Myers Riley Motorsports Battles to Seventh in Long Beach Street Fight

Myers Riley Motorsports came away from the Grand Prix of Long Beach with a hard-earned seventh-place finish on Saturday, overcoming a challenging weekend for outright pace with flawless execution in race trim on the streets of Southern California.

The team delivered in the 100-minute IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship sprint race with a stellar strategy, strong pit stops, and great stints from Sheena Monk and Felipe Fraga. It allowed the No. 16 Myers Riley Motorsports Ford Mustang GT3 to maximize its result in one of the most demanding events on the calendar.

Starting the race for the team, Monk wasted no time moving forward. She picked up three positions in the opening six laps and kept the car in the fight through her stint before handing over to Fraga around the 35-minute mark in strong contention.

From there, Fraga dug in through heavy traffic and a fiercely competitive GTD field, continuing the charge and bringing the car home seventh at the checkered flag. The finish gave Myers Riley Motorsports a solid result and good points to carry forward into the remainder of the championship.

“We’re really happy for the team and for everyone at Myers Riley to come away with a finish and get the ball rolling for the season,” said Monk. “We scored good points in the Bronze Championship, and considering our pace relative to the field, I think we really maximized the package we had today. The car felt really nice to drive, Felipe and I kept it clean, and I was able to make up a few spots early in the race. Felipe did a great job clawing through traffic during his stint. Hopefully this puts some of the bad luck behind us, and now we’re ready to attack the rest of the year.”

Fraga echoed the team’s optimism after a clean and productive race result. “It was a great day,” said Fraga. “I think we maximized everything we could do. The race pace was good, and even with how competitive the field was, we got everything out of it that we could. After some difficult races earlier this season, it feels good to finally get a clean finish. It’s still not where we ultimately want to be, but we did all the basics right, good strategy, good pit stops, a strong drive from Sheena, and I think I was able to have a solid stint too. I’m happy, and I’m looking forward to the next one.”