INDYCAR: Brabham mulls future

Matthew Brabham hasn't abandoned his dream of becoming a full-time Verizon IndyCar Series driver, but with few seats available for 2017, the young American is taking a deeper interest in sports cars.

As the son of legendary IMSA GTP champion Geoff Brabham (pictured), the Florida-born, Australian-bred 22-year-old says following in his father's footsteps would be an honor. And with his recent awarding of a highly prized "Silver" pro-am driver rating from the FIA, a bullet like Brabham could find work in the WeatherTech SportsCar Championship's pro-am PC and GT Daytona classes, in particular.

"I haven't pursued sports cars too much the last couple of years because I was working to get into IndyCar, and I was fortunate to make my Indy 500 debut with Team Murray and KV Racing in May, but there aren't a lot of options in open-wheel, so I've been concentrating more of my efforts on IMSA than in the past," Brabham told RACER.

"The door to IndyCar isn't closed for me – not at all. There are some good things we're working on that hopefully happen, and it's a big priority for me, but I also want to make a name for myself in sports cars.

Brabham's previous efforts to land in IMSA were thwarted by a pro-grade Gold driver rating; he hopes the coveted (and wholly unexpected) downgrade to Silver by the FIA will increase the odds of returning the family name to IMSA.

"I've been a Gold for a few years, so it was hard to get something [in IMSA] with so many veteran pros already working for teams," he said. "But now that I have my Silver, it should be less difficult. It was like I was on the wrong side of the driver rating system before. I sent in my paperwork and it came back as Silver, so I had a huge smile on my face. It was pretty exciting news, and I'm not sure why I was downgraded, but this is fantastic. Hopefully I can turn it into some new opportunities."

Between his IndyCar testing and racing efforts last season, Brabham also distinguished himself as a superb pilot behind the wheel of a Stadium Super Truck. The polar extremes of doing 230mph for hours on end at the Indy 500 and landing 30-foot jumps in road racing trucks should make lapping Daytona in a GT or prototype somewhat easy for the third-generation driver.

"I'm super fortunate to drive a lot of different cars; I'm racing in the Toyota 86 tin-top series this weekend in Australia, and it just reinforces how much I love driving," he said. "If I could have a full-time shot in IndyCar, I'd take it immediately. If I can make something happen in IMSA because I'm now a Silver, I'd be overjoyed. Racing in both series would be my ultimate scenario. I just want to drive is really what it comes down to."