IMSA: Two-Tire Call Helps Seal Watkins Glen Win

Jack Aitken gave a nod to the durability of the Michelin Pilot Sport Endurance tire for allowing the No. 31 Action Express Racing Cadillac V-Series.R to execute the strategy that helped deliver victory in Sunday’s Sahlen’s Six Hours of The Glen.

Aitken, Earl Bamber and Fred Vesti claimed their second consecutive IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship win, with Aitken taking the checkered flag ahead of Nick Yelloly in the No. 93 Meyer Shank Racing Acura ARX-06.

The decisive moment came during the final round of pit stops with 52 minutes remaining, when the Action Express crew elected to change left-side tires only on the No. 31 Cadillac. Yelloly, meanwhile, took four fresh Michelin tires on the No. 93 Acura.

The shorter service helped Aitken jump ahead in the final sequence, giving Cadillac track position in a race that featured multiple contenders.

“It was a tricky race,” Aitken said. “We had to fight people all the way to the end. There was a bunch of cars in the mix, whether it was the 24, 25, the Porsches were there.

“We had to push the tire hard all the way through, so it held up really well,” Aiken said. “We took just the side at the end, so the inside set and doing nearly a stint and a half, something like that, held on really well.”

Aitken said the final pit cycle also came down to managing fuel and staying close enough to capitalize once the strategy played out.

“We had a couple of cars in front of us with a bit of an advantage stopping just before the yellow came up, and we knew we had a bit of a fuel advantage,” Aitken said. “It was just trying to stay close to them and keep saving fuel, see if we could get by if there were any opportunities.

"I think the next pit stop sequence, the team played it pretty much perfectly, so we got out with a decent gap, and we were able to just manage it from there.”