Photo: Brian Clear/BCPix.com
Wayne Taylor Racing continued its domination of the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship with a commanding win from pole in the Advance Auto Parts Sportscar Showdown at Circuit of The Americas.
Jordan Taylor took the No. 10 WTR Cadillac DPi-V.R to the finish, crossing the line 18.855 seconds ahead of second place Dane Cameron in the No. 31 Action Express Racing Cadillac after a late race restart.
The only drama came with under ten minutes to go when the No. 2 Tequila Patron ESM Nissan Onroak DPi erupted in flames while Ryan Dalziel was running in third, bringing out a full course caution and setting up one final restart.
As had been the case all weekend, no one could touch the No. 10 Cadillac, and with the buffer of traffic Jordan Taylor cruised to yet another win to start the season.
The win is the fourth consecutive to start the season for WTR, the longest win streak in major sports car racing since Lucas Luhr and Klaus Graf won eight straight races in the 2013 American Le Mans Series for Muscle Milk Pickett Racing.
While the WTR car was well out in front, the battle for the remaining podium spots was contentious for much of the race.
JDC-Miller, Tequila Patron ESM, VisitFlorida, and AXR all were in contention for a solid finish, but a combination of attrition and pace saw the two AXR machines lock down the final two spots to complete a Cadillac sweep of the podium.
Dane Cameron secured the second spot in the No. 31 entry, with teammate Joao Barbosa just behind in the No. 5 car in third.
Stephen Simpson in the JDC-Miller Oreca 07 Gibson and Johannes van Overbeek in the No. 22 Nissan rounded out the top-five.
It was a tough day for Multimatic/Riley-built cars, with both Mazda RT24-P and the Visit Florida Racing Riley Mk. 30 Gibson cars suffering from terminal electrical issues.
Pato O’Ward and James French continued their stranglehold on the Prototype Challenge class for Performance Tech Motorsports, dominating the race and winning by a lap over the Nicholas Boulle and Stefan Wilson-driven No. 26 BAR1 entry.
The team’s sister car of Buddy Rice and Don Yount completed the running order in third.
Tape delayed coverage of the race will air at 7 p.m. ET on FS1.
Up next for the WeatherTech championship is a trip to Detroit for the Chevrolet Belle Isle Detroit Grand Prix for the all but the GTLM teams which head into their Le Mans break.
RESULTS: Advance Auto Parts Sportscar Showdown
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