Cadillac Racing driver Johnny O’Connell won the first of two Pirelli World Challenge Championship races to run this weekend at Miller Motorsport Park today.
O’Connell (Flowery Branch, Ga.), starting from pole position, took the rolling green flag start and was able to hold the lead under pressure from James Davison in his Nissan going into Turn One. A first lap yellow flew and O’Connell was able to get a good jump on the restart, drive a smooth race on way to his third win of the season.
“This is a win that we needed,” O’Connell said. “This team has an amazing competitive attitude. Never quit. At the start I got pulled pretty good by the Nissan. We went through Turn One side-by-side, James did a good job, there was not contact. On the restart I had a good run down the front stretch and was able to hold the field off. The team needed a good weekend like this, hopefully we can double it up tomorrow.”
Teammate Pilgrim (Boca Raton, Fla.) started 12th and brought his No. 8 Cadillac ATS-V.R to the checkered flag in seventh.
“I feel good about getting into the top ten this afternoon,” Pilgrim said. “I have had a stretch of some tough races. So to get a seventh place today feels pretty good. I knew the race would be close, there were 13 cars within a few tenths. I was running in a train for most of the race. I wanted to stay behind the Mercedes and save my tires a little. In the last few laps, there was some traffic and I was able to pass a few cars at the end. It was a good competitive race. I was able to push the car and it was a good finish for us.”
Based upon their fast race laps O’Connell will take tomorrow’s 2 p.m. ET standing start from pole and Pilgrim will line up in the second row in fourth.