GTSport/Porsche Napleton Racing Team Grids Second For Hot Wheels®, InvoicePrep and Voodoo Ride at Second Consecutive RaceStarting from the same front-row grid position that launched the No. 68 Hot Wheels®/GTSport/Porsche Napleton Racing (PNR) Cayman S to victory two weeks ago in Long Beach, Jack Baldwin grids in the second place of the GTS class field for today’s Pirelli World Challenge Privacy Star Utah Grand Prix presented by Bondurant at Miller Motorsports Park.
Baldwin makes the standing start from the outside of the GTS front row for the second consecutive race after a top Friday qualifying lap of 2:00.474 (91.080 mph). The time was just a tick slower than pole-winner and perennial World Challenge standout Peter Cunningham, who topped qualifying with a lap of 2:00.108 (91.357 mph).
Cunningham was also on the pole at Long Beach but Baldwin quickly passed him and several of the faster GT class competitors at the race start to take a lead the No. 68 Cayman S would never lose. The Long Beach win came in just the third race for the new Team Hot Wheels™ Pirelli World Challenge program that also has lead support from InvoicePrep, Voodoo Ride and StopTech.
“With the ‘lucky-me’ rewards weight we received for winning Long Beach, we had to work extra hard on the Cayman all week at the StopTech race shop to come up with the best setup for Miller,” said Baldwin, who was also second quickest in final Friday practice. “We lost a session yesterday, so we were behind in this morning’s first official practice session and ran seventh. We stayed focused, worked together and made some intelligent changes based on my first session comments and in the second run we caught up to P2.”
Baldwin continued to give credit to the GTSport Racing/PNR team and crew.
“The GTSport/Team Hot Wheels™ did a great job dialing the car in and I had to get up on the wheel big time to get the number in qualifying,” Baldwin said. “We were pleased to get the front row next to Peter Cunningham's Acura for the second time in two races. Hopefully, I will get another good start like I got at Long Beach and have another great race. I'm not sure about the start, but I am sure I will give it my best to bring it home on top.”
The No. 68 Hot Wheels® Cayman S works well on the Miller layout, at its full 4.5 miles, 23-turn configuration, is the longest track in North America. The Pirelli World Challenge is using the 14-turn, 3.048-mile outer course configuration.The No. 68 Team Hot Wheels™ Porsche is based on the successful PNR-built Pirelli Cayman Interseries Caymans with modifications to meet Pirelli World Challenge GTS specifications.
The Privacy Star Utah Grand Prix presented by Bondurant will start at 2:50 p.m. MDT/4:50 p.m. PDT on Saturday, April 28. The race will be streamed live at World-Challengetv.com.
Race fans can also tune in for tape delay television coverage on the NBC Sports Network all season. The Long Beach race airs this Sunday, April 29, at 3 p.m. EDT/Noon PDT.
The No. 68 Team Hot Wheels/GTSport/Porsche Napleton Racing Cayman S is also supported by Napleton Porsche Motorsports, BBS, Jamestown Fish Restaurant, RaceLink, SPEEDCOM Communications, TPC, AIM, RS683 and Schnorr Art.
ABOUT PORSCHE NAPLETON RACING (PNR): Porsche Napleton Racing (PNR) is the performance and competition division of the Chicago-area auto dealership Napleton Porsche of Westmont. An established and full-service racing division and prep shop, PNR specializes in amateur and beginner-level competition on up to entry-level and top-tier professional racing series. The performance-focused PNR operation is just one division within Napleton Porsche of Westmont, which is the Ed Napleton Automotive Group’s flagship Porsche dealership. A family business that was established in 1931 by their grandfather Edward W. Napleton with a single dealership on Chicago’s south side, Ed Napleton and his brothers today own 60 franchises in four states. The Ed Napleton Automotive Group operates 29 of these franchises in 14 locations.