Sellers, Snow “Thought Day Was Over” After Electrical Issue

Paul Miller Racing recovered from an electrical issue that put it three laps down to finish second at the Sahlen’s Six Hours of The Glen and maintain its GTD points lead.

Bryan Sellers, Madison Snow and Corey Lewis continued the team’s strong start to the season by bouncing back from the early setback and charging through the field once it returned to the lead lap after a double wave-by at the fourth full-course caution period.

The electrical issue occurred at the end of the opening hour during one of Sellers’ stints and resulted in a five-minute pit stop that initially looked set to threaten his and Snow’s lead in the GTD drivers’ standings.

“When we exited the pits and came out under that first full course caution, somehow the connector came disconnected from the steering wheel to the dash,” Sellers explained.

“When that happens, you lose everything: shifting, auto clutch, radio. We’ve never had that failure, or anything like that, happen.

“I couldn’t communicate with the box. It happened while it was out on track, so we came in and the team didn’t know what was happening. I had to come in, explain it to them, then diagnose it.

“The fact that we only lost three laps was pretty impressive. It could have been a problem that took a whole lot longer.”

The No. 1 BMW had regained one of its lost laps by the halfway mark, but that still left it with a deficit to overcome in the final three hours.

However, the arrival of a caution with three and a half hours remaining thrust the team back into a podium-contending position that it ultimately capitalized on.

“We got one lap back in the pass-around first because the safety car picked up between us and the class leader, so we passed around and got one,” Sellers recalled.

“They all pitted, and we stayed out, so then we got the final wave-by to go back to the lead lap. So we got two laps under the one yellow.”

Sellers explained that Paul Miller had eyes on getting the double wave by and pre-empted the possibility by going off-strategy in the third hour.

“We short-stopped Corey because we were too close to the leaders and on the same fuel,” he said. “Our hope was that [a caution period] could happen later in the race.

“If we were close to them, that separation with the safety car couldn’t happen. It was right place, right time. But we hoped for it. We talked about it a lot. That was kind of what we were hoping would happen.”

Despite returning to the lead lap, the No. 1 BMW still had to make up several positions on track to register its third podium of the season after wins at Sebring and Long Beach.

“When we restarted, we were basically last and had to claw our way back,” said Sellers.

“I felt like that as long as we got back on the lead lap, we could race for something.

“Once we did, it was attack as hard as we could. It wasn’t going to end up a whole lot worse than where we were, so it gave us the ability to take risks in the car while passing. It worked out alright.”

Snow, who brought the car to the checkered flag, added: “Sitting on the timing stand, seeing the car in pit lane, and watching everyone drive by—I really thought our day was over.

“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 and that’s what got us a second-place finish.”