Photo: JDC Miller Motorsports

JDC-Miller Motorsports and GAINSCO Auto Insurance announced today the return of the No. 99 Red Dragon. The famous red livery will contest the 2018 IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship on an ORECA 07.

Bob Stallings, Executive Chairman of GAINSCO, recently made the decision to close down his own Bob Stallings Race team. However the Red Dragon legacy is kept alive with the partnership with JDC-Miller Motorsports.

“We had many opportunities to continue our quest for championships and JDC-Miller Motorsports was an easy pick,” Stallings said. “John Church and John Miller have established themselves as a team to be reckoned with, even against the formidable competition in IMSA.”

The last IMSA WeatherTech race that the red #99 competed in was the 2014 Rolex 24. The race ended early for the GAINSCO team after a horrendous crash for Memo Gidley.

Goikhberg and Simpson will pilot the #99 GAINSCO Red Dragon, whilst Simon Trummer if the only named driver for the #85 car, which will remain in the JDC Banana Boat yellow. The second driver for the #85, along with the 2018 liveries, will be announced in the new year.

theRacingLine Comment

It was a sad day when Bob Stallings called time on his racing team. For those of us who enjoyed Grand-Am and ALMS, the GAINSO Daytona Prototype was an iconic car that was sadly missed after the 2014 incident. The brief running of GT3 McLarens was nice, but it was never the same. It’s good to have GAINSCO involved in top level Prototype racing again.

What is particularly exciting is that we know JDC-Miller has been given one of the two IMSA invitations to Le Mans. The announcement makes no mention of extending the agreement to the 24 Hours of Le Mans, but the prospect of the Red Dragon at La Sarthe is a tasty one.


Video: Lanky Turtle

Engineering student, lover of all things technical and lifelong motorsport fan. Employed in the Oil & Gas Industry, developing Major Emergency Management simulations. Owner of the best beard on the site.