By the time Jordan Taylor crossed the finish line in the No. 10 Wayne Taylor Racing Corvette DP, his lead was down to just 0.477 seconds over Dane Cameron in the No. 31 Action Express Racing Corvette DP, but the close margin of victory for WTR only told a small portion of the story.

Crafty race strategy with an early driver change put Cameron in the lead with the 2h40m race drawing to a close, but with a need to stop for a splash of fuel while the No. 5 AXR Corvette DP sat within striking distance in second, it appeared the No. 31 would be forced to surrender the lead – and the win to its sister car with the checkered flag in sight. Fate would intervene with 11 minutes left to run as Joao Barbosa, who had enough fuel to go the distance, pitted to replace a punctured tire.

Cameron’s lead to Taylor, who took over second, was just enough bring the No. 31 in for a quick stop to take fuel and a new left-rear tire, and with under 10 minutes left on the clock, he charged into pit lane. What should have been a routine stop went awry immediately – a problem inserting the fuel probe cost the Californian a few extra seconds they could not spare. After sitting idle for a period of time that was longer than he could afford, Cameron shot out of his pit stall and was helpless as he watched Taylor sweep into the lead.

Cameron chased the Floridian as hard as possible in the final minutes of the race, reducing the gap to less than one second, but could not displace Taylor. The win for the No. 10 WTR car was an even bigger surprise to the team after significant power steering problems slowed the pole-sitting car during Ricky Taylor’s opening stint.

Dogged persistence from the Taylor brothers and a healthy dose of good luck at the last-minute vaulted the black Corvette DP from third to first – all without making an on-track pass – and gave the Konica Minolta-sponsored team its second win of the year.

“I don’t know how that happened,” said Ricky Taylor, who started the race in the No. 10. “Today really wasn’t going our way for the first half. Jordan kept his head down. I can’t believe we’re going to be on the top step of the podium here.”

With Cameron and co-driver Eric Curran settling for an unexpected second, the other team that switched to an early strategy shift claimed third. Michael Shank Racing pitted John Pew around the same time as Curran handed over to Cameron, and with Brazilian ace Ozz Negri strapped in to wield the No. 60 Ligier JS P2 for the majority of the contest, MSR was able to secure the final podium spot. Negri’s effort to capture third, however, took its toll on his physical state. A hot and humid day at Canadian Tire Motorsport Park and a lack of power steering left Negri exhausted and needing to be transported to the infield care center after he was lifted from car.

With three of IMSA’s TUDOR United SportsCar Championship classes on display at CTMP, most of the drama was reserved for the Prototype category. GT Le Mans, which normally offers an amazing battle between factory programs, was a processional run as Nick Tandy and Patrick Pilet drove their No. 911 Porsche 911 RSR from pole to Victory Lane.

“We’re on such a roll at Porsche now; everything’s snowballed since Le Mans,” said Tandy, who won also overall for the German marque at the legendary 24-hour race in France. Following the Falken Tire Porsche team’s win at Watkins Glen, Tandy was pleased to get another GTLM victory with the No. 911 after a long dry spell.

“It’s two in a row for Porsche, and it’s the first time our car’s been on the top step since Daytona 2014,” he added. “Toward the end it was quite simple – just bring it home.”

Tandy held a 15.5-second lead over John Edwards in the second-place No. 24 BMW Team RLL Z4 and 18 seconds over Antonio Garcia’s No. 3 Corvette Racing C7.R at the finish.

If GTLM was a procession, the race for top honors in PC was all but settled before the green flag waved. PC got off to a wild start as Chris Cumming in the second-place No. 11 RSR entry spun and crashed on the pace lap. Polesitter James French pulled the No. 38 Performance Tech PC over on the backstraight with an undiagnosed issue while holding the lead. Starworks Motorsport’s Mirco Schultis and Renger van der Zande put in stellar drives – particularly for Schultis, who was ill – but a problem at the left-rear corner forced the No. 8 PC out late in the event. Steering problems for the No. 52 PR1/Mathiasen PC dropped the car from the wars at the halfway point, and with other cars spinning or finding troubles, Colin Braun and Jon Bennett cruised to an easy victory in the No. 54 CORE autosport machine.

Their success broke a winless streak that dated back to Watkins Glen 2014, and with a full lap over the PC field in hand, the defending class champions were understandably relieved.

“It’s a super good day for us,” said team owner/driver Jon Bennett, whose GTLM team also won at CTMP. “It’s great to get out first win of the season, and to see our Porsche team win.”

RESULTS – 128 LAPS: