Statements Regarding Ricky Taylor to Team Penske

Winning at Sebring

The following are statements from team owner Wayne Taylor and driver Jordan Taylor on today’s announcement that driver Ricky Taylor will join Team Penske for the 2018 IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship season:

WAYNE TAYLOR – “No matter which way I look at it, professional and personally, it is a father’s dream to have his son called upon by Roger Penske. So I’m incredibly proud of Ricky and excited for him, and I think, honestly, the entire team has been supportive of this move, as well as everyone at General Motors and Cadillac. But I’ve still got Jordan, and he knows how to win championships. I think the replacement we’re working with at the moment is of that caliber. We need to sort everything out before we make any official announcements.

"Obviously, we want to thank Konica Minolta, especially (company president) Rick Taylor, who’s been so pro my team and my kids, and even he has become emotional at this. He mentioned he was up at 4 a.m. yesterday reading all the transcripts from the banquet the other night and he said he was bawling his eyes out. That’s the kind of relationship we have with Konica Minolta and all of our sponsors. They’ve made all of this possible, and now I owe them another championship next year. It’ll be different but it’s going to be great."

JORDAN TAYLOR – “The last four years have been great with Ricky. We won lots of races together, including all the big ones – the Rolex 24, Sebring, Petit Le Mans – and now the championship. So we couldn’t have asked for any more than that as far as accomplishments together, really. For Ricky, having the chance to go to Penske is a huge opportunity for him. As a brother, I couldn’t be more proud of him. As a teammate, it makes me sad. But it’s just an unbelievable opportunity to drive for Roger Penske. We’ll just have to look forward to racing against him, now. Moving forward, anyone who knows this series and our team, they know we have a tremendous opportunity for a world-class driver to step in and help us continue to try and win championships and big races."