Taylor Hagler scores his first top-5 result of the season at Watkins Glen

“We drove a clean, consistent race and that led to our best result of the year.” – Taylor Hagler delivered an excellent performance at Watkins Glen. The Bryan Herta Autosport driver put in an extremely strong first stint while the team implemented a good strategy, securing her her first top-five finish of the 2024 season.

Taylor Hagler delivered an outstanding performance at Watkins Glen, securing her first top-5 result of the 2024 season. Together with Bryson Morris in a Hyundai Elantra N in the TCR class, the pair were consistently at the top of the field in an action-packed two-hour race.

Hagler’s first stint put them in the top five, getting as high as third before Morris was in second place at the start of his stint. Despite running out of fuel on the final lap, like many of their TCR class rivals, Hagler and Morris were classified in fifth place.

Watkins Glen marked the halfway point of the Michelin Pilot Challenge season, with Hagler and teammate Bryson Morris sitting seventh in the TCR standings before the weekend. It has been a promising season for the Bryan Herta Autosport/Curb Agajanian duo, who scored four consecutive top-10 finishes to start their season.

Due to the speed of both drivers, they regularly fought for places in the top five and now the duo hoped for a turnaround to convert their speed into their best result of the season.

Before the event, Hagler looked ahead to the two-hour race at Watkins Glen.

“Now that we’re quickly getting to Watkins Glen, I’m focused on this weekend’s race,” she said. “Our goal is a strong, clean race and The Glen is the perfect place to do that with its flowing, long corners that suit the Hyundai Elantra N TCR well. The energy at this track is special and the fans always come. I’m ready to start the race weekend!”

The first of two free practice sessions took place on Friday morning and was intended to be an opportunity to start the weekend with a head start. Unfortunately, Hagler and Morris were unable to complete a single lap in the first session due to a technical issue. Both drivers therefore made full use of the second session and set the seventh fastest time in the TCR, showing the duo their speed ahead of qualifying.

Hagler was behind the wheel of the Bryan Herta Autosport with Curb Agajanian machine in qualifying, meaning she would also start the two-hour race. Despite the limited track time, it was a productive session for Taylor, setting the sixth fastest time in TCR. This lap also put her among the Grand Sport drivers in the overall standings, and although there would be a split start between classes, traffic would play a role in the early stages of the race.

Since Taylor had qualified the car on Saturday night, she started the race and started from fifth position after a teammate from Bryan Herta Autosport with Curb Agajanian was disqualified. An incident between the #5 KMW Motorsports Alfa Romeo Giulietta and the #89 HART Honda Civic FK7 on the formation laps meant that the race was initially started behind the safety car before the usual two-row rolling start. As the race got underway, Hagler passed LP Montour and fell behind Chase Jones and teammate Harry Gottsacker.

By lap five, the TCR competitors had already caught up with those in the Grand Sport category and Hagler wasted no time in overtaking Ted Giovanis’s TGM team Aston Martin Vantage. Immediately afterwards, the race went into the first full-course caution period, with John Potter stopped on track and Taylor in sixth place.

A quick restart on lap eight saw Hagler overtake Dai Yoshihara and pull away immediately from the Montreal Motorsport Group Honda Civic FL5 with a superb final sector. Yoshihara fought back to reclaim a top-five spot on lap ten as a second full-course caution period began.

The first strategy play came behind the safety car as the Bryan Herta Autosport with Curb Agajanian team opted to stay out, putting Hagler in third place. Although he missed out on a podium spot on the restart, Taylor was back in third place on lap 19 when the Victor Gonzalez Racing Team Hyundai Elantra N of Chase Jones was involved in an accident with the Kellymoss Porsche 718 GT4 RS Clubsport of Jake Pedersen.

As a result, the race went into a third caution period, with Hagler initially remaining on the track again. When racing resumed, Taylor brought the car into the pits and handed it over to Bryson Morris with just over an hour remaining.

After a quick pit crew stop, Morris finished second among drivers using the same strategy, staying just behind teammate Robert Wickens. The top five drivers in TCR were now separated by less than five seconds, and Morris was less than a second behind Wickens. On lap 37, with just over half an hour of the race left, Jon Morley moved into the lead and quickly began chasing Wickens.

After Mikey Taylor took the lead two laps later, Morris had dropped to fourth and was now able to hold off teammate Denis Dupont. Morris put up a fantastic defence to beat a number of Grand Sport class cars as Bryan Herta Autosport’s machines battled for position with Curb Agajanian.

Dupont took the lead with two laps to go before a dramatic final lap saw several TCR cars run out of fuel. Morris also slowed and failed to complete the final lap, but was classified fifth, securing the team’s first top-five finish of the season.

“Very happy with a top-five result at Watkins Glen!” commented Hagler. “We had a clean, consistent race and that led to our best result of the year. The pace in our No. 77 Hyundai was great and we executed our strategy. We earned some points and will take that momentum to CTMP in a few weeks.”

Hagler and Morris were rewarded with their best result of the season after a strong run at Watkins Glen, which saw them battle for a podium position throughout the two-hour race. Taylor’s first stint was extremely strong, while the team implemented a good strategy to ensure the pair held their position on track for most of the race.

The duo Bryan Herta Autosport and Curb Agajanian are looking to continue their winning streak at the next event, which will take place on the weekend of July 13-14 at Canadian Tire Motorsport Park.