Vasser Sullivan Racing

Vasser Sullivan is an American organization involved in motorsports. It was founded in 2010 by James “Sulli” Sullivan as SH Racing to compete in motocross. In 2011, the team partnered with KV Racing Technology to form KVSH Racing. Following a two-year hiatus after the demise of KV Racing Technology, Sullivan and former KV co-owner Jimmy Vasser announced that they had formed Vasser Sullivan. The organization has competed in racing series including: the Red Bull Global Rallycross Series under the SH Rallycross/DRR banner, the IndyCar Series where it has competed as co-entrants with KV as well as with Dale Coyne Racing, and the IMSA SportsCar Championship where it formerly partnered with Aim Autosport as Aim Vasser Sullivan before later competing independently.

Vasser Sullivan Racing

Founded	2010; 14 years ago (2010)
Team principal(s)	James “Sulli” Sullivan, Jimmy Vasser
Current series	IMSA SportsCar Championship
Current drivers	Ben Barnicoat Mike Conway Jack Hawksworth Kyle Kirkwood Frankie Montecalvo Aaron Telitz Parker Thompson
Teams' Championships	IMSA SportsCar Championship: 2023
Drivers' Championships	IMSA SportsCar Championship: 2023

A Lexus RC F GT3 campaigned by Vasser Sullivan Racing in the 2019 IMSA SportsCar Championship season.

James Sullivan

Sullivan founded SH Racing after graduation from Baylor University in 2003 with a Bachelor of Business Administration degree in entrepreneurship.

In addition to racing, Sullivan co-founded sports nutrition supplement firm Protein Bullet and the Dallas-based private equity fund Modena Capital Group.

SH Rallycross

SH Racing competes in Global Rallycross. With Scott Speed behind the wheel it competed in the 2013 X GAMES Los Angeles in a partnership with Dreyer & Reinbold Racing.

SH Rallycross/DRR was launched as SH Rallycross in 2014 to compete in the Red Bull Global Rallycross Series. The team captured the bronze medal, earning its first podium finish, in its third event at the 2014 X GAMES, in Austin, Texas. SH Rallycross/DRR is led by Sullivan, Dennis Reinbold and Jimmy Vasser. In 2016 it fielded a Ford Fiesta ST. SH Rallycross/DRR has made 33 RBGRC starts, earning 17 heat race wins, eight finals podiums and one finals victory. The team finished fourth in the championship standings in 2014 and 2015. It had its best season in 2015 with four podium performances in the finals, including a win in Washington, DC. It was the only Red Bull Global Rallycross SuperCar team to make it to each main (final) event.

KVSH Racing

Main article: KV Racing Technology

KVSH Racing is co-owned by venture capitalist Kevin Kalkhoven 1996, Indy car champion Jimmy Vasser and Sullivan.

The group was formed in 2011, finishing eighth in the Indianapolis 500. The team won the Indianapolis 500 in 2013 with driver Tony Kanaan and fielded an entry in the IndyCar Series for four-time series champion Sebastien Bourdais. Bourdias is the only Indy car driver to win four consecutive championships, from 2004 to 2007. Bourdais finished 10th in the championship standings in 2014 and 2015. He was placed 14th in 2016 on the strength of 11 top-10 finishes in 16 races, including a victory at Detroit Race 1.

Sports Car Racing

Vasser Sullivan Racing announced a partnership with AIM Autosport and Lexus in October 2018 to form the AIM Vasser Sullivan team which debuted in IMSA competition at the 2019 Rolex 24.^[1] The combined effort recorded their first win in the third race of the 2019 season with Jack Hawksworth and Richard Heistand finishing at the front of the GTD class at Mid-Ohio. The partnership resulted in numerous podiums and wins over the 3 seasons that it existed but in late 2020, Vasser Sullivan announced that it was splitting from AIM Autosport in order to establish a new team base in North Carolina. The team was rebranded back to just Vasser Sullivan Racing for the start of the 2021 season and has been operated out of their Charlotte, NC base since that time. Team manager Greg Cates, who has a history with multiple sports car teams ranging from Joest Racing to 3GT Racing was hired in 2020 and the rest of the crew was built out with engineers, mechanics, and other technical personnel hired from experienced IMSA, IndyCar, and NASCAR teams.^[2]

Geoff Fickling was appointed as the race engineer for the No. 14 Lexus RC F GT3 bringing experience from sports car and open wheel cars while Chris Andrews was appointed as the race engineer for the No. 12 Lexus RC F GT3 with experience ranging from sports cars to NASCAR. Former Porsche mechanic and pit coach Travis Morgan was brought in as the car chief for the No. 14 while NASCAR veteran Jesse Goldin was appointed to be the car chief on the No. 12.^[3]

Vasser Sullivan saw further expansion ahead of the 2022 season as Lexus Racing signed Ben Barnicoat who joined Jack Hawksworth in the No. 14 Lexus RC F GT3 that competes in the GTD Pro class of the IMSA WeatherTech Sportscar championship. Barnicoat joined the team at the behest of Hawksworth who was the person to reach out to him to bring him into the fold.^[4] With Barnicoat being added to the No. 14 Lexus, Aaron Telitz was moved to the No. 12 Lexus RC F GT3 alongside Frankie Montecalvo.^[5] Richard Heistand and Townsend Bell would return to join the No. 12 Lexus at the Rolex 24 at Daytona while Kyle Kirkwood joined the No. 14 squad in the same race and for the remaining endurance races that season.

Hawksworth and Barnicoat even took up an apartment together in Huntersville, NC which is near the Vasser Sullivan shop and the Lexus Racing facilities.^[6] Vasser Sullivan Racing won the IMSA GTD Pro championship with the No. 14 Lexus RC F GT3 for the 2023 season and retained Jack Hawksworth and Ben Barnicoat as full season drivers for the 2024 season.^[7] Vasser Sullivan Racing also placed third in the IMSA GTD championship but elected to swap in Parker Thompson into a full-season role alongside Frankie Montecalvo for the 2024 season. Aaron Telitz will return in an endurance driver role. ^[8]

Results

Complete IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship results - No. 12 Lexus RC F GT3

(key) (Races in bold indicate pole position)

Year	Entrant	Class	Make	Engine	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	Rank	Points
2019	AIM Vasser Sullivan	GTD	Lexus RC F GT3	Lexus 5.4L V8	DAY 2	SEB 9	MDO 5	DET 3	WGL 9	MOS 3	LIM 13	ELK 9	VIR 7	LGA 11	PET 11		8th	236
2020	AIM Vasser Sullivan	GTD	Lexus RC F GT3	Lexus 5.4L V8	DAY 12	DAY 2	SEB 5	ELK 1	VIR 10	ATL 5	MDO 10	CLT	PET 8	LGA 8	SEB 9		13th	223
2021	Vasser Sullivan Racing	GTD	Lexus RC F GT3	Lexus 5.4L V8	DAY 13	SEB 6	MDO 2	DET 5	WGL 11	WGL 2	LIM 10	ELK 6	LGA 10	LBH 13	VIR 13	PET 3	8th	2538
2022	Vasser Sullivan Racing	GTD	Lexus RC F GT3	Lexus 5.4L V8	DAY 15	SEB 7	LBH 3	LGA 8	MDO 3	DET 4	WGL 16	MOS 6	LIM 8	ELK 3	VIR 4	PET 13	8th	2602
2023	Vasser Sullivan Racing	GTD	Lexus RC F GT3	Lexus 5.4L V8	DAY 5	SEB 5	LBH 3	LGA 12	WGL 1	MOS 6	LIM 12	ELK 5	VIR 5	IMS 14	PET 12		3rd	2927

Complete IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship results - No. 14 Lexus RC F GT3

(key)(Races in bold indicate pole position)

Year	Entrant	Class	Make	Engine	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	Rank	Points
2019	AIM Vasser Sullivan	GTD	Lexus RC F GT3	Lexus 5.4L V8	DAY 5	SEB 15	MDO 1	DET 1†	WGL 5	MOS 12	LIM 6	ELK 4	VIR 13	LGA 9	PET 9		6th	237
2020	AIM Vasser Sullivan	GTD	Lexus RC F GT3	Lexus 5.4L V8	DAY 9	DAY 1	SEB 1†	ELK 3	VIR 4	ATL 10	MDO 1	CLT 8	PET 2	LGA 11	SEB 12		4th	265
2021	Vasser Sullivan Racing	GTD	Lexus RC F GT3	Lexus 5.4L V8	DAY 16	SEB 7	MDO 13	DET 4†	WGL 6	WGL 1†	LIM 3	ELK 5	LGA 6	LBH 4	VIR 3	PET 15	7th	2640
2022	Vasser Sullivan Racing	GTD Pro	Lexus RC F GT3	Lexus 5.4L V8	DAY 4	SEB 7	LBH 2	LGA 2	WGL 4	MOS 5	LIM 3	ELK 1	VIR 3	PET 1			2nd	3277
2023	Vasser Sullivan Racing	GTD Pro	Lexus RC F GT3	Lexus 5.4L V8	DAY 3	SEB 2	LBH 1	LGA 2	WGL 1	MOS 4	LIM 2	ELK 2	VIR 2	IMS 3	PET 8		1st	3760

Complete IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship results - No. 17 Lexus RC F GT3

(key)(Races in bold indicate pole position)

Year	Entrant	Class	Make	Engine	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	Rank	Points
2022	Vasser Sullivan Racing	GTD	Lexus RC F GT3	Lexus 5.4 L V8					MDO 7	DET 1							18th	649

^† Points only counted towards the WeatherTech Sprint Cup and not the overall GTD Championship. ^* Season still in progress.

Complete IndyCar Series results

(key)

Year	Chassis	Engine	Drivers	No.	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	14	15	16	17	18	19	Pos.	Pts.
SH Racing
2011					STP	ALA	LBH	SAO	INDY	TXS		MIL	IOW	TOR	EDM	MDO	NHA	SNM	BAL	MOT	KTY	LSV
	Dallara IR-05	Honda HI7R V8	Tomas Scheckter	07					8								23		22			C		32nd	52
KV Racing with SH Racing
2012					STP	ALA	LBH	SAO	INDY	DET	TXS	MIL	IOW	TOR	EDM	MDO	SNM	BAL	FON
	Dallara DW12	Chevrolet IndyCar V6t	Tony Kanaan	11	25	21	4	13	3	6	11	2	3	4	18	6	10	20	18					9th	351
2013					STP	ALA	LBH	SAO	INDY	DET		TXS	MIL	IOW	POC	TOR		MDO	SNM	BAL	HOU		FON
	Dallara DW12	Chevrolet IndyCar V6t	Tony Kanaan	11	4	13	20	21	1	13	12	3	10	3	13	5	24	24	13	15	21	24	3	11th	397
KVSH Racing
2014					STP	LBH	ALA	IMS	INDY	DET		TXS	HOU		POC	IOW	TOR		MDO	MIL	SNM	FON
	Dallara DW12	Chevrolet IndyCar V6t	Sébastien Bourdais	11	13	14	15	4	7	13	20	20	4	5	16	19	1*	9	2	12	11	18		10th	461
2015					STP	NOL	LBH	ALA	IMS	INDY	DET		TXS	TOR	FON	MIL	IOW	MDO	POC	SNM
	Dallara DW12	Chevrolet IndyCar V6t	Sébastien Bourdais	11	6	21	6	8	4	11	14	1	14	5	14	1*	9	17	23	20				10th	406
2016					STP	PHX	LBH	ALA	IMS	INDY	DET		ROA	IOW	TOR	MDO	POC	TXS	WGL	SNM
	Dallara DW12	Chevrolet IndyCar V6t	Sébastien Bourdais	11	21	8	9	16	24	9	1	8	18	8	7	20	5	10	5	10				14th	404
			Stefan Wilson	25						28														34th	14
Dale Coyne Racing with Vasser-Sullivan
2018					STP	PHX	LBH	ALA	IMS	INDY	DET		TXS	ROA	IOW	TOR	MDO	POC	GAT	POR	SNM
	Dallara DW12	Honda HI18TT V6t	Sébastien Bourdais5	18	1	13	13	5	4	28	13	21	8	13	11	19	6	4	21	3	6			7th	425
2019					STP	COA	ALA	LBH	IMS	INDY	DET		TXS	ROA	TOR	IOW	MDO	POC	GAT	POR	LAG
	Dallara DW12	Honda HI19TT V6t	Sébastien Bourdais5	18	24	5	3	11	11	30	11	9	8	12	8	9	11	7	19	9	7			11th	387
2020					TXS	IMS	ROA		IOW		INDY	GAT		MDO		IMS		STP
	Dallara DW12	Honda HI20TT V6t	Santino Ferrucci	18	21	9	6	6	13	18	4	16	10	14	14	15	12	23						13th	290
2021					ALA	STP	TXS		IMS	INDY	DET		ROA	MDO	NSH	IMS	GAT	POR	LAG	LBH
	Dallara DW12	Honda HI21TT V6t	Ed Jones5	18	15	20	12	22	14	28	9	17	23	26	6	14	24	11	10	12				19th	233

References

1. "Lexus partners with AIM Vasser Sullivan". 16 October 2018.
2. "Vasser Sullivan's Off-Season Transformation "Paying Off" – Sportscar365". 25 January 2021.
3. "Teamwork Making The Dream Work At Vasser Sullivan - SPEED SPORT".
4. "Lexus GTD Pro Signing Barnicoat "Thriving" in New Environment – Sportscar365". 20 January 2022.
5. "Telitz Moves to No. 12 Vasser Sullivan Lexus in GTD – Sportscar365". 21 December 2021.
6. Ingram, Jonathan (2023-05-12). "Vasser Sullivan Lexus Duo Winning in IMSA GTD Pro, Fueled by Mexican Food, Sushi".
7. "Hawksworth, Barnicoat to Defend Title with Vasser Sullivan – Sportscar365". 10 November 2023.
8. "Vasser Sullivan swap Parker Thompson, Aaron Telitz for 2024 season". 20 November 2023.

External links

• KV Racing Technology