CORE Autosport was an American

auto racing Auto racing (also known as car racing, motor racing, or automobile racing) is a motorsport involving the racing of automobiles for competition. In North America, the term is commonly used to describe all forms of automobile sport including non ...

team founded by Jon Bennett in 2010 and based out of

Rock Hill, South Carolina Rock Hill is the most populous city in York County, South Carolina, United States, and the List of municipalities in South Carolina, 5th-most populous city in the state. It is also the 4th-most populous city of the Charlotte metropolitan area, be ...

. After claiming the IMSA Lites Championship in 2010, the team, led by team manager, Morgan Brady, made the move to competing in the American Le Mans Series. The team competed in the

WeatherTech SportsCar Championship The IMSA SportsCar Championship, currently known as the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship under sponsorship, is a sports car racing series based in the United States and Canada and organized by the International Motor Sports Association (I ...

fielding the Nos. 911 and 912

Porsche 911 RSR The Porsche 911 RSR and its predecessor GT3 RSR, GT3 RS and GT3 R were a line of GT racing cars produced by Porsche that are used in motorsport for endurance races. They are based on the then highest class in GT racing worldwide, the GTE class fr ...

Porsche Dr. Ing. h.c. F. Porsche AG, usually shortened to Porsche (; see below), is a German automobile manufacturer specializing in luxury, high-performance sports cars, SUVs and sedans, headquartered in Stuttgart, Baden-Württemberg, Germany. Th ...

GT Team in GT Le Mans under a works contract.

American Le Mans Series

In 2011, the team began its competition in the

American Le Mans Series The American Le Mans Series (ALMS) was a sports car racing series based in the United States and Canada. It consisted of a series of Endurance racing (motorsport), endurance and sprint races, and was created in the spirit of the 24 Hours of Le M ...

with a two-car LMP Challenge category effort with team owner Jon Bennett and Frankie Montecalvo driving the #05 and Ricardo González and Gunnar Jeannette driving the #06

Oreca FLM09 The Le Mans Prototype Challenge (shortened to LMP Challenge or LMPC) was a spec sports prototype formula created by the Automobile Club de l'Ouest (ACO), organisers of the 24 Hours of Le Mans, and sports car constructor Oreca. The formula is inte ...

. Despite stiff competition, the #06 car managed two class and the team's consistent performance would prove successful. In their rookie season, the Core autosport team won the Team Championship by one point with drivers González and

Gunnar Jeannette Gunnar Patrick Jeannette (born May 5, 1982 in West Palm Beach, Florida) is an American racing driver who serves as the Team Principal for AO Racing. He won the 2011 American Le Mans Series season LMPC Drivers' Championship. Early racing career Je ...

first in the Drivers' Championship. For the 2012 season, the team would, once again, field two

in the LMPC category. This year the #05 car was driven by Jon Bennett and

Colin Braun Colin James Braun ( "brown"; born September 22, 1988) is an American auto racing, racing driver. He is the 2014 and 2015 IMSA SportsCar Championship, WeatherTech SportsCar Championship Prototype Challenge Champion and currently drives the No. 60 M ...

and the #06 car driven by Alex Popow and

Ryan Dalziel Ryan Dalziel ( ; born 12 April 1982) is a Scottish professional racing driver. Dalziel has seen the most success in his career in the United States, racing in the American Le Mans Series GT1 class and the Champ Car World Series, and winning t ...

. 2012 would become a dominant year for the Core autosport Team. Claiming 8 class victories of the 10 race season, including victories at the

12 Hours of Sebring The 12 Hours of Sebring is an annual motorsport Endurance racing (motorsport), endurance race for Sports car racing, sports cars held at Sebring International Raceway, on the site of the former Hendricks Army Airfield World War II air base in S ...

and

Petit Le Mans Petit Le Mans (French language, French for ''Little Le Mans'') is a sports car racing, sports car Endurance racing (motorsport), endurance race held annually at Road Atlanta in Braselton, Georgia, United States. The race has been held for a durat ...

, the team would win their second Team Championship and finish 1st and 2nd in the LMPC Drivers' Championship. The 2013 season was a transition season for the CORE autosport team. Jon Bennett and

would once again team up to run in LMPC Class, but would be joined by a Porsche 911 GT3-RSR driven by Tom Kimber-Smith and

factory driver

Patrick Long __NOTOC__ Patrick Brian Long (born July 28, 1981) is an American professional racing driver, one of 18 Porsche factory racing drivers, and the only American to hold that distinction. Racing career Sports car racing Following a successful career ...

in the GT class that debut at

Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca Laguna Seca Raceway (branded as WeatherTech Raceway Laguna Seca, and previously Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca for sponsorship reasons) is a paved Racing track#Motorsport, road racing track in central California used for both auto racing and Motorcyc ...

, the third round of the season. The #05 LMPC car finished the season with a victory at Long Beach and another at Canadian Tire Motorsports Park. The team finished 3 points ahead of Bar1 Motorsports and claimed the Teams' Championship. Jon Bennett finished 3rd in the Drivers' Championship.

WeatherTech SportsCar Championship

For 2014, CORE autosport partnered with

Motorsport North America to run two factory-supported

Porsche 911 The Porsche 911 model series (pronounced ''Nine Eleven'' or in ) is a family of German two-door, high performance Rear-engine design, rear-engine sports cars, introduced in September 1964 by Porsche, Porsche AG of Stuttgart, Germany. Now in it ...

RSRs in the

United SportsCar Championship The IMSA SportsCar Championship, currently known as the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship under sponsorship, is a sports car racing series based in the United States and Canada and organized by the International Motor Sports Association ( ...

under the Porsche North America name. Full season pilots

and new Porsche factory driver Michael Christensen would team with

Patrick Pilet Patrick Grégory Yoan Pilet (born October 8, 1981) is a French professional racing driver. He has competed in major sports car endurance races like the 24 Hours of Le Mans, 24 Hours of Daytona, 24 Hours of Spa, 12 Hours of Sebring and Petit Le Ma ...

while

Nick Tandy Nicholas Tandy (born 5 November 1984) is a professional British racing driver currently racing for Porsche Motorsport as a factory driver in the IMSA SportsCar Championship. Tandy is the only person to have completed the Grand Slam of overal ...

and

Richard Lietz Richard Lietz (born 17 December 1983 in Waidhofen an der Ybbs) is an Austrian professional racing driver and a Porsche Factory driver. He has competed in series such as American Le Mans Series, Formula 3 Euro Series and the Rolex Sports Car S ...

would be joined by Joerg Bergmeister for the season opening

24 Hours of Daytona The 24 Hours of Daytona, also known as the Rolex 24 At Daytona for sponsorship reasons, is a 24-hour sports car racing, sports car Endurance racing (motorsport), endurance race held annually at Daytona International Speedway in Daytona Beach, Flo ...

. CORE won the season-opening 2014 24 Hours of Daytona in both the Prototype Challenge class with

, Jon Bennett, Mark Wilkins and James Gue, while the factory-run No. 911 Porsche of

and

picked up top class honors in GT Le Mans. The team went on to win the Prototype Challenge Driver, Team and Tequila Patrón North American Endurance Cup Championships. CORE's success with Porsche North America in 2014 helped Porsche earn the 2014 GTLM Manufacturers' Championship. The No. 912 entry driven by Patrick Long and Michael Christensen also won the Tequila Patrón North American Endurance Cup in the GTLM team category. CORE again claimed the Prototype Challenge Team and Driver Championships in

2015 2015 was designated by the United Nations as: * International Year of Light * International Year of Soil __TOC__ Events January * January 1 – Lithuania officially adopts the euro as its currency, replacing the litas, and becomes ...

with Jon Bennett and Colin Braun, making it five-straight Prototype Challenge team titles. Porsche North America's No. 911 entry, with drivers Patrick Pilet, Nick Tandy and Richard Lietz, earned the GTLM Team Championship, thanks in stunning part to the No. 911's historic overall victory at the season-ending Petit Le Mans. Porsche once again collected GTLM Manufacturer Championship honors, while Pilet earned the GTLM Drivers' Championship (because co-driver Nick Tandy missed two rounds to participate in the World Endurance Championship and 24 Hours of Le Mans, he did not share the title). The team for the

2019 WeatherTech SportsCar Championship The 2019 IMSA SportsCar Championship (known for sponsorship reasons as the 2019 IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship) was the 49th motor racing championship sanctioned by the International Motor Sports Association (IMSA) (which traces its lin ...

would run a Onroak Nissan DPi. The DPIs were purchased from the defunct

Extreme Speed Motorsports Extreme Speed Motorsports (ESM) was an American auto racing team based out of Riviera Beach, Florida, Riviera Beach, Florida. Founded by Scott Sharp and Patrón CEO Ed Brown (racing driver), Ed Brown, the team competed in the FIA World Endurance ...

team. The 2019 retirement of CORE owner Jon Bennett would end the program. Bennett announced the closure of the team in November 2022.

Racing record

24 Hours of Le Mans results

Complete American Le Mans Series results

( key) (results in bold indicate pole position)

Complete United SportsCar Championship results

( key) (results in bold indicate pole position)

Complete IMSA SportsCar Championship results

( key) (results in bold indicate pole position)

Complete Global RallyCross Championship results

( key)

GRC Lites

WeatherTech SportsCar Championship wins

References

External links

Core autosport official website

American Le Mans Series official website
{{Webarchive, url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120724132013/http://www.alms.com/ , date=2012-07-24 American auto racing teams WeatherTech SportsCar Championship teams Global RallyCross Championship teams American Le Mans Series teams Porsche in motorsport Auto racing teams established in 2010 Auto racing teams disestablished in 2022