Gabby Chaves of Harding Racing in the Verizon IndyCar Series will pilot the #5 Mustang Sampling Racing Cadillac DPi alongside Filipe Albuquerque and Christian Fittipaldi in the upcoming Sahlen’s Six Hours of the Glen.
The 24-year old Colombian-born driver will be running in place of the injured Joao Barbosa, as confirmed by Action Express Racing on Monday.
Barbosa currently leads the IMSA Weathertech SportsCar Championship standings in the Mustang Sampling Cadillac, but was injured in a cycling accident earlier in June. His expected return at the time of the incident the Continental Tire Road Race Showcase at Road America, seeing him sit out for two races.
“The first thing is of course that you never want to have an opportunity because someone got hurt, so this is an unfortunate circumstance with Joao [Barbosa] having his injury,” Chaves said in a team press release, “but I appreciate the opportunity to join the championship-leading team. Mustang Sampling Racing has had a strong start this year and hopefully I can help the team continue to have those kinds of results.”
The entry will mark the 2014 Indy Lights champion’s return to sports car racing, his last start coming with the DeltaWing Racing Cars team in 2015. Chaves previously lead two laps at Watkins Glen with DeltaWing, and later helped to score the team’s highest finish of P4 at Road Atlanta in 2014.
“I’m excited to be going back to endurance racing,” he said. “With different classes all racing at the same time, there is a lot for the driver to deal with as you work through traffic. So I am looking forward to racing at the Glen again, and I really appreciate this opportunity with Mustang Sampling Racing.”
The Sahlen’s Six Hours of the Glen takes place at Watkins Glen International Sunday, July 1st.
