Park Place Motorsports turned a twelfth-place qualifying effort into a fourth-place finish after a late rain shower during the four-hour Tioga Downs 240 at Watkins Glen International had MICHELIN Pilot Challenge fans and teams on the edge of their seat.
The No. 7 VOLT Lighting Porsche Cayman GT4 Clubsport MR fought through the high heat and track temperatures through a majority of the race; it wasn’t until the final 40 minutes the race turned to the team’s favor. Strategist and Park Place Motorsports Director of Race Operations Mike Johnson made the call to keep driver Trent Hindman out on track as the rain began to fall. He had already pulled Hindman in for tires and fuel and called the skies bluff knowing the radar showed only a few minutes of rain in the forecast.
Under caution, multiple teams pitted for rain tires, and Hindman moved up to fourth. The race resumed under green flag racing with 15 minutes remaining. Initially, the track’s wet surface sent Hindman back to 10th as teams with rain tires flew to the front. However, their progress was short lived as the sun had already begun to come out and dry the track. As the track dried Hindman sped to the front, passing cars in groups of two or three at a time. He regained his fourth-place position with mere minutes left in the race.
Co-driver and sponsor Alan Brynjolfsson cheered his teammate on to the finish after running his stint through the middle of the race. Brynjolfsson kept the No. 7 VOLT Lighting Porsche clean while on track drama, and long yellows plagued his competitors. He and Hindman add this tremendous performance to their resume which includes winning the previous race at Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course.
Up next for Park Place Motorsports and the MICHELIN Pilot Challenge series is Canadian Tire Motorsport Park. The weekend spans Friday, July 5 to Saturday, July 6. Two practice sessions take place Friday with the final practice session acting as a warmup to qualifying Saturday morning. The team closes out the day with the Canadian Tire Motorsport Park 120 at 1:55 p.m. ET. The race is a two-hour competition as the series returns to the sprint racing format.
Alan Brynjolfsson, Sponsor and Driver No. 7 Porsche Cayman GT4 Clubsport
“Today was a great day but quite a surprise,” Brynjolfsson said. “Realistically we had a twelfth-place car so finishing fourth is an achievement. Trent did an amazing job keeping us up front. Mikes strategy was exactly what we needed, and the rain came at the perfect time. We’re down on power but the day still played out in our favor. Canadian Tire Motorsports Park is my favorite track, so I’m really looking forward to getting there and getting back to work.”
Trent Hindman, Driver No. 7 Porsche Cayman GT4 Clubsport
“What just happened,” Hindman said. “I have to thank the entire Park Place Motorsports crew for their effort, Alan for doing a great job in tough conditions for the Cayman and Mike Johnson for the risky strategy. It paid off today, P4 feels like a win.”
Mike Johnson, Director of Race Operations and Strategist
“You know we’ve won a lot of races in the past by making a gamble like that so I felt pretty confident it would work,” Johnson said. “But watching those cars on those first two laps drive right by us and looking at the clock tick down, I was like, man; we might have just gotten it wrong today. Luckily, it didn’t go yellow and the track dried out just as we kind of hoped and expected. Trent did an amazing job. I think all those guys they can drive in those kinds of conditions, super wet track and dry tires, it’s so difficult. I am just really happy, and we just didn’t have a really quick car all weekend, and we were like this is going to be our throw a race. To walk out of here fourth, that feels like a win. Now, we have some really strong tracks for our car coming up.”
