ELKHART LAKE, Wis., (August 8, 2022) – Flying Lizard Motorsports returned to the podium at Road America this weekend, as Joel Miller and the No. 11 Giddy Lamborghini earned second place in a challenging race to take the car’s first top-three overall result of the season. With the weekend highs came the weekend lows, and the other two Lizard entries suffered contact, unable to partake in the weekend’s full schedule.
Though Tom Tait showed great car control and speed leading up to the weekend’s pair of races, racing was not in the cards for the No. 64 Lamborghini. An incident in qualifying caused detrimental damage to the green machine, resulting in Tait retiring from the weekend, though he remained onside to support his teammates, Joel Miller and Slade Stewart.
In race one, Joel Miller and the No. 11 Giddy Lamborghini made their Pro-class debut, as Miller’s Am-ranked co-driver Brett Jacobson was unable to attend the event. He started from fourth in the Pro class and eighth overall, while teammate Slade Stewart started the race from LB Cup pole position. Stewart had a large gap over his competition while Miller was entrenched in a battle for position while the race endured several full-course cautions. With about 15 minutes remaining in race one, Stewart’s pink unicorn No. 14 Lamborghini suffered a puncture, forcing him to limp back to pit lane for a fresh right rear tire, losing the top position in class. Meanwhile. Miller had produced a strong run but was penalized one position for not yielding to an oncoming car at pit lane exit. The challenging race for the Lizards netted a final position of sixth in class for Miller and fifth in class for Stewart.
Race two was even less kind to Stewart and the Unicorn Lamborghini. As the field conducted a pre-race pace lap, contact from another car that did not slow as the cars bunched up caused damage to the rear suspension. The damage ended up being too much to repair in the limited time, and Stewart retired before the field took the green flag.
Miller, the last Lizard standing, started the race from eighth position in the Pro class, and immediately got to work, gaining a position as the skies darkened over Road America. As it did earlier in the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship race, rain descended over the four-mile course, bringing out a full course caution.
From there, the race’s outcome was determined by the strategy teams choose on tire selection. After a brief red flag due to weather conditions, the field restarted for a 17-minute sprint to the checker flag. Miller had climbed his way up to third place, though the Pro class leader had yet to make his mandatory pit stop. Miller, knowing the leader would receive a penalty, stayed focused on the No. 88 Lamborghini ahead, and engaged in a heated battle for second place. The two raced side by side throughout the final turns, but in the end, Miller finished second. Elated with the No. 11’s first podium of the season, Miller celebrated in pit lane with the Lizard crew, satisfied with the success of the weekend.
“That was one of the most fun in a while,” said Miller. “The race was all about tire management as soon as we came on to the rain tire. There was no water out there on track. So once we got in a good position, it was all about managing it. The other car wanted to push hard the whole time, so we let him do it. We saved our tires and made sure we had a good run at the end. Second place overall was great for the whole program. I’m bummed Brett couldn’t be here. Thanks to Giddy, Flying Lizard, and the whole crew. We’re learning more about this car. This is our first year doing this, so we’re still putting the pieces together and look forward to more later.”
Though it was a challenging week for the Flying Lizard effort, Program Manager Darren Law left the weekend feeling happy with the end result.
“We had an up and down weekend and some struggles with a couple of the cars due to on-track incidents,” said Law. “But I’m really happy for Joel, Brett Jacobson, and the Giddy car. It was a challenging race. It was unfortunate that Slade got taken out early on in race two as he had a great qualifying lap to get pole position but Joel had an amazing run and an exciting finish. He almost closed it out on the last lap. I’m really happy to see our car in P2 overall, the entire team has been working hard this year and I’m looking forward to the next race.”
The next race of the season, and the final round in the United States, will be held at VIRginia International Raceway in support of the Michelin GT Challenge at VIR with the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship. The weekend will consist of only GT-racing, August 26-28. For more information, visit imsa.com.
About Flying Lizard Motorsports
Based out of Sonoma, California, Flying Lizard Motorsports is one of the most iconic sports car teams in motorsports, having celebrated ten driver and team championships, as well as competed internationally at the 24 Hours of Le Mans eight times.
The Lizards burst on the American Le Mans Series scene in 2004, competing in the GT class until 2012. In 2013, the team moved to the GTC class, still competing in legendary events such as the 12 Hours of Sebring and 24 Hours of Daytona. In 2014, the team expanded its program to include running two Audi R8 LMS in the TUDOR Championship, and in 2015, again expanded the program to include two Porsches in Porsche Club racing. Flying Lizard closed out the season with a dominating win at the 25 Hours of Thunderhill with Toyo Tires, a win they repeated in 2016, 2017, and 2018. The 2020 season proved the team’s most successful to date, earning four titles in the GT4 America championship. Flying Lizard Motorsports has proven to be a championship contender no matter the race series or race car. For more information, visit lizardms.com.
About Lamborghini Newport Beach
Lamborghini Newport Beach is the authorized sales & service franchise for Automobili Lamborghini S.p.A. serving Orange County, California.
Representing Lamborghini since 2010, Lamborghini Newport Beach is continuously one of the top US retailers year after year. With many years of combined experience, their team of professionals has all the knowledge and expertise necessary to assist you with purchasing the Lamborghini of your dreams, or properly maintaining the one in your garage. All Lamborghini Newport Beach technicians are fully factory certified, and all sales staff holds master certifications. Their newly opened state of the art facilities are now located at 44 Auto Center Drive, inside the Irvine Auto Center.
About Giddy
Sexual health resources were severely lacking. Everyone will experience a condition, disease, disorder, or stage of life related to their sexual health at some point. But, due to a lack of reliable, expert-verified, judgment-free information, people are misinformed, suffer in silence, or turn to outdated, ineffective products.
Giddy is disrupting Sexual Health Information, helping people with diseases, conditions, and at different stages of life feel more confident and fulfilled. Expert-reviewed medical articles are coupled with first-hand perspective articles as a means of de-stigmatizing topics, and creating a safe, honest, open dialogue. Giddy (GetMeGiddy.com) is a first of it’s kind Sexual Health platform which offers users access to topics that impact their lives but are not often discussed.
About Emerald Center
Emerald center is a premier lifestyle and home furnishings retail mixed use center featuring IKEA and over 2 million square feet of mixed use development serving the Southeast Phoenix market. Emerald center is located at the Northeast corner of I-10 and Warner Rd., Tempe, AZ.
About Chandler Pavilions
Chandler Pavilions is the most successful retail power center in Chandler, Az. With Marquis tenants including Home Depot, Lowes, Sam’s Club, REI, Flemings Steak House, and over twenty restaurants l, totaling 2 million square feet of retail tenants. Chandler Pavilions is located at the northeast and southwest corners of I-10 and Ray Rd, Chandler Az.
