Milner Focused on Points Racing Despite IMSA Win Drought

Photo: Pratt Miller Motorsports

Tommy Milner said he and co-driver Nicky Catsburg have shifted their focus away from going all-out for wins and instead are taking a points race approach in the quest of delivering Corvette Racing by Pratt Miller Motorsports back-to-back GTD Pro class titles.

The No. 4 Chevrolet Corvette Z06 GT3.R crew has yet to win in IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship competition since the introduction of the car in 2024, although by comparison, the Pratt Miller-built GT3-spec Corvette has only two GTD Pro wins to its credit to date, both coming from the sister No. 3 car of Antonio Garcia and Alexander Sims.

While Garcia and Sims won the title last year, it came with only a single victory, at Virginia International Raceway, but with five additional podiums to their credit.

Milner hasn’t won in WeatherTech Championship competition since 2021, although with a fourth place class finish in the Rolex 24 at Daytona and third in the Mobil 1 Twelve Hours of Sebring, has already gotten off to a consistent start to the season.

“The goal at times last year was just trying to get race wins,” he said. “This year, both Nicky and I agreed that just getting points is more important than always going for outright race wins.

“It’s great to be in a good position and getting those points at the first two races.

“Obviously, a lot of racing happening there, 36 hours of racing, and to be at the front for most of that hopefully bodes well for the rest of the season.

“But now we kind of get into the meat of the season here in IMSA where these two-hour and 40-minute races will feel quick, and will feel short compared to those first two endurance races.

“So, really minimizing mistakes in the race, making sure that we have a good race car from the start to the finish. And, hoping to continue down the path of scoring points and going for a championship.”

When asked by Sportscar365 why he’s made the shift in focus, Milner indicated it was the “frustration” of coming up short on wins due to a variety of reasons last year.

“You feel like those races that you had good races going and didn’t have the result to show for it, you start to reach a little bit to make something happen,” he said.

“Then that becomes your focus – just getting those wins. Which obviously for us, that didn’t work last year and in different years that I’ve won championships and years that I’ve had success and years that I haven’t had success.

“I’ve been doing it long enough now that you realize that racing – as Doug Fehan always says – is 50 percent great team, great driver, great preparation, and 50 percent luck.

“Oftentimes, if you’re trying too hard to make something happen, then you’re not achieving what you’re setting out to do.

“So, if you think about putting yourself in the best position at the end of the race, whether that’s second, third, fourth, or whatever it may be, if you put yourself in that position, then you’re giving yourself a chance to win the race as opposed to trying to make something happen that maybe is not in the cards for that day.

“It goes both ways. You can have an extraordinary race and really overachieve in many ways and you get the win that way, but it was not working out that way for us last year.

“[It’s a] little bit of a different mentality. One of these times, it will turn around.

“I’ve never been a very superstitious kind of person. I didn’t realize I hadn’t won in IMSA since 2021, so it’s been a little while since then.

“I’ve had some good races, had some bad ones too, but I think mostly, learning every race, trying to improve myself every race, continuing on that path and one of these days it will turn around for sure.”

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