Sebring earns shoutout for Danielle Shepherd, lead engineer on Ganassi’s No. 02 Cadillac

Exhausted after closing out the win in the Twelve Hours of Sebring, Chip Ganassi Racing driver Earl Bamber gave the shoutout heard around racing when engineer Danielle Shepherd was one of the first he acknowledged.

Shepherd became just the second woman in at least two decades to lead an IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship team to victory last weekend. Leena Gade, also an engineer, led an Audi win in 2013.

Shepherd, 29, earned her victory at the prestigious endurance race at Sebring in just her second time leading her new team. She was promoted during the offseason from Alex Palou’s IndyCar championship-winning team to her dream job of lead engineer.

She is now in charge of the startup No. 02 Cadillac for Chip Ganassi Racing. A year ago, she became the first woman to go over the wall on pit stops.

Shepherd was atop the timing stand during an October test at Atlanta as Ganassi was building a crew for Bamber and co-driver Alex Lynn.

“I remember them asking at the time, `What do you think?’ And I said, `We have to have her,’ ” Bamber said this week. “For us inside the car, we’re an important part, but I’m a big believer in that if you don’t have the best people behind you, the best engineers, the best team, then you also can’t win the race. You need both to go hand in hand.

“I really believe that we’ve got one of the best in the paddock with Danielle on the timing stand. I was a big believer just from that first day.”

Shepherd, an Ohio native and engineering graduate of Wooster College, began her career at KV Racing working for childhood hero Jimmy Vasser, the driver she screamed for each year from her seats in the Keyhole section at Mid-Ohio Sports Course. At Sebring, they were side-by-side in the pits.

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