Compass Racing today announced that Britt Casey Jr. and Tom Long have been signed to drive the team’s No. 77 Audi RS 3 LMS in the burgeoning TCR class in IMSA’s Continental Tire SportsCar Challenge, with primary sponsorship from German industrial machine tools manufacturer TRUMPF Inc. The duo paired for a number of races in the ST class in a Mazda MX-5 last year for a best result of second place at Road America.

This marks a third full-season TCR car for Compass Racing, with Casey and Long joining Roy Block and Pierre Kleinubing (who drive the No. 75 APR / AlphaClone / Brooklyn Tailors / Race Day Foundation car) and Rodrigo Sales and Kuno Wittmer (in the No. 74 Pfaff Automotive / AERO Paint / Race Day Foundation machine).

“We’re excited to add another really strong driver line-up to our TCR debut in IMSA,” remarked Team Principal Karl Thomson. “Our experience running the platform last season in World Challenge will, we hope, give us a little bit of an advantage over the other teams. But certainly, having the driver line-ups that we do is the best chance for good results.”

Noted Casey: “I really have to give a much-deserved thank you for the collective efforts of everyone involved in this program. It’s extremely exciting to align TRUMPF with a German brand. Audi Sport customer racing and their thorough development of the RS3 LMS platform has already shown its strengths and Compass Racing brings more knowledge and experience than any other team in IMSA’s TCR class. I’m looking forward to racing with them instead of against them this year! Tom is someone I consider family and has been integral part of my career and this opportunity to drive together for the upcoming season is something special.”

“We are excited to once again sponsor Britt Casey Jr. for the 2018 racing season,” said Mr. Burke Doar, Senior Vice President of TRUMPF Inc. “Britt has been a great ambassador for the TRUMPF brand displaying tremendous determination, work ethic and integrity all while maintaining a humble demeanor. We are proud of his achievements on and off the track, and look forward to watching him race in the new Continental Tire Series’ TCR class with the Compass Racing team.”

In addition to being a full-time Marketing student at Miami University’s Farmer School of Business in Oxford, OH, Casey works at Audi Sport customer racing’s US headquarters in West College Corner, Indiana. “We’re all excited to see Britt getting the chance to drive an Audi,” noted AScr Director of Operations Brad Kettler. “He and Tom should be quick right out of the box.”

Long added: “I’d like to thank Compass Racing and Audi Sport customer racing for the opportunity this season to represent TRUMPF in this exciting new class. TCR has proven to be extremely popular overseas and I think here stateside with IMSA will be no different. The knowledge and expertise Compass Racing brings with these cars in the paddock is unparalleled, and I couldn’t think of a stronger team to showcase TRUMPF with the new TCR package.”

The debut of the 2018 Continental Tire SportsCar Challenge will take place during the four-hour endurance event at Daytona International Speedway on January 26. The race is streamed live on IMSA.com and will be broadcast, tape-delayed on FOX Sports.