A team and family divided, Wayne Taylor Racing is picking up the pieces of what is left of their defending series championship. As Ricky Taylor chases another title in his new role with Team Penske, his father Wayne Taylor and brother Jordan Taylor are just looking for a shot at winning a race.
Entering Watkins Glen International in 2017, Wayne Taylor Racing was on top of the sports car racing world. The two brothers had swept the first five races of the season, with a stranglehold on the championship that they would not give up en route to the title.
This season, a dark anniversary marks the beginning of a 10-race drought that has kept the #10 Konica Minolta Cadillac DPi off of the top of the podium.
“Watkins Glen will be an indication of what we’ve lost and where we’re going,” team owner Wayne Taylor told RACER.com at Watkins Glen on Friday. “Everybody on the team is pulling their hair out. When you’re winning, everybody’s happy. And when you’re not, you get down on yourself and wonder if it’s on you.”
“We win and lose together, and I’d put our team up against anybody. But we’re not winning at the moment.”
The team lost its family chemistry with Ricky Taylor’s move to Team Penske for 2018 to begin the team’s Acura DPi program alongside IndyCar icon Helio Castroneves. While the team also had some hiccups through the start of the season, they eventually took the checkered flag at Mid-Ohio for the team’s first Prototype victory.
They now sit in a deadlock for third in the championship standings with Wayne Taylor Racing.
“It’s weird to see that car,” Ricky admitted ahead of the Mid-Ohio victory. The chemistry between the brothers led to an unstoppable dynamic when running the same car, and that has carried over into competition against one another.
“We really trust each other a lot. We can race hard together and know that we’re not going to do anything stupid.”
While Wayne Taylor Racing’s newest face, Renger van der Zande, has done a fine job at keeping the team in strong points position alongside Jordan, the spark the brothers brought to the team cannot be replicated.
As the two teams look to surpass one another in the points as of the Sahlen’s Six Hours of the Glen on Sunday, the fact remains that one Taylor has visited victory lane in 2018 while two have not.
“Winning is the thing we haven’t done,” Wayne Taylor said. “Once we fix that, once we figure that part out again, I believe everyone will relax and feel more like themselves.”
“But we aren’t having much fun, I must admit, while we’re trying to get there.”
