For Magnus Racing, the fire that appeared to consume John Potter’s No. 44 Porsche GT3 on the 14th lap of the July 1 Sahlen’s Six Hours of The Glen was worse than it looked.

For Magnus Racing, the fire that appeared to consume John Potter’s No. 44 Porsche GT3 on the 14th lap of the July 1 Sahlen’s Six Hours of The Glen was worse than it looked.

The car with drivers Potter and Andy Lally will be on the grid for the July 27 GRAND-AM Rolex Sports Car Series Brickyard Grand Prix at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway.

Getting to Indy is an intriguing story – especially how Potter and Lally were able to drive the team’s second Porsche, the No. 4 car from the Rolex 24 At Daytona, during two days of testing on the 2.534-mile road course just days after the Glen incident.

The Glen fire damage was moderate consuming dash, windshield and electrical harness. What wasn’t moderate was the amount of retardant that covered virtually every surface of the Porsche.

There was no way the No. 44 was going to the Speedway in three days. And many of the undamaged parts – including the suspension and other critical components – had to be unbolted from the primary car to be inserted into the second Porsche.

Each component had to be cleaned before reassembly, following a process that literally began when the car was unloaded in the team’s Long Island shop five hours after leaving the race track.

What transpired was a succession of three, 18-hour days by a crew of eight. But the deadline was met; the Magnus team arrived on schedule and rolled out for the first of six practices. The driver tandem ranked ninth of 22 GT entries at the conclusion of the two-day test, less than a second off the fastest time.

Fans can view the Magnus Racing No. 44 car and other entries up close in Indy’s open paddock and during the day’s Fan Walk that will include both Rolex and Continental Tire Sports Car Challenge cars at the same time. Upon the completion of the fan walk, pit lane exit will open and DP followed by GT, GS, and ST in two rows will make one slow lap around the circuit behind the pace car.

As the cars make their way down the short chute towards the front stretch, DP & GT cars will pull onto the Pit Lane and proceed back to their paddock. CTSCC cars will proceed to the front stretch where they will be gridded for their race.