Sellers: Starting from “Ground Zero” Easier Than DXDT’s Rebuild

DXDT Racing program manager Bryan Sellers said “starting the team from ground zero” would have been an easier endeavor than recovering from its transporter fire that resulted in a near total loss.

The No. 36 Chevrolet Corvette Z06 GT3.R entry is back in action in this weekend’s Sahlen’s Six Hours of The Glen after the team’s hauler caught fire en route to WeatherTech Raceway Laguna Seca less than two months ago.

In addition to its primary chassis, which reportedly melted into the transporter and had to be craned out, nearly everything was lost in the fire.

“We lost basically all of our pit equipment, timing stand, our fuel rig, we lost our alpha awnings, our trailer, our tents… all of our kiwi tiles,” said Sellers. “I think one of the only things that we actually carried over from everything was the toolbox.

“I would say one of the most difficult things about it was that it was new for everybody. These are not things that most race programs have gone through. Nobody has gone through this particular process before.

“Starting the team from ground zero on an IMSA program was easier than the rebuild process we just had to do because when you start from ground zero, you know exactly what direction you want to go with everything.

“You pick and choose the equipment you want, you pick and choose all the types of things that you need to make the program successful.

“Whereas now we were bound, you don’t have enough time, you don’t have enough budget, you don’t have enough capabilities to do that twice. It was a difficult task for sure.”

The car competing at Watkins Glen this weekend is a Corvette chassis used most recently in SRO America competition that’s been re-purposed to IMSA specification.

Additionally, DXDT lost its only set of adapted hand controls for Robert Wickens that Pratt Miller helped reconstruct in just four weeks, for Wickens’ expected return to the cockpit in next month’s Chevrolet Grand Prix at Canadian Tire Motorsport Park.

The team’s IMSA Michelin Endurance Cup pairing of Salih Yoluc and Corvette factory driver Charlie Eastwood along with full season pilot Mason Filippi are the wheel of the GTD class entry this weekend.

Sellers revealed that team owner David Askew had no second thoughts about continuing the season after the fire.

“These guys, a lot of them won races, so winning a race is probably not the thing that’s the most motivation,” said Sellers.

“It’s showing the world that you can bounce back and you can do it, and so I think it would mean everything, but probably in a different way than what people would expect.

“From my perspective, you sit back and watch how much these guys give, and I want it so bad for them.

“I do care, obviously, very much about it, but I don’t care about it at all. For me, I care about it so much for all the guys that just continue to spend late nights away from their families, and want it for their families to show what your guys were capable of.

“This is what we’re here to do, and you’re never going to give up. But obviously it’s a big commitment on [David’s] part to continue, and so I think in reality had he chose not to continue, everybody would have understood.

“He was immediately like, ‘Okay, do what we have to do to get moving.’ And so as soon as he said that, it brings a smile to your face.”

DXDT already found success earlier this season with a GTD class pole at Long Beach with Wickens.

Sellers said the expectation of success for the team doesn’t change because of the unforeseen circumstances.

“I think that anything other than that would be doing the guys a disservice,” he said.

“To be honest with you, I think we’ve shown such good potential all year long that now just because we had something like this happen, all of a sudden accepting something less than what we had established earlier is not fair.

“It’s not fair to them, not fair to the drivers, not fair to our partners.

“So when we got here, the mentality was not like, ‘Hey, we’ll take this step by step.’ It’s immediately back to, ‘Hey, we’re here, and we’re here for one reason alone.’

“And yet we’ve had bumps in the road already, things that we weren’t prepared for, but still the same thing is, once we get to the race, are we ready or are we not?”