DETROIT, Michigan (May31, 2026) – Paul Miller Racing turned a challenging weekend into a valuable championship result on Saturday, finishing fourth in the Chevrolet Detroit Sports Car Classic after 79 laps of intense street racing around the tight confines of the Detroit Street Circuit.
After overcoming significant damage sustained in Friday’s Practice 2 session and securing a sixth-place starting position in qualifying, the No. 1 BMW M4 GT3 EVO once again demonstrated the team’s resilience by climbing two positions and collecting important points in the GTD PRO championship battle.
Starting from P6, Neil Verhagen took the green flag and navigated the opening stages of the 100-minute sprint race, keeping the BMW in contention on a circuit where overtaking opportunities are extremely limited.
Following a clean opening stint, Connor De Phillippi took over the No. 1 machine with one hour and 15 minutes remaining and continued the fight through a tightly packed GTD PRO field.
For much of the afternoon, Paul Miller Racing found itself battling in the middle of the GTD PRO field while focusing on maximizing track position and avoiding mistakes on one of the most unforgiving circuits on the IMSA calendar.
Although outright pace proved difficult to find compared to some of the team’s rivals, the crew executed a clean and disciplined race that positioned the BMW to capitalize when opportunities emerged late in the event.
The complexion of the race changed dramatically following a late restart with just six minutes remaining.
Running fifth at the time behind two Corvettes and two Lexus entries, the No. 1 BMW suddenly found itself in the thick of the fight for a podium.
The first opportunity came when the second-place Lexus was handed a drive-through penalty for an earlier infraction, promoting Paul Miller Racing to fourth.
Only moments later, further drama unfolded directly ahead of De Phillippi as the second-place Corvette and third-place Lexus made contact while battling for position.
Forced to take evasive action, the No. 1 BMW narrowly avoided becoming involved but lost momentum in the process, allowing a Lamborghini to slip past while the BMW made slight contact with the wall.
The Corvette was subsequently assessed a drive-through penalty for causing the incident, creating another shakeup in the GTD PRO order.
As the field charged toward the finish, De Phillippi fought his way into third position and appeared poised to secure a podium finish.
However, contact from the recovering Ford on the final lap dropped the No. 1 BMW back to fourth at the checkered flag.
While a podium narrowly slipped away, the result represented an important recovery for a team that faced adversity from the opening day of the event and never stopped fighting for every available championship point.
The fourth-place finish moves Paul Miller Racing to 1,225 points in the GTD PRO championship standings, just 18 points behind the leading No. 4 Corvette entry.
The team also continues to lead the Michelin Endurance Cup standings, a position that will remain unchanged following Detroit as the sprint event did not award MEC points.
Next up is the Sahlen’s Six Hours of The Glen, taking place June 25-28 at Watkins Glen International, where championship points and Michelin Endurance Cup honors will once again be on the line.
Neil Verhagen
“In the end, we had a bad weekend that ended pretty well. Overall, we struggled with grip compared to our competitors, but we ran a very clean race. Despite all the chaos that happened in front of us, we managed to stay clean and pick up some positions to finish in fourth place.”
Connor De Phillippi
“Salvaged solid points on a weekend that was not the easiest for us. Proud of all of the guys on our team for never giving up and making the most of what we had this weekend. Looking forward to getting back on track at Watkins Glen!”
