Photo Credit: IMSA
Long time co-driver teammates Bill Sweedler and Townsend Bell have overcome much adversity in order to remain competitive in terms of competing for race wins and championships in the GT Daytona division of the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship over the past three seasons. That fact has been proven yet again this week as the Americans have joined forces with Lamborghini Huracan GT3 entrants Change Racing for the remainder of the 2016 season, starting next weekend at the Mobil 1 12 Hours of Sebring.
Sweedler and Bell, who had driven Ferrari 458 GT3s for three different teams between 2014 and 2015, started the 2016 season at Daytona with O’Gara Motorsports, but were plagued by mechanical problems and settled for a disappointing 15th place finish in GTD. The finish was marred further weeks after the checkered flag when Lamborghini and its GTD divisional partners were further penalized by IMSA after discrepancies were found after the Huracan’s V-10 engines were impounded and given a closer look at the NASCAR R & D Center in Charlotte, North Carolina last month. As a result of the additional tests, Lamborghini was fined $25,000 by IMSA and was stripped of all its Constructors’ Championship points earned by its teams at the Rolex 24 at Daytona.
For most involved in racing, double trouble is bad enough, but double morphed into triple trouble for Sweedler and Bell when their team O’Gara Motorsport, citing financial difficulties shut down its racing programs effective immediately soon after, putting the two drivers without a ride over a month out before Sebring. The scenario was very similar to one dealt to them in 2014, when after winning the Rolex 24 in GTD with Level 5 Motorsports, team boss Scott Tucker ceased operations as well. The two drivers joined up with Canadian-based AIM Autosport prior to Sebring and rebounded with a runner-up finish at the challenging 3.7 mile layout, and then rode the momentum to claim a fourth place finish on the final points table.
After putting all the pieces together to win the 2015 IMSA GT Daytona class team championship with Scuderia Corsa’s operation, which also featured a third place effort at the 24 Hours of Le Mans in the GTE-Amateur division, Bell and Sweedler switched over to Lamborghini in 2016. As for their new squad, Change Racing is also licking their wounds after mechanical gremlins derailed the efforts for their primary entry of Spencer Pumpelly and Corey Lewis at Daytona and they placed 18th. In terms of noticeable strengths, the Lamborghinis did show a high amount of top end grunt at the World Center of Racing, but the new car blues plagued most associated them in the final results. The lone exception to this was Konrad Motorsport, who prior to the post-race penalties were only five minutes away from a class victory when they ran short on fuel.
Of course, the going will be tougher for the Huracans at Sebring as the entries will run with an extra forty kilograms in terms of minimum weight next weekend. Also, expect a closer eye being kept on them by IMSA to ensure the cars stay within the spirit of the regulations as well, in light of the post-race actions by the sanctioning body following Daytona. However, keep in mind that if any team personnel can handle a rough road such as this, the duo of Bill Sweedler and Townsend Bell have proven ub the past that they are more than capable of handling it without any sign of panic or restraint.
Stay tuned to OnPitRoad.com for further updates ahead of the upcoming Mobil 1 12 Hours of Sebring.
