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No. 31 Whelen Engineering Cadillac DPi Takes Its First IMSA Win

The No. 31 Whelen Engineering Racing Cadillac DPi-V.R. placed first at last weekend’s IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship race at Canadian Motorsports Park, marking Cadillac’s seventh straight win of the season. With this victory, each of the three Cadillac teams running in the Daytona Prototype class has now occupied the highest place on the podium.

The race ended up coming down largely to tire strategy, as rain started to fall with 48 minutes left of the race, prompting most cars to pit. Of the seven cars on the lead lap, the No. 10 Konica Minolta Cadillac DPi-V.R. was the lone holdout, sticking it out on slicks. By the time the track had dried out, driver Jordan Taylor had managed to take the lead, and appeared likely to win it. But then, with 21 minutes left, the No. 10 Cadillac made contact with the No. 4 Corvette C7.R of Tommy Milner. The No. 10 Cadillac remained on track through the caution that followed, but ceded first to the No. 31 quickly after.

“You can have all the speed in the world, but execution wins it,” said Whelen Engineering Cadillac DPi driver Eric Curran after the race. He drove the first stint of the race, while co-driver Dane Cameron fought through the last half. “It just kind of handed it back in our favor when it came down to who had slicks and who didn’t. We just keep doing a good job, and it shows on the Action Express side why we’re three championships in. It’s shear execution.”

On the GT Le Mans side, the No. 3 Corvette C7.R of Jan Magnussen and Antonio Garcia narrowly missed out on a podium spot, ceding third to the No. 67 Ford GT while a pair of BMW M6s claimed first and second.

Aaron Brzozowski is a writer and motoring enthusiast from Detroit with an affinity for '80s German steel. He is not active on the Twitter these days, but you may send him a courier pigeon.

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