By: James Vance Racing
January 27 2017
Daytona Beach, Florida – James Vance has returned to the MINI USA John Cooper Works team in the Continental Tire SportsCar Challenge series for his second consecutive year with the team, piloting the No. 37 LAP Motorsports – owned MINI USA car in the Street Tuner (ST) class for the 2017 season.
Vance, a Toronto, Ontario, Canada resident, is a four-year veteran in the Continental Tire SportsCar Challenge (CTSC) series.
“I’m pretty excited to be back in the Continental Tire SportsCar Challenge Series for my fourth year in a row, which is kind of crazy to believe. I’m even more excited to be back with MINI for a second straight year.”
Vance will partner with a new co-driver, Mike LaMarra. However, LaMarra is no stranger to the CTSC paddock; he won the 2013 ST class championship with Terry Borcheller in the No. 23 Burton Racing BMW 128i.
“To be paired with Mike LaMarra is the really the best case scenario I could have imagined with regards to the plan for this year. He has a great deal of experience in racing and I’m looking forward to having him as a teammate.”
LaMarra qualified the No. 37 MINI JCW in the top 10 Friday, with a time of 2:06.443. The sister MINIs will start P3 (No. 73) and P6 (No. 52). Vance will drive the second stint and bring the car to the checkered flag.
Vance created a unique business to business partnership opportunity with ExpoSystems Displays and Exhibits (www.exposystems.com), the largest modular systems manufacturer in Canada.
“I’m truly appreciative of having Expo Displays and Exhibits back on board, and what they bring to the table, not only for funding our program, but also the display products they facilitate for other teams and businesses in the paddock. Its exciting to utilize the B2B deals in the industry with other like minded companies that support the motorsports industry.”
“I can’t thank ExpoSystems enough for thinking outside of the box to help business make sense in racing. ExpoSystems has always been a huge supporting factor in my racing career and I consider myself very, very lucky to be in the position I’m in this season."
In 2016, Vance competed in both the No. 52 and No. 37 MINI JCW cars for part of the season, including The Continental Tire 150 at The Glen, a historic race for the MINI brand.
Vance was part of the 1-2 qualifying front row for the MINI JCW team at Watkins Glen International Raceway, earning P2 with Derek Jones taking the number one position in the No. 73 car for the first pole in team history. Vance later drove the team’s first ever lead laps in a CTSC race as he paced the ST field for nearly 30 minutes before turning the car over to teammate Ethan Low.
This is the JCW MINI team’s third year in the CTSC series.
The MINI JCW team returns to Daytona International Speedway January 26-29, 2017, for the 4-hour BMW Endurance Challenge, as a part of the Rolex 24 At Daytona weekend. The is planning a three-car effort for event, with six drivers determined for the team’s Nos. 37, 52 and 73 cars.
Green flag waves on Friday, January 27, at 12:15pm.
For LIVE coverage, visit www.IMSA.com or the IMSA app for iTunes or Android.
Follow James Vance on social media:
Twitter; @james_vance
Instagram: jamesvancee
Snapchat: jamesvance LinkedIn: James Vance
About ExpoSystems:
ExpoSystems provides award winning exhibit design, trade show booth design and portable trade show displays for companies in Toronto, across Ontario and Canada. ExpoSystems is the largest modular trade show display manufacturer in Canada and provides amazing exhibit design solutions for all industries and business models. For more information: www.exposystems.com
About MINI John Cooper Works:
The MINI John Cooper Works team (http://www.minijcwteam.com), owned and operated by Indianapolis-based LAP Motorsports, is sporting 3 cars in the Continental Tire SportsCar Challenge Street Tuner (ST) Class IMSA series. MINI has a long history in motorsports and has always felt right at home on the track. Ever since John Cooper first exploited the racing potential of the classic Mini in the early 1960s, his name has stood for success and performance on the race track with MINI.