Andre Castro: Daytona Debut

Getting some air from riding the curbs in the Le Mans Chicane.

NEW YORK, N.Y. – Most racing series are off in January, with teams and drivers preparing for the upcoming season. I myself had never raced in January, but in 2026, I’d be down in Daytona competing in my first ever professional IMSA sports car race.

Thanks to support from Bryan Herta Autosport, Hyundai Motor America (HMA), Borkan & Scahill LTD, Olivia Racing and Ricca Autosport, I’d be sharing the #98 Hyundai Elantra N TCR with Mark Wilkins and Maddie Aust for the BMW M Endurance Challenge – the opening round of the IMSA Michelin Pilot Challenge. It was an honor to arrive at the track and see my name on the window alongside both the American and Colombian flags. I had actually tested the #98 car at Putnam Park only a couple of days after it had won the 2025 IMSA championship, so at least the car wasn’t completely unfamiliar to me, although I was also cognizant of its recent success and knew I had to back it up.

Pondering strategy with my co-driver Madie Aust.

I had only previously competed in one touring car event, had never completed a mid-race driver swap in a professional race, and had never driven at Daytona, so I knew I had a steep learning curve ahead of me. Fortunately, I’d have three extra days of testing at Daytona to prepare for the race weekend, during which I got to grips with the car, track and team, led by our chief engineer, Megan Ryder. Mark and Maddie both spent hours practicing driver changes with me, as it took me much longer than I expected to get the rhythm down. I watched them complete seamless driver changes in under 20 seconds, which I just could not replicate – I worked for hours just to get my swaps consistently under half a minute. They would slide in and out of the car like they were covered in butter, while I clunkily would bang my limbs on the chassis, resulting in several bruises.

Andre suiting up for the task at hand.

It was undoubtedly more enjoyable to work on my driving, learning a new track and a car that I had only driven once before. There were 51 cars circulating, so I was constantly passing and being passed by other cars, which taught me about the traffic management strategies I’d have to employ in the race. However, the conditions were vastly different every time I rolled on track due to variables such as tire performance, fuel level, setup changes, track temperature, and even light drizzle at times. Sometimes, I felt as though I’d put in a pretty solid lap, only to find I’d been almost two seconds slower than in my previous run. This made it challenging to pinpoint exactly how to find lap time with my driving, as the target always seemed to be moving.

Riding the high banks for the first time was a dream come true.

I didn’t know what to expect going into qualifying, as the team chose me to qualify the car and start the race. I struggled to extract the most out of the tire at its peak and failed to find a decent tow, which is so important at Daytona, putting me ninth at the end of qualifying. Most did not expect me to qualify too much higher, with it being my first race and all, but as always, my standards were astronomically high for myself. As a result, I was feeling down about not qualifying higher up the grid. As I sat in the team hauler looking visibly disappointed, team owner Bryan Herta stepped in and asked how I felt about qualifying. I think he had noticed how I was feeling, and he decided to share some perspective. Of course, Bryan is a racing legend who needs no introduction, and drivers trust his judgment because he’s been through these situations countless times. He emphasized the importance of having just gained valuable qualifying experience, and that due to my lack of running, there had truly been no expectation for me to put it on pole or anything; he knew that next time I qualified, I’d certainly use what I learned to do better, and that my focus had to switch to the race now. Qualifying was relatively inconsequential anyway, as the race was four hours long. It was all about race rhythm, traffic management and saving tires.

Job almost done – helping Maddie into the car at our first stop.

After Bryan’s words and encouragement from my teammate, Denis Dupont, I was ready to line up for my first IMSA race. Throughout the course of my stint, I climbed from ninth to fifth, having been the fastest car on track for several laps. I passed two of my teammates and two Hondas as their tires wore off and their pace slowed. My stint ended a bit prematurely as a caution came out while I was catching a leading pack of four. Maddie and I executed a solid driver change, after which I yelled in my helmet emphatically – I knew I had done the most I could, and I couldn’t have asked for much more during my stint. The team offered their congratulations before quickly turning their attention back to the race. Mark, Maddie and I ended up bringing the car home in fourth place, while Denis won the race and another one of our Hyundais finished third. We had gotten spun while Maddie was driving and went a lap down briefly, but had rebounded in what felt like a war of attrition.

We were pushed to our limits at the Hyundai Drivers Camp.

Having held up my end of the deal and contributing positively to the team was an amazing feeling. I became more integrated within the Hyundai family and BHA throughout the whole experience. I was subsequently invited to the Hyundai Drivers’ Camp in New York City, where several drivers were put to the test for three days of demanding workouts at SportsLab NYC. As I’m writing this, my entire body is sore, and I’m not expecting it to go away anytime soon! We were all certainly pushed to our limits, but it was an incredibly valuable and educational experience.

Moving forward, I’m excited to be competing in the first SRO TC America races of the year at Sonoma Raceway on March 27-28. I’ll be driving an Elantra N1 TC Evo for Ricca Autosport, and can’t wait to get started.
-Andre