Paul Miller Racing Running In Second Position At Halfway Point of Rolex

DAYTONA BEACH, The Paul Miller Racing team has its sights set on winning the 2011 Rolex 24 At Daytona and in the first half of the race this weekend they have shown that they are up to the task, taking the lead at the start of the sixth hour and maintaining a top-four running order throughout the second quarter of the day-long endurance race at Daytona International Speedway. Live coverage on SPEED continues this morning at 9:00 a.m. ET/6:00 p.m. PT and ends with the checkered flag at 3:30 p.m. ET/12:30 p.m. PT.

The experienced driver lineup, which consists of Bryce Miller, Rob Bell, Bryan Sellers and Tim Sugden, has been able to consistently run up front, post competitive lap times around the 3.56-mile road course and keep their No. 48 Marquis Jet/TOTAL/IPC Porsche GT3 out of harm’s way in a race that has seen multiple caution periods.

“It’s pretty frantic, to be honest,” Bell said. “The biggest thing I’m surprised at is the restarts, because they’re like a war zone. Every one is like a sprint race, which is a little bit surprising. Apart from that, there’s a little bit of debris here and there. The track is standing up quite well, we had oil down earlier but that’s gone. It’s good and consistent. You just have to be very, very diligent and watch your mirrors. Depending on pit stops, we’re between second and fourth. We’ve got to keep our noses clean, but we’re sniffing for a podium for sure.”

Keeping the four drivers in the rotation fresh in the race’s final 12 hours will be a possible key to victory.

“I need a little bit of sleep,” Bell said after an early Sunday morning stint. “I’m wide awake now, so I need to just go and chill out for a half an hour, get some sleep, and then wake myself up to get back. I absolutely can’t wait to get back in, it should be cool.”