| June 28, 2019 Staff Report IMSA Wire Service WATKINS GLEN, NY – Dane Cameron and Juan Pablo Montoya remained red hot in the No. 6 Acura Team Penske ARX-05 Daytona Prototype international (DPi) on Friday at Watkins Glen International. After winning each of the past two IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship races, the No. 6 Acura DPi topped the time charts in Friday practice for Sunday’s Sahlen’s Six Hours of The Glen. Cameron did the honors, running a best lap of 1 minute, 30.014 seconds (135.978 mph) in Friday afternoon’s session, which was the quickest lap of the day. “We’re really happy with where everything is at the moment to be honest,” Cameron said. “Last year, we had a lot of pace, but just couldn’t quite put it all together. So, it’s kind of nice – at least for us in the 6 car without winning last year – to get the monkey off our back a little bit and get a couple wins in a row. It’s a lot of confidence for all the guys and I think everybody’s just really executing on a really high level right now, which is what we need and what we expect of Acura Team Penske.” Cameron was more than six tenths of a second quicker than Harry Tincknell’s second-quickest lap of the day in the No. 55 Mazda Team Joest RT24-P DPi at 1:30.690 (134.965 mph). Tincknell led the morning practice session in the No. 55 he is sharing with Jonathan Bomarito and Olivier Pla. “It’s one of the best races of the season,” Tincknell said after morning practice. “You have to recalibrate what’s fast and what’s slow when you come to The Glen, ‘cause there’s so much grip. You look at a corner and you think it’s going to be third gear and it’s fifth gear, and you think you’re going to brake at 150 meters and you’re braking at 70. It’s a crazy place. Awesome track.” Westbrook Loves Watkins Glen and It Shows The love affair between No. 67 Ford Chip Ganassi Racing Ford GT driver Richard Westbrook and the 3.4-mile Watkins Glen International circuit continued in WeatherTech Championship on Friday. Westbrook – who owns three Sahlen’s Six Hours of The Glen victories – led the GT Le Mans (GTLM) class in both practice sessions, finishing the day with a best lap of 1:42.321 (119.623 mph). “Favorite track, favorite track,” Westbrook said. “I won here three times, lots of poles here, the first time I ever came here, I’ll never forget it. I’ve just been blown away by it. Ever since that first day, I’ve always said it’s my favorite track. But it’s going to be really tough this year. We know how strong Porsche and Corvette and BMW are now. I expect the others to be a lot quicker come Sunday.” Good Day for Magnus Lamborghini Ends with Pumpelly Atop GTD Time Charts After posting the fastest time in WeatherTech Championship GT Daytona (GTD) practice on Friday afternoon with a lap of 1:45.835 (115.651 mph), Spencer Pumpelly quickly pointed out a positive trend about the driver lineup for the No. 44 Magnus Racing Lamborghini Huracán GT3. “I’ve won this race twice, and both times Andy Lally was my co-driver,” Pumpelly said. “He was the guy that brought it home to both victories. He was quick this morning, the car was good this afternoon, so optimism is high. This Magnus team has been really strong on the long races. We were strong at Sebring, but I’m just happy that the car is performing well. We’ve got a little bit more we can do to make it even better for race day, but so far, things are on track for the weekend.” Pumpelly, the Magnus team’s IMSA Michelin Endurance Cup driver, is joining the No. 44 Lamborghini’s full-season co-drivers Lally and John Potter this weekend. Lally is one of two drivers in the field (along with No. 5 Cadillac DPi driver Joao Barbosa) to have four Sahlen’s Six Hours of The Glen victories, while Potter is still looking for his first. Welcome Back, Joey An illness prevented Joey Hand from driving the No. 66 Ford Chip Ganassi Racing Ford GT in April’s BUBBA burger Sports Car Grand Prix at Long Beach and the Acura Sports Car Challenge at Mid-Ohio in May. He rejoined the team earlier this month at the 24 Hours of Le Mans, but Friday represented his first WeatherTech Championship on-track session since the checkered flag fell on the Mobil 1 Twelve Hours of Sebring in March. He was glad to be back in the car at Watkins Glen. “It feels good,” Hand said. “It has been a while. It’s kind of weird. I’ve not been away for that long ever, so it feels good. To come back to a track that’s so fun is also cool. This place is awesome. It’s always good for us here and always a good place for our race car. It’s just good to be back in the WeatherTech paddock.” Hand and co-driver Dirk Mueller won the GTLM class in the Sahlen’s Six Hours of The Glen last year. They got their victory defense off to a strong start on Friday, posting the second-fastest time in the morning session and third in the afternoon session. “Anyplace you win, you love to come back to,” Hand said. “You’re always excited to come back. Like I said, we know that our car is always fun to drive here and always goes pretty good here, so it’s always exciting to get back in the car. I got in there and felt good again. I mean, I had a lot of laps in the car. It’s the same car from Le Mans.” Rahal Honored as Cameron R. Argetsinger Award Winner at IMRRC Dinner BMW Team RLL co-owner Bobby Rahal was the honoree at the sixth annual International Motor Racing Research Center (IMRRC) dinner Thursday evening at the Corning Museum of Glass in nearby Corning, New York. Rahal received the Cameron R. Argetsinger Award for outstanding contributions to motorsports at the dinner, which featured a “who’s who” of racing luminaries. Acura Team Penske owner Roger Penske, IMSA President Scott Atherton and IndyCar President Jay Frye were among several guest speakers who shared anecdotes on Rahal and his many contributions to the sport both on and off the racetrack. As a driver in sports car competition, Rahal earned overall victories at both the Rolex 24 At Daytona and the Mobil 1 Twelve Hours of Sebring Presented by Advance Auto Parts. He’s also won both races as a team owner, most recently winning the GT Le Mans (GTLM) class in the 2019 Rolex 24. In IndyCar competition, Rahal won the 1986 Indianapolis 500 and three CART IndyCar championship titles. He also was honored as the current leader of the Road Racing Drivers Club (RRDC) and board member of the Watkins Glen-based IMRRC from 2015 through 2018. “I think after tonight I’m retiring,” Rahal said. “That’s all I can say. It can’t get any better than this in my book. Thank you all for coming. I’m honored by your presence and to see so many good friends out there tonight, thank you. “The IMRRC has a tremendous reason for being. It is the leading museum or library of sorts of motor racing history. I tell people all the time, I got into racing because I was a fan and I’m still a fan today. That fan gave me a passion towards the sport regardless of what it was, so I feel that it’s up to people like me to help its perpetuation, that it goes into the future and that we bring more people into the sport and educate more people about what happened in the past.” How to Watch or Listen to the Sahlen’s Six Hours of The Glen The Sahlen’s Six Hours of The Glen will be televised Sunday at 7 p.m. ET on NBCSN, with live streaming of the race in its entirety starting at 9:30 a.m. ET Sunday on NBCSports.com and the NBC Sports App. IMSA Radio also will have live coverage throughout the weekend on IMSA.com and RadioLeMans.com with complete race coverage also airing on SiriusXM Radio (Sirius Channel 218/XM Channel 202/Streaming 972). If you’re in the area, tickets are still available online at TheGlen.com and at the Watkins Glen International gates. 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