with Sunday Victory at Mid-Ohio in No. 60 Porsche Cayman S
Gleason Builds on Saturday Podium for First World Challenge Win, Second of the Season for Napleton Porsche
Kevin Gleason and Napleton Porsche completed a nearly-perfect Pirelli World Challenge debut weekend for the new No. 60 Napleton Porsche Cayman S Sunday at Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course where Gleason drove from third to first in the rain for his first series victory and the second of the season for the Napleton Porsche racing team, which is part of Chicago-area Porsche dealer Napleton Porsche of Westmont.
After finishing third, and setting the third fastest race lap, in Saturdays opening race of the doubleheader Mid-Ohio weekend, Gleason started third in this mornings race that was held in steady rain. He stayed in touch with the leading RealTime Racing Acuras of Peter Cunningham and Nick Esayian from the start and Gleason made his winning moves after a green-flag restart just past the races halfway mark.
We came up to the restart and there was a GT car between me and the first two positions, so I knew I had to make quick work of the GT car, Gleason said. I passed him on the outside of Turn 1 on the restart and was able carry enough speed through and pass Nick Esayian into Turn 2. Then I followed P.D. around, and hunted him down, and was able to pass him for the lead on the inside of Turn 2 the following lap.
Gleasons race-winning pass saw him earn the Cadillac CTS-V Move of the Race Award, he was never seriously challenged after taking the top spot, and crossed the finish line 2.043 seconds ahead of the second-place car. Only GTS points leader and perennial World Challenge Champion Cunningham, who finished third Sunday after winning Saturdays opener, had as good a weekend as Gleason and the debuting No. 60 Napleton Porsche Cayman S team.
You want to go into every race weekend trying to do the best that you can and win and, from talking to the Napleton guys and all of the hard work they have put in, it gave me a lot of confidence going into the weekend that we could get a good result, Gleason said.
Winning in rainy conditions that forced nearly a dozen competitors into mistakes made Sundays win all the more special.
It was extremely slick at the beginning, even off line, I think everyone was having trouble getting their front and rear tires up to temperature, Gleason said. As the race went on, it dried up a little bit, it got a little bit better, but you still had to run a rain line throughout the entire race. I had to make a couple risky passes out there to really make this happen. Between some GT cars that were slower and in the way, and passing some other GTS cars, I had to take a couple chances, but in the end it all paid off. Ive got to give a hats off to all the guys at Napleton Porsche. Without them and all of their hard work, I wouldnt be up here this weekend.
Napleton Porsche now has two GTS victories in its first season of Pirelli World Challenge competition. Sundays Mid-Ohio win followed a landmark victory by Jack Baldwin in the No. 68 Team Hot Wheels Cayman S at Long Beach in April. That race was the first major North American road racing victory for the Porsche Cayman S and the No. 68 was built by and at the time maintained by Napleton Porsche.
The Long Beach and Mid-Ohio wins have come in just the second season of Napleton Porsche fielding national, professional racing programs, but the ingredients for success have been in place for years. Napleton owns and operates the Pirelli Cayman Interseries Endurance Cup Championship and the World Challenge-specification Caymans are based on the cars that have been raced in the Interseries since 2009.
Napleton Porsche winning with Jack and Team Hot Wheels at Long Beach was something to be proud of but backing it up with a victory on an equally legendary road course like Mid-Ohio is just as special, said Napleton Porsche of Westmont General Manager Ron Barnaba. Our guys have been working hard all season and the 60 car didnt even exist when they won at Long Beach, so it is a real credit they have been able to deliver winning and podium performances so consistently this season while building another Cayman that was able to win in its very first race weekend. I am proud of everybody on the team and we are lucky to have a driver of Kevins talent and maturity who drove two very smart races at Mid-Ohio.
Todays win is also a career milestone for the 25-year-old Gleason. He and his older brother Chris Gleason Jr. are the sons of former sports car road racing winner Chris Gleason.
My brother and I co-drove to a GRAND-AM Challenge win last year, and that will always be an awesome memory, but this was definitely a highlight race for me, Kevin Gleason said. To come in on my first weekend, in a new car in the fastest class I have ever raced in, to get a double podium and a win, this is definitely a high point of my career so far.
The Pirelli World Challenge action from Mid-Ohio will be televised on NBC Sports Network at 1:30 p.m. EDT/10:30 a.m. PDT, Saturday, August 25.
