TUNE IN: Magnus Racing to Close out Season at Petit Le Mans

After a short break, your favorite group of racers at Magnus Racing are back, and we’re ready to close out the 2023 season with one of our favorite events of the year, Petit Le Mans. We participated in four races to date this season, starting the year off with a second-place finish at the Rolex 24 At Daytona. Our trusty trio of drivers John Potter, Andy Lally, and Spencer Pumpelly are ready to fight for the trophies and champagne again this weekend.

Michelin Raceway Road Atlanta will again host the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship with Petit Le Mans, now in its 26th year. We didn’t have the best of times here last year, so we have a bit of unfinished business with our No. 44 Aston Martin Vantage GT3.

The IMSA Michelin Endurance Cup championship is on the line, as we currently sit fourth in the GTD standings. Points for the championship will be added at the four-, eight-, and 10-hour marks during the race. Six points separate us from the leaders, and with a maximum of 15 points up for grabs, we’re ready to put up a fight.

You can watch all ten hours of racing live on Saturday, October 14th, starting at 11:40 AM ET, live on Peacock. If you only want to tune in for the last three hours, you can watch on USA starting at 6:30 PM ET. For anyone who wants to watch outside the USA, you can visit imsa.com/tvlive.

TUNE IN: Magnus Racing Rumbles Back to Watkins Glen for Six Hour

It’s time for one of our favorite race weekends of the year: the Sahlen’s Six Hours of the Glen. John and Andy continue their endurance quest for victory, once again joined by Spencer Pumpelly. The trio will race our trusty No. 44 Flex Box Racing Aston Martin Vantage, racing in the ever-so-popular GTD class. 

If you’re new here, the Six Hours of the Glen is the third race in the four-race Michelin Endurance Cup, the endurance championship within the 12-race full-seasons championship. Watkins Glen International holds a special place in our hearts, as this is the location of the first win John Potter and Andy Lally celebrated together as teammates in 2009 in the Michelin Pilot Challenge. 

Lally deserves some special recognition heading into this round, as he’s currently tied on the list for all-time wins at the Six Hour, having won it four times: 2004, 2007, 2010 and 2017.  He also made his NASCAR Cup debut at the circuit in 2009 and earned NASCAR top ten finish in the Xfinity Series (then Busch Series). 

The weather may be a key player in this weekend’s festivities, with a 40% to 60% chance of rain on Thursday, Friday, and Saturday, with race day expected to be warm, dry, and sunny. 

Watch live on Sunday at 10:40 AM Eastern, streaming live on Peacock. If you don’t have a Peacock account, you can watch tape-delayed starting at 2:00 PM Eastern on the USA Network. 

Tune In: Magnus Racing Gives Moms a Break, Goes out to Play at Laguna Seca

Ah, the time of year is almost upon us. Day three of summer break when the kiddos decide that the copious amounts of free time granted by our beloved educators is plain old boring. They complain to the parental units, expressing their dreadful boredom, a moan that is worse than the sound of nails on a chalkboard.

For Magnus Racing, our summer break began in March after the Twelve Hours of Sebring, and we decided out of respect for moms everywhere, we’re going to go outside and play this Mother’s Day weekend. All of our friends at the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship are heading to WeatherTech Raceway Laguna Seca, one of our favorite playgrounds! So, we’ve hopped on our bikes to head out west, ready to race the No. 44 Aston Martin Vantage GT4. John Potter and Andy Lally will lead our gang of merry troublemakers, competing in this weekend’s two-hour and 40-minute race, the MOTUL Course de Monterey Powered By Hyundai N (sounds fancy).

We’ll build our fort for the weekend on Thursday, then on Sunday, May 14, the official battle commences. You can watch live NBC at 12:10 PM Pacific, and also stream live on Peacock at the same time. As usual, our play pals at IMSA Radio will be covering all sessions live on imsaradio.com. If you’re a mom attending the event, we promise to leave you alone, eat a well-rounded meal each day, and drink plenty of water. If you don’t want to be left alone, please come by and say hello.

Thank you, moms!

Magnus Racing “Hits the Atmosphere” in “This Sebring Life”

In a weekend Magnus Racing has titled “This Sebring Life,” we’ll be piloting our No. 44 Flex-Box Aston Martin Vantage GT3 in the second round of the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship. There’s no “Mr. Jones” here, but Mr. Potter, Mr. Pumpelly, and Mr. Lally, along with their band of groupies head to Sebring International Raceway for the Twelve Hours of Sebring, a true paved paradise. We’re excited to be “Round Here” in Sebring, the race known for having the best party of all the IMSA WeatherTech races. Falling “Accidently in Love” with Sebring is no accident, as this place brings out the best and most entertaining fans.

Since our second-place finish at the season-opening Rolex 24 At Daytona, it took so long and the days went drifting away as we anxiously waited to resume racing. This weekend for the 71st Annual Mobil 1 Twelve Hours of Sebring, our three drivers will race the grey, blue, and orange car that shimmers and drives, down the length of the evening, for twelve hours straight. Ready to face the notoriously bumpy surface that is Sebring International Raceway, we are prepared to race in the 53-car field, with 19 entries with us in the GTD class. We currently have rain predicted on race day, but with “Rain King” Andy Lally in the No. 44 Aston Martin, we know we will be singing “Mrs. Potter’s Lullaby” in pit lane.

You can watch the entire race live on Peacock beginning on Saturday, March 18 at 10:10 AM Eastern, or tune in for the final six hours of the broadcast from 4:30 PM to 10:30 PM on USA Network. Our friends at imsaradio.com will be broadcasting all sessions, and you can find the full event schedule at imsa.com. Fans at the event are encouraged to attend the autograph session on Friday for help to demystify the musical references in this release, don’t be disappointed when there isn’t a concert.

Magnus Racing with Flex-Box Returns to Rolex Runner Up

DAYTONA, Fla, (January 30, 2023) – For the third time in four years, Magnus Racing has celebrated a job well done at the legendary Rolex 24 At Daytona, but from second place. Last weekend at Daytona International Speedway, the team kicked of the 2023 IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship with a 24-hour professional sports car racing endurance event, racing the No. 44 Aston Martin Vantage GT3. With the support of their hard-working crew in pit lane, drivers John Potter, Andy Lally, Spencer Pumpelly, and Nicki Thiim put in an incredible, almost-perfect performance to finish second in the 24-hour endurance race.

When Magnus Racing with Flex-Box entered the Rolex 24 At Daytona, it was obvious early on the team had a strong Aston Martin Vantage GT3 and an impressive driver lineup to contend for the first win of the 2023 WeatherTech SportsCar Championship season. After finishing in second place in 2020 and 2022, the team felt more determination than ever to claim a third victory to go with their 2012 and 2016 wins at the iconic event.

The day before the main WeatherTech race was set to begin, Pumpelly and Potter each competed in Friday’s four-hour Michelin Pilot Challenge race, and both celebrated a podium finish together at the end. Pumpelly fought from the back of the field to second place with team BGB in the GS class. Potter was called up an hour prior to the race to drive the Aston Martin GT4, replacing another driver. With co-driver Jon Branam, the pair took a win in the GS-B category with team TR3, the first of two bronze honors Potter would earn over the weekend.

For Saturday’s Rolex 24, John Potter produced an impressive qualifying effort to set up the No. 44 Aston Martin Vantage to start 11th in the 23-car field. His strong pace on the start moved the car up two positions in the GTD class in the 61-car field. His opening stint set the tone for the race, with strong, clean laps to move the car into the top ten before beginning a cycle-through of all four drivers. Five-time Rolex 24 winner Lally was next to get behind the wheel, bringing the car up to a fourth place with three hours complete. Aston Martin factory driver Nicki Thiim took over next and climbed to second place with ten hours clocked in, and eventually to the lead before the end of his stint. They raced into the night and past the halfway point, calmly and methodically maintaining position to keep the car in the lead pack.

The team persisted through minimal setbacks to stay near the front of the field. Two pitstops ran longer than normal due to a fueling issue, and the team also received a stop-and-hold penalty for running the red light at the exit of pit lane. Despite the mishaps, Magnus Racing with Flex-Box stayed on the lead lap and continued to reel in the No. 27 Aston Martin and No. 57 Mercedes AMG GT3 cars ahead in first and second place. In the final two hours, the green flag racing was consistently interrupted with full-course cautions, only turning up the intensity leading up to the checkered flag. In the end, it all came down to a 30-minute sprint with Thiim piloting the final push for the team. The Danish fan-favorite brought the No. 44 Aston Martin to second place, earning the team their third second-place finish in four years.

The race marked a special occasion for five-time race winner Lally, who on Saturday became the driver with the most consecutive starts, having raced in every Rolex 24 At Daytona since 2003. Magnus Racing races again in Florida next for the Twelve Hours of Sebring, the second of four endurance events in the 2023 IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship. The March 15-18 event will include all five classes in the championship, racing for twelve hours on an old army air force base in Sebring, Florida. For event information, visit imsa.com.

DRIVER QUOTES
John Potter
With a second place two years in a row, it feels like always the bridesmaid, rarely the bride. But honestly, after we were running worse than second at various times in the race, it really gave perspective to help us appreciate second-place results. All the drivers drove great. Nicki brought it home at the end, and a special shout-out goes out to Flex-Box for helping us be here to fight for the win.

Andy Lally
This is our third second-place finish in four years, and that is just an amazing testament to how hard this crew works and how thorough and professional they are, and we owe everything to them for their ability to provide us when top-notch equipment that we beat the snot out of for 24 hours. A big thank you goes to Aston Martin for making such a great car and to Flex-Box for partnering with us in this endeavor.

Spencer Pumpelly
It was just another phenomenal run by Magnus Racing with Flex-Box. We got Andy, John, and Nicki. Everyone just did an amazing job in the car. We had a really good car. We were really excited about when the race started and watching the guys bring it through the field and to be a part of it. It was amazing. I have to thank all the guys in the box and the over the wall that really just didn't miss a beat the entire time. When you come racing with Magnus in the 24 hour, the experience that we have, from drivers to the engineers, to the crew is second to none. I think that's a lot of reasons why this gets to be an annual event here, hanging out at the podium. I’m going to savor every bit of it. It’s another second place. We’re starting to collect too many of those and not enough wins. However, I’m not going to let that stop me from spraying champagne in Daytona.

Nicki Thiim
It was not a bad weekend out here in Daytona Beach. Right now, 10 minutes after race, I'm a little bit disappointed to be honest. Second place was a tough pill to swallow, but for the team, I'm so happy. It was the second year in a row they finished second. So they're definitely good doing a brilliant job, and I’m happy to be a part of it. We had a really good package for this race. In the end, it was just a few seconds we missed for the win. Maybe next year.