Ed Brown’s Greatest Hits

Ed Brown

DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. – As a prototype racer, Ed Brown has enjoyed more than a few special moments in IMSA competition.

The President and CEO of Patron Spirits International announced his retirement from Prototype racing following the Sahlen’s Six Hours of The Glen this Sunday. The race is Round 6 of 12 in the 2017 IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship and the third of four rounds in the battle for the Tequila Patron North American Endurance Cup.

The race will be televised live on FS1 beginning at 10 a.m. ET, with continuing coverage on FS2 beginning at 1 p.m. ET. The race also will be streamed in its entirety on FOX Sports GO with FS1 authentication for U.S. viewers, in addition to IMSA.com streaming for international audiences and IMSA Radio coverage globally via IMSA.com and RadioLeMans.com. IMSA Radio also is carried on SiriusXM.

Citing ongoing business commitments, Brown will step aside as driver of the No. 22 Tequila Patron Nissan DPi he regularly shared with Johannes van Overbeek. In his place for the remainder of this season will be Brazilian sports car racing star Pipo Derani.

“I have had a ball, but given the tremendous growth of Patron, it’s more important than ever that I more fully commit my attention to the global business opportunity," Brown said. “The plan was always to retire from prototype racing at some point, and now seemed like the right time."

Now, make no mistake. Brown’s retirement does not alter the team’s plans in the WeatherTech Championship. As part of the announcement, Tequila Patron ESM reaffirmed its commitment to the series through at least the end of 2018.

Another keyword of Brown’s announcement was his retirement from “prototype" racing. The team also announced that Brown is planning to test “multiple GT3 manufacturers in the coming months, with the possibility of fielding a GT3 car in 2018." GT3 cars compete in the WeatherTech Championship GT Daytona (GTD) class.

[adinserter name="GOOGLE AD"]“On behalf of everybody at IMSA, I offer our hearty congratulations to Ed Brown on the conclusion of a fantastic career of prototype racing," said IMSA President Scott Atherton. “Ed’s accomplishments on the racetrack – including victories in our most prestigious events – are to be commended. Especially so as he ascended to the highest level of professional sports car racing while also as CEO of one of the most successful consumer brands in the world, Tequila Patron.

“We’re grateful for all that Ed has done for our sport, on and off the track, and for Tequila Patron’s continued involvement with IMSA and the ESM Nissan DPi team. We now eagerly anticipate Ed’s next move as a driver."

So, with Brown taking one last ride in the No. 22 Nissan DPi this weekend, let’s look back on five “Patron Worthy" moments in Prototype racing for him and Tequila Patron ESM.

2016 Rolex 24 At Daytona

2016 At Daytona

Opening the 2016 WeatherTech Championship season, the No. 2 Tequila Patron Honda-powered Ligier LM P2 car had a fairly dominating performance in the Rolex 24 At Daytona. For Brown, van Overbeek and Derani, it was their first overall victory in North America’s most prestigious endurance race. For Brown’s longtime Patron ESM partner, Scott Sharp, it was his second Rolex 24 victory and first since 1996. The race turned Derani into a sports car racing star, as the then-22-year-old driver repeatedly charged to the front of the field, and took the lead for the final time with slightly more than two hours remaining. He pulled away over the remaining distance and won by more than 26 seconds.

Sebring 2016

2016 Mobil 1 Twelve Hours of Sebring Fueled by Fresh From Florida

Brown, Derani and the Tequila Patron ESM team accomplished what no team had done in 19 years with their sweep of the 36 Hours of Florida. In a heroic final stint by Derani, the Brazilian chased down and passed leader Dane Cameron with seven minutes remaining to win the Mobil 1 Twelve Hours of Sebring Fueled by Fresh From Florida. The team became the first since Doran/Moretti Racing in 1998 to take overall victories in both Florida endurance races in the same year.

2014 GP of Monterey

2014 Grand Prix of Monterey

In a two-hour race that ran without a full-course caution, Brown and van Overbeek earned the No. 2 team’s first WeatherTech Championship victory at Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca. It was the first series victory for an LM P2 car after Daytona Prototypes swept the first three races of the season, and marked the only win for the open-cockpit Honda HPD ARX-03b prototype.

2013 Tequila Patron American Le Mans Series at Long Beach

The two-hour American Le Mans Series race at Long Beach marked the final ALMS race at the famed street circuit before the merged series with the GRAND-AM Rolex Sports Car Series launched in 2014. It also marked the first prototype race victory for the Tequila Patron ESM team, as Sharp and his co-driver, Guy Cosmo, co-drove the No. 01 HPD ARX-03b to the P2 class victory, leading a 1-2 sweep for Tequila Patron ESM. Brown and van Overbeek finished second in the No. 02 entry.

2013 Mobil 1 Twelve Hours of Sebring Fueled by Fresh From Florida

Sebring 2013

Brown’s prototype racing debut came in the 2013 ALMS season opener at Sebring in a late-offseason switch. The team previously raced Ferraris in the ALMS GT class, but announced on Valentine’s Day – barely one month before the start of the 2013 season – that it would shift to the P2 class with a pair of HPD ARX-03bs. Brown co-drove the No. 02 Tequila Patron ESM entry to fourth in the P2 class alongside van Overbeek and Anthony Lazzaro.

Brown and the team will have one last chance to add a new highlight to the list this Sunday in the Sahlen’s Six Hours of The Glen. WeatherTech Championship practice gets under way with a pair of sessions on Friday, followed by another practice session Saturday morning ahead of qualifying from 11:40 a.m. ET to 1:10 p.m. ET. Live audio of all practice sessions and video streaming of qualifying is available on IMSA.com.