In a typical classic drama style the best was saved for last as the championship of the GT Daytona (GTD) class for 2018 came down to Saturday’s final race of the season the Motul Petit Le Mans. The anticipation to see who would take the title had been building since early September as the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship GT Daytona (GTD) was set to come down to the No. 48 Lamborghini Huracán GT3 and its Acura NSX rival on a perfect day for racing at the 12-turn, 4.09 km Road Atlanta circuit tucked into the North Georgia hills.

At the end of the grueling 10-hour race, the Paul Miller Lamborghini skillfully piloted by Bryan Sellers, Madison Snow and endurance teammate Corey Lewis accomplished what they set out to do – take home the first-ever IMSA championship for their team owner and Lamborghini.
 

The trio piloted the Huracán to a third-place finish, one spot behind the No. 86, and that was good enough to finish the season with a four-point advantage at the end of 11 races, 333-329. The championship was a first for Paul Miller Racing after the team had come close to winning as they had finished on the season podium three times in the last four years. Lamborghini won the class manufacturer title over Acura by 12 points. The gap was a mere seven points entering Saturday’s race with the Lamborghini duo of Bryan Sellers and Madison Snow holding the lead over Katherine Legge in the Acura. The chase for the championship had an extra ingredient of intrigue as the two cars started next to each other after they were separated by less than two-tenths of a second following qualifying.
 

As the green flag fell, the No. 48, who has held the class lead for the last nine races, quickly moved to the front of the GTD field while the No. 86 soon fell off the pace. Things got interesting at the mid-point of the race as Legge’s co-driver, Alvaro Parente, closed to second place behind Snow in the No. 86.
 
Following a series of pit stops over the next few hours, the teams swapped places within the top four of the class. With around two hours remaining, Sellers climbed in the car and guided it back to the top of the class. During that time, the Acura once again fell off the pace, running anywhere from fourth to sixth. As the race entered its final stages, Sellers found himself in third place, and one spot behind the Acura and that is how the race ended to give the team the championship. It was the second endurance race victory for the trio in 2018 as they also won the Mobil 1 Twelve Hours of Sebring presented by Advance Auto Parts back in March. The victory was the team’s third in 11 races as well as the eighth podium of the year.