IMSA Wire: Riding Wave of Momentum, Blomqvist Heads to Favorite Track of Road America

Riding Wave of Momentum, Blomqvist Heads to Favorite Track of Road America Acura Meyer Shank Racing Driver Seeks to Extend Team’s WeatherTech Championship Hot Streak July 24, 2025 By Tony DiZinno IMSA Wire Service DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. – It’s not a surprise to hear IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship drivers refer to Elkhart Lake, Wis.’s Road America as their favorite track. So when Tom Blomqvist said so heading into next week’s Motul SportsCar Grand Prix, it felt apropos as a natural next step in what’s rounding into a better season than it started. The co-driver of the No. 60 Acura Meyer Shank Racing w/Curb-Agajanian Acura ARX-06 eked out just enough virtual energy from their tank to win the most recent WeatherTech Championship Grand Touring Prototype (GTP) class race at the Sahlen’s Six Hours of The Glen. Then as one of a handful of GTP regulars moonlighting in that class’ absence at the Chevrolet Grand Prix at Canadian Tire Motorsport Park, Blomqvist shared the No. 22 United Autosports USA ORECA LMP2 07 car there en route to a second-place finish in Le Mans Prototype 2 (LMP2) with co-driver Daniel Goldburg. A recent test at Road America also has Blomqvist and co-driver Colin Braun bullish on their prospects. Although an Acura has not won at Road America since the track resurfacing after 2022, when the Wayne Taylor Racing Acura ARX-05 DPi won, a WTR Acura was on the Motul Pole Award last year and Blomqvist feels ready to attack the track in both his and the team’s IMSA comeback season. “I’d say it’s probably my favorite track from an enjoyment level to drive. I think also we’re lucky that it’s a great track for our car,” Blomqvist explained. “It really brings out the strengths. “In the past, it’s always been a strong track for us, so I don’t see a reason why it’s not going to be again. I think we we’ve really made good gains as a team as well. Every race we’re kind of getting better with the new organization, as there’s a lot of new faces and new people. I feel like we’re just getting stronger. So, yeah, I think we’re hopeful that we can fight for the victory again next weekend.” The collective Acura MSR group is finding its stride in collaboration with Honda Racing Corporation USA (HRC US), as the organization fields two Acura ARX-06 entries. They’ve won the last two GTP races – Watkins Glen and downtown Detroit – which covers the end of May to the end of June; followed by the July GTP “summer vacation.” As Blomqvist noted, the cohesion and integration of a greatly expanded team is starting to bear fruit now that the team is through six races. It’s a different animal from the single-car approach in 2023, and before Blomqvist’s brief sojourn to IndyCar in 2024 before returning full-time to the IMSA paddock. “Most of the set of guys that I had on our car in 2023 have moved; half is on the 60 car and the other half is on the 93,” he said. “And then we’ve obviously had to go out and recruit more mechanics. We have a load more engineers as well. Most of the other car from an engineering perspective is managed by HRC themselves, so it’s engineers who are employed by them. “I think we had a couple of instances early in the year where we kind of, I would say we didn’t nail it, tripped over ourselves and compromised or didn’t nail both results with both cars. “If you compare, let’s say, the operational side of (Porsche) Penske (Motorsport) in 2025 when they first started vs. in 2023, it’s obviously a completely different ball game and we’re kind of going through those issues of running two cars and not having really done it in the past. It’s been quite a process so far, but we’re getting better each weekend. So yeah, hopefully we just keep on going in this direction and get some good results.” The 2022 DPi champion and Braun currently sit sixth in GTP points, but they’re only 46 points – two or three spots on-track – behind teammates Renger van der Zande and Nick Yelloly in third in the sister No. 93 car. Acura sits second in the manufacturer’s championship, only 90 points behind Porsche with three races to go. Even having only raced the resurfaced Road America once, Blomqvist still loves most of it and thinks it’ll give more line variation three years in compared to the fresh tarmac in 2023. “I would say it’s became a lot more forgiving. When we were here in ’23, it was only just after being resurfaced. Typically when that happens, there’s a lot of oil and stuff on line. So now it seems that after two years, it’s gradually a little bit easier. “For me, I kind of like it all. I quite like heavy break zones, which is kind of boring in a way, but I like them. I like Turn 5. I like Turn 8. But in terms of a bit more fun, I think it’s after the Kink where you’ve got the right-left, it’s quite a tricky corner to get right. The car never feels amazing there. Then you have the last corner (Turn 14), which is a bit of an awkward, long, right-hander leading onto the straight. But there’s so many good corners there honestly, and it’s why it’s probably my favorite.” Watch the Motul SportsCar Grand Prix Sunday, August 3, at 2:00 p.m. ET on Peacock with international streaming via IMSA.TV and IMSA’s Official YouTube channel.

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