The NASCAR Cup Series‘ trip to Road America on 4 July will see the NASCAR début of Ryan Eversley. On Friday, Eversley announced he will enter the event in the #53 for Rick Ware Racing.
“This ride exists because Rick saw the fan support I get and knows I want to do some NASCAR stuff and we’re making it happen,” he tweeted. “This opportunity is because of the people who support me and we’re going to enjoy this together.”
Eversley competes in the IMSA Michelin Pilot Challenge TCR class, where he drives a Honda for Atlanta Speedwerks. After three races, he is third in points with a runner-up finish in the season opener at Daytona. The previous year, he finished seventh in the standings. His sports car résumé also includes starts in the WeatherTech SportsCar Championship and its predecessors Rolex Sports Car Series and American Le Mans Series. He won the 2018 Pirelli World Challenge TCR championship.
Outside of sports cars, he has also dabbled in the Stadium Super Trucks, running four races in 2019 with a podium at Mid-Ohio despite flipping on the first lap. Off the track, he co-hosts the popular Dinner with Racers podcast with Sean Heckman.
He had hoped to enter NASCAR in 2020, but was rejected by NASCAR despite his road racing successes as the COVID-19 pandemic resulted in the elimination of qualifying at such tracks. The predicament also befell fellow IMSA driver Jordan Taylor, who could not run the Daytona Road Course that year for the same reason. Road America, being a new addition to the Cup schedule, is one of eight races that will conduct the session.
RWR’s #53 is currently thirty-second in the owner points with Joey Gase, Garrett Smithley, J.J. Yeley, and Cody Ware having made starts. Gase holds the car’s best finish of the season of twentieth in the season opener at Daytona.
