Seven years on from their first victory together at VIRginia International Raceway, Bryan Sellers and Madison Snow won again at the rolling circuit on the Virginia-North Carolina border. Not only did they win GTD, they took their fifth IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship victory of the season so far. That’s three more than they have in any season prior, including when they won a championship for Paul Miller Racing in 2018.
It’s been a record-setting season for the driver pairing, and they only need to start at Indianapolis Motor Speedway next month to clinch their second consecutive Sprint Cup, and could head into Petit Le Mans as GTD champions with a good performance in Indy.
It’s a testament to the team, a testament to the BMW M4 GT3 they race, but most of all, it’s evidence of how Snow and Sellers have grown together as co-drivers. And if there’s one thing you can count on in a post-race interview when they win, it’s that they will be heaping effusive praise on each other.
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“We just work really well together,” said Snow after the VIR victory. “We’re always trying to improve, we’re always helping each other out. But having grown as a co-driver really makes that possible. And Bryan doesn’t get nearly enough credit for how hard he works and how hard he brings the whole team together, but also car setup and strategy and everything else.”
Sellers said that he felt that was a big compliment coming from Snow, before making his own note to the team’s success this year.
“We’ve put a lot of work into making sure we are leaving no stone unturned in terms of the data review and video review,” Sellers said. “And I think it’s definitely showing, not just on his part, but on my part about this speed that we’ve had this year. That that comes from being able to sit down together and have very serious and honest conversations about, how do I improve. I’m just super-thankful to be a part of this program with Paul Miller Racing.”
The GTD rules mandate an ‘amateur’ driver in each car, rated either FIA Bronze or Silver. At 27 years old, Snow is a Silver-rated driver, but his pace is often up there with the pros. And while teams are often trying to get their Am driver out of the car as soon as practical one they’ve fulfilled their driving time, that’s not the case with Paul Miller Racing. Snow started and finished in their victory at Road America earlier this month, and did so again at VIR – the latter out of necessity.
Sellers wasn’t feeling well, and it was decided that Sellers would drive the middle stint, with Snow handling the start and finish. The fact that Snow can do so, and carry the team to victory, has been a big part of the team’s success, said Sellers.
“If you reflect on today, it was crucial, because I did need him,” he said. “And I told him when we were done there’s no way I could have done the double because the driver change itself was a complete frickin’ disaster. Like, I got out of the car, and the belts weren’t undone and I forgot to plug his radio in. You name it, basically… the driver change, I did it wrong. But that’s where continuity comes into play. We’ve done enough of these together that you can still fumble your way through it, do it quick. And trust that when you shut the door, things are okay, and that it’s in good hands.”
But perhaps the highest praise the more experienced Sellers could offer to Snow wasn’t really about racing at all….
“As you as you start to get a little bit older, the weekends have to be something extremely worthwhile for you to have the desire to still do it to be away from your family, your kids,” he said. “And for me one of the biggest things in that desire to be here every weekend is being with [Madison]. So it doesn’t feel like a job, it feels like I’m on a fishing trip with my brother every weekend.”