Indianapolis, IN (Saturday, Sept 21, 2024) — Neil Verhagen will certainly remember the 21st night of September, as the Paul Miller Racing newcomer qualified third in his IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship qualifying debut.
The last time a driver qualified for the Paul Miller Racing team that was not named Madison Snow, was Corey Lewis at Watkins Glen in 2021.
Verhagen turned a stellar lap in his first qualifying session behind the wheel of the No. 1 BMW M4 GT3, good enough for fourth and only 0.111 of a second off of pole position. However, following post-qualifying technical inspection, the No. 1 was moved to third position.
The iHeartRadio-backed machine will be piloted by Verhagen, alongside co-drivers Bryan Sellers and Madison Snow, for the six-hour TireRack.com Battle on the Bricks here at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway. The six-hour event is part of not only the IMSA full-season championship fight, but the Michelin Endurance Cup.
The Paul Miller Racing team currently sits third in the full-season GTD Pro points battle and leads the Michelin Endurance Cup standings by just two points.
“I first and foremost just want to say I’m really proud of Neil for his effort today in qualifying,” Paul Miller Racing team manager, Mitchell Simmons, said.
“He really went out there and proved that he’s the real deal and that we have put together a good car for this weekend.
“It’s not an easy feat, but thanks to his efforts and those of the crew, we are starting in a really good spot for tomorrow. This race is challenging, especially with the traffic, but hopefully we can stay out of trouble and be there at the end, and starting near the front is key for that.”
The six-hour TireRack.com Battle on the Bricks at Indianapolis Motor Speedway goes green Sunday, September 22nd at 11:40 AM ET. Live flag-to-flag coverage will be available on NBC Peacock, while the final three hours of the race will also air LIVE on NBC.
Neil Verhagen
“A Lot of things to learn, a lot of things to get to grips with. It was the first qualifying for me on this Michelin tire, so I had to figure out how to get it to operate in the correct window in such a short session to give us the best lap time. I feel like I did 95 percent good of a job! There was a little bit left on the table that I think I missed out on, but that’s all part of the learning process. The team did a great job to improve the car from where it was this morning. I felt very comfortable and confident with it. It was just a little bit of myself, I think, was what we were missing. That being said, I’m happy with the starting position. I mean, obviously you want to fight for pole or be on the front row—but I’m not going to be kicking myself over third place in such a tight field.”
