Courtney Crone joins JR III Racing for IMSA Prototype Challenge

American Courtney Crone enters her second season in LMP3 machinery and joins Jr III Racing for the upcoming IMSA Prototype Challenge.

American racer Courtney Crone, 20, will return to the IMSA Prototype Challenge in 2022, this time behind the wheel of the #3 Ligier JS P320 operated by Jr III Racing, joining teammate Terry Olson.

Crone competed in LMP3 machinery in 2021, finishing eighth in the Forty7 Motorsports Duqueine at her first full season in the championship. Sharing the #73 machine with Jason Rabe, Crone scored three top-10 finishes at Daytona, Mid Ohio and Watkins Glen.

Despite her young age, the Californian driver already has a wide experience in diverse motorsport championships, such as single-seaters, midget race cars and sports cars.

She entered the W Series selections both in 2018 and late 2019, when she was shortlisted among the drivers that tested the Tatuus F3 car at Almeria, Spain.

In October 2021, she was named as one of the four women included in the IMSA Diverse Driver Development program, aimed at promoting diversity in the premier NOrth American Sports Car championship. Crone was joined by Sabré Cook, Christina Lam and Sarah Montgomery.

Among her accomplishments is the 2018 title in the Formula Car Challenge National Championship; one year later, Crone would also enter the US Formula 4 event at Austin.

At Jr III Racing, Crone is joined by Terry Olson, who made two starts with the team in 2021 - scoring two podium results. He enters his first full season in IMSA Prototype Challenge and is looking forward to starting to work with his new teammate at Daytona, where Crone will have to learn the new Ligier platform as well.

“Working with Jr III Racing and Terry (Olson) is a great opportunity for me and I can not wait to get going at Daytona,” commented Crone. “The entire team has been very welcoming and a pleasure to work with already."

"A big thank you to Cusick Motorsports, Gnarly Jerky, Lohla Sport, Myobrace and Bob Stallings Dealerships for helping me get to this point in my career and have this opportunity to compete with a highly professional team like Jr III Racing."

The 2022 schedule includes 5 events, starting from a three-hour race at Daytona International Speedway on Saturday 22nd January during the Roar Before the Rolex 24.

The green flag will be waved at 12:00pm ET.