WATKINS GLEN, New York (June 23, 2025) – Paul Miller Racing claimed a hard-fought and emotional first win of the 2025 IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship season on Sunday at Watkins Glen International, with the No. 48 BMW M4 GT3 EVO of Max Hesse and Dan Harper charging back from adversity to take the checkered flag in the Sahlen’s Six Hours of The Glen.
After a stellar qualifying effort placed the No. 48 on the front row, the race quickly became a test of resilience.
Both the No. 48 and the No. 1 BMW M4 GT3 EVO entries were handed stop-plus-60-second penalties early in the second hour. The setbacks dropped both cars to the tail end of the GTD PRO field.
“We were running comfortably in the top five with both of the cars,” said Max Hesse.
“We knew we had a strong package in the dry. But the stop-and-go plus 60 hurt quite a lot, and we were in the back. Once it got dry again, our race pace looked strong. With smart strategy, great pit stops, and good restarts during the many safety car periods,
“I was able to get us back to P1 during my triple stint. In the end, I gave the car back to Dan to bring it home. Really proud of this first IMSA win for both of us – it’s a great bounce back from Detroit and puts us P3 in the championship.”
From that point forward, it was a strategic and determined fight to the front. The No. 48 car climbed methodically through the field – leading 58 of the 160 total laps – to secure the duo’s first IMSA victory and Paul Miller Racing’s first win of the season.
The No. 1 crew – driven by Neil Verhagen, Connor De Phillippi, and Madison Snow – had also staged a strong comeback and was positioned for a potential 1 & 2 finish for the team.
But a delay in addressing a tire pressure issue resulted in a late-race penalty, ending the team’s podium hopes and relegating them to P8 at the finish.
“In general a great weekend for the team,” said Verhagen.
“Big congratulations to Max and Dan and the whole 48 crew for their first IMSA victory. For us, the pace looked really good over the race. We’ll need to investigate and figure out why we obviously got the penalty and what we could have done to avoid that in the future and learn from this.
“It’s a little disappointing in the end for the No. 1 crew, but I think there’s a lot of positives to take away from it.”
Team Principal Mitchell Simmons emphasized the team’s perseverance throughout the weekend, saying: “I’m super proud of our guys today! IMSA seemed to be on the warpath with penalties which put us in the back of the pack but with a very lucky yellow we were able to climb back up the order.
“The cars were great and the drivers and crew executed well to put us in a 1 & 2 position. However, a slightly ill timed yellow at the end of the race put us and the rest of the field just outside our fuel window to finish. This forced all of us to go on a fuel saving strategy as none of us had enough fuel to race each other.
“This meant less work on the tires and thus less pressure. Unfortunately we had cut it very close for maximum performance and this ended up being outside the allowable pressures. It’s super unfortunate but rules are rules and we will learn from it and move on.”
Both Paul Miller Racing entries demonstrated strength, execution, and composure under pressure throughout the six-hour endurance contest – highlighting the depth of the team’s talent across drivers, crew, and engineers.
The team now looks ahead to Canadian Tire Motorsport Park, carrying the momentum of this breakthrough win and aiming to continue climbing the standings with both entries.
Madison Snow
“I have to give a well deserved congratulations to the 48 car on their victory yesterday! It’s certainly bitter sweet as it was looking like it was going to be a 1,2 finish. We hit the setup and strategy in the race perfectly unfortunately we made a mistake at the end that cost us a podium.”
Connor De Phillippi
“Obviously a near 1-2 podium finish for the team, for Paul Miller and BMW. In the final hour we had a small issue on the No. 1 car that unfortunately we had to fix in the final minutes, which took us out of contention for the podium position, but overall it was a promising weekend.
“The team performed very, very well. The car was fantastic all weekend. We had a chance to fight for a win and be on the podium with both cars, which is a great result. I think it was the first time, first race weekend of the year where we really put ourselves in that position at the very end, so obviously the team is improving every event.
“It just wasn’t our year, unfortunately, at the 6th hour, but thankfully we had another car in the fight. The 48 team got their first win, which is amazing and really happy for both Dan and Max. I’m focused on the next event. I’ll be back with the team in Indianapolis, so I’ll wish them the best of luck in Canada and looking forward to being back with them in September at the 6th hour of Indy.”
Dan Harper
“Delighted with the result. Finally the first win in IMSA for Max and I and also for Paul Miller Racing this year. I think we’ve deserved it. We made it difficult with the penalty I got early in the race.
“But Max did a great job to bring us back up to the front and also the team made some great calls and we had some fun with all the safety cars that gave us the chance to go forward.
“We did a great job and just a great result and it helps us big time for the championship. Big thanks to the team and to Max and let’s hope we can keep the ball rolling now into the next races.”
