Will Wayne Taylor Racing's quali pace at Laguna Seca hold up on race day?

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You know how it goes in racing, right? Teams are always riding this roller coaster of good days and bad, especially when they're shaking things up.

For Wayne Taylor Racing, even though they know Cadillac like the back of their hand, switching back after four years with Acura in 2025? Well, let's just say the welcome home party hasn't been all balloons and confetti for the Taylor crew.

Whether it's been a lack of outright speed or some costly mistakes, they haven't quite seen the results they were hoping for.

But then came qualifying at Laguna Seca for the IMSA SportsCar Championship, and for a moment, you saw that old Wayne Taylor Racing magic flicker back to life.

Ricky Taylor, Wayne's eldest son, reminded everyone why that Taylor name carries so much weight in the sports car world. It wasn't some crazy, highlight-reel lap, but his 1:13.032 was just plain fast enough to stick him fourth on the grid.

He was only a hair – 0.178 seconds – behind Dries Vanthoor in the BMW, who has been on a qualifying tear, grabbing his fourth pole in a row with a 1:12.854. For Wayne Taylor Racing, that was their best starting spot all year.

"I think for the struggles we’ve been through this year just getting up to speed with the car and getting to work with all our friends at Cadillac Racing, it’s nice to be right there with the top group," Ricky said.

"I think it’s on us to execute tomorrow, but it’s really motivating to be heading in the right direction, gaining confidence with the car. The car has proven it can do the job. For us, it’s great to start gelling with it."

Okay, so his lap wasn't going to beat Vanthoor's BMW or those dominant Porsche Penske machines, but he did manage to put it ahead of the Acura’s and Vanthoor's BMW teammate, Sheldon van der Linde, in that short qualifying sprint.

The big question now is, can they keep that qualifying pace going for the whole sprint? Practice gave us a bit of a mixed bag. In the first session, Ricky and his teammate Louis Deletraz looked pretty good on a short run pace, putting their Cadillacs fourth and fifth.

Then final practice rolled around, and it looked like they still have some homework to do on their longer runs. Ricky was the fastest of the Cadillacs with a 1:14.804 on his 9th lap of 49, but that only put them seventh overall. Louis Deletraz and Jordan Taylor in the sister car were the slowest of the Cadillacs, clocking a 1:14.965, which landed them tenth in the eleven-car class.

So yeah, it was cool to see those flashes of the old Wayne Taylor Racing speed in qualifying, but it's clear they've still got some ground to cover. And they know it. Jordan Taylor is already thinking about playing the strategy game in the pits to try and gain some track position.

"It’s a little bit better than what we’ve been in the first few races, so that’s a positive," Jordan pointed out.

"I think we’re still missing a bit from the front guys. It’s a relatively long race, so hopefully we can do something in the pits. It’s a tough track to pass, traffic is difficult, so I think you can make a lot of things happen in this race. We’ll do what we can in the pits and make some moves there and hopefully maximize in traffic."

So, we saw a glimpse of the old magic, but the real test is Sunday. Can Wayne Taylor Racing turn that qualifying spark into a full-on race fire? It's going to be interesting to watch.