LONG BEACH, Calif. (AP) Wayne Taylor Racing made it three in a row Saturday, on the season and at Long Beach.
The team remained perfect this season by winning the IMSA Sports Car Grand Prix at Long Beach, its third win in three races this year. It’s also the team’s third consecutive victory on the streets of Long Beach.
This time Jordan Taylor got to close out the victory and drove his Cadillac past the Nissan of Ryan Dalziel to take the lead and the victory with about seven minutes remaining in the 90-minute race. Older brother Ricky had closed out the wins at Daytona and Sebring this year.
The win for the Taylor brothers came despite IMSA three times lowering the horsepower in its Cadillac in an attempt to even the field. IMSA also mandated which gears the Cadillacs could run.
Dalziel and Scott Sharp were second in the No. 2 Nissan to give the Japanese manufacturer its first overall podium.
Action Express Racing had finished second to the Taylors in the first two races of this season, but its No. 5 Cadillac was taken out of winning contention when Christian Fittipaldi crashed early in the race. The No. 31 Cadillac was eliminated when Dane Cameron crashed while running third with 30 minutes to go.
In the GTLM class, Tommy Milner benefited from a pile-up in the final corner to beat Corvette Racing teammate Antonio Garcia. Milner and co-driver Oliver Gavin lost the race in the same hairpin turn last year, but came out on the winning end this time.
Robert Alon made contact with several other GTD contenders while fighting for position on the final lap, and three cars stacked up on the turn. Garcia was leading, but when a gap opened in the gridlock, Milner slid through the traffic. Ryan Briscoe followed Milner in the No. 67 Ford GT to take second, but Garcia and co-driver Jan Magnussen fell to fourth.
In GTD, Gunnar Jeannette secured back-to-back class wins for Mercedes-AMG, teaming with Cooper MacNeil to win.
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