Stanton shares the No. 80 Porsche GT3 Cup with David Murry (Cumming, Georgia), who started the car seventh on the GT grid. While Murry had the No. 80 Porsche running has high as fifth at the start of the race, an aggressive move by the leading Daytona Prototype slightly clipped the right front tire of the car causing a flat.

“(Oswaldo) Negri cut in on me early and caused us to get a flat on the right front,” explained Murry. “He actually pulled the valve stem off the tire.”

The unscheduled pit stop under green dropped the No. 80 Porsche back to 23rd in the GT class, but Murry quickly began to weave his way through the field and was running in ninth when he handed the car over to Stanton during a caution.

Stanton continued the Porsche’s push to the front working this way through the dense traffic. “This was just like a Saturday night (Nextel) Cup race at Bristol,” joked Stanton, who claimed third at one point during the race but eventually finishing fourth despite a late charge by Randy Pobst in the No. 36 Porsche. While Pobst took the checkered under the double yellows in front of Stanton, race officials confirmed he passed the No. 80 Porsche under caution and Stanton was rightfully awarded the fourth-place finish.

“Things are progressing with Synergy really well,” Stanton remarked. “We had great pit stops and strategy today. The car had good power and handling.”

Unofficial point standings give Stanton an eight-point lead over Andy Lally and Marc Bunting, who had shared the lead going into the weekend’s event.