Coming home: Michael Shank bringing sports car team back to Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course

LEXINGTON - Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course is home to Michael Shank, the owner of Michael Shank Racing.

The Columbus-based team spent decades showing off its skills on the track at Mid-Ohio and built quite a following, until it was all gone.

In 2013, Mid-Ohio lost sports car racing thanks to a merger, increased car counts, manufacturers, metrics and a plethora of other factors played a part in Mid-Ohio getting axed from the sports car racing schedule. But now, it is back and that is music to Shank's ears.

"I have been coming here since I was 5 years old and I started racing right here after high school," Shank said. "We built this racing team and came here to race every year and suddenly, it was yanked from us in 2013. It was the last time we could compete here with sports cars. Literally, the No. 1 question I get from people is when are we going to be back at Mid-Ohio?"

Finally, Shank has an answer for those people. On May 4-6, Mid-Ohio has its first fully dedicated weekend to sports car racing in five years. The event is topped off with the International Motor Sports Association WeatherTech Championship on Sunday — a race Shank will possibly have two cars in.

“We have a great group of fans who follow us and everyone wants to come out here," Shank said. "I think that is a reflection in what you will see in sales around here, everything is sold out. All the camper spots are gone and all the car clubs are coming. What makes this weekend special is not only is it huge, but the world wants to see what IMSA looks like, especially in this part of the country."

Shank will have the entire weekend sponsored by Acura and his cars were manufactured in Marysville, Ohio. So he is excited to show off for his sponsors and give his hometown crowd a show.

"Acura made the conscious decision to make performance the No. 1 focus," Shank said. "It is just a great time to be involved with the cars.

"This will be a big weekend for all of the Honda folks. We will have a lot of people here, executives included, and we want to do our best at the home race."

The drivers

Shank went out and found the best of the best drivers to represent his team for the sports car weekend at Mid-Ohio. Lawson Aschenbach and Justin Marks will be behind the wheel for the May event.

"Justin won the Xfinity race here two years ago when it rained so bad," Shank said. "Lawson has won here a lot in so many different cars. Our racing world is all about finding the best guys for the job.

"We have a network and relationships get built and friends of ours and friends of theirs get to talking and we see what we have in common and see if we are compatible and we have a great fit with these guys. We have two cars and we are trying to get both of them to run in May, but one is just not finished financially just yet."

Aschenbach is a Maryland native who currently lives in Florida and will be the driver during the IMSA event at Mid-Ohio. While he may not be from Ohio, he still considers Mid-Ohio home.

"It is one of my favorite tracks," Aschenbach said. "We travel all around the country all the time and you can say you have a home track, but you usually only go there once a year.

"Mid-Ohio, I have been here so many times and my first full race in a car was here in the rain 16 years ago. I have always had great success here and I just love it here. It is a technical track. It may not be very fast, but it is very technical and that can separate drivers. I enjoy this place and the fans are incredible."

Shank discovers Aschenbach around 15 years ago during a test run in Georgia. It was also where Aschenbach discovered the itch to work with Shank and the desire to be on his team. Fourteen years later, Aschenbach is living that dream.

"I remember after that test just thinking man this guy really knows his stuff," Aschenbach said. "He ran a successful team for a very long time and now I get to race for the guy and I have been blown away. Everyone knows their role and how to get the job done. In this sport, sure you have a driver and you have the car but you have put stops with tires changes, refueling and everything in between and it really is a team sport.

"There are a lot of pieces to this puzzle and Mike is the best in this class because he has been in this forever. He knows what to do and knows how to win championships. I am very fortunate to be with him."

Marks will be Shanks driver for car No. 2 if it can get finished in time, but Marks also will be back for the NASCAR event later in the year representing Shank. Having Shank in his corner makes Marks that much more confident.

"It is an advantage in general because his team has so much experience," Marks said. "I think one thing in his success in this sport is the continuity over time with the same group of guys together for so long. When you have the same group for so long, everyone knows everyone’s moves and know their responsibilities."

Most of all, Marks is excited to be back at Mid-Ohio.

"I have been coming to Mid-Ohio for a long time as well," Marks said. "My first year here was in 2001. I have won here and it is a track I have always had some success in and it means a little extra being here with Michael Shank Racing. The support from the local people behind this team is a little extra; a little extra pressure, but also a lot of extra strength.

"This is an iconic race track and if you have never been here, odds are you watched on TV just like everywhere else. We know what this place represents and anytime you race here, it is a significant event. I am so glad to be back here with sports car racing. The crowds are only getting bigger."

Same goes for Aschenbach, who is ready to hit his favorite track.

"Ohio embodies this place because it is one of the only true forms of racing in this state," Aschenbach said. "You have other places that do drag racing, but nothing like this. Cleveland used to have a street course, but that went away and now this is the focal point of street racing in the state. Having IMSA back here is a big thing for the track and a big thing for the track.

"It was sad it wasn’t on the schedule for a long time. It is a great field with three different classes of cars. Racing in general, you think of everything, in my mind, sports car racing is the purest form of racing. We are actually racing the street car. This is the purest form of motorsport period."

jfurr@gannett.com

740-244-9934

Twitter: @JakeFurr11