MSR Acura Team Saves Day, Maybe Season at Long Beach
Victory boosts team amid uncertainty over Honda’s IMSA future.
MSR Acura Saves Day, Maybe Season at Long Beach Michael L. Levitt - Getty Images In the Saturday event at Long Beach for the IMSA WeatherTech Championship, the drivers of Meyer Shank Racing’s Acura ARX-06 were racing for the survival of their team. In the No.
93 entry of MSR, Nick Yelloly and Renger van der Zande took the victory amid strong rumors in the paddock that Honda Racing Corporation USA may not continue in IMSA’s premier series after the 2026 season. Yelloly and van der Zande brought the Acura brand, whose US headquarters is in Torrance, California, its first victory at Long Beach in the GTP era. That made their win by 0.
818 seconds over the Whelen-backed Cadillac of Jack Aitken and Frederik Vesti even sweeter and boosted the team’s future hopes. “The main topic of the day is winning the Acura Grand Prix for Acura as an Acura driver,” said van der Zande. He noted all the pre-race promotion done by drivers on behalf of Acura.
“This is home ground for Acura. It’s fantastic to take the win for Acura. ” An already slim GTP field will be diminished if Acura does not continue next season, a situation MSR team co-owner Michael Shank has declined to talk about.