Rough Luck for Performance Tech at Watkins Glen

The team finished seventh in the Prototype Challenge class after two on-track incidents sent the team to the paddock and 55 laps behind the class leader. 

Round 6 of the TUDOR United SportsCar Championship began with overcast skies. The dry track and cool temperatures helped Conor Daly bring the No. 38 PC up from its fifth-place start to the class lead within the first minutes of the six-hour race.

Daly handed the car to Jerome Mee, still in dry conditions. Mee turned only a few laps before the No. 31 Daytona Prototype made contact with Mee during a pass. The No. 38 spun and hit the inside wall, and the hit caused Mee to spin again, this time into the tire barrier.

The car was towed back to the paddock due to damage.

Performance Tech’s talented crew quickly unloaded the car and got to work repairing the body and suspension. The car re-entered the race 23 laps down with within the first hour of the race, with Mee behind the wheel.

But Mee quickly was recalled to the pits due to a rear-wing problem. During this quick fix, the team placed James French in the car for his first stint.

Early on in French’s stint, he made contact with another car on track and was pushed into the tire barrier in Turn 4. French brought the car back to the paddock under power.

The team, with help from Èlan, immediately began diagnosing and fixing the damage. During this time, the overcast skies turned heavier, and light rain began to fall. The team re-entered the race 55 laps down.

Head Engineer and Strategist Ryan McCarthy took the lead in diagnosing the damage after both incidents.

“The guys did a great job putting the car back together,” McCarthy said. “They work fast, and they work as a team. That’s what was able to get us back there. Unfortunately, we had to do it again and it’s hard to come back from that twice. But the team stuck together and kept a positive attitude all day.

“We have a responsibility to our sponsors and to our drivers. They come here to race, not quit. We don’t give up. It’s a six-hour race, so we need to race for six hours. The guys were ready and prepared for it. They got us back out there as quick as they could.”

Once back on track, French drove the rest of his stint without incident. Other drivers were not as lucky, as heavy rain began to fall with over two hours left in the race.

The 11-turn, 3.4-mile course became flooded, causing multiple spins and incidents, which caused long caution periods.

Mee went back in for French with an hour left in the race and spent the rest of the race facing the adverse conditions.

The rough race was nothing unseen before for seasoned Team Principal Brent O’Neill. The trials of the day proved to be grounds for learning and proof of development.

O’Neill talks strategy with Mee

“The guys all did a great job,” O’Neill said. “Jerry was hit by the DP car, and it’s like an old story: It’s a snow ball headed down the hill. Once it starts, it’s hard to get it to stop. Then James made a little mistake.

“The guys did a great job getting the car put together the first time with all the damage that it had. It took us a little longer the second time because we were running out of parts. The guys all did a good job. It’s just a tough job, that’s all.”

Performance Tech will dust itself off for another weekend of racing July 10-12 at Canadian Tire Motorsport Park in Bowmanville, Ontario. The race takes place at noon (ET) Sunday, July 12 and will be broadcast live on Fox Sports 1.