Turner looks for Hollywood finish at Road America
ELKHART LAKE – Will Turner likes visiting victory lane, but it turns out a Hollywood premiere can be pretty cool to drop in on, as well.
The sports-car racing team owner is in the midst of one of the most interesting stretches of his career, with Turner Motorsport back in title contention, his lead driver on the verge of a major mile
stone and his car playing a prominent role in the Patrick Dempsey-produced “The Art of Racing in the Rain,” which is set to hit theaters nationwide Friday.
“Just to be involved in that film was amazing and to go to their premier and walk the red carpet and see your car on Hollywood Boulevard in the perfect sunshine was amazing,” Turner said Saturday at Road America, site of this weekend’s IMSA Road Race Showcase.
“Obviously it’s a kind of a once-in-alifetime thing to do that.”
The movie is based on the 2008 bestseller of the same name, a story of aspiring racer Denny Swift, his wife and their daughter, as seen through the eyes of their dog, Enzo.
Dempsey, who put his acting career on the back burner for a time to pursue sports-car racing, approached Turner about six months before filming began with the opportunity to be involved. The team has paired professional and amateur co-drivers, which lines up with the character’s first experience, and its bright yellow and blue BMWs provide a distinctive splash of color for the big screen.
“The movie isn’t about racing, even though it has ‘racing’ in the title,” Turner said. “You don’t see the movie and have to be a race fan or you don’t even need to understand racing, other than I think if you don’t know racing and you’re not a race fan, this will kind of open your eyes to sports-car racing.
“This movie is going to be awesome for the sport. I wish there was a little more racing in it because we do have a great thing going here. If you follow racing and you watch this stuff, it might take a little time to do it, but once you do you kind of get hooked and you’re a fan forever.”
After the premiere Thursday in Los Angeles, it was back to business for Turner, who joined his team at Road America. Bill Auberlen and Robby Foley will share the Turner Motorsport BMW M6 GT3 in the race scheduled to start at 1:35 p.m. Sunday.
The pair has fought back into GT Daytona class title contention with finishes of second, first and third in the past three races after a difficult start fraught with mechanical failures and assorted bad luck. Through seven of 11 races, Auberlen and Foley trail the Acura duo of Mario Farnbacher and Trent Hindman by 30 points, a little less than one race’s worth.
“This team is used to being on the podium, winning races, winning championships. I think they’re just back to the status quo,” Auberlen said. “And all of a sudden we go from being 13th in the points to second in the points with a chance to win this championship. And our eye is squarely on that prize.”
Although Auberlen is not consumed by the statistics, his victory at Canadian Tire Motorsports Park two races ago left Auberlen at 59, one short of Scott Pruett’s all-time IMSA record. At age 50, Auberlen said he is driving with as much focus and motivation as he ever has.
“If you look at (the number), you change your focus on how you apply yourself and how you race, and I don’t think it’s the right way,” Auberlen said. “If we just do our pit stops right, do our driving clean and right and stay towards the front, if a win is there we’ll take it, but we can’t force it. … Don’t make it a 13th-place car. Bring it home third if that’s what you’ve got.”
Still, a Hollywood ending to the season would seem appropriate.
Qualifying
Dane Cameron edged teammate Helio Castroneves by 0.016 of second for the pole, hustling his Penske Acura around the 4.048-mile course in 1 minute 48.715 seconds. Cameron is chasing his fourth IMSA victory at Road America. Co-driver Juan Pablo Montoya has yet to win at the track in four starts Indycar and sports-car starts.
Sheboygan native James French lapped at 1:52.037 for his 12th LMP2 class pole.
Oliver Gavin and Corvette inherited the top grid spot in the GT Le Mans class after the time of Tom Blomqvist’s BMW was disallowed in inspection. Gavin’s fastest lap was 2 minutes 0.663 of a second.
In GT Daytona, Ben Keating earned the first pole of his six-year career, lapping in 2:05.250 in his Mercedes-AMG GT3 during a session shortened because of lightning.