Blomqvist Was “Committed” to Going to End Without Late Yellow

Photo: Jake Galstad/IMSA

Tom Blomqvist revealed that his No. 60 Meyer Shank Racing Acura ARX-06 was “committed” to going to the end of the Sahlen’s Six Hours of The Glen even without the late-race yellow that resulted in a shuffled up finishing order in Sunday’s IMSA Michelin Endurance Cup round.

Blomqvist and co-driver Colin Braun took their first win of the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship season after taking the final restart, with three minutes to go, in third, behind the race-leading No. 31 Action Express Racing Cadillac V-Series.R of Earl Bamber and Acura MSR teammate Nick Yelloly in the No. 93 Acura.

The No. 60 Acura, which ran inside the top-five for much of the six-hour race, wasn’t necessarily in contention for the win until the race’s tenth and final caution, for the No. 36 DXDT Racing Chevrolet Corvette Z06 GT3.R of Charlie Eastwood, which stopped on track with a mechanical problem.

“I was a bit lost in the last stint,” said Blomqvist. “I asked for a drink at the next pit stop and they told me there was only 15 minutes to go in the race.

“I was a little bit out of sync with what the hell was actually happening in that race.

“That yellow came, and my engineer came on the radio and said we’re looking good.

“Obviously I didn’t have the instruction that the teammate car was going to pit just at the restart, but I wasn’t really totally sure about the 31. But kind of the vibe on the radio call from the engineer, I could tell this is looking good for us.

“Obviously it was very nice to see those two cars peel off there and have a nice clear track ahead of me on the last lap, so very thankful and grateful for that.”

Blomqvist reiterated that the No. 60 car’s plan was to finish the race without making a late-race stop for energy.

“We know, I guess, what we’re going to have — that was part of the plan,” he said. “We knew obviously we committed to that. We were going to be able to go to the end regardless of the yellow.

“Obviously the yellow made things a little less stressful. I could basically push the last few laps if I wanted to.

“I think it’s just a fantastic effort by our strategy guys to commit and give me the instruction so early on in the stints, that last stint.

“Ultimately that’s what won us the race today.

“But also, the car really came alive there for me those last couple of stints and enabled me to have such good pace with hitting such a big fuel target, fuel number.

“It all kind of came together for us there at the end.

“It was a bit of an up-and-down race. We got towards the front, went back, and we had a knew mishaps along the way. So it was great we were able to execute at the end and get the win.

“So super happy for everyone on our crew on the No. 60, and again, another great win for Acura and MSR and all the guys and girls at HRC.”

It marked both Blomqvist and Braun’s first GTP wins since the 2023 Motul Petit Le Mans.

“Obviously everyone did a super job,” added Braun. “Tom did a great job at the end on the fuel save, and the guys did a really good job on the strategy, just really fine tuning in the numbers.

“And it was definitely stressful from my seat listening to those guys do all the math on the background.

“Hats off to everyone. Huge day for our group, and keep that momentum going.”

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