Ryan Eversley (born December 22, 1983, in Lithonia, Georgia) is an American race car driver. Starting in 2015, Eversley has been a Honda factory driver who primarily races in the Pirelli World Challenge series for the RealTime Racing Acura team in an Acura TLX-GT in the GT class. In 2017 Eversley and his team started racing the new NSX GT3.
Video Ryan Eversley
Early career
Though his parents could not fund his racing career, they were supportive and did help Ryan to find opportunities. He left public school and pursued his high school degree in a homeschooling program so he could pursue a driving career.
Eversley got a job from Mike Johnson in 2001 with the Archangel Racing Team as a mechanic.
"I was one of the first guys in the shop every day and I was the one they had to tell to go home because I was so excited to be working on prototypes at 16 and 17 years old," Ryan stated in an interview on the Marshall Pruett Podcast in 2016. His first race as a mechanic was with the Archangel team the Rolex 24 Hours of Daytona in 2001.
Using the money he made working, Ryan went to the Panoz Racing Schools at Road Atlanta and raced go karts whenever possible to gain experience. A driver himself, Mike Johnson was able to help Ryan get seat time and eventually a ride in the Continental Tire Series.
Maps Ryan Eversley
First race
Ryan's first race took place in Sonoma in the Spring of 2003 in a Star Mazda. In Ryan's own words: "I rent a ride from a kid I met on Auto Racing AOL chatroom. This kid, Chris Nelson, him and his dad Bob Nelson help me out." The Nelsons had the car, but didn't have enough money to race it. Eversley continues: "They said come to Sonoma. As long as you don't crash you're fine. It was kind of nerve wracking, because I don't have two pennies to rub together ... We go. I finish dead last, I sucked and I was so happy."
Career 2003-2014
2003
Debuted in ST I class. He finished 16th in only one race at Virginia International Raceway.
2004
In 2004, James Cook offered Eversley a ride in three IMSA races if he would build the car for him. Ryan accepted and created a team with Crew Chief Jason Duncan. They built the B2K/40 Lola with a Millington turbo engine and raced it at Mid-Ohio, Lime Rock and Road Atlanta in the LMP2 class. Though the class was small, the car finished 2nd in each race.
Finished 15th in lone ST race at Homestead-Miami Speedway.
2006
Did not score any points after driving in four races.
2007
Finished 83rd in GS points. ... Three races, best finish 15th at Daytona International Speedway.
2008
Finished 26th in GS points. ... Seven races, best finish ninth at New Jersey Motorsports Park.
2009
Ryan competed in the 24 Hours of Daytona in the GT class for Stevenson Motorsports. The team finished 22nd overall and 13th in class.
2010
Ryan competed in the SCCA Pro Racing World Challenge race at the Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course and won both rounds of the TC class in his series debut. He made another Rolex Sports Car Series start in 2010 for Matt Connolly Motorsports at Barber Motorsports Park. The team failed to finish the race. He also drove in the American Le Mans Series' Petit Le Mans for Magnus Racing in the GTC class and finished third in class. Finished 84th in GS points. Four races, best finish 10th at Virginia International Raceway. Eversley drives in the Continental Tire Sports Car Challenge for Compass360 Racing in the ST class. He captured a class victory in the race at Virginia International Raceway. He also competed in the 2011 24 Hours of Daytona for The Racer's Group in the Children's Tumor Foundation charity Porsche. The team finished 20th overall and 8th in class.
2015
2015 was Ryan's first year competing full-time in the Pirelli World Challenge series in the GT class. Driving an Acura TLX for RealTime Racing, Eversley recorded a win at St. Petersburg, ultimately finishing 6th in the GT standings.
2016
Ryan returned to World Challenge racing with RealTime in 2016, again driving the TLX. He recorded back-to-back wins at Road America, finishing 6th in the GT standings for the second year in a row with four podiums.
2017
RealTime Racing returned to World Challenge in 2017 with a new program in the Acura NSX GT3. They scored one podium with a 2nd place finish at Utah, but Eversley reported in the Mario Andretti episode of his Dinner With Racers podcast that the team is struggling with downforce in their first year in development with the new car.
2018
In December 2017, Ryan announced that he would be joining Honda of America Racing Team (HART) in 2018 to drive an Acura NSX GT3 with co-driver Chad Gilsinger in Tequila Patron North American Endurance Cup races.
Pirelli World Challenge
In the first Pirelli World Challenge race of 2015, The Nissan Grand Prix of Texas brought to you by Motul at the Circuit of the Americas in Austin, TX, Ryan Eversley, in the No. 43 RealTime/Acura Motorsports/HPD Acura TLX-GT, rocketed up to finish fifth after starting 25th on the day. Eversley was awarded the Optima Batteries Best Start Award for gaining eight positions, and the VP Racing Fuels Hard Charger Award for gaining 20 positions in the race.
Eversley once again ran in the Pirelli World Challenge series in 2016. Ultimately finishing 6th in the championship, the most successful weekend for Eversley came at Road America, when he won both races.
Motorsports Career Results
(key)
Pirelli World Challenge results
* Season is still in progress.
Continental Tire SportsCar Challenge results
Grand-Am Rolex Sports Car Series
American Le Mans Series
WeatherTech SportsCar Championship
Continental Tire SportsCar Challenge
Children's Tumor Foundation Charity Work
After driving the Children's Tumor Foundation (CTF) charity car in the Daytona 24-hour race, Ryan has been committed to raising money and awareness to battle a disease called Neurofibromatosis, a condition that causes tumors to form in the brain, spinal cord, and nerves. Over the last few years Ryan has raised tens of thousands of dollars for CTF, largely though an annual event called the Cupid's Undie Run, which he and other team members run in their underwear every February.
Dinner with racers podcast
Ryan co-hosts a racing podcast with Sean Heckman. They travel across the United States to interview other racing drivers, team owners, engineers, and general motorsports personalities over dinner. The show has 2 seasons and more than 60 guests from various motorsports series including NASCAR, IndyCar, and WeatherTech SportsCar Championship. The podcast can be found on iTunes and at http://www.dinnerwithracers.com.
Personal life
Ryan is the son of veteran sports car racing mechanic John Eversley. He currently resides in Atlanta, Georgia. His daily driver is an Acura MDX with Continental tires.
References
2015 Circuit of the Americas
External links
- Official website
- Ryan Eversley driver statistics at Racing-Reference
- Continental Tire SportsCar Challenge Historical Results
Source of the article : Wikipedia
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