After a Fanatec GT World Challenge America powered by AWS record 8 consecutive Pro class wins, DXDT Racing has found itself in a situation no one could have predicted just 5 months ago: a title fight. After a scintillating summer for No. 63 KÜHL Chevrolet Corvette Z06 GT3.R—which saw them climb into the championship conversation after missing the first four rounds of the season—drivers Tommy Milner and Alec Udell will be joined by Corvette factory driver Alexander Sims for the season finale, this weekend’s Indianapolis 8 Hour powered by AWS. In the sister No. 64 entry, full-season driver Bryan Sellers will be joined by Blake McDonald and Patrick Liddy as they try to get that car to victory lane for the third consecutive race weekend.
The No. 63 enters the season finale with everything to race for, sitting just seven points adrift of the class-leading No. 120 Wright Motorsports Porsche. As the only endurance race of the season, the points payout has been doubled from the normal 90-minute races, which means that a win would automatically seal the championship for either team.
However, that already-challenging task is complicated by the fact that this race doubles as the American leg of SRO’s Intercontinental GT Challenge, meaning that entries from around the world have descended on Indianapolis Motor Speedway for a one-off chance at race victory this weekend. 25 cars are hoping to take the green flag with a shot at victory on Saturday.
Milner, though, is just excited to even have a shot at the title this weekend.
“It’s pretty unbelievable that we are one more good result away from winning the Pro championship,” he said. “I’ve been in racing long enough now to know that you can easily have highs and lows in a certain span of time. When things are good, you try to take advantage of them as long as you can because there is no guarantee that it will continue on. So for that reason, and others, the Indianapolis 8 Hours will be a fun event.”
Udell echoed Milner’s sentiments, adding that he's “super-excited to really jump in with a chance to win an endurance round. I don’t see any reason why we couldn’t compete for an overall podium. Other manufacturers will come with their IGTC top guns that have been running for the full season. Let’s see how we fare on American soil with American power!”
In the No. 64, McDonald is hoping to continue his winning ways as he steps into the Corvette Z06 GT3.R for the first time. This past weekend, he captured the Porsche Sprint Challenge USA West title in dominant fashion, winning the finale at Sonoma Raceway and finishing with a lead of over 100 points. Additionally, he and Liddy stood on the Pro-Am podium when Lamborghini Super Trofeo visited The Brickyard with IMSA last month.
On both sides of the garage, the drivers will certainly hope to show the speed they had at last month’s IMSA Battle on the Bricks at IMS. Sims stood on the podium in his Pratt-Miller Corvette, and Sellers will be keen to replicate his speed from the six-hour race, where he ran the fastest average lap time of all the GT drivers in the field.
The team will take to the track with two days of testing on Wednesday and Thursday, before setting the grid on Friday evening in an expanded qualifying format. Green flag falls at 12:15 ET on Saturday, and you can follow along on all our socials and watch for free at YouTube.com/GTWorld.