at Hendricks from 1942-45 as well as thousands of navigators, bombardiers, gunners, paratroopers, instructors, soldiers and support personnel.

The city of Sebring took over the property when the airfield closed after the war in 1945. Five years later, the first endurance race was conducted on the old runways, launching another legacy that continues this weekend with the 71st running of the Mobil 1 Twelve Hours of Sebring.

IMSA and Sebring officials never lost sight of the original purpose for the property and worked in recent years to restore the area dedicated Wednesday where the original Hendricks Field flagpole still stands.

“The world was at war and Hendricks Field played a significant role in winning the war in both Europe and in the Pacific,” Estes said. “At the center of Hendricks Field, troops looked to the top of this very flagpole to see the stars and stripes flying proudly as it still does here at Sebring Raceway today.

“It is obvious that Sebring International Raceway would not be here without the foundation of Hendricks Field,” Estes added, “and the freedoms that we know, that much of the world knows, owe so much not just to those who trained here to serve overseas but to all who fought and continue to fight, and in many cases died, to preserve those freedoms. This evening we rededicate this small piece of land to honor and remember those who stepped up and continue to step up to turn back those who threaten the freedom that this country has known for almost 250 years.”

A pair of WWII veterans attended the ceremony that also included a presentation from Honor and Remember, an organization dedicated to recognizing the service of fallen military members. Executive Director George Lutz presented an Honor and Remember flag to Inez Ortiz, whose son David Brangman was killed while serving in Iraq in 2005.

The inaugural class for the IMSA Hall of Fame has been selected and includes four drivers, three IMSA founders and four iconic race cars from throughout the sanctioning body’s 54-year history.

The inductees will be honored as part of October’s WeatherTech Night of Champions held following the Motul Petit Le Mans season finale to celebrate the 2023 IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship and crown series champions.

Speaking of champions, the four drivers selected for induction into the inaugural IMSA Hall of Fame class – Peter Gregg, Hurley Haywood, Al Holbert and Scott Pruett – all were multiple-time IMSA champions and multi-time winners of the world’s most prestigious sports car races. Joining the inaugural IMSA Hall of Fame class are the three founders of the International Motor Sports Association: John and Peggy Bishop and Bill France Sr.

In addition to the seven people selected to the first IMSA Hall of Fame class, four iconic race cars – the Chevrolet Corvette C5-R, Ferrari 333 SP, Mazda RX-7 GTU and the Porsche 962 – also have been selected for enshrinement.

“These seven individuals and four race cars are the epitome of excellence in IMSA and global sports car racing,” said IMSA President John Doonan. “There can only be one inaugural class, and each of these inductees unquestionably qualifies as a ‘First Ballot Hall of Famer.’ We could not be prouder to welcome John and Peggy, ‘Big Bill,’ Peter, Hurley, Al and Scott – as well as the C5-R, 333 SP, RX-7 GTU and 962 – into the IMSA Hall of Fame.”

These inductees were selected from a larger group determined by a nominating committee comprised of past and present IMSA executives and an esteemed group of media members. BDO, which was introduced as a corporate partner of IMSA earlier this year, validated the accuracy of the 2023 IMSA Hall of Fame voting results.

Plans call for a mix of influential people and race cars to be inducted into the IMSA Hall of Fame each year.

“We are grateful to our nominating committee for thoughtfully presenting several highly successful race cars and key players from the IMSA paddock that were deserving of our consideration,” said Doonan. “It was challenging to reduce the initial list of nominees into a smaller group for a ‘final ballot,’ and even tougher to decide who would be chosen for this year’s class of inductees. We are confident in this year’s selections and know that many of those nominees will one day be enshrined in the IMSA Hall of Fame as well.”

The IMSA Hall of Fame will live in an online environment. A standalone website will launch later this year.

IMSA Hall of Fame Class of 2023

John and Peggy Bishop – Husband and wife co-founded the International Motor Sports Association (IMSA) along with NASCAR founder Bill France Sr. Led IMSA from 1969 through 1989. John Bishop served as IMSA President throughout his tenure, while Peggy managed IMSA staff, registration, timing and other essential processes. Grew IMSA from sanctioning body for Formula Ford races on small ovals to pinnacle of worldwide sports car racing. Prior to forming IMSA, John Bishop previously worked for the Sports Car Club of America (SCCA), where he played an instrumental role in the creation and operation of Can-Am, Trans-Am and Formula 5000. (Photo courtesy of International Motor Racing Research Center)

Bill France Sr. – Founder of NASCAR co-founded IMSA in 1969 with John and Peggy Bishop. Provided initial financial support for IMSA using a business model based on the successful NASCAR stock car program. Brought international sports car endurance racing to Daytona International Speedway with a three-hour race in 1962, which expanded to 24 hours in 1966. A motorsport visionary who supported stock cars, sports cars, motorcycles and any other form of the sport that could fit into the France family’s growing portfolio of racing facilities. (Photo courtesy of International Motor Racing Research Center)

Peter Gregg – One of IMSA’s first stars and the most successful GT driver of the 1970s. Co-drove with Hurley Haywood to the first IMSA GT race victory at VIRginia International Raceway in 1971. Ten-time IMSA champion (1971 GTU, 1973 GT CHALLENGE, 1973 GTO, 1974 GT CHALLENGE, 1974 GTO, 1975 GTO, 1978 GT CHALLENGE, 1978 GTX, 1979 GTX) and four-time overall winner of the Rolex 24 At Daytona (1973, 1975, 1976, 1978). (Photo courtesy of International Motor Racing Research Center)

Hurley Haywood – Winningest overall major endurance race driver of all time. Five overall Rolex 24 At Daytona victories (1973, 1975, 1977, 1979, 1991). Three 24 Hours of Le Mans overall victories (1977, 1979, 1981). Two Mobil 1 Twelve Hours of Sebring victories (1973, 1981). Co-drove to first IMSA GT race victory with Peter Gregg at VIRginia International Raceway in 1971. Four-time IMSA champion (1971 GTU, 1972 GT CHALLENGE, 1972 GTU, 1994 NORTH AMERICAN ENDURANCE CUP CLASS 1). (Photo courtesy of International Motor Racing Research Center)

Al Holbert – Most overall race victories in IMSA with 49. Seven-time IMSA champion (1976 GT CHALLENGE, 1976 GTO, 1977 GT CHALLENGE, 1977 GTO, 1983 GTP, 1985 GTP, 1986 GTP). Became fifth driver in history to win major endurance racing “triple crown” (Daytona, Le Mans, Sebring) and is one of only nine drivers to win each race overall. Rolex 24 At Daytona winner in 1986 and 1987. Mobil 1 Twelve Hours of Sebring winner in 1976 and 1981. Three-time 24 Hours of Le Mans winner (1983, 1986, 1987). (Photo courtesy of Peter Gloede)

Scott Pruett – Nine IMSA championships (1986 GTO, 1986 GT Endurance, 1988 GTO, 2004 GRAND-AM DP, 2008 GRAND-AM DP, 2010 GRAND-AM DP, 2011 GRAND-AM DP, 2012 GRAND-AM DP, 2018 GRAND-AM DP ENDURANCE CUP). Tied with Hurley Haywood for most overall Rolex 24 At Daytona overall victories with five (1994, 2007, 2008, 2011, 2013) and all-time leader in Rolex 24 class wins with 10. Overall Mobil 1 Twelve Hours of Sebring winner in 2014. Owns 60 career IMSA victories, which is second on all-time IMSA winner’s list.

Chevrolet Corvette C5-R – Claimed 31 victories, 50 podium finishes and 24 pole positions in 55 races from 1999 through 2004. Won four constructor’s championships, four team championships and three driver championships. Earned overall victory in 2001 Rolex 24 At Daytona. Had three class victories in 24 Hours of Le Mans (2001, 2002 and 2004). Won Mobil 1 Twelve Hours of Sebring (2002, 2003 and 2004). (Photo courtesy of Richard Prince)

Ferrari 333 SP – Claimed 56 victories and 69 pole positions in 144 races worldwide from 1994 through 2003. Won IMSA constructors’ championships in 1995 and 1998, an IMSA driver championship in 1995 and an IMSA team championship in 1998. Won Mobil 1 Twelve Hours of Sebring three times (1995, 1997, 1998). Won 1998 Rolex 24 At Daytona. (Photo courtesy of Bill Tuttle)

Mazda RX-7 GTU – Won GTU class (for engines with a displacement under 2.5 liters) in debut race at Daytona in 1979 with two-rotor rotary engine. Two Mazda factory cars finished on the podium in every race in 1980 en route to championship. Program shifted to privateer entries from 1981 through 1987 with RX-7 drivers claiming seven straight GTU championships. Car was instrumental in launching the careers of legendary IMSA drivers including Scott Pruett, Tommy Kendall, Bill Auberlen and many others. (Photo courtesy of Peter Gloede)

Porsche 962 – Debuted at the Daytona 24 Hours in 1984 with Mario and Michael Andretti as co-drivers and won the pole position. Led the race before technical problems removed it from contention. First IMSA victory came in 1984 six-hour race at Watkins Glen. Won Daytona 24 Hours five times (1985-87, 1989 and 1991) and 24 Hours of Le Mans in 1985, 1987 and 1994. Won IMSA GTP championship every year from 1985 to 1988. (Photo courtesy of Peter Gloede)

By John Oreovicz and Holly Cain

IMSA Wire Service

Race Results

DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. -- Robby Foley took the lead after a restart with a little more than 20 minutes remaining in the Alan Jay Automotive Network 120 at Sebring International Raceway, and his No. 96 Turner Motorsport teammate Cameron Lawrence followed him home to complete a 1-2 finish overall and in the Grand Sport (GS) class for Turner and the new BMW M4 GT4 (G82).

Vin Barletta ran the first 47 minutes of the two-hour contest in Turner’s No. 96 BMW before handing off to Foley in a green flag pit stop. The timing of the stops worked well, because as other teams’ strategies played out during a series of full-course cautions, Foley found himself running second and in position to attack leader Christian Szymczak (No. 72 Murillo Racing Mercedes-AMG GT GT4).

“Brilliant strategy from our guys,” said Foley after his fourth career victory in Michelin Pilot Challenge competition. “It looked like we might have been off strategy during the first couple yellows, but that was all to plan to play out later. You can never predict them exactly, but there’s a high probability of yellows here. This race played out like many before, and it’s a testament to our guys on the box. They’ve been doing this for so long that they’ve seen these scenarios a hundred times.”

Foley passed Szymczak with 22 minutes left on the race clock, then held on through one final restart to win by 0.601 seconds over Turner’s No. 95 entry shared by Lawrence and Robert Megennis. Robin Liddell rallied from seventh to third in the closing laps in the No. 71 Rebel Rock Racing Chevrolet Camaro GT4.R.

It was the first race win in Michelin Pilot Challenge action for the G82-generation of the legendary BMW M3, and the second for Barletta, for whom Foley serves as a mentor and driving coach.

Barletta noted that he is benefitting from also competing for Turner in the IMSA VP Racing SportsCar Challenge, a series of sprint races for GT4 sedans and LMP3 prototypes. The VP Racing Challenge was in action at Sebring last weekend.

“Where I am, with Robby coaching me, every lap is important at this point to get experience and push myself to improve as a driver,” Barletta said. “It’s very valuable.

“I just tried to stay clean,” he added. “I feel I did my job and we had great pit stops by the team. There was a lot of stuff going on out there today, and Robby had the pace at the end when it counted.”

Foley fell back on the old adage that track position is king.

“I’m not sure we had the fastest car, but I know we had a fast car when it counted,” he said. “The new car for us takes a little longer to come in, and you really have to be aggressive with your tires under yellow. So, I was ready to go for every restart. I don’t think I had a lot of pace on the guys behind, so it was a matter of opening up a little gap on that first lap. That was the difference for me.”

Late Pass Puts Lewis and Block Back in Victory Lane in No. 5 Alfa Romeo in TCR

The Touring Car (TCR) class win went to Florida-based KMW Motorsports with TMR Engineering. Driver Tim Lewis made his move to the lead in the No. 5 Alfa Romeo Giulietta Veloce TCR RS3 after several corners of intense side-by-side racing with Bryan Herta Autosport driver Robert Wickens  - pulling ahead just before the race’s final full-course caution came out - with a little more than 10 minutes remaining in the two-hour event.

Wickens had taken the race lead with about an hour remaining when his No. 33 BHA Hyundai pitted ahead of a caution period near the race’s midpoint. While the rest of the TCR class came in for driver changes during that ensuing yellow, the No. 33 had already completed its service and driver change and assumed the lead.

Wickens held off Lewis and the 15-car TCR field by nearly a second at one point with Lewis fighting back and ultimately pulling up to challenge Wickens corner after corner as the caution flag came out. 

“I don’t think it was side-by-side,’’ Wickens said. “To be honest, the visibility in these cars is quite challenging and I could see that he was close and wasn’t sure if I was exactly clear, so I left him some space and then I saw the flashing light [signifying a caution flag] in my car so I lifted. And he proceeded to overtake me.

“So, in my mind, he definitely wasn’t ahead of me.’’

Wickens said IMSA told the Bryan Herta team that the overtake “was in progress before the yellow” so that’s why Lewis was allowed to keep the position, ultimately taking a 1.671-second victory. The No. 98 Bryan Herta Autosport with Curb Agajanian Hyundai Elantra N finished third with drivers Mark Wilkins and Mason Filippi.

“There was a disabled car on the side of the track for two laps before, and conversing with my team, they said ‘Hey, if you’re going to go for it, you need to go for it now,’’’ Lewis said, “And that’s when Robbie made just the slightest mistake and we went side-by-side for three turns.’’

Lewis said there was no question he had made the pass prior to the yellow flag, noting his team also called into race control during the caution period to verify his position out front. 

This is the sixth win for the No. 5 driver pairing – Lewis, of Boca Raton and his co-driver Roy Block, of Winter Park - and their first at the famed Sebring International Raceway.

IMSA Wire Service

Sebring Race 2 Results

SEBRING, Fla. – After leading every lap en route to victory in this morning’s first race of a Sunday doubleheader at Sebring International Raceway, Bijoy Garg had a much tougher time in this afternoon’s second 45-minute IMSA VP Racing SportsCar Challenge race.

But the end result was the same, as Garg drove the No. 3 Jr III Racing Ligier JS P320 back into Victory Lane. Despite starting the race from the pole position, Garg surrendered the lead to Dan Goldburg in the No. 73 JDC MotorSports Duqueine D08 on the opening lap.

Goldburg grabbed the advantage just before the full-course caution came out due to a first-lap incident in Turn 1 involving Adrian Kunzle in the No. 54 MLT Motorsports Ligier, Scott Neal in the No. 86 Kellymoss with Riley Ligier and Courtney Crone in the No. 99 Forty7 Motorsports Duqueine. When the green flag flew again 10 minutes into the race, a three-car battle ensued at the front of the LMP3 field that included Goldburg, Garg and Antonio Serravalle in the No. 18 Muehlner Motorsports America Ligier.

Though no positions changed hands, the battle remained close among the three cars through the halfway point of the race. It was particularly close between Goldburg and Garg, who made several runs at Goldburg in traffic before finally making the decisive pass in Sebring’s famed Hairpin (Turn 7) with 15 minutes left in the race.

“I did a pretty big dive bomb, but it worked out and none of us got damage,” said Garg.

Garg then went from hunter to hunted for the next few laps as he navigated traffic with Goldburg in his mirrors, before catching a break when Goldburg spun in Turn 7 with under 10 minutes remaining. Garg went on to win by 4.949 seconds over Serravalle, picking up a Sebring weekend sweep for himself and his Jr III Racing teammates.

“I lost the lead off the start, but I wasn’t too worried,” Garg said. “I knew it all came down to the traffic and just finding an opportunity there, so as long as I stayed with (Goldburg), I was fine. I used some lapped cars, set a pick for him and then got it.

“From there, it’s all about the traffic management, as usual. It’s not easy going to a multi-class. I’m just really happy to come out with the win today.”

Serravalle was one of a number of series newcomers in the 30-car field at Sebring. He had a double podium day with a third-place run in the morning before his runner-up performance in the afternoon for the Muehlner squad.

Goldburg recovered from the spin to finish third for his fourth consecutive podium result to open the VP Racing Challenge season. He will depart the weekend atop both the overall LMP3 championship standings, as well as the Bronze driver standings. He has been the highest-finishing Bronze-rated driver in every race so far.

The next event for the VP Racing Challenge is scheduled for July 7-9 at Canadian Tire Motorsport Park as part of the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Challenge Chevrolet Grand Prix weekend.

Liefooghe Rebounds for GSX Class Victory in No. 43 Stephen Cameron Racing BMW

Gregory Liefooghe started from the GSX class pole in the No. 43 Stephen Cameron Racing BMW M4 GT4 and led every lap but the last one in this morning’s first 45-minute race.

And while he also started this afternoon’s race from the class pole, it appeared on the opening lap like he might come up empty on the day as he fell from first to fifth at the end of the first lap.

“The start was pretty sporty,” Liefooghe said. “There was two LMP3 cars that crashed right in front of me. I was on the outside, so I kind of got stuck, fell back and almost got collected, so I was really happy to survive.”

He did more than survive. Liefooghe went right to work when the race went back to green following a 10-minute full-course caution period, picking off the cars in front of him, including Luca Mars, who won this morning’s race in the No. 59 KOHR MOTORSPORTS Ford Mustang GT4 but had to make an unscheduled trip to pit lane early in Race 2.

“Unfortunately, Lucas broke down,” Liefooghe said. “I’m not sure what happened to him. We were looking forward to a battle with him and see how we improved our car compared to his since this morning.”

Liefooghe would not be denied in Race 2, especially with Mars out of the picture. He drove away from the field after taking the lead, and took the checkered flag 22.712 seconds ahead of Sebastian Carazo, who finished second in the No. 27 Kellymoss with Riley Porsche 718 GT4 RS CS.

“It just seems like our car was really good on the high-speed stuff,” Liefooghe surmised. “(Turns) 17 and 1 was our strong suit. It felt like we were able to brake a lot deeper than the other competitors and we kind of squeaked by in those two spots on track.”

While Liefooghe and Carazo, who also finished third this morning, had podium finishes in both of the day’s races, they were greeted by a new face on the podium at the end of Race 2. Patrick Wilmot came home third in the No. 88 Split Decision Motorsports BMW.