With Driver’s Title Out Of Reach, Blomqvist Changes Focus
Tom Blomqvist (L) and Colin Braun (R) celebrate their overall win at Watkins Glen International. Photo courtesy of IMSA/Jake Galstad/Lumen Digital Agency
By Dennis Krause
Acura Meyer Shank Racing has won the last two races in the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship. The two-car Ohio-based team look to further narrow the gap in the manufacturer’s race even further this weekend at the Motul Sports Car Grand Prix at Elkhart Lake’s Road America.
The No. 93 Acura Meyer Shank Racing with Curb Agajanian ARX-06 of Nick Yelloly and Renger van der Zande won from pole at the Detroit Grand Prix, while the sister No. 60 of Colin Braun and Tom Blomqvist took the victory at Watkins Glen.
Porsche Penske Motorsport drivers Felipe Nasr and Nick Tandy won the first three races of the season in their No. 7 Porsche 963 and have a healthy lead in the driver’s championship. But while Blomqvist concedes that title may be out of reach with three races remaining, there’s still a manufacturer’s championship to chase.
Photo courtesy of IMSA/Jake Galstad/Lumen Digital Agency
“Yeah, I think in terms of the championship, the driver’s championship, realistically, it's kind of gone. We're not really chasing it, to be honest. But, you know, we still stand a chance.
“And you know,” Blomqvist continued, “if we keep it up, we still stand a chance in the manufacturer’s (championship), which is definitely a big goal of Acura’s. So, we haven't given up there. And having won the last two events, I think ultimately, that's probably what we're going to be trying to focus on more than than the drivers. That's kind of the goal, really, for us now, have to put the driver’s aside, because realistically, it's a bit unfortunately out of reach.”
At last year’s IMSA race at Road America, the Acura ARX-06, fielded by Wayne Taylor Racing, would qualify on the pole and finish third. With Acura renewing its relationship with Meyer Shank Racing in 2025, the team expanded to having a second car, featuring support from Honda Racing Corporation USA (HRC-US).
Photo by James Black/Penske Entertainment
After a year in which he was involved in MSR’s INDYCAR program, Blomqvist is back on the sports car side. While there was familiarity in his return, Blomqvist says it’s been a process, as well.
“Yeah. from that side of things, I think it's been pretty straightforward. Obviously, the crew from 2023 was built for one car. Now we have two cars. So, the guys that I had on our car is now half of that on the 60 car, and the other half is on the 93. Then, we've obviously had to go out and recruit more mechanics. We have a load more, with more engineers as well. Obviously, HRC are a lot more involved.
“Basically most of the other cars, from an engineering perspective, is run and managed by HRC themselves. So engineers are employed by them. That integration has been the biggest thing, I think, to overcome. Then also managing two cars on track from a strategic standpoint, I think we had a couple of instances earlier in the year where we, I would say, we didn't nail it, tripped over ourselves, compromised, or didn't nail, let's say, both results for both cars. So that was trying to learn how to get the best out of that.
“It's still an ongoing thing,” said Blomqvist. “We're kind of going through those teething issues of running two cars, and not having really done it in the past. So there's a ton of new people who are running a race car for the first time as well. So, yeah, we're still kind of learning, let's say, and adapting and making changes where we need, where we think we need to do better, and so on and so forth. So it's been quite a process so far. But we're getting better and better each weekend. Hopefully we just keep on going in this direction and get some some good results.”
While Blomqvist’s INDYCAR endeavor didn’t go to his or the team’s expectations, Blomqvist said it wasn’t all for naught.
“Obviously it didn't work out. But, you still learn. I learned a lot. It also makes you stronger mentally, I'd say as well. I would say I had before that, I kind of had a few good years where there's not many things go wrong, or, you're not really, kind of, your back up against the wall trying to really figure out how do I try and go fast? Or how do I try and get results?
“So, it was nice to really try and dig deep and figure stuff out but, I always had in the back of my mind, like, it wasn't like I got to a point where I was like even if I come back to sports cars, am I going to be any good there? You know what I mean? I was always pretty confident that I could, I could come back and I'd still be able to do a solid job.
“So that was kind of weird, and I think I was very fortunate to be in that position, which is, to be honest, I would say, a big reason why I even took the jump in the first place. Because I think if I was in a different situation, and if I wasn't maybe going to be able to come back, it was quite a risky move for me at my point in the career, but also one that you'd probably look back on. And if you haven't taken a punt like you probably would have regretted it.
“I think I was quite fortunate in that sense, and I was also still able to do some of the sports car stuff on the side that year, to keep me kind of active in the scene. I guess I was in a fortunate position but I think, in terms of the skill set, did I probably develop a little bit, but also like mentally maybe a bit tougher, I'd say,”
Photo courtesy of IMSA/Jake Galstad/Lumen Digital Agency
This weekend, Blomqvist is back at his happy place - in sports cars at Road America.
“Yeah, we were there a couple of weeks ago. It’s a great track. It's actually my favorite track from an enjoyment level to drive. I think also, we're lucky that it's a great track for our car really, like, brings out the strength. So we're hoping, in the past, it's always been competitive there, the car. Depending on what we get, given we're pretty confident that the goal is to go into the weekend and kind of come out of there with a pretty good result, but we'll see how it is.
“We're all pretty excited for it, pretty confident, I think, as well. It's always been pretty strong, strong track for us. So I don't see a reason why it's not going to be again. And I think we've really made good gains as a team as well. Every race, we're kind of getting better and better, with the new organization, that is a lot of new faces and new people, and I feel like we're just getting stronger and stronger. We're hopeful that we can fight for the victory again.”
While the goal for Blomqvist and the Acura Meyer Shank team may have changed, the desire to win has not.
Dennis Krause has spent decades covering all forms of motorsports, including over 40 Indianapolis 500s, with stints at WIBA Radio, PIT PASS - Radio’s Premier Motorsports Magazine and Motorsports Minute. Follow him on X @DennisKrause500 or motorsportsminute.bluesky.social or motorsportsminute on Threads or MotorsportsMinute+ on Facebook.