As the race moved rapidly towards its conclusion, Hand was vigorously brawling with not only No.912 Porsche but also his teammates Ryan Briscoe and Richard Westbrook in the No.67 Ford, who would eventually finish in third.
The win is Ford Chip Ganassi Racing's first win, anywhere, since winning class in the FIA World Endurance Championship season-opener at Silverstone way back in April.
“If people didn’t enjoy that race, they probably don’t like racing, because it was just good racing there at the end,” Hand said. “From the start of the weekend, we knew the Ford CGR guys rolled us out of the trailer really good. We had a few tough races in a row and this one we were confident with. Dirk and I love this place. We always have. This team is historically good here. We let a couple get away the last few years so we really wanted to get this one.”
Müller put the No. 66 on pole for the second year in a row, a position the pair effectively owned from the outset.
“Starting from pole and really being able to manage this race is what you need to do,” Hand said. “GTLM is a tough category. There are a bunch of good drivers, a bunch of good cars and teams, so you, if you can, want to stay out front. You don’t want to get stuck in the back. That’s what we did, until that one restart. I was shuffled a little bit and got into a dogfight, ended up in the grass, but caught that quick yellow again and I was able to capitalize on it and get back out front. This is a good one for us. We had a few bad races and we’re coming up to the last run to the championship, so this is just what we needed.”
The series takes a now takes a 2-week break before heading to Virginia International Raceway on August 25th.
