A yr after enduring one of the vital heartbreaking finishes in program historical past, Vasser Sullivan Racing discovered final redemption on the Sahlen’s Six Hours at The Glen—they usually did it whereas carrying the reminiscence of a paddock legend.
Co-drivers Jack Hawksworth and Ben Barnicoat drove the #14 Lexus RC F GT3 to a dominant GTD Professional class victory from the pole place at Watkins Glen Worldwide. The triumph marked Vasser Sullivan’s first GTD Professional class win in 25 races, courting again to the Twelve Hours of Sebring in 2024.
However the victory meant way over simply breaking a streak. The race weekend served as a poignant tribute to Dreyer & Reinbold Racing proprietor Dennis Reinbold, who handed away earlier this month. In his honor, Vasser Sullivan co-entered Reinbold’s crew title for the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship occasion, bringing a 15-year-old friendship full circle.
The victory stands in stark distinction to the crew’s fortunes at Watkins Glen simply 12 months prior. Throughout final yr’s race, the #12 GTD entry led by Hawksworth ran out of gasoline on the ultimate lap, agonizingly stripping them of a assured victory.
Returning to the enduring 3.4-mile, 11-turn street course one yr later, the crew executed a flawless weekend to take the checkered flag.
#14 Vasser Sullivan Racing w/Dreyer & Reinbold Lexus RC F GT3: Jack Hawksworth, Ben Barnicoat, James Calado, #1 Paul Miller Racing BMW M4 GT3 EVO: Neil Verhagen, Connor De Phillippi, Antonio Garcia, #64 Ford Racing Ford Mustang GT3: Ben Barker, Dennis Olsen, Christopher Mies
Photograph by: Jake Galstad / Lumen through Getty Pictures
“The way in which we misplaced this race final yr, we had been in full management of it,” Vasser Sullivan co-owner James ‘Sulli’ Sullivan instructed Motorsport.com. “And it was one of many hardest days on this program to stroll out of right here understanding that we had it gained and we misplaced it.”
The historical past between Sullivan and Reinbold dates again to 2011 on the Baltimore Grand Prix IndyCar Sequence race. On the time, Sullivan was in search of a associate to assist launch his profession and proceed racing after placing collectively a one-off Indianapolis 500 take care of co-owner Jimmy Vasser.
Whereas most crew house owners scoffed on the concept of working a one-off entry on a punishing avenue circuit, Reinbold inspired it.
“The magnitude is that I owe lots to Dennis for serving to jumpstart my profession,” Sullivan stated. “There was one man on this nation, within the paddock, that thought it was a good suggestion [to race Baltimore], and that was Dennis Reinbold. That is the place our partnership began. It is the place our friendship began.”
Past their monitor success, Sullivan famous they shared a novel, foundational trait in a storage sometimes dominated by former racers: Neither Sullivan nor Reinbold grew up as drivers. This shared perspective solid an unusual bond between the 2 house owners.
Earlier than Reinbold’s passing, Sullivan had the chance to talk along with his longtime buddy and associate one closing time to specific his gratitude. Whereas Reinbold did not know on the time that his title could be on the Lexus RC F GT3 at Watkins Glen, Sullivan and Vasser knew it was the one becoming tribute.
“He was a hell of a racer. He was a hell of a buddy. He was a hell of a associate,” Sullivan stated. “And this was the proper factor to do, which was to go racing with him once more. I had an opportunity to share some phrases with him earlier than he handed. And I instructed him what I felt and what he meant to us, and that he was going to be racing with us. On the time, he did not know that we had been going to be co-entering this, however straight away it was in Vasser’s and I’s thoughts, as a result of that is what he deserves. …
“We got here in right here 12 months later, actually to the day with Reinbold as our co-entry, and we gained the rattling factor. So it is so poetic. And it is why we race, fairly frankly. There is no feeling prefer it.”
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