When the No. 63 KÜHL Chevrolet Corvette Z06 GT3.R was unloaded, the question was asked of how quickly the team could get it and its new drivers, Alec Udell and Tommy Milner, up to speed. By late Sunday afternoon, they had an emphatic answer: immediately.
The No. 63 debuted in style, standing on the top step in both of the Fanatec GT World Challenge powered by AWS races held at the Circuit of the Americas in Austin this weekend. Udell, the 2019 SRO GT4 Europe champion and Corvette newcomer, joined factory driver Milner, who had spent the prior 18 months helping develop this Corvette GT3 with Chevrolet and Pratt Miller, near the top end of the timing sheets through Friday’s practice sessions.
That pace carried through to qualifying on Saturday morning as Udell went fastest in the Pro class, while Milner’s lap was good enough for second in class. On the other side of the garage, Scott Smithson and Bryan Sellers qualified the No. 08 FENEX car, which was returning for its second weekend of competition after a promising opening weekend in Sebring a fortnight prior, in eighth and seventh, respectively.
After avoiding a spinning car ahead at the peak of the infamous Turn 1 hill, Udell found himself in fifth overall and stuck behind two pacey BMWs in the early stages of Race 1. Udell, competing in his hometown in front of family and friends this weekend, was not to be denied, though, and quickly dispatched the cars in front of him before building a healthy gap and handing over to Milner. Once behind the wheel, Milner chased down the two Pro-Am class cars ahead and overtook them for the lead, which he never relinquished. The victory marked the first for the new Corvette Z06 GT3.R in worldwide competition.
Smithson and Sellers also converted on their promising pace, finishing fifth in class, their best since taking over the Corvette this season.
In Race 2, it was more of the same for Milner and Udell. Milner was hampered by early traffic, falling one spot to sixth on the start before he began his climb to the front in the second half of the stint. Udell completed the charge once he took over by passing two cars in as many laps, including a dive down the inside of the final corner and a subsequent drag race down the front stretch to take over the overall lead with just over 15 minutes to go. From there, Udell sailed into the distance, eventually building a gap of over 4 seconds by the time the checkered flag waved.
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Sellers and Smithson showed similar speed in the sister car, but their efforts were curtailed by a flat tire on lap one, which left them hoping for a caution that never came.
"This is going to take a little while to set in. I’m super happy,” said Team Principal David Askew. “The team executed flawlessly and very well. The cars were awesome. The drivers love them. It’s been a lot of hard work and a lot of time put into this to get this result. I just need to think about it for a while with what we’ve done. I’m sort of a cautious person by nature, so I’m still thinking to myself that we still need to keep our head down, continue to do hard work and not take too many victory laps just yet. It’s a long season here. I expect to be racing these cars for a while, so for me, it’s only the beginning.”
The DXDT Racing team will have a break to make changes and prepare the cars for battle at Virginia International Raceway, with festivities kicking off on July 19th in Alton, VA. You can follow along on DXDT’s social media accounts and watch when the team hits the track in a couple week’s time at youtube.com/GTWorld.
From the Drivers
No. 63 KÜHL Corvette Z06 GT3.R
Alec Udell
“This weekend was a statement to the platform and all the engineers who have put in a lot of hard work getting this car to where it’s at. From the team side and the joint venture between Corvette Racing, Pratt Miller and DXDT Racing, it’s been awesome. For me to be able to jump in as well, plug myself in and be a seamless part of the program, it’s great for the customer racing teams that are looking at the Corvette as an option. It’s a very proven platform at this point, so to be a part of that process is really cool. To have the people to learn from like Bryan and Tommy with DXDT and all our people, it’s been more than I could ask for. I’m looking forward to where we can go from here.”
Tommy Milner
“The biggest thing about being part of this program is helping this team with these new Corvettes for a little bit. They’ve done a great job so far with it and helping put the final touch on things just a little bit. Championships are one thing, but for me and Alec it’s just about helping this team to continue to grow, learn these cars and hopefully win some more races along the way.”
No. 08 FENEX Corvette Z06 GT3.R
Bryan Sellers
“I’m so happy for everyone at DXDT, Corvette, and Pratt Miller. Unfortunately the 08 car didn’t see the results we were capable of, but it was not due to lack of potential. I’m very proud of everyone and their effort. At the end of it all, we are a big team and everyone is a part of the success that takes place. I’d like to say congrats to Tommy and Alec on the first win in the new car, and a special congrats to our team owner Dave Askew.”
Scott Smithson
“First of all, congratulations to David, Tommy, Alec, and the whole team for their stellar weekend. I think their success shows us what we’re capable of with this car, and we saw gains this weekend, even if the results didn’t show it. We had our best result since the switch in Race 1, and were the fastest car on track for a big chunk of Race 2, but got taken out of contention by an unfortunate tire failure. We’ll take some time off, test, and refocus for VIR in July.”