Originally, Memorial Day weekend was going to be an off-weekend for IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship racer Dane Cameron. Then, the call came from Turner Motorsport to drive their new BMW M235iR in Pirelli World Challenge’s TC class.
On Saturday, Cameron took the lead from KRUGSPEED’s Elivan Goulart at about the one-third mark of the race. From there, Cameron held off a number of drivers to claim his first career TC victory.
Afterwards, Cameron was all smiles after an exciting race.
“It was pretty wild start to finish – good, hard, touring car racing,” Cameron said during the post-race press conference. “The cars are just so different it makes for a pretty interesting chess match around the track. It was pretty tough start to finish – a lot of good hard battles, a lot of good passing, good clean racing and a lot of fun.”
C360R’s Paul Holton was able to grab second on the final lap of the race. Holton was also amped up after a clean race with Cameron.
“I trust Dane on track; where he brakes, I can brake; going through the corner, I can see through his window and basically drive through his window so I can’t say anything bad about [Dane Cameron],” Holton said.
Holton took second on the final lap from RacerInk Motorsports’ Cody Ellsworth. Ellsworth was fast all weekend, but nowhere on Friday due to issues. He was pleased with his performance despite losing out on second.
“My Cayman was fantastic today. It was getting better lap after lap,” Ellsworth told Frontstretch after the podium ceremony. “I got a little held up trying to get around Cameron. I made a little too quick of a move and [Holton] was able to capitalize right on it. We’ll take a podium, though. Great finish for us.
Nick Wittmer in the No. 91 ST Racing BMW M235iR was fourth. Anthony Magagnoli was fifth, making for three BMW M235iRs in the top five.
For Goulart, he was once again able to take advantage of his lighter Lotus to take the lead on the start from Holton. However, he dropped off the pace slightly, allowing Cameron to take the lead on lap 11 and dropped back to third.
Goulart’s chances at a weekend “Hambone” were dashed when he had contact on lap 16 with Paul Holton while fighting for second. Goulart had recovered from earlier issues and tried to retake the lead from Cameron. However, he failed to do so and Holton tried to take advantage. Contact was made and Goulart spun into the wall to bring out a caution. Goulart was unhurt, but his Lotus was done for the day.
For the TC class, there is a long break before the next race. The TC class only competes on Sprint-X weekends. As a result, they will not race again until Utah Motorsports Campus in August.
About the author
Phil Allaway has three primary roles at Frontstretch. He's the manager of the site's FREE e-mail newsletter that publishes Monday-Friday and occasionally on weekends. He keeps TV broadcasters honest with weekly editions of Couch Potato Tuesday and serves as the site's Sports Car racing editor.
Outside of Frontstretch, Phil is the press officer for Lebanon Valley Speedway in West Lebanon, N.Y. He covers all the action on the high-banked dirt track from regular DIRTcar Modified racing to occasional visits from touring series such as the Super DIRTcar Series.
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