Auberlen breaks Pruett's 60-major-sports-car-wins tally

“Well, I guess records are made to be broken,” Scott Pruett said from his California winery after being told that his all-time record for major North American sports car racing victories was broken today at Virginia International Raceway by BMW's Bill Auberlen.

The ever-humble Pruett: "Records are made to be broken. Congratulations to Bill and his team!" Michael Levitt/Motorsport Images

“It’s always bittersweet, no question,” said Pruett, a 60-time winner. “For me, just to be in that category, with that many wins – anything over 40, over 50, I think it’s phenomenal. But I think we all believed that it was just a matter of time. Auberlen spent his whole life doing nothing but sports cars (and) we knew he had the potential to break that (record).

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“Congratulations to Bill and his team! Now we can just be ‘one of the most winning,’ not ‘the most winning’ driver. We’re in pretty thin air, being able to achieve that many victories. It’s a pretty elite group of drivers that have been able to achieve that. I’m certainly proud to be one of them.”

Watkins Glen 2014: Over the last two decades, Auberlen (left) and Pruett (right) often split the headlines in the same major events. Scott LePage/Motorsport Images

Auberlen won 27 times in the Grand-Am, 19 in Camel GT, eight in WeatherTech, five in ALMS and twice in USRRC dating back to 1993.

“You never think of anything like this,” Auberlen said. “The pleasure of driving these cars is all you think about. I’ve got to thank guys like ‘Hi to my family back home’ Scott Pruett for setting the bar so high. You have to appreciate what he has done. He’s an amazing guy. For me to be near him is incredible.”