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CTMP Saturday Notebook

Ryan Myrehn’s Saturday notebook from CTMP…

Photo: Brian Cleary/bcpix.com

Photo: Brian Cleary/bcpix.com

***Cadillac Racing utilized a timely caution period to make their driver change in Saturday’s SprintX race, prompting questions over why that was permitted when the driver changes were not allowed under the yellow in the first two races at Virginia International Raceway. According to the series, it was a case of two different situations, along a change agreed upon at the race track this weekend, that dictated how PWC handled the situation.

A statement from PWC read: “At VIR, a full course yellow flag was displayed before the 25-minute pit window. We made the decision to hold the pit window for the entire field before the opening it. At minute 32, the pit window was opened for the entire field. At the team managers meeting at CTMP, the managers were asked if they would like the window extended or definitely opened at the 25-minute mark. They voted for the 25-minute mark. Today we exercised that decision by opening the pits at the 25-minute mark. Then a full course yellow came out in the middle of the pit window. As determined in the meeting, the pit window remained open until the 35-minute mark. The teams made their decisions to pit their cars in that 10-minute pit window.”

***It’s understood that the because pit stops had already commenced when the caution came out, which was not the case at VIR, and the pit stop window was still open, the stewards elected to allow the No. 8 Cadillac ATS-V.R of Michael Cooper and Jordan Taylor to make their driver change in Saturday’s race. The duo went on to win by more than 40 seconds.

***GTS winner Jade Buford revealed that he competed in a recent round of the popular television show “American Ninja Warrior.” While he could not provide specifics on how he fared, the episode will air on NBC sometime in June. Buford said he enjoyed the experience and hopes to compete again in future years as well. Fittingly, the setting for his competition was Daytona International Speedway.

***Nineteen drivers entered this weekend across the GT, GTS, and TC classes all hail from Canada. Daniel Morad, who hails from nearby Toronto, nearly qualified his CRP Racing Mercedes-AMG GT3 on pole for Race 1, missing out by just 0.005 seconds. “Any time you race at home, it’s nice because you have your family and your friends come out,” Morad told Sportscar365.

***Full GT Pro-Am podium celebrations SprintX made their debut in PWC on Saturday after teams requested them in the time after the first round at VIR. “There was a request for a podium for Pro-Am,” WC Vision CEO Greg Gill told Sportscar365. “There was initially only a winner on the podium.” Gill said a full podium for Pro-Am will be utilized for races that have six or more entries in the class.

***Several major accidents limited the first TC race of the weekend to just nine laps, only five of which were run under green flag conditions. Paul Holton won the truncated event for C360R in an Audi RS 3 LMS Clubsport.

***The weather forecast indicates Sunday’s SprintX race could be run in cool, wet conditions. Overcast skies are expected in the morning with an increasing chance for rain showers into the afternoon and evening hours around Canadian Tire Motorsport Park.

***Catch all the action beginning with the GTS Race 2 at 10:15 a.m. ET with the SprintX race scheduled for 3:40 p.m. ET. Live streaming coverage can be found on Motor Trend on Demand and World-Challenge.com.

Ryan Myrehn is an Indianapolis-based broadcaster and reporter. In addition to his work covering primarily domestic sports car racing for Sportscar365, he is the lead announcer for SRO America's TV coverage as well as a pit reporter for IndyCar Radio. Myrehn, a graduate of DePauw University, is also the host of Sportscar365's “Double Stint” Podcast.

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