NTT INDYCAR SERIES Rookie To Race in TireRack.com Battle on the Bricks at IMS
Tom Blomqvist is moving to the NTT INDYCAR SERIES full time in 2024, but he’s not ready to give up on sports car racing.
Blomqvist will join a “dream team” of IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship title winners in the 2024 season with Cadillac Racing, teaming up with Pipo Derani and Jack Aitken to drive the No. 31 Whelen Cadillac V-Series.R in IMSA Michelin Endurance Cup races next season. One of those five long-distance races is the TireRack.com Battle on the Bricks on Sept. 20-22 at Indianapolis Motor Speedway, which lengthens to a six-hour race next year.
British driver Blomqvist signed with Meyer Shank Racing to compete in the full NTT INDYCAR SERIES season as a teammate to veteran Felix Rosenqvist, with Helio Castroneves also racing with the team in the 108th Indianapolis 500 presented by Gainbridge.
Blomqvist won the 2022 IMSA DPi Driver Championship with Meyer Shank, which withdrew from sports car racing after this season to focus on its INDYCAR SERIES efforts. He also won the Rolex 24 At Daytona in 2022 and 2023 with MSR and helped to send MSR into the sports car sunset with victory, winning the season-ending Petit Le Mans on Oct. 7 at Road Atlanta.
Derani wrapped up the inaugural IMSA Grand Touring Prototype (GTP) Driver Championship on Saturday in the Petit Le Mans to complement his 2021 DPi title.
"After another great season with Meyer Shank Racing in the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship, it is an honor to be joining Action Express Racing and Cadillac for the endurance rounds of the 2024 campaign,” Blomqvist said. “It is a series I love being a part of, and I'm delighted to be returning once again. To be able to come back to the series and to try to defend my title at Daytona is a huge motivation, and I can’t thank Meyer Shank Racing and Honda Performance Development (HPD) enough for allowing me the opportunity.”
Blomqvist has five wins in 30 IMSA starts since 2019, including three in GTP this season. He also has co-driven an LMP2 entry this year in the FIA World Endurance Championship and will compete in the season-concluding race Nov. 4 in Bahrain.
“We’re thrilled that Tom is going to join our team for the IMSA endurance events,” said Gary Nelson, team manager for Action Express Racing that fields the championship-winning hybrid race car for Cadillac Racing. “We feel that with his experience and recent successes, it’s a natural fit for Jack Aitken and Pipo Derani. We’re looking forward to getting in some work this winter so we can hit the ground running when we get to Daytona.”