Rising sportscar star will share Street Tuner car with multi-race winner in championship run
(Minden, Nevada) -- Ryan Eversley (right photo above) will return to Compass360 Racing (C360R) for his fourth consecutive Continental Tire Sports Car Challenge Street Tuner season, co-driving his #75 Honda Civic Si with new team recruit Kyle Gimple.
Gimple first caught C360R Team Principal Karl Thomson's eye in 2010 when he was competing in the Mustang Challenge, of which C360R's parent company -- Compass360 Brand Architects -- was the series' marketing agency.
"Kyle impressed the heck out of me in 2010," noted Thomson. "He was the new kid on the block, racing against guys who had been in the series for a couple of years, and he more than held his own." Indeed, Gimple notched a race win in his rookie Mustang season and finished a creditable fifth in the final championship standings.
Thomson hoped that Kyle would drive for C360R after the Mustang series ended, but the pony car allure was too strong and he signed with a GS (Grand Sport) Mustang team for 2011. While that provided a good foundation in the series, it didn't produce the desired results and Gimple spent the 2012 season working with a few different Street Tuner (ST) teams driving different cars to gain experience.
The team expects 2013 to be Gimple's break-out year. "There's no question Kyle's got the talent to qualify our Honda up front and battle for the lead in the first stint," remarked Eversley. "I worked with him when he drove a Rolex GT car a few years ago, and knowing what I saw in him then, I'm really stoked for our championship chances this year."
The 2013 season marks a milestone for Eversley, the team's longest-serving driver after Thomson. While he starts his fourth year with C360R, this season also his eleventh as a CTSCC competitor. "My first race was VIR in 2003," laughed Ryan, "and it's a real pleasure to not only to still be here but to be racing a Honda with one of the best teams in the paddock."
After a year of development of the new 2012 Honda Civic Si platform in partnership with Honda Performance Development, the team is expecting a return to form which saw them finish first or second in the ST championship every year from 2007 to 2011.
Gimple and Eversley will join the already-announced duo of Ray Mason and Adam Burrows, who will share the #76 Columbus Truck entry. The team expects to announce its final driver season-long line-up shortly.
Compass360 will next be on track during the Roar Before the 24 at Daytona International Speedway, January 4-6, 2013. Fans are welcome to attend the test days. For details visit http://grand-am.com.
