Snow’s final double stint key to PMR BMW’s Sebring win

The second round of the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship saw 14 caution periods, four of which occurred in the final two hours of the race. Snow ran nearly all of those two hours on one tank of gas, and his fuel-saving allowed him to produce enough pace to hold off another BMW M4, the #96 entry of Turner Motorsports, following the final restart to win by 1.5s.

Snow, Bryan Sellers and Corey Lewis thus took their second GTD class win at Sebring with Paul Miller Racing, the last having come in 2018 in a Lamborghini Huracan.

“We really thought going into this that we only had a seventh- or eighth-place car, so to walk away with the victory is just such an amazing result,” said team owner Paul Miller. “We took a risk, and it really paid off. But, we had to take that risk because of the pace that we had relative to the other cars.

Paul Miller Racing BMW's GTD-class Sebring 12 Hour winners (left to right) Corey Lewis, Madison Snow and Bryan Sellers.

Photo by: Richard Dole / Motorsport Images

“Luckily, we were in a position where that was even an option in the first place thanks to the work of our drivers and crew. The pit stops were flawless, the guys drove a great race, and Madison – I can’t say enough about his performance at the end to make sure we could get to the finish.” 

PMR team manager, Mitchell Simmons added: “I don’t know that we’ve ever done this well with a car those guys were so unhappy with. Relative to the competition, we were down on top speed and struggling with brakes, but the team made up for it at every turn.

“I can’t say enough about this crew, or about these drivers, and because of them we are Sebring winners again.” 

Said Snow: “I definitely did not think going into this race that we could ever have this outcome, but it shows staying out of trouble and having a team that can execute perfectly and an engineer like Lars [Giersing] that is willing to take chances is what it takes sometimes, especially with the speed of the car that we had.

“We also improved the car throughout the race, that helped us quite a bit at the end, and we had a car I could battle with for those last three laps.” 

Sellers, who along with Snow won the IMSA GTD class at Long Beach and Lime Rock in the team’s first season with the BMW M4 in 2022, was full of praise for his co-driver. He said: “To me, this race is the ultimate team race. There are a lot of pit stops, they’re super fast, you have to get through the race without making mistakes and without bad decisions on anyone’s part.

“In the end, you need to do the job, and today that was Madison. We all had a part in getting to that point at the end of the race, but then when you get to that point, it’s down to the guy in the car. For me, it’s been quite the journey with Madison. We’ve spent so many years together and I’ve been able to watch him grow and become more well-rounded as a driver.

“Today shows what he’s capable of – what we’ve always known he’s capable of. He got the job done in the highest-pressure situation. I couldn’t be happier for us as a program, but I also couldn’t be happier for him for giving us this win today.”

Corey Lewis, who last year departed PMR to become the endurance extra on the Carbahn with Peregrine Racing Lamborghini, was delighted to score a win only two races after his return.

“I was on a different program last year, and I always missed being a part of this team and working with these guys… To win this is really special. We just all get along so well and work together so well—me and Bryan and Madison, but also all the guys on this team… Everyone executed perfectly.

“On the driving side, we kept the car clean the whole way through and that was crucial. Everybody on the box made great strategy calls. The pit crew was amazing every stop. And the spotters did an amazing job making sure we stayed out of harm's way as our extra set of eyes.

“And at the end, Madison did a helluva job. We all put ourselves in that position and he was able to execute and take it home for us. It’s beyond special.”