Gainsco to skip 2014 TUDOR United SportsCar Championship season
“Basically, what I need to do, given the cost I will incur, is decide whether or not 2014 will be a year of transition for the series that would be better for me to wait a year and see how it all plays out," Stallings told RACER last weekend. “I want to see where the DP stacks up against the P2 cars and see what the series is really thinking about the success they hopefully have in balancing the DPs and P2s. The answer is I don't know what I'm going to do yet. I hope to make my decision by the end of [this] week whether we're going to run or not. It's certainly true we're re-evaluating."
Stallings' team, which made its Rolex Series debut at Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca in 2005, has been a fixture in the Daytona Prototype with its respected core of mechanics. Jon Fogarty and Alex Gurney, drivers of the aptly-named “Red Dragon" GAINSCO-sponsored DP, have earned a reputation as one of the fastest pairings in the series, with Fogarty's knack for earning pole positions serving as a special distinction during the team's time in Grand-Am.
With a question mark hanging over the team's immediate future, Stallings says he's given his drivers permission to seek rides elsewhere. It's also believed one or more of the team's crew members could be moving on.
“What I've told Jon and Alex — I'm pretty close to them, as you know — is I wouldn't be angry or disappointed with them if they had something with more certainty and wanted to take that opportunity," he explained. “We go through a budget analysis every year; this is a year-to-year program, and my expectation is to run next year, although I can't say it will happen for sure, but they have families to think about."
“They've both said they can wait another week before making a decision on whether to go elsewhere or look elsewhere, and we should know something by then whether we'll continue or not. I can say I do not want to go racing without them, but appreciate the decisions they have to make for their careers and families." More at Racer.com