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| Bryan Sellers | |
|---|---|
| Nationality | American |
| Born | (1982-08-19)August 19, 1982 (age 42) Dayton, Ohio |
| WeatherTech SportsCar Championship career | |
| Debut season | 2014 |
| Current team | Paul Miller Racing |
| Racing licence |  FIA Gold |
| Car number | 1 |
| Engine | BMW |
| Former teams | Team Falken Tire |
| Starts | 102 |
| Championships | 6 |
| Wins | 15 |
| Podiums | 41 |
| Poles | 3 |
| Best finish | 1st in2018 (GTD),2023 (GTD) |
| Previous series | |
| Championship titles | |
| 2022 2023 2020 20182023 2002 | IMSA WeatherTech Sprint Cup - GTD IMSA Michelin Endurance Cup - GTD IMSA SportsCar Championship – GTD USF2000 Championship |
| Awards | |
| 2001 | Team USA Scholarship |
Bryan Sellers (born August 19, 1982 inDayton, Ohio) is an American racing driver. Sellers won the title in theU.S. F2000 in 2002 and later competed in theAtlantic Championship and in racing sports cars.
Bryan Sellers first competed in theWorld Karting Association (WKA) Manufacturer's Cup and the Gold Cup in 1994, racing other young drivers such asDanica Patrick.[1][relevant?] In 1998, Sellers won the Spec 100 Open class in the Manufacturer's Cup, beating future Atlantic Championship rivalJonathan Macri.[2]
Sellers made his first auto racing start in aStar Mazda in 1998, before competing in the Midwestern Skip Barber Formula Dodge. Sellers won the championship, beating other young hopefuls such asCaio Travaglini andJason LaPoint.[3] Sellers won his first two races at theIndianapolis Raceway Park road course,[4] and ran races in the other Formula Dodge regions. AtLime Rock Park, Sellers beatMarc Breuers to win two races.[5] In 2000, Sellers competed in the second edition of the Skip Barber National Championship; he won races atGrattan Raceway at the start of the season but lost the title to CanadianAnthony Simone.[6] Due to his strong results in the Skip Barber ranks, Sellers advanced to theBarber Dodge Pro Series atRoad America, supporting theChamp Car Grand Prix of Road America, and placed twelfth in his debut race.
For 2001, Sellers signed withDSTP Motorsports for a partial schedule in the U.S. F2000. After one race, the team switched from theMygale chassis to the more favorableVan Diemen chassis. The best result for Sellers was a seventh place atSebring International Raceway.[7] Supported byTeam USA Scholarship, Sellers and teammateA. J. Allmendinger competed for a number of races in theNew Zealand Formula Ford Championship. Sellers and Allmendinger finished second and third in the prestigiousNew Zealand Grand Prix which was won byFabian Coulthard.[8] For the 2002 season, Sellers returned to the United States to race in the USF2000, joining the highly successfulCape Motorsports outfit.[9] Sellers won the first race at Sebring and won another seven races to claim the championship.[10] The following year, 2003, Sellers joined theAtlantic Championship withLynx Racing. Running a partial schedule, Sellers scored three top-ten finishes out of four races. In 2004, Sellers competed in all races of the championship; he claimed three podium finishes: atLong Beach,Cleveland andDenver.
Unable to continue in single seaters,[why?] Sellers shifted his focus to theAmerican Le Mans Series andGrand-Am.Panoz Motorsports signed Sellers to drive theirPanoz Esperante GTLM. The team had a tough season with a number of retirements. The best result for Sellers was a fifth place at the2005 Portland Grand Prix with teammateRobin Liddell. For2006 Sellers joinedBMWTeam PTG in of theirBMW M3 GTR entries. Sellers and teammateJustin Marks finished 24th in the season standings. After running various races in 2007, Sellers joined theRolex Sports Car Series for their2008 season. JoiningThe Racer's Group, Sellers scored a third place in class at the24 Hours of Daytona. Sellers was placed sixteenth in the series championship. After running three races in 2009 for TeamFalken Tire, Sellers joined the team full-time in2010 and scored numerous top-ten finishes in theAmerican Le Mans Series. In2011, Sellers scored two class wins in the GT class with teammateWolf Henzler atMid-Ohio andBaltimore. For 2012, Sellers remained at Team Falken Tire, run byWalker Racing. Sellers and Henzler again won their class atBaltimore. Sellers also ran in theContinental Tire Sports Car Challenge forFall-Line Motorsports, placing tenth in the championship standings. In 2013, Sellers wonPetit Le Mans in the GT class, the final ALMS event before being merged into theWeatherTech SportsCar Championship. Sellers repeated this performance in 2014. In 2015, Sellers won the6 Hours of Watkins Glen.
In 2016, Sellers joined Paul Miller Racing, and teamed up withMadison Snow. In their sixth race as a duo, they earned their first joint podium. They went on to finish 3rd in the championship that year, including a win atVirginia International Raceway. Year 2 was the only one to see them not get a win, and after a penalty resulting in loss of championship points, they finished 9th. Everything went right in 2018, with Bryan and Madison winning the GTD Championship, as well as the2018 12 Hours of Sebring and the NorthEast Grand Prix atLime Rock Park. The duo took 9 podium finishes out of 12 races. They narrowly beatKatherine Legge in what remains the hardest fought GTD championship to date, requiring an average finish of 3rd place. Bryan had two different co-drivers in 2019, sharing thePaul Miller Racing Lamborghini with Ryan Hardwick for the first half of the season before endurance driverCorey Lewis stepped in to contest the final 5 races of the season. Together with Lewis, Bryan won theLaguna Seca round. Madison came back into the picture for the 2020 season, and it kicked off with a bang! Together with Lewis andAndrea Caldarelli, Madison and Bryan claimed first place in GTD at the2020 24 Hours of Daytona. Due to Covid-19, however, they were unable to complete the full season and instead participated in only select races. They did still win a championship. Lewis, Snow, and Sellers took the 2020 Michelin Endurance Cup, setting a record for points accrued that still hasn't been broken. In 2021, Bryan once again teamed up with Snow in the Lamborghini, and they had much success, taking their first win at theLong Beach Grand Prix. They stood on the podium 7 out of 12 races, and came just short of winning their second full season championship. 2022 brought big change to thePaul Miller Racing organization, with the introduction of a new manufacturer. The team moved to BMW, becoming one of four M4 GT3s on the grid. Unfortunately, they did not receive their car until after the first race of the season, eliminating them from contention for the full season honors before their first race. They debuted the car atSebring International Raceway and ran well until contact from a faster class car put them behind the wall for several hours. But the team fixed the car, and they learned valuable lessons they wouldn't have to wait long to flaunt! The defending race winners at Long Beach took pole and victory once again at the southern California event. Bryan and Madison would win a meaningfulLime Rock Park race once again as well, finishing out the season with top 5 finishes at every race except Sebring and Watkins Glen, where they (along with many others)[11] were disqualified. Their average finish in 2022 was the best of the field. 2023 saw Bryan once again sharing the car with Madison, tyingWolf Henzler for Bryan's longest driving partnership. The duo clinched the championship in record setting fashion, sealing it with still a race to go. They achieved victories at the2023 12 Hours of Sebring, a third consecutive win at theLong Beach Grand Prix, their first wins at bothCanadian Tire Motorsport Park andRoad America, as well as win at the site of their first success in 2016,Virginia International Raceway. They also took home their second consecutive Sprint Cup.
Sellers is married to pit lane reporterJamie Howe,[12] and the couple have two children.[13]
(key)
| Year | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | Rank | Points |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2000 | SEB | MIA | NAZ | LRP | DET | CLE | MDO | ROA 12 | VAN | LS | RAT | HMS | 26th | 4 |
| Year | Entrant | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | Pos | Points | Ref |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2000 | Archangel Motorsports | PIR | MOS1 | MOS2 | IRP1 | ROA1 | ROA1 | TRR | MOS3 | WGI1 | WGI2 | IRP2 | ATL1 24 | ATL2 13 | N.C. | N.C. | [14] | |
| 2001 | DSTP Motorsports | HMS1 17 | HMS2 DNQ | HMS3 DNQ | WGI1 20 | WGI2 14 | IRP DNQ | MDO1 28 | MDO2 22 | ROA1 | ROA2 | MDO3 8 | SEB1 7 | SEB2 23 | 18th | 42 | [15] | |
| 2002 | Cape Motorsports | SEB1 1 | SEB2 3 | MOS1 1 | MOS2 1 | IRP 9 | MIL1 6 | MIL2 12 | MDO 3 | MDO 1 | MDO 22 | ROA1 1 | ROA2 1 | VIR1 1 | VIR2 1 | 1st | 327 | [16] |
| Year | Team | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | Rank | Points | Ref |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2003 | Lynx Racing | MTY | LBH | MIL | LS 11 | POR 10 | CLE | TOR 7 | TRR | MDO 6 | MTL | DEN | MIA | 14th | 30 | [17] |
| 2004 | Lynx Racing | LBH 3 | MTY 12 | MIL 5 | POR1 7 | POR2 5 | CLE 2 | TOR 5 | VAN 11 | ROA 6 | DEN 3 | MTL 6 | LS 10 | 6th | 227 | [18] |
(key) (Races inbold indicate pole position; results initalics indicate fastest lap)
| Year | Team | Class | Make | Engine | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | Pos. | Points | Ref |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2005 | Panoz Motor Sports | GT2 | Panoz Esperante GT-LM | Ford (Élan) 5.0LV8 | SEB 7 | ATL 9 | MID 8 | LIM 6 | SON DNF | POR 4 | AME 7 | MOS 7 | PET 7 | MON 7 | 19th | 36 | [19] | ||
| 2006 | BMW Team PTG | GT2 | BMW M3 | BMW 3.4LI6 | SEB DNF | HOU | MDO 5 | LRP 4 | UTA 9 | POR 8 | ELK 6 | MOS DNF | PET 9† | LAG DNF | 24th | 37 | [20] | ||
| 2007 | Panoz Team PTG | GT2 | Panoz Esperante GT-LM | Ford (Élan) 5.0LV8 | SEB 12 | STP | LBH | HOU | UTA DNF | LRP | MDO | ELK | MOS | DET | PET | LAG | NC | 0 | [21] |
| 2009 | Team Falken Tire | GT2 | Porsche 911 GT3 RSR | Porsche 4.0 LFlat-6 | SEB | STP | LBH DNF | UTA | LRP | MDO | ELK | MOS | PET 11 | LAG 8 | 46th | 8 | [22] | ||
| 2010 | Team Falken Tire | GT | Porsche 911 GT3 RSR | Porsche 4.0 LFlat-6 | SEB 12 | LBH 6 | LAG 7 | UTA 9 | LRP 8 | MDO 8 | ELK 10 | MOS 7 | PET 10 | 17th | 40 | [23] | |||
| 2011 | Team Falken Tire | GT | Porsche 911 GT3 RSR | Porsche 4.0 LFlat-6 | SEB DNF | LBH 4 | LRP 5 | MOS 5 | MDO 1 | ELK 6 | BAL 1 | LAG DNF | PET 5 | 5th | 97 | [24] | |||
| 2012 | Team Falken Tire | GT | Porsche 911 GT3 RSR | Porsche 4.0 LFlat-6 | SEB 8 | LBH 6 | LAG 7 | LRP 7 | MOS 4 | MDO 4 | ELK 12† | BAL 1 | VIR 7 | PET 6 | 8th | 81 | [25] | ||
| 2013 | Team Falken Tire | GT | Porsche 911 GT3 RSR | Porsche 4.0 LFlat-6 | SEB 3 | LBH 10 | LAG 2† | LRP 8 | MOS 10 | ELK 9 | BAL DNF | COA 7 | VIR 8 | PET 1 | 10th | 55 | [26] |
† Did not finish the race but was classified as his car completed more than 70% of the overall winner's race distance.
† Sellers car failed post-race technical inspection, forfeiting all championship points but still maintaining its finishing position in the race.
(key) (Races inbold indicate pole position; results initalics indicate fastest lap)
* Season still in progress.