Hindman in “Right Place, Right Time” for Full-Time GTD Return

Photo: Trent Hindman FB

Trent Hindman said he found himself in the “right place at the right time” to make his full-time IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship return with Wayne Taylor Racing.

The New Jersey native, who won the GTD title with Meyer Shank Racing in 2019, is set to pilot the No. 45 Lamborghini Huracan GT3 EVO2 alongside Danny Formal, Graham Doyle and Kyle Marcelli.

Hidnman and Formal will form the full season pairing for the remainder of the WeatherTech Championship campaign, marking the 29-year-old’s return to full-time competition after a year’s absence.

His previous full season effort came in 2023, when he piloted a VOLT Racing with Wright Motorsports Porsche 911 GT3 R and captured a pair of class podiums.

That was the first time since his title-winning 2019 effort that he completed a full season, although he has also been active in Michelin Pilot Challenge intermittently.

“I only did long races in 2020,” Hindman told Sportscar365. “2021 was like I had nothing and then got in with Wright and Ryan Hardwick gave me a good opportunity there.

“But it was kind of a pieced together year. We didn’t do all the races. 2022, I didn’t do anything in WeatherTech. Then 2023 was the last full-time season [and] last year was the Rolex 24 only.

“So since 2019, it’s only been one real full-time season since then. It’s nice to be secure for a year and it gives you the opportunity, at least for me, to just focus forward and focus on getting results.”

By Hindman’s own admission, his absence from the full-season WeatherTech Championship grid is the result of circumstance as well as choice, noting that finding a way back onto the GTD grid was not an easy process.

“[It was] a bit of both,” Hindman said. “2022, for example, a lot of that was, ‘Hey, what’s my priority here?’ Do I want to go off on a different tangent and start with a different team [and] different manufacturer?

“At that point, my relationship with Wright Motorsports and with Alan Brynjolfsson was so strong to where there was, at least in my estimation, a future there.

“Ultimately there was, [so] it’s like, ‘Okay I’m going to put all my effort here and we’re going do the best we can with the opportunity that we have.

“There were cases like that where it was choose what you’re going to prioritize.

“But in a lot of cases, like even this year to me, you’re looking at the entry list and you see the strength of every single team that’s on the grid across all the categories, but especially GT, and then you realize some of the names that aren’t here, right?

“You’re reminded of that. There’s a bit of, ‘Take a step back and be fortunate for what you have and where you are,’ but also understand that it’s such a competitive environment, not just on track, but just to get to the show.

“There’s a lot of that. So just fortunate to be in the right place at the right time, I’m sure.”

Hindman revealed that his effective absence from the WeatherTech Championship last year was somewhat unplanned, as original plans to contest a full season at Kellymoss with Riley alongside David Brule fell through.

“Unfortunately it didn’t come to fruition,” Hindman recalled.

“The Bronze driver we were working with decided after Daytona that he was going to not continue and it was what it was.

“Either way, it was a matter of, ‘Okay, I need to again pivot and go to a place where I know I’m getting back in WeatherTech’ and I know that there’s maybe a longer term future available if I do my part and I do my job.

“So really since January of last year, it’s been just trying to navigate those waters and figure out where that’s going to be.

“And then obviously, Wayne Taylor Racing, there is a long-standing relationship there since my time driving in Super Trofeo with this team.

“The core group, Travis Houge, even the guys leading the GTD side, Matt Brogan, Dave Wagner, the core group is all the same.

“Obviously the team has expanded a lot since then. They’ve got a really, really impressive new facility.

“But it’s a scenario where having those previous relationships and then me being available, them needing somebody like me to come in, it’s very fortunate in that sense.”