While the No. 1 BMW Dominated, Six Different Manufacturers Won in 2023
October 18, 2023
By Jeff Olson
IMSA Wire Service
(This is the first in a series reviewing the 2023 class battles in the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship. The first class up for review is Grand Touring Daytona.)
DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. – This was about a bond between two drivers. And an entire group of people.Paul Miller Racing assembled something close to perfection en route to the Grand Touring Daytona (GTD) championship this year. It revolved around the team’s two full-time drivers and extended to a group of people working toward the same goal.For Madison Snow, the bond offered an illustration: He’s been friends with co-driver Bryan Sellers for so long, Sellers’ friends are now Snow’s friends.“Bryan lives very close to the track, so all of his friends and neighbors came out this weekend,” Snow said Saturday night during a press conference recognizing their championship during Motul Petit Le Mans at Michelin Raceway Road Atlanta. “They were all in the tent with us, and we were running them through the car and showing them how it was. It’s cool to be with Bryan so long now that I’m friends with his friends.”
Rarely did Snow and Sellers – and everyone else at Paul Miller Racing – stumble over the course of 11 IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship races in 2023. Five wins and seven podiums put the GTD title in hand before the start of Petit Le Mans; the celebration with friends marked the reward phase.In response to Snow’s friends-of-friends example of the team’s closeness, Sellers offered a story about his family.“My son asked why we call Madison ‘Madison’ and not Mr. Madison,” Sellers said. “… What we ultimately decided is it’s because he’s not our friend, he’s our family. You don’t call your family Mister. You call your family by their name. There probably can’t be a better representation than that.” Consecutive victories early in the season – at the Mobil 1 Twelve Hours of Sebring and the Acura Grand Prix of Long Beach – set the scene for what was to come. Three more victories and three Motul Pole Awards followed, including a triumphant win at VIRginia International Raceway, where Sellers and Snow won for the first time as teammates seven years ago.“I’m just super thankful to do this with somebody I truly care about,” Sellers said. “I think it’s pretty unique. What you look for through this whole thing is approval from others and for relationships and respect. Not to get too emotional, but it is a big moment for us. I couldn’t imagine doing it with someone else.” The season helped Sellers push his career IMSA total to 19 wins, while Snow got to 14. For former driver Paul Miller, the PMR team total reached 15 wins and two championships. The first title, in 2018, featured a Lamborghini Huracán GT3. This championship came in the second season powered by a BMW M4 GT3.
While the No. 1 BMW admittedly dominated the GTD scene in 2023, other entries in the WeatherTech Championship’s largest class tasted success as well. The No. 27 Heart of Racing Aston Martin Vantage GT3 won a pair of races, including the Rolex 24 At Daytona in January, attempting to defend its 2022 class championship. Four others – the No. 91 Kellymoss with Riley, No. 12 Vasser Sullivan, No. 57 Winward Racing and No. 78 Forte Racing Powered by USRT – each won once, putting Porsche, Lexus, Mercedes-AMG and Lamborghini atop the podium. All told, six of the nine competing GTD manufacturers claimed at least one victory this year.While the wins and pole awards spoke loudest in a season of superlatives for Paul Miller Racing, the never-surrender personality of the team was stated clearly in June at Watkins Glen International. There, in the Sahlen’s Six Hours of The Glen, Snow, Sellers and endurance driver Corey Lewis brought the No. 1 BMW back from a three-lap deficit to finish second.An electrical issue after the first pit stop sent the car back to the pits, where the crew sorted out the problem, refired the car and returned to the race, three laps behind. “I really thought our day was over,” Snow said after the six-hour fight to get back to second place. “But that shows you how strong the team is that we didn’t do that. We wanted to stay out there and figure out what the issue was and finish the race. It took us a bit to figure it out and get it fixed, but we did it and we kept fighting all day. It’s super easy to give up in those times, but this team didn’t.”Instead, they pressed forward as a group, hoisting more trophies at Canadian Tire Motorsport Park, Road America and VIR. And, at Michelin Raceway, they celebrated another championship based on teamwork.“We’ve driven together for so long,” Snow said. “It’s just awesome to have a mentor and somebody who’s so great in the race car.” |
