Whelen Engineering Racing Ready For Sahlen’s Six Hour At Watkins Glen

Story By: MATT CLEARY / WHELEN ENGINEERING RACING – WATKINS GLEN, NY – The No. 31 Whelen Engineering Cadillac DPi-V.R will be back in IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship action this weekend in the Sahlen’s Six Hours of the Glen (LIVE, FS1 10:00 AM ET).

Entering the Watkins Glen weekend, 2016 IMSA WeatherTech champions Dane Cameron and Eric Curran have scored two consecutive runner-up results (Circuit of the Americas and Chevrolet Grand Prix in Detroit) and are focused on going one better this Sunday.

The No. 31 Whelen Engineering entry will carry a custom livery for the next two IMSA events, with a bold Stars and Stripes livery on the now Red, White, and Blue machine in celebration of the 4th of July.

Last year, the two American pilots came home in second place at Watkins Glen, kicking off a furious charge to the IMSA championship as the pair grew their points momentum through the second half of the season to take their first title together.

Having moved from the DP regulations to the IMSA DPi platform for the 2017 IMSA season, the Prototype class has impressed with increased speeds and performance at every track. The added pace has the drivers looking forward to continuing that trend at the natural terrain circuit that has played host to NASCAR, Formula 1, and IndyCar through the decades.

“This year, we’ve got a lighter package with more downforce so I am very excited to see how quick we can go this weekend at Watkins Glen,” said Cameron, who won the 2014 edition of the 6 Hours behind the wheel of a GT class machine. “I’m looking forward to getting up there and ripping around the place, it is an awesome track, and our DPi package should be a lot of fun to drive there.”

As a Massachusetts native and a driver with a wide range of experience on the fabled New York circuit, Curran shares his co-driver’s eagerness to get to the track and get going in the No. 31 Whelen Engineering entry.

“Having grown up in Massachusetts, Watkins Glen was the first track that I raced on and is an all-time favorite of mine, I love it,” said Curran, who has raced NASCAR Xfinity, GRAND-AM, K & N Pro Series East, and World Challenge machines at the track. “The Glen is a proper road course with a great flow and a lot of speed. I’ve been lucky to race a lot of different cars there, and I’m really looking forward to driving the Whelen Engineering Cadillac DPi there this week. We haven’t been there yet with this new prototype, so I’m very excited about this weekend.”

The prospect of a strong run at the upstate New York facility is one that has the Whelen Engineering pilots looking forward to not only taking to the high-speed circuit with the Cadillac DPi-V.R, but also kicking off the second half of the season with a big result.

“From a championship point of view, there is a lot to overcome, but we can only focus on ourselves and what we are doing,” said Cameron. “We are still getting better and better with the car every weekend and have had good pace the last few races. It is great to come to the Six Hour with some good podium momentum. Hopefully, that will carry into the race, and we can get the first win of 2017. It would be awesome to repeat history from last year with a good performance at the Glen to launch a strong second half of the year.”

“Our team has a great record at the Glen, and with this also being a Tequila Patron North American Endurance round, there is even more for us to be thinking about this weekend,” said Curran. “We’ve been learning so much about this Cadillac, and we keep improving every weekend, and that will be key for us to continue to do at the Glen and hopefully we can put the Whelen Engineering Cadillac on top.”

The Sahlen’s event will kick off with practice and qualifying on Friday and Saturday, with a 10:10 AM ET green flag (FS1 LIVE broadcast) on Sunday.