Talk about jumping into the deep end. When the 2015 IMSA Continental Tire SportsCar Challenge championship opened at Daytona International Speedway last January, Strategic Wealth Racing driver Matt Dicken had never seen most of the tracks on the 10-race calendar, had never managed a driver change during a live pit stop, and had never raced the multi-class endurance format on the professional level. 

But fast forward one year, and the Louisville-based sophomore driver is looking forward to building on his rookie IMSA effort after checking a lot of “firsts” off his list in 2015. 

The 2016 IMSA season will kick off January 29th at the Daytona International Speedway with the first race of a 10-round championship that will go from coast to coast before crowning a champion in October. Strategic Wealth Racing is looking to be a factor in every one of those races in 2016. 

Key to those expectations is the fact that while nearly everything was new for Strategic Wealth Racing and Dicken in 2015, the squad will instead build on continuity in 2016. 

The first part of that consistency will be the Strategic Wealth Racing driver line up, as Dicken will once again share the driving duties with Corey Lewis, a young American racer who added a World Championship to his resume last year in Lamborghini Super Trofeo competition. 

For the second consecutive season, Dicken and Lewis will once again utilize the No. 36 Strategic Wealth Designers Porsche Cayman. The platform, which was a regular threat for podiums in ST class competition in 2015, is anticipated to once again be a popular choice for teams looking to add more victories to the Porsche legend. 

Another key consistency will be the team behind the effort, as Atlanta-based Goldcrest Motorsports will once again manage the preparation and on-event execution for the 10-race championship. Goldcrest, which was started by Bob Sanderson with renowned Porsche expert Steve Cosgrove managing the Strategic Wealth Racing effort, knows the Cayman platform inside and out. 

“We are excited about being able to build on a program that is so consistent with what we did last year,” said Dicken. “Last season, our main expectation was that we were going to learn a lot, and we did. For me there were so many new things to deal with. I got better and better about learning the tracks. Now, I’ve got a much better starting point for each weekend this year so that is only going to help us.”

Dicken and Lewis picked up momentum as the season went on, with the team leading its first laps at Lime Rock Park and taking three consecutive top-10 finishes in the second half of the year.

“There was a lot of momentum going for us in the second half of the season,” said Lewis who will be a busy racer in 2016 as he was recently confirmed for a full-season IMSA WeatherTech effort in the GTD Class. “There were a lot of reasons for that in terms of the team gelling, Matt (Dicken) getting better and better at learning these new tracks and doing a good job in qualifying. To be able to keep everything in place for this year—drivers, team, and a really strong crew—that’s a great opportunity for us to hopefully keep that momentum going in 2016.”

While over 90 days separated the final race of 2015 and the first action of 2016, the team has keep busy through the short break. 

“We know that we will have a lot to learn yet, but with the experience we’ve now got and this team behind us, we’ve got our expectations set a little bit higher,” said Dicken of the 2016 effort. “The ST class is so competitive. We were able to get some testing in during the off season and that has kept this team in a good rhythm so we already feel like we are warmed up going into Daytona and everyone just wants to get down there and get going!”

The team has been preparing for 2016 ever since the checkered flag flew at Road Atlanta in October, and the first official action of the IMSA schedule will take place this weekend at Daytona International Speedway. The three day test, known as the “Roar Before the 24,” will see the IMSA Continental Tire SportsCar Challenge paddock in place as well as play host to the WeatherTech teams. 

2016 Roar Before the 24, on-track schedule

IMSA Continental Tire SportsCar Challenge

Daytona International Speedway

Friday, January 8
9:00 AM – 10:00 AM              CTSCC Session #1

1:45 PM – 2:45 PM                 CTSCC Session #2

Saturday, January 9
11:05 AM – 12:05 PM             CTSCC Session #3

2:55 PM – 3:55 PM                 CTSCC Session #4

Sunday, January 10

9:00 AM – 10:00 AM              CTSCC Session #5

1:35 PM – 2:20 PM                 CTSCC Session #6