Indianapolis racing driver Stephen Cox will drive double duty at next month’s WRL Can-Am Endurance Championship sportscar race at Road America by competing for two different teams on consecutive days.
On May 2nd, Cox will return to North Loop Motorsports as part of their four-driver lineup for Saturday’s eight hour event. North Loop is the 2019 World Racing League championship team in the highly competitive GP2 class, where their BMW race car has won multiple events. Driving for long time sponsor 104+ Performance, Cox made his first appearance with the North Loop team during their title run at Hallett Motor Racing Circuit last season.
On Sunday morning, May 3rd, Cox will move to Braunschweig Racing, whose Corvette is fresh off a win at Brainerd International Raceway late last season. Cox drove for Braunschweig in 2015 and set a track record at Michigan’s Gingerman Raceway that still stands. Driving for two teams in the same event is a rarity in auto racing at any level.
“I don’t know if it’s unprecedented. But it doesn’t happen very often, I can tell you that,” Cox said. “Both cars are great, but they drive differently. The Vette has a lot more horsepower and tends to be loose, while the BMW’s have a bit of understeer and require a little more caution on corner entry. I’m going to have to make a big mental switch in driving technique between the first and second day of the event.”
At this point, both the racing series and the track are moving forward with the event despite national attention being focused on a viral outbreak.
“Someone has to be first,” Cox said. “It will take someone with courage to step up and get motorsports moving forward and put thousands of unemployed people back to work again. I’m just thankful that there’s a race series that wants to stay positive, move forward and make the effort.”
The World Racing League’s Can-Am Endurance Championship is scheduled for May 1-3 at Wisconsin’s legendary Road America race course. Practice begins on Friday, May 1st, with an eight hour race to be held on both Saturday and Sunday.