Tune-In: The Rolex 24 at Daytona with Rolex Racer

Do you like speed?? Tune in this Saturday on NBC at 3:30PM ET to see John, Andy, Spencer, and Mario go, go, go at The Rolex 24 at Daytona in the Magnus with Archangel Mach 44 Acura NSX GT3. Yes, the race starts (and ends) on just regular NBC, even your sort-of-fan friend can tune in!  In the meantime, we're completing practice sessions and we've included a little preview of this weekend's events with this first look at our latest production, Rolex Racer:

 Tune-In

Will the team defeat the enemy and emerge from 24 hours of heated competition against the other 19 cars in their GTD class?  Tune in again Sunday at 2:00PM ET on NBC to find out in the final moments.  For the full 24 Hours of coverage, watch the Mach 44 take the green flag on Saturday January 30 at 3:40PM Eastern until Sunday at 3:40pm ET. Fans can stream the entire race live via NBC Sports Gold’s TRACKPASS, or catch the first hour on NBC before the television broadcast hops over to NBC Sports Network. The final 1.5 hours of racing returns to NBC starting at 2:00PM ET on Sunday. Sports car lovers who live outside the United States or Canada can stream the race live on imsa.tv or visit imsa.com/internationalcoverage.  As always, we’ll provide our fans with updates and behind the scenes action on Facebook, twitter, and Instagram.

GoGoGo! Magnus Racing Reveals Rolex 24 Poster and 2021 Car Livery

DAYTONA BEACH, Fla., (January 27, 2021) – After driving fans crazy by hiding images of their No. 44 Acura NSX Evo throughout the Roar Before the 24, IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship team Magnus Racing has finally revealed their 2021 livery and special Rolex 24 At Daytona poster. The Magnus Racing with Archangel Acura, which will henceforth be known as Mach 44, will sport a grey, white, and red livery to bring some fun during these gloomy times.   

Over the course of the Roar Before the 24, the team took great joy in redacting, obscuring, or blurring images of the No. 44 Acura, even to go so far as deleting buzz-killing social media comments from cold-hearted but smart fans who had the sense to google images of the car, posting to the team’s page to spoil the fun. But alas, the time has come for Rolex Racer to make his big debut.

 

Rolex Racer will race into your hearts this week for the 59^th Rolex 24 at Daytona, the first official race of the 2021 IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship season, unless you count last Sunday’s qualifying race as a race—which is not to be confused with last Saturday’s qualifying session for the qualifying race.    

 John Potter will make his anime debut, starring as Rolex Racer, the daring driver of the Mach 44. Full-season driver Andy Lally will play Pops Racer, despite us confirming he is in fact not John Potter’s actual father, or anywhere old enough to be. Perhaps he landed the role because Pops is a former champion wrestler, or maybe it’s because the character is constantly blowing gaskets. The role of Rolex’s best friend and mechanic, Sparky, will be played by Mach’s North American Endurance Cup driver, Spencer Pumpelly. Mario Farnbacher, the youngest of the drivers, rounds out the cast as young Spritle, Racer’s little brother.

 Magnus with Archangel’s Rolex Racer poster will feature the whole gang, including the Mach 44 and Chim-Chim, the group’s furry friend. Fans who don’t mind visiting Florida can pick up their very own mini poster on site by asking at the Styled Aesthetic merchandise tent in the Daytona International Speedway, while supplies last. For fans unable to attend the event this year, the team will do a small number of future giveaways on their Facebook, twitter, and Instagram channels.

Event Preview: Magnus with Archangel Roars into 2021 with Stout Driver Lineup

Farnbacher joins returning Potter, Lally, and Pumpelly

Tooele, Utah. (January 13, 2021) – The Roar Before the 24 at Daytona International Speedway will see the on-track debut of the partnership of Magnus with Archangel and the new No. 44 Acura NSX GT3 Evo. Full season drivers John Potter and Andy Lally will welcome Spencer Pumpelly as their co-driver addition for the four North American Endurance Cup (NAEC) races, and two-time IMSA champion Mario Farnbacher to join as the fourth Rolex 24 at Daytona driver.

As previously announced, Lally is returning to the team for another full season, entering the Rolex 24 as the winningest active IMSA driver. Standing third in the all-time wins at the Rolex 24 at Daytona, Lally has participated in the event over 20 times.

Pumpelly is reprising his role as the NAEC addition, where in 2020 he celebrated a second-place finish at the Rolex 24 at Daytona and a third-place finish at Petit Le Mans with full-season drivers John Potter and Andy Lally. This year's race will mark Pumpelly's 20th Rolex 24 at Daytona.

Two-time GTD class champion Mario Farnbacher is a strong Rolex 24 addition for the team, bringing with him ample experience in the Acura NSX GT3 Evo, which will prove crucial in the opening test days as the team develops with the new car. Together with co-driver Matt McMurry, Farnbacher celebrated two wins and an additional four podiums in the 2020 championship-winning season.

The festivities will kick off January 22-24 with the Roar Before the 24, the first full-series test of the year. The event will be comprised of four test sessions and a 15-minute qualifying session to set the grid for the Motul Pole Award 100. The 100-minute qualifying race will determine the starting grid for the following week’s Rolex 24 At Daytona. Fans can watch the Motul Pole Award 100 live from 2:05 PM to 3:45 PM ET, Sunday, January 24, 2021 on TRACKPASS via NBC Sports Gold. Sessions for the Rolex 24 at Daytona will begin two days later on Wednesday, January 27. Fans attending the event should keep an eye out on the team's social media for possible surprises. For fans watching from home, live timing for all sessions will be available via livescoring.us, and IMSA Radio will offer comprehensive audio coverage throughout each event. For full event information, visit imsa.com

Driver Quotes

John Potter

I always love being back at the Roar and the excitement of a new season. The Daytona 24 is one of my favorites, it's epic and challenging. I'm looking forward to racing the Acura NSX GT3 Evo. I think we have a great driver lineup and the Magnus with Archangel team is bringing a great car to Daytona.

Andy Lally

We have an awesome line up for Daytona. Spencer and Mario are longtime friends and super-fast drivers. Adding them to our lineup is incredible. I can’t wait to get this NSX going and see how we measure up to the competition.

Spencer Pumpelly

I am excited to once again join Magnus with Archangel for the North American Endurance Cup in 2021 in their new Acura NSX. This will be my 20th Rolex 24 as a driver and I'm glad to be contesting it with Andy and John, both good friends who I have known for years. I'm also looking forward to working with Mario Farnbacher at Daytona. He brings a wealth of experience in the NSX and will be a big help in getting us tuned in on some of the subtleties of the new car. The Rolex 24 always involves a little luck, but we are going in well prepared with one of the best teams in the business supporting us. I'm looking forward to the race with confidence in what the guys are going to be putting on track.

Mario Farnbacher

This is a new chapter for me after being with Meyer Shank Racing for the last three years. This is definitely a new venture and cool challenge for me, and I’m really looking forward to driving with Magnus with Archangel. I know some of the guys personally, and they are a great group. I’m really looking forward to working with everyone. They’ve won at this circuit before and are familiar with how everything goes. We’ve got a good package to win a 24-hour race. We have a good car in the Acura NSX GT3 Evo. I'm looking forward to continuing my relationship with Honda, Acura, and Honda HPD. I can’t wait to get everything started. 

Magnus Racing Partners with Archangel Motorsports for 2021 IMSA Season

TOOELE, UTAH. (December 7, 2020) – The 2021 IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship is set to begin with the Roar Before the 24, January 22-24, and Magnus Racing has big changes ahead for the approaching season. The team, who ran the year as GRT Magnus Racing in a partnership with Grasser Racing, will not partner with GRT for next season, but instead race an Acura NSX GT3 Evo together with Archangel Motorsports.

"The Lamborghini was a good car and it was great working with their people,” said Team Somebody John Potter. “I want to thank the crew and Magnus Racing and GRT folks for their work this year. In the end, I want to change some variables. I am excited to take on something new, and I look forward to working with Acura and building on their success."

Andy Lally will return for another season as Potter’s co-driver, as the two take on the new challenge, racing the 2020 GTD class’s Manufacturer Champion. The Acura will primarily be run by Archangel Motorsports and some Magnus personnel.

More details on how to follow John, Andy, and the No. 44 car will come in the coming months. Despite being less Magnus-y, John, Andy, et al. might be persuaded to do a poster for Daytona 2021. We welcome fan lobbying and ideas for poster, livery, suits whatever, via social media. They might even award prizes based on no logical criteria, and they might end up choosing their own ideas. Either way, get posting, because we're already way behind this off season. 

“The hardest part of changing all these things year-after-year is needing to go through these painful design processes every year,” said Potter. “You know I am behind when we show up naked at the Roar.”

The Roar Before the 24 will act as IMSA’s first official test of the 2021 season before kicking off the championship a week later with the Rolex 24 At Daytona, January 28-31. Tickets for the event are on sale now, with likely limited pit and paddock access for the general public. To stay up-to-date on all the events and COVID restrictions, visit imsa.com. 

Magnus Racing will continue to distribute brief pre-event tune in emails, but please click here to subscribe to in-depth press releases from Magnus with Archangel.

GRT Magnus Racing Tune-In: IMSA Returns to Sebring for Second Season Finale

After the traditional season finale at Petit Le Mans last month, we’re ready to officially conclude the 2020 IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship with this weekend’s Twelve Hours of Sebring.

If you want to watch the race via traditional television, you’re going to have to do a bit of channel hopping. NBCSN will start the race at 10:00AM and carry it until 3:00PM Eastern. At 3:00PM, you’ll hop over to NBC for three hours, then at 6:00PM you can move back over to NBCSN for the final four hours. If you want to keep it simple and stay in one place, NBC Sports Gold TRACKPASS is the way to go. If you’re not already a subscriber, you can purchase a one-month subscription for $2.99.