James “Sulli” Sullivan, AIM VASSER SULLIVAN Team co-owner:
“I must give a shout out to IMSA and John Doonan for putting together a return to racing event in a really challenging landscape. This was big for our sport. We had the Lexus LC 500 lead us to the green. Fantastic there, and then having the two AIM VASSER SULLIVAN Lexus RC F GT3’s go one and two was a dream day. We couldn’t be any prouder to be racing the Lexus. This is certainly a ‘we can and we will’ moment for this organization.”
No. 14 AIM VASSER SULLIVAN LEXUS
Race Summary No. 14 AIM VASSER SULLIVAN Lexus RC F GT3:
In a race delayed by approximately 40 minutes due to inclement weather, the No. 14 AIM VASSER SULLIVAN Lexus RC F GT3 piloted by Jack Hawksworth and Aaron Telitz had a stellar race winning the 2020 IMSA WeatherTech 240 at Daytona GTD class. Telitz who signed with the team last week for the remainder of the season made his first IMSA qualifying effort and put the car second on the starting grid. He immediately took the lead, which the team held for the entire race except during pits stops. Telitz built a gap to the field before handing the car over to Hawksworth who drove the final two stints extending the lead and cruising to the finish line. The win was Hawksworth’s fourth in IMSA competition and third for AVS (won at Mid-Ohio and Detroit last year). It was Telitz’s first IMSA victory. The No. 14 AVS Lexus RC F GT3 has top-10 finishes in both the 2020 IMSA WeatherTech races held this year. They placed ninth at the season opening Rolex 24 at Daytona.
The one, two finish is the best showing for AVS in its two-year existence. The previous best was first and third at the Detroit Grand Prix last year.
AIM VASSER SULLIVAN (AVS) returned to IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship competition after five months away from the track due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The 2020 season resumed at Daytona with the two hour and 40-minute sprint race around the legendary 12-turn, 3.56-mile Florida track. The race was added to the schedule due to other 2020 IMSA event cancelations, and marks the first time in 10 years the series competed in a sprint race at Daytona during Independence Day weekend.
No. 14 AIM VASSER SULLIVAN Driver Race Quotes:
Jack Hawksworth:
“I’m wearing a mask, but I can tell you I’m smiling. That was an awesome. To be honest, my job was quite easy because Aaron (Telitz) quite frankly put all of the hard work in the beginning with a good qualifying lap, started up front and then managed to get out front and get us a gap. Then, after that once I got in it was just about maintaining and making sure we kept everything under control. The fuel windows were very tight for this race for either a two stop or a three stop, so we had to monitor fuel a little bit. I didn’t see another GTD car all day so I’m not complaining. The Lexus RC F GT3s were absolutely on rails all day. I’m super stoked to have Aaron in the car for the rest of the season. A great job by all of the team at AIM VASSER SULLIVAN and can’t wait for the next one.”
Aaron Telitz:
AARON TELITZ, No. 14 Lexus RC F GT3
“I told Jack (Hawksworth) earlier in the week that my job today was going to be to make his job as easy as possible, so I’m happy that he thought it was easy to just cruise around out there. Our Lexus RC F GT3 was incredible today. Obviously, the two Lexus cars finishing one-two, we can’t ask for much more than that. Great team racing today for AIM VASSER SULLIVAN.”
“Obviously, it feels great to get my first career IMSA victory at Daytona. It doesn’t get much better than this. The AIM VASSER SULLIVAN guys gave us a great Lexus. We put it up in the front, managed to start on the pole after one of the cars had a problem and then it was tricky conditions to start the race. I just managed to keep it on the race track, get a huge gap and hand it off to Jack (Hawksworth) and he took it home from there.”
No. 12 AIM VASSER SULLIVAN LEXUS RC F GT3 FINISHES SECOND RC F GT3 WINS IMSA WEATHERTECH 240 AT DAYTONA
Race Summary No. 12 AIM VASSER SULLIVAN Lexus RC F GT3:
The No. 12 AIM VASSER SULLIVAN Lexus RC F GT3 driven by Townsend Bell and Frankie Montecalvo had an equally strong race as their sister car finishing second in the 2020 IMSA WeatherTech 240 at Daytona. Montecalvo qualified the car fourth and started the race. He moved into second early on and shadowed the No. 14 AVS Lexus RC F GT3 before giving way to Bell for the final two stints. Bell, who had a bit of an adventure getting from Indianapolis where he was part of the NBC broadcast team for the IndyCar GMR Grand Prix to Daytona, calmly and coolly pickedvup where Montecalvo left off and followed their teammates across the finish line to complete AVS’s best finish in its two-year history.
No. 12 AIM VASSER SULLIVAN Driver Race Quotes:
Townsend Bell:
“I don’t know what day it is. I’m pretty sure I’m in Daytona. I’ve been in four or five states, we’ve had airplane issues, some drama in the skies…a lot of fun in Indianapolis earlier today. Second place here at Daytona, not bad for an old guy that only was here for a few hours yesterday. So proud of my Lexus team, the AIM VASSER SULLIVAN guys. We just rolled off the truck prepared and ready to go. We had great pit stop and I kept trying to catch Jack (Hawksworth), but every time I would push though, I would heat up my tires and I just couldn’t do much so congrats to the guys on the 14 car.”
“Today really hit home showing up at Daytona and Indianapolis. Two of the most significant race tracks in the world and two of the largest race tracks in the world with the biggest attendance. When you show up at those two facilities in the same day it really hammers home what a unique time it is for all of us. You miss that energy. It’s kind of bizarre just doing the podium like we just did. The fans are what make this sport wherever you are and so we miss them tremendously and excited to get back to that electric environment of 100,000 people or 300,000 people at the Indy 500. I miss those days and hope they’re back here soon.”
“Frightened is probably accurate because we had an issue in the sky. Any time the pilot pulls out the owner’s manual it’s generally not a good sign midflight. It was one of those things where we could tell on takeoff that the pressurization was kind of in and out. You could feel your ears plugging up and then releasing. I could hear the pressurization fan in the back of the plane going. I went up and talked to the pilots and they were like, “We know. We’re working on it.” So, we had to level off at like 12,000 feet while they were working on it and they said they weren’t going to be able to do this and we were going to have to go back to Indy. And, I was like there’s no way after all of the effort put into this that I’m missing the race. So, Jimmy Vasser and I kind of huddled with the pilot and we came up with the plan to fly low. The only problem is when you do that you burn fuel, so we didn’t have enough gas, so then the pilot said we’ll have to drop you guys and you’ll have to jump on another charter. We were like ‘Splash and go. Splash and go.’ So, we had a whole splash and go strategy worked out, but in the end, we were able to manually pressurize the cabin and climb to 27,000 feet, get better efficiency. It’s a long way of telling you we were so determined to be here tonight and I’m so glad we did because it was the first one-two for AIM VASSER SULLIVAN and Lexus. What a great feeling!”
Frankie Montecalvo:
“I think it’s great we finished first and second coming out of a long break. It felt like a completely new off-season to get back out here on track and just shake the rust off to come out of here one-two, it was incredible. Really, hats off to the AIM VASSER SULLIVAN guys. They made great calls going out on slicks because they were bouncing back between rain tires and it was really smart.”