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CORVETTE RACING AT INDY: Third in Pro Race, Second in Points
Pace deficit too much for No. 63 Corvette Z06 GT3.R to overcome at Indy Eight Hours
INDIANAPOLIS (October 5, 2024) – DXDT Racing’s trio of Tommy Milner, Alec Udell and Alexander Sims placed fourth overall and second in the GT World Challenge America Pro class Saturday at the end of the Indianapolis Eight Hours in the No. 63 Chevrolet Corvette Z06 GT3.R.
The result meant that Corvette factory driver Milner and teammate Udell finished second in the Pro Drivers and Teams championship standings, despite missing the first four races of the season. The two set a class record by winning their first eight races – some on pace, the others on making no mistakes.
A substantial pace deficit throughout the Indianapolis weekend was too much for the team to overcome in the championship case. The No. 63 Corvette needed to win the race to give itself the best chance of claiming the title, and things looked good in the first hour Saturday.
After starting fifth in class and 14th out of all 23 cars, Udell drove to the front in the first two hours before the Z06 GT3.R fell back into the clutches of the faster Pro cars. Sims drove for an hour before handing off to Milner with a 26-second lead but the eventual race-winning Porsche used its performance advantage to erase that deficit in the next hour.
The two cars made contact in the pitlane on the subsequent pit stop just prior to halfway with the Porsche hitting the side of the Corvette, which was in the fast lane and was entitled to remain in front. The hit damaged the right-front of the Corvette and left it aerodynamically hindered with no penalty to the Porsche.
The No. 63 DXDT Z06 GT3.R ran the remaining four hours – and the full race – without penalties, mistakes or going off-track.
In the Pro-Am class, the No. 64 Corvette of Bryan Sellers, Patrick Liddy and Blake McDonald weren’t so fortunate. They lost multiple laps early after having to replace part of its front suspension after contact from another Pro-Am competitor inside the first three hours.
The trio soldiered on to finish sixth among the 13 Pro-Am runners.
DXDT RACING CORVETTE POST-EVENT QUOTES
TOMMY MILNER, NO. 63 CHEVROLET CORVETTE Z06 GT3.R: “We can’t let one weekend cloud the season we’ve had with DXDT Racing and Corvette. It’s a great team, a real pleasure to drive with Alec and work with everyone at DXDT Racing with some help from Corvette Racing. Today stings a little bit, but that will go away quickly when we look back on the year and all we achieve. I’m very, very proud of how good this team is, how good this car was and how impressed I was with Alec all year long. It was excellent on all sides. Today was a great example of that. We kept putting ourselves at the front of the field with great strategy, not making mistakes, doing all the right things and giving ourselves the best chance possible. It just wasn’t going to happen for us today, unfortunately. We did everything we could to give ourselves a great opportunity.”
ALEC UDELL, NO. 63 CHEVROLET CORVETTE Z06 GT3.R: “From the start in May, it wasn’t supposed to be possible for us to contend for the championship. That speaks to the platform of the Corvette Z06 GT3.R, DXDT Racing, Corvette Racing and everyone coming together to put such a competitive program together. I think that turned some heads and put us on the map. I’m happy with everyone’s performance today. I think we extracted the maximum that we could have from the racecar. I’ve learned a ton from Tommy and got to learn a lot this weekend from Alex as well. I’m really happy with everyone on the team – Bryan (Sellers), Erin (Gahagan, team manager) and David (Askew, team owner). It’s been a great program with so many people that are behind the scenes. I don’t think it has set in right now because there is still the frustration of the day. But everything that was in our control we maximized this year.”
ALEXANDER SIMS, NO. 63 CHEVROLET CORVETTE Z06 GT3.R: “We knew we didn’t have the ability to race at the front on pace. It was difficult in the sense that we were up front at times, and that gives you hope. You start to wonder whether the situation might resolve itself and you might be able to hang on. But we couldn’t unfortunately. That’s the reality today. The Porsche guys did a good job and were really fast; well done to them. Huge credit to the DXDT team. For their first season in this new Corvette and the amount of wins they had and the only race they didn’t win was still a third place, that’s an amazing season. I’m proud to be a small part of that.”
Ryan Smith
Judy Kouba Dominick
CORVETTE RACING AT INDY: Third in Pro Race, Second in Points
Pace deficit too much for No. 63 Corvette Z06 GT3.R to overcome at Indy Eight Hours
INDIANAPOLIS (October 5, 2024) – DXDT Racing’s trio of Tommy Milner, Alec Udell and Alexander Sims placed fourth overall and second in the GT World Challenge America Pro class Saturday at the end of the Indianapolis Eight Hours in the No. 63 Chevrolet Corvette Z06 GT3.R.
The result meant that Corvette factory driver Milner and teammate Udell finished second in the Pro Drivers and Teams championship standings, despite missing the first four races of the season. The two set a class record by winning their first eight races – some on pace, the others on making no mistakes.
A substantial pace deficit throughout the Indianapolis weekend was too much for the team to overcome in the championship case. The No. 63 Corvette needed to win the race to give itself the best chance of claiming the title, and things looked good in the first hour Saturday.
After starting fifth in class and 14th out of all 23 cars, Udell drove to the front in the first two hours before the Z06 GT3.R fell back into the clutches of the faster Pro cars. Sims drove for an hour before handing off to Milner with a 26-second lead but the eventual race-winning Porsche used its performance advantage to erase that deficit in the next hour.
The two cars made contact in the pitlane on the subsequent pit stop just prior to halfway with the Porsche hitting the side of the Corvette, which was in the fast lane and was entitled to remain in front. The hit damaged the right-front of the Corvette and left it aerodynamically hindered with no penalty to the Porsche.
The No. 63 DXDT Z06 GT3.R ran the remaining four hours – and the full race – without penalties, mistakes or going off-track.
In the Pro-Am class, the No. 64 Corvette of Bryan Sellers, Patrick Liddy and Blake McDonald weren’t so fortunate. They lost multiple laps early after having to replace part of its front suspension after contact from another Pro-Am competitor inside the first three hours.
The trio soldiered on to finish sixth among the 13 Pro-Am runners.
DXDT RACING CORVETTE POST-EVENT QUOTES
TOMMY MILNER, NO. 63 CHEVROLET CORVETTE Z06 GT3.R: “We can’t let one weekend cloud the season we’ve had with DXDT Racing and Corvette. It’s a great team, a real pleasure to drive with Alec and work with everyone at DXDT Racing with some help from Corvette Racing. Today stings a little bit, but that will go away quickly when we look back on the year and all we achieve. I’m very, very proud of how good this team is, how good this car was and how impressed I was with Alec all year long. It was excellent on all sides. Today was a great example of that. We kept putting ourselves at the front of the field with great strategy, not making mistakes, doing all the right things and giving ourselves the best chance possible. It just wasn’t going to happen for us today, unfortunately. We did everything we could to give ourselves a great opportunity.”
ALEC UDELL, NO. 63 CHEVROLET CORVETTE Z06 GT3.R: “From the start in May, it wasn’t supposed to be possible for us to contend for the championship. That speaks to the platform of the Corvette Z06 GT3.R, DXDT Racing, Corvette Racing and everyone coming together to put such a competitive program together. I think that turned some heads and put us on the map. I’m happy with everyone’s performance today. I think we extracted the maximum that we could have from the racecar. I’ve learned a ton from Tommy and got to learn a lot this weekend from Alex as well. I’m really happy with everyone on the team – Bryan (Sellers), Erin (Gahagan, team manager) and David (Askew, team owner). It’s been a great program with so many people that are behind the scenes. I don’t think it has set in right now because there is still the frustration of the day. But everything that was in our control we maximized this year.”
ALEXANDER SIMS, NO. 63 CHEVROLET CORVETTE Z06 GT3.R: “We knew we didn’t have the ability to race at the front on pace. It was difficult in the sense that we were up front at times, and that gives you hope. You start to wonder whether the situation might resolve itself and you might be able to hang on. But we couldn’t unfortunately. That’s the reality today. The Porsche guys did a good job and were really fast; well done to them. Huge credit to the DXDT team. For their first season in this new Corvette and the amount of wins they had and the only race they didn’t win was still a third place, that’s an amazing season. I’m proud to be a small part of that.”
Ryan Smith
Judy Kouba Dominick
