Paul Miller Racing made a welcome return to the podium Sunday, scoring second place at WeatherTech Raceway Laguna Seca.
Qualifying in the fourth position in the hands of Madison Snow, the No. 1 Total lubricants-backed Lamborghini Huracan GT3 EVO started in the third position following a penalty to a car ahead.
The last of the IMSA GTD field to pit during the first round of stops, Snow inherited the lead briefly before handing over to co-driver Bryan Sellers. Sellers held station in fourth during his first stint, however, excellent pit work by the team during the final stop catapulted the No. 1 into second position, ahead of two race, and championship, rivals.
Paul Miller Racing would cross the line in second place and claim their fifth podium of the season.
“This race was a total team effort, and in a lot of ways, it feels like a win for us,” Paul Miller Racing team owner, Paul Miller, said.
“We haven’t been able to compete on outright pace much this season, so to finish second is a good result for us. The team has been working really hard in the last few weeks to improve the car, and even this weekend, they put a lot of time and effort into pit stop practice to get this result.
“I’m really proud of everyone involved with this team, and hopefully, we can carry the momentum into the rest of the season.”
The Paul Miller Racing team currently sits fourth in the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship GTD points standings, 86 points out of the lead (2,242 to 2,156), as well as third in the Sprint Cup championship.
The team returns to action in two weeks on the streets of Long Beach, California.
Madison Snow
“We ended up with a good finish for us, which is the most important. I feel like on the track, it was kind of a boring race for us since we kept our nose clean and maintained our gaps well to the cars behind. But, this race result really came down to the pit lane. The strategy was great, and the really excellent short pit stop that we had at the finish is what put us in the podium position. Bryan and I ran our laps and ran consistently, but this result was really based on the performance of the team.”
Bryan Sellers
“I’m so happy to be back on the podium; this was such a difficult race. There was so much that we needed to get right with managing the tire degradation and when to push and when to balance that it was a struggle. But I think we did a really good job of it today! I think we over-delivered from where we thought we would be, and while we would have loved to win, the No. 9 car was just in a different league today. As soon as I saw that, my focus just became protecting the rear tires and protecting second position from any challenges behind. I missed a little bit in that final stint, I was worried because I used a little bit too much too soon, and the No. 16 was coming back to us in the closing laps, but luckily we had enough of a gap it didn’t matter. But just super happy with this result and ready to go to Long Beach!”
Source. Paul Miller Racing
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