DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. — Ricky Taylor smiles, anticipating the question.
“Everyone looks at brothers and the first question we get is, ‘which one is better?’ and you get that all the time,’’ Taylor said.
When it comes to Ricky and Jordan Taylor that is certainly a “push” – an objective toss-up. The fact is, neither they, nor the other family driving combinations currently in the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship’s top class looks at the familial job that way.
For them, racing has been a genuine generational kumbaya.
Both sets of brothers in the WeatherTech Championship Grand Touring Prototype class hit the streets of Long Beach for their next on-track IMSA session April 17-18.
Both the Taylors and the Vanthoors know their way around the 1.968-mile, 11-turn street course well. Ricky and Jordan have a race-high three wins apiece there. Laurens Vanthoor has two wins, including last year in a Grand Touring Daytona (GTD) cameo. And Dries Vanthoor qualified on pole in GTP last year.
As they have since 2024 (and previously from 2014 to 2017), both Taylors – Ricky, 36 and Jordan, 34, race with father Wayne as part of the Cadillac Wayne Taylor Racing outfit in the No. 10 (Ricky) or No. 40 (Jordan) Cadillac Wayne Taylor Racing Cadillac V-Series.Rs.
Belgian brothers Laurens, 34, and Dries, 27, Vanthoor have a slightly different variation on the family racing connection. They drive for different teams and opposing manufacturers in GTP.
Through two 2026 races, the Vanthoors lead the way. Laurens (second at Sebring) and Dries (third at Daytona) have a podium finish apiece in the No. 6 Porsche Penske Motorsport Porsche 963 and No. 24 BMW M Team WRT BMW M Hybrid V8, respectively. Neither Taylor brother has yet finished better than sixth.
The goal of competition is obviously excellence, and the byproduct is the experience. In the case of these brothers, if shared with family, all the better both ways.
For wheel-to-wheel intensity, the brothers say they are typically “aware” of when their brother is in the car. The Taylor brothers like to be told. The Vanthoors say they can figure it out.
“The team will usually tell us who is in the cars,’’ Jordan Taylor said. “Sometimes you can tell just from the behavior of the car.
“It’s fun racing around him [Ricky] because we know how each other thinks. I know what kind of move he’s going to take usually. You learn about everyone in the paddock, but obviously, I know him better.’’
Ricky Taylor confirms their racing relationship has evolved – ebbed and flowed under circumstances – as teammates, as opposing same-class competitors and even when they were on track together but driving in different classes.
In 2020, both won championships in different classes – Ricky in Daytona Prototype international (DPi) and Jordan in GT Le Mans – after partnering for the 2017 DPi title with their father in the first year of that top-class prototype formula.
“Of course, we’re brothers, but on the race track you both want to make a name for yourself and prove you’re worthy to be there,’’ Ricky Taylor explained.
“When we drove together, we had a great time and won a lot of races and had great success together and I think that really broke the ice for us. Then we separated again a year later, and I think because we had had success together by that point, it was like, ‘OK, no pressure anymore. We can go off and do our own things and race against each other.’
“But,” he added, “I don’t think we race each other the same as we race everybody else, even if we try our best. I think I try not to be too nice because I don’t want anybody to think anything else (smiling)… so it’s a bit like, how do I keep him behind me without just blocking him.’’
Racing for competing manufacturers has created an interesting situation for the Vanthoors. As brothers they are close and spend a lot of time together away from the track – even co-hosting the popular “Over the Limit” racing podcast – but the competitive zeal is very real on-track. As it must be.
Dries Vanthoor doesn’t necessarily ask his team if his brother is driving at the same time as he is. But if the No. 6 Porsche is nearby, then he says he may ask who is at the wheel.
“If they say, ‘it’s your brother,’ then it’s a completely different mentality,’’ he said, adding with a smile, “Your whole feeling is different just because you don’t want to do anything wrong, but of course, you do want to be faster.’’
“Being brothers, we should always wish the best for each other. If I don’t win, I wish for my brother to win and I think it’s vice versa. And that’s how I think it should be.’’
Although all these competitors seem to enjoy the potential of having a brother on track with them, they acknowledge the nerves may be different outside the cockpit. And they all smile talking about the way their parents deal with such a unique situation.
“My dad gets massively stressed out, but my mom is a bit more relaxed,’’ Dries Vanthoor shared. “She gets very excited watching us and my dad stays completely nervous.
Laurens joked, “My dad, when he used to smoke, he would smoke two cigarettes at one time when we were both racing.”
In the Taylor case, dad is on top of the pit box – and famously intense anyway.
“Racing together we’ve had more happy times because in racing there’s so few times you are successful,’’ Ricky Taylor explained. “So for the whole family to have good days is quite slim when we are in different cars.
“It definitely makes it hard for my mom.”