Bryan Herta Autosport Set to Defend IMSA Title

Speedway, Ind., Jan. 6, 2022 – Three-time IMSA Michelin Pilot Challenge (IMPC) Champions, Bryan Herta Autosport (BHA) with Curb Agajanian and Hyundai Motor North America, will return to IMPC competition in 2022. Hyundai and BHA also announced their expanded six-car, Touring Car Racing (TCR), driver line-up today.

“The competition continues to rise in TCR and having our entire 2021 line-up return, while welcoming four new drivers shows we are not taking defending the championship title lightly,” said Bryan Herta, president, Bryan Herta Autosport. “Thanks to the men and women of BHA who worked so hard through the holidays and a short off season to make sure we are ready to start 2022 stronger than ever.”

Reigning champions Taylor Hagler and Michael Lewis will return as teammates to defend their title. The pair made their debut as teammates in 2021. Their history-making season saw Hagler become the first woman ever to win the IMSA Michelin Pilot Challenge title and Lewis the first two-time TCR Champion. New for 2022, Hagler and Lewis will co-drive the #1 Hyundai Elantra N TCR.

Ryan Norman, the 2020 IMPC TCR Champion, returns to BHA for his third season. For 2022, Norman will co-drive the #2 Elantra N TCR with AJ Muss of Rumson, NJ. Muss enters his second full season racing a Hyundai and his first in partnership with BHA. Muss represented the United States in the 2018 winter Olympics and is in the qualifying process for the 2022 games in Beijing.

Canada’s Mark Wilkins, the 2019 co-champion, returns for his fifth season racing a Hyundai with BHA. Wilkins and his to-be-announced teammate will co-drive the #33 Elantra N TCR. Wilkins’ run of success racing for BHA includes eight victories and one championship title.

TCR race winners Michael Johnson and Stephen Simpson return to co-drive the #54 Universal Coating Elantra N TCR. Johnson, who is paralyzed and races using hand controls, and his long-time teammate Stephen Simpson joined the Hyundai squad in 2021. They opened the 2021 season with a podium finish at Daytona. Their third-place finish was the first time Hyundai was represented on the podium at the famed Daytona International Speedway. Johnson and Simpson went on to run inside the top ten all season and collected another podium at Virginia International Raceway (VIR) before finishing sixth in the series standings.

Mason Filippi returns to the BHA squad in 2022; it will be his fourth season of IMPC racing in TCR with Hyundai. Having finished second in the championship in 2019 and 2020, Filippi will vie for the title in 2022 alongside Tyler Maxson, racing the #77 Elantra N TCR. Maxson is just 17 years old and already a two-time sports car champion. Maxson became the youngest champion ever in the SRO series when he won the TC America championship in 2019 at just 15 years old. Maxson then dominated the SRO TCR Championship as a rookie in 2020, winning 12 races in the Hyundai Veloster N TCR. Maxson competed in the IMSA Michelin Pilot Challenge full-time in 2021 and has finished on the podium three times since joining the series.

Texans Harry Gottsacker and Parker Chase will team-up to co-drive the #98 Elantra N TCR. Gottsacker and Chase started their sports car careers as teammates in 2016. Chase finished second in the IMPC championship in 2021, earning one victory and three podium finishes racing the Elantra N TCR. Gottsacker enters his fourth season representing Hyundai with BHA. In 2021, he tied the series record for pole positions and has finished inside the top five in the championship each season since joining BHA in 2019. Gottsacker was the championship runner-up twice in 2019 and 2020.

The 2022 season kicks off with the season opening test days, the “Roar Before the Rolex 24,” at Daytona International Speedway, Jan. 21-23, 2022. Round one of the 2022 IMPC season takes place the following weekend with the BMW Endurance Challenge, a four-hour race during the Rolex 24 Hours at Daytona race weekend on Friday, Jan. 28, 2022.

#1 Hyundai Elantra N TCR

2021 Drivers CHAMPIONS

2021 Team CHAMPIONS

Taylor Hagler: 2021 was a dream season with Bryan Herta Autosport, and I am ready to build on our success in 2022! It means so much to carry the #1 on our car as the defending champion, and to be able to drive with Michael again this season. We have developed a great relationship and continuity is so important to building a strong team like the BHA organization. While I am going to miss our trusty Veloster N TCR, it is going to be great to make our first laps in the Hyundai Elantra N TCR at Daytona. I kept an eye on our teammates all season last year to see how the car progressed and the car looks great and is fast. It will be nice to build on all of the work that the team has done with the Elantra N TCR and see if we can repeat as champions in 2022 against some great competition.”

Michael Lewis: “We’re back with Bryan Herta Autosport and Hyundai in 2022! It is such a pleasure to race for this team and represent such an awesome and dedicated manufacturer in Hyundai. I am super excited to be back with Taylor Hagler in the #1 Elantra N TCR race car as well! BHA secured the #1 plate for us to use for this season, it’s the first time the #1 has been run in TCR. We had such an amazing season last year and the #1 plate represents all of those good times and all of the hard work that we did to earn the championship. It’s my first time running the #1 plate in any series or category! It’s pretty special. Taylor and I will work hard each race and test to maximize our potential to compete for another championship.”

#2 Elantra N TCR

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Ryan Norman: “Scoring the first win in North America with the Elantra N TCR last year with Parker (Chase) at Mid-Ohio was a highlight of my career. We did a lot of work to develop the new car last year, we found some sucess, but just scratched the surface. I can’t wait get back behind the wheel and to victory circle with BHA and Hyundai.”

AJ Muss: “I am so proud and honored to be running under the Hyundai / BHA banner along with my co-driver Ryan Norman for 2022. To represent the Hyundai brand, racing for BHA, and learning from Bryan Herta is a dream come true. I’m learning from the best in the business, with the best equipment, and I am eager to grow my racing experience with this team.”

#33 Elantra N TCR

Mark Wilkins: “It has been an incredible run with BHA over the last four years. I’m really grateful for the opportunity to continue on with BHA in 2022. Hyundai has given us three fantastic TCR cars in the past four years that have allowed us to win championships and be hugely successful. The Hyundai N brand continues to excite with incredibly fun vehicles built for drivers that are looking for the ultimate in performance. We learned a great deal about our Elantra N TCR last season, and we are poised to come back strong and defend Hyundai’s manufacturer title once again!”

#54 Universal Coating Elantra N TCR

Michael Johnson: “It was great to open our relationship with Hyundai on the podium at Daytona, and I’m looking forward to kicking off the new season in the new car there. Our debut season with BHA had a lot of learning and some success as well. We are well prepared to achieve our goals this season racing the Elantra N TCR car and I can’t wait to get started.”

Stephen Simpson: “Very excited to be going into my second year with BHA and Hyundai. Looking to build on the two podiums we had in 2021. Very happy to race the Elantra this year and continue to work with Michael, it will be our 11th year working together and I am very proud of that. We are set to the fight for the championship with the Elantra N TCR this year.”

#77 Elantra N TCR

Mason Filippi: “I cannot wait for the 2022 season with Bryan Herta Autosport in our Elantra N TCR! I am paired up with Tyler Maxon who was extremely quick last year and showed his true speed in the car. We cannot wait to take the Elantra N TCR through its paces and onto the top step of the podium. It’s going to be a competitive year with hard battles. We are eager and ready to take the fight to the track especially with a tool like the Elantra N TCR.”

Tyler Maxson: “I am really excited to be rejoining the Hyundai Motorsports Program under the Bryan Herta Autosport banner. My goal over the past couple of seasons was to prove myself as a driver and I feel that I accomplished that both on and off the track. 2022 will provide new opportunities, but also new challenges and I am up for the task. A huge thank you to Bryan Herta for his trust in my abilities, but also to Copeland Motorsports who played a major role in helping me get to where I am today.”

#98 Elantra N TCR

Harry Gottsacker: “The preseason anticipation is always high going into Daytona, but there is just something more amped about this season being paired with Parker. We have been friends for years, we’re from the same area in Texas, and we were teammates in 2016 and 2017 in GT4 racing. This will be a red, white and blue car for more than one reason this year, hopefully Bryan will let us put some Texas flags on it!”

Parker Chase: “When Bryan called and said he wanted to put Harry and me in the same car, it just seemed like we were putting the band back together. Harry and I started our careers in sports cars as teammates and we both went on our own path to establish our careers. It is great to meet up again in a team we both consider our family with Hunter Wright as our engineer as he worked with both of us in the World Challenge series. I am hoping we can bring the team some more wins together in 2022 and have some fun along the way.”

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