Automatic Racing Entering Two Aston Martins at Daytona - Speedway Digest

Automatic Racing fans will be seeing double during the IMSA Continental Tire Sports Car Challenge season opener at Daytona International Speedway: the team is entering two Invisible Glass Aston Martin GT4 Vantages in Friday’s race.

Rob Ecklin and Steve Phillips are returning to Automatic Racing in the No. 99 Aston Martin. Meanwhile, Dr. Rod Randall and Ken Wilden are teaming up to drive the No. 09 Aston Martin. Randall drove with Automatic Racing in 2010 and is a longtime series competitor. While Wilden is making his team debut, he competes in both the Continental Tire and TUDOR series, and he won the GS championship in 2009.

“As always, we’re very excited to be back with Automatic Racing and to have Invisible Glass sponsoring the team once again,” says Ecklin. “This is my second year in the Aston, and I love driving that car. I’m always thankful to be able to do this, and I’m really excited about the season.”

Ecklin is especially looking forward to racing at Daytona, which he names as a favorite round each season. He says, “It’s always the kickoff of the season, so there’s so much energy and excitement, and a lot of competition. The Aston has the potential to place very well, and I’m excited that we’ll have two of them at Daytona.”

Automatic Racing’s two-car effort will be headed up by Kirt Wightman, who joined the team as the lead engineer in December. Wightman has a long and successful history in IMSA competition, and the team looks forward to further developing the Aston Martins under his guidance.

The season opener begins at 1:45pm ET on Friday, January 23, at Daytona International Speedway.

Author
Recent Posts

Adam Sinclair

NHRA, IHRA, Motocross and other forms of motorsports Staff writer
About Me: Adam has been a race fan since the first time he went through the tunnel under the Daytona International Speedway almost 30 years ago. He has had the privilege of travelling to races all across the state of Florida (as well as one race in Ohio), watching nearly everything with a motor compete for fame and glory, as well as participating in various racing schools to get the feel of what racecar drivers go through every week. Adam has spent the last three years covering motorsports for Examiner.com., where he had the opportunity to see the racing world from behind the scenes as well as the grandstands. He invites everyone to follow him on Twitter, Facebook, and Google Plus, and looks forward to sharing his enthusiasm for all things racing with the readers of SpeedwayDigest.com.Be sure to tune in for his weekly sports talk program, Thursday Night Thunder, where he discusses the latest in motorsports news with drivers, crew members, and fans. The show takes place every Thursday at 8:00 pm EST on the Speedway Digest Radio Network.