Verhagen Got On “Lucky Side” En Route to GTD Pro Championship

Photo: Brandon Badraoui/IMSA

Neil Verhagen said he and Connor De Phillippi were on the “lucky side” Saturday to end up winning the GTD Pro championship for Paul Miller Racing after going into the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship season-ending Motul Petit Le Mans as the “hunters.”

Verhagen, De Phillippi and Dan Harper combined to finish third in class in their No. 1 BMW M4 GT3 EVO, surviving a wild conclusion that saw the No. 4 Corvette Racing by Pratt Miller Motorsports Chevrolet Corvette Z06 GT3.R of Nicky Catsburg get turned into the gravel trap with 1 hour and 18 minutes to go.

While Verhagen was already ahead of Catsburg on track, the incident between the Dutchman and the No. 64 Ford Mustang GT3 EVO of Dennis Olsen, who was handed incident responsibility, ensured a relatively clear sailing run to the finish with the Corvette being a lap behind.

It proved to be shades of last month’s Battle on the Bricks at Indianapolis Motor Speedway when the pairing lost the GTD Pro points lead due to a similar incident, in what turned into a rollercoaster second half of the season.

“Just go back to Indy when Connor got punted by the Ford; it was almost a copy-paste scenario,” said Verhagen.

“I feel like the last couple of rounds, being the championship leader, we were the ones having to be a little bit more cautious. People were taking advantage of that, laying bumpers on it, driving us pretty rough.

“Finally being the hunters today, we knew we had nothing to lose. Finally a little bit of luck fell our way.

“For sure that’s not a way that we want to end the championship. We want to be able to race it on track. I’m very good friends with Nicky Catsburg and Tommy Milner off the track.

“At the end of the day, I feel if you look at our last four or five races, how everyone raced us, we were finally able to get the lucky side of that today.

“After that, it was pretty clear, stay ahead of the Lambo and win the championship.”

The factory backed BMW squad not only ended up winning the season-long drivers’ and teams’ championships but also the Michelin Endurance Cup title for the third consecutive year.

It came in a season that was highlighted by class victory in the season-opening Rolex 24 at Daytona.

“It sounds surreal,” said Verhagen. “My first season was endurance only and was able to win the Endurance Cup in my first season, which was special.

“Last year moving to a two-car team, the cars did a 1-2 in the Endurance Cup. We knew where we were struggling was a little bit on the sprint races. We knew the endurances was a strong point for us.

“To go this year and win Daytona, win the Endurance Cup and then the championship is just incredibly special.”

For De Phillippi, it marked his long-awaited first IMSA class championship in his seventh full season top-series campaign.

“I haven’t been able to wrap my head around it,” he said. “There’s been a lot of character-building years in IMSA and I’ve been part of  multiple programs with BMW, some easier than others.

“When I had the chance to join Paul Miller Racing for the full season, I knew it was a huge opportunity to try to win the championship.

“When we won Daytona, we started off strong. At Daytona, there’s always the most amount of entries there. Starting off with a strong Daytona is huge for the overall title.

“We went race by race, maximized what we had on each given weekend. We made the least amount of mistakes between everyone in the field. Team-wise we made the least amount of mistakes.

“More often than not we didn’t have the fastest car on a given weekend, but a car we could be competitive with.

“When there was more to grab, we took it. I’m so proud of everyone at Paul Miller Racing. Neil did a hell of a job all year. Coming into the season we all agreed to have our own jobs, and we all would focus really hard on those jobs well.

“When you see the championship come down to a handful of points across multiple scenarios, all those start to add up.”

John Dagys

John Dagys is the founder and Editor-in-Chief of Sportscar365. Dagys spent eight years as a motorsports correspondent for FOXSports.com and SPEED Channel and has contributed to numerous other motorsports publications worldwide. Contact John