Montoya, Cameron first Penske Acura DPi pairing

After a year of speculation, Team Penske and Acura will enter IMSA's Daytona Prototype international wars with Juan Pablo Montoya as the driver of one ARX-05, joined by defending IMSA Prototype champion Dane Cameron, who will depart the Action Express Racing team at the end of the season. An announcement on the full-time drivers for the second ARX-05 will follow in the near future.

"We worked together with our partners at Acura Motorsports and Honda Performance Development HPD to bring together drivers that we believe will help develop our program and compete for race wins right out of the gate while also serving as great ambassadors for their brands," said Roger Penske.

• IMSA video: Acura offers first look at ARX-05

"Having Juan and Dane join our program brings together two drivers that have extensive sports car racing experience in the prototype class and have already won at the top levels of the sport. This represents a great beginning to our program for 2018."

As RACER first revealed, Montoya was part of a plan hatched by Team Penske last summer where he would stand down from IndyCar and move to IMSA in 2018.

"I have really enjoyed working with Roger and Team Penske over the last four years," Montoya said. "When Roger asked if I'd like to be part of starting this new sports car operation with Acura, it was an easy decision. I've always loved racing sports cars. It's definitely a challenge and it's going to be a lot of fun to develop a new car with Acura. I'm excited to start the testing of the ARX-05 next week. Team Penske started its winning tradition in sports cars and it's going to be cool to be a part of a new chapter with the team."

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"Getting a chance to race for Team Penske is like a dream come true for a driver," Cameron said. "To see all of the effort and resources that Acura Motorsports is putting into this new program to develop and win with the ARX-05, it's really impressive. I'm so excited for the opportunity to become part of the team and work with a guy who has done all the things Juan has done. It's going to be an awesome experience to add my name to the list of drivers that have driven for Team Penske. I'm looking forward to a busy off season and coming out of the gates strong at Daytona."

For Montoya, the Acura Team Penske project represents a continuation of an existing relationship. For Cameron, the call to drive for Penske in a factory program is the highlight of his career. It also takes one of Cadillac's most valuable drivers – one with extensive knowledge of its DPi-V.R and its performance capabilities – and places him into an incoming manufacturer that can use his experience to benchmark the ARX-05.

If the rumors are true, Cameron might not be the only American with Cadillac experience headed for the ARX-05.

Ricky Taylor, who leads IMSA's Prototype standings with his brother Jordan, has also been tipped to join Team Penske after a successful familiarization test in an IndyCar was conducted earlier in the year. Of the two Taylor brothers, only Ricky has left his father's team in the past to drive for a rival when he partnered with Richard Westbrook at Spirit of Daytona in 2013.

As RACER wrote in May: "The thought of Ricky Taylor and Dane Cameron as teammates in a Penske-Honda DPi is simply ridiculous. We're talking about two Americans, two second-generation drivers, two champions, both known for their technical acumen, and both with extensive development and racing insights on Cadillac's all-conquering DPi-V.R. If we're playing the fantasy driver game, this combo is the lights-out winner."

Provided Taylor lands at Acura Team Penske alongside Cameron, two key Cadillac seats would be vacant heading into the offseason.

In the same Montoya transition scenario, Penske IndyCar veteran Helio Castroneves was positioned as being part of the 2018 IMSA migration. While it's still entirely possible the three-time Indy 500 winner could form a partnership with Taylor in the second ARX-05, he's also said to have recently inquired about driving for a different team next season in order to remain in IndyCar.

Whether that develops into anything concrete, or the original plan to shutter his IndyCar entry in favor of driving for Acura in 2018 goes forward, all will soon be revealed. The ARX-05's part-time drivers for IMSA's endurance events also await confirmation.