The ‘Coach’ arrives in Le Mans

LE MANS, France – Less than a week removed from his NASCAR Xfinity Series debut, IMSA champion Jordan Taylor flew straight from Portland, Oregon to Paris – a stop in Salt Lake City – then a three-hour car drive to Le Mans to join the Garage 56 team Monday. The popular and highly-decorated sports car driver has been referred to as the “secret weapon” for the Garage 56 team. Although he is technically a reserve driver, he is absolutely a huge part of the team.

Wearing a black t-shirt that said “coach” in white letters and a whistle around his neck, the 32-year old Floridian Taylor sat with his teammates, Johnson, Jenson and Rockenfeller for the full field Le Mans autograph session on Tuesday. Several of the “seekers” even recognizing him for the “Rodney Sandstorm” alter-ID that he playfully uses on social media – a nod to the super fandom of Jeff Gordon, four-time NASCAR Cup Series champion-turned-Hendrick Motorsports executive. Sandstorm and Taylor’s favorite stock car driver.

The chance to run for Kaulig Racing at Portland was important to Taylor, who ran among the Top-10 for much of the second half of the race and still managed a lead lap finish despite losing second and third gear.

So even with the travel challenges, Taylor is enjoying back-to-back weekends that will surely make his 2023 highlight reel.

“It was unfortunate, obviously, to not get a better result [at Portland], but it was nice to run well and hopefully people noticed,’’ Taylor said Tuesday from the Garage56 pit stall, adding, “I’d love to do more of it because I’ve been enjoying it and I think now that I’m learning each car in different series it will just keep getting better and more understanding of what the car can do.”

Now in Le Mans, it’s Taylor who providing the insight and familiarity. He drives the No. 3 Corvette Racing Corvette in the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship Series, where he won a prototype title in 2017 and GTLM crowns in 2020-21. He’s been a major player testing the Garage 56 car and his success in sports cars has made him a crucial element to the success of the team.

“I’ve never really been in this role before so I don’t know what to expect really,’’ Taylor said of his race weekend. “I think I’ll just be around for the sessions and before and after, keeping an eye on things and if something sticks out to me, I’ll obviously voice it.”

“I am excited,’’ he continued. “When I saw what they did in practice, I was like, ‘okay, that’s not bad on day one’ – not bad knowing there’s still a lot of development to go set-up wise to find more lap time. So that’s promising.

“It shows the preparation worked, all the time in the simulator, all the time at the shop and Sebring, COTA, Daytona, everywhere we went,’’ he continued. “It all worked and we knew what to bring here. It’s impressive.’’