NASCAR Cup Series driver Ross Chastain will make his IMSA Michelin Pilot Challenge debut with Skip Barber Racing, the legendary school’s professional racing team in the Road America 120 at the Wisconsin road course on Aug. 3.
Chastain will share the controls of the No. 16 Skip Barber Racing School Aston Martin Vantage GT4 with IMSA Diverse Driver Development Scholarship winner Ken Fukuda.
“I am really looking forward to racing with Skip Barber at Road America,” said Chastain, who has four career Cup Series wins and is currently 13th in the 2024 point standings. “I have been a customer of Skip Barber Racing School and to now race with their IMSA team makes total sense. Dan and Anthony DeMonte run the premier racing school in the country, so hopefully I can have a good showing for them during one of our NASCAR off-weekends. I always appreciate the additional track time.”
Skip Barber has previously sponsored Chastain in the NASCAR Xfinity Series and NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series. Chastain is one of over 20 current NASCAR Cup Series drivers who spent time training with the instructors at Skip Barber to improve their road-racing prowess. Other alumni include John Hunter Nemechek, Erik Jones, Jimmie Johnson and Michael McDowell.
“When we saw a gap in the NASCAR Cup Series schedule that lined up with our race team’s outing at Road America, we knew what we needed to do,” Dan DeMonte, Skip Barber Racing School chief marketing officer, said. “This is an opportunity that we simply couldn’t afford to pass up and we are beyond thrilled to welcome Ross into the team at Road America.”
Chastain and Skip Barber are also closely aligned in campaigns for road safety with Chastain’s “Protect Your Melon” initiative and the Skip Barber Driving Academy, a one-day defensive-driving program designed to build safer drivers on public roads.
— IMSA/Jayski —