SAVAGE, Minn. (September 8, 2025) — JDC-Miller MotorSports is pleased to announce the return of Swiss Formula E driver Nico Müller to its driver lineup for the remaining two races of the season. Müller will join Tijmen van der Helm in piloting the No. 85 Porsche 963 for the Battle on the Bricks at Indianapolis and Petit Le Mans at Road Atlanta.
Müller competed for JDC-Miller MotorSports earlier this year at the Twelve Hours of Sebring, where the team had a strong performance until experiencing a brake issue late in the race, bringing the car home in 8th overall.
Since Sebring, Müller has gained additional Porsche 963 seat-time by competing in the 6 Hours of Spa-Francorchamps and testing as the reserve driver for the Porsche 24 Hours of Le Mans campaign.
Quotes:
John Church, Managing Partner, No. 85 JDC-Miller MotorSports Porsche 963
“I’m really pleased to have Nico back with us to wrap-up the season. He was a great fit with the team when he was with us at Sebring. Got up to speed with the 963 very quickly, which is not an easy thing to do. We think he will give us that little bit of extra pace we are looking for. We finished this race 3rd last year, so our goal is to move up a step or two.”
Tijmen van der Helm, Driver, No. 85 JDC-Miller MotorSports Porsche 963
“It’s great to have Nico back with us for the Indy and Petit. I very much enjoyed driving with him at Sebring. A great addition to the team.”
“I am very excited to be back with JDC-Miller MotorSports after our race together earlier this season at Sebring. We demonstrated good pace and great potential during the 12-Hour event. I’m looking forward to building on that performance straight away.
Hopefully, I can help the team make further progress in the two races at Indianapolis and Road Atlanta. I’m really excited to compete in these endurance races with this amazing team. I’m familiar with Indianapolis because, in 2021, I took part in an 8-hour GT3 race there. I haven’t raced at Road Atlanta yet, so I’m eager to get my first experience on that fantastic track. Petit Le Mans is on every driver’s bucket list, so I’m truly excited about this opportunity. We’re going to give it our best effort to achieve some good results for JDC-Miller MotorSports.”
LOVE RACING. STOP CANCER. returns to the Battle on the Bricks.
JDC-Miller MotorSports will once again host a St. Jude patient family this year. Already a motorsports fan, 10-year-old Hadley is thrilled to join the team. A St. Jude patient since age 2 and now cancer-free, watch for Hadley and her family around the paddock. They will be available for interviews.
You can add your sticker to the No. 85 Porsche 963 or make a donation of any amount by clicking here.
🎗️ Send a Sticker for a Ride on the #85 Porsche 963 at the Battle on the Bricks:
💛 Donate $250+: Get a 4” yellow sticker placed on the car.
🖤 Donate $500+: Get a 5” black sticker for its 200 mph ride.
✍️ Personalize your sticker with a message of hope!
We’ll mail you a sticker to keep and place one on your car. Every dollar helps ensure families never receive a bill from St. Jude for treatment, travel, housing, or food—because all a family should worry about is helping their child live. Help us “kiss the bricks” in the fight against childhood cancer.
Watch the Battle on the Bricks
Complete race is on Peacock starting Sunday, September 21st at 11:30 eastern.
NBC picks up the race at 3:00 eastern and runs through the conclusion at 6:00.
SAVAGE, Minn. (August 3rd, 2025) — It was an uneventful home race weekend for the No. 85 JDC-Miller MotorSports Porsche 963 in front of a large group of incredibly loyal family, sponsors, and fans.
The JDC-Miller Motorsports No. 85 Porsche 963 qualified in 11th position, but the hardworking JDC-Miller Motorsports crew made some productive changes overnight before race day, successfully making the car more competitive for the race. Driver Gianmaria Bruno gained a spot at the start and worked his way up to 5th position with skillful driving and great team strategy. Unfortunately, he later got caught in traffic and lost the spot to the race-winning BMWs. After the pit stop and driver change, the No. 85 Porsche fell back to 10th and ran the rest of the race there without incident.
Our 2024 St. Jude patient family returned to Road America this year as race fans. Colton, now a cancer-free 11-year-old, hung out with the team and his IMSA friends. This marked the kickoff of JDC-Miller MotorSports’ St. Jude fundraising effort, again carrying the LOVE RACING. STOP CANCER. theme, which will culminate at the 6-hour race next month at Indianapolis. You can support this effort by donating here:
Quotes:
John Church, Managing Partner, No. 85 JDC-Miller MotorSports Porsche 963
“Another tough race for the 85 Porsche 963. We struggled with pace throughout the weekend. The guys worked hard, giving the drivers a much better car for the race. Many thanks to all our sponsors, family, and friends who came to support us at our home race.”
“Thanks to a strong start and solid strategy, we managed to break into the top five at times today. Later on, I got held up in lapped traffic. Compared to yesterday, we took a step in the right direction with our Porsche’s setup. However, we still lack top speed on the straights. Hopefully, that will improve in the final two races, so duels with other competitors become more enjoyable again – that would be nice. “
Tijmen van der Helm, Driver, No. 85 JDC-Miller MotorSports Porsche 963
“Frustrating weekend. We didn’t have a lot for our competition. They didn’t need to fight us for position as they knew they could get the position a bit further down the road. The crew made the car better throughout the weekend, so that is good. I am looking forward to what we can do at Indy.
SAVAGE, Minn. (July 28, 2025) — It’s mid-summer, and the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship is two-thirds of the way through its 2025 season as the teams head to one of their absolute favorite tracks, Road America. For JDC-Miller MotorSports, it’s their home race, just a five-hour drive from their Minnesota headquarters. It’s the race where most of the team’s family, friends, partners, and especially fans get to see the team in action. It’s easy to love the beauty of the place, the uniqueness of the 4.048-mile, rolling circuit itself. And there is the speed. The days start with the famous brat and egg sandwich appropriately called an Egger, and end with a Spotted Cow ale.
Most of the JDC-Miller MotorSports team has a long history of racing at Road America. For Managing Partner John Church, his Road America experience started when he was 13, helping his father with his Formula Ford. John has rarely missed a year since then. Many team members share similar extensive experience at this iconic track. While the layout of the track hasn’t changed much since it was built in 1955, the facility has seen major upgrades. Some of us at JDC-Miller MotorSports feel a bit nostalgic for the charm of the old pagoda, the Billy Mitchell bridge, and having to trudge through the bushes to reach the far parts of the track. That feeling quickly fades when you drive through the tunnel into the infield, see all the modern buildings, and use the paved trails that extend to the farthest parts of the track.
Then there is the sheer performance of the team’s GTP-class Porsche 963 at Road America. From System Engineer Ryan Perera:
Max speeds – 310 kph (193 mph) into T1 and into Canada/T12
Apex speeds – 170 kph (103 mph) in T1, 90 kph (56 mph) in T5, 190 kph (118 mph) through the carousel with zero braking (just a lift-off throttle), and a 20% lift-off throttle through the kink at ~280 kph (174 mph)
Lateral g loads – 2.5g through T1/T5, the carousel sustains a neck-stretching 2.5g throughout, peaking at 2.8g. Out of the Carousel, the driver gets to take a quick breath before the 3.3g run through the kink. A space shuttle launch reaches about 3g, so don’t let anyone tell you GTP drivers aren’t athletes!
Energy mileage is a challenge at Road America – it’s the longest track and has the highest energy usage we’ll see all season. This makes it much harder to save enough energy to run an extra lap in a stint, but it also means there’s a bigger advantage if you can do it.
Every track is a unique engineering challenge. One fun aspect of Road America is the balance between less downforce/more top speed and more downforce to stabilize the car through the kink. The JDC-Miller MotorSports engineering team works very hard to give our drivers a car that they have confidence in everywhere around the track, but special emphasis has to be placed on the kink.
Last year, JDC-Miller MotorSports hosted St. Jude patient Colton, along with his mother and sister, at the Road America race. The team, IMSA, and Porsche welcomed them warmly, and the photos went viral. This year, they are returning to the race not just as representatives of St. Jude, but as new fans of the IMSA WeatherTech Championship.
Quotes:
John Miller, Partner, JDC-Miller MotorSports:
“Road America has always been our favorite track. Incredible racing layout in a beautiful setting. And my wife, Maggie, is from Manitowoc, Wisconsin – just up the road from Elkhart Lake. So we always have a lot of family joining us for the weekend. It is a very special event for us.”
Jessica Johnk, Professional Photographer, JDC-Miller MotorSports and Porsche:
“Going to Road America feels like a family reunion and a second home. The staff is always friendly and goes out of their way to take care of everyone on site. They maintain the facility to look its best, and the upgrades they add each season keep Road America at the top of the list for the best track in America.”
In motorsports, where aerodynamic efficiency and mechanical accuracy can mean the difference between a podium finish and a mid-pack result, precision isn’t a luxury — it’s a necessity. As Brian Winters, Product Manager at Hexagon Manufacturing Intelligence, writes, Minnesota-based JDC-Miller MotorSports understands this better than most.
Competing in the top-tier GTP class of the IMSA WeatherTech Sportscar Championship with the Porsche 963, JDC-Miller Motorsports is embracing advanced metrology to optimize vehicle performance.
The JDC-Miller MotorSports team includes the Porsche 963 GTP LMDh in the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship.
Founded in 1969, IMSA is the premier sportscar racing series in North America, hosting such iconic races as the Rolex 24 at Daytona and the 12 Hours of Sebring. Both are races that drivers around the world aspire to have on their resume. Manufacturers such as Porsche, BMW, Acura, and Cadillac are heavily involved. The GTP class features highly advanced hybrid drive systems as well as other cutting-edge technologies.
Through a new partnership with Hexagon’s Manufacturing Intelligence division, JDC-Miller is integrating high-precision measurement technology into its workflow to enhance consistency, compliance, and overall race-day efficiency.
Precision and Compliance: The Foundations of Performance
Racing in IMSA’s highly competitive, sometimes rough and tumble, GTP class means operating within strict regulatory tolerances — teams are allowed only a 3mm deviation from factory-body specifications. These tight margins leave little room for error, making precise measurement a critical component of pre-race preparation.
Before partnering with Hexagon, JDC-Miller relied on jigs and manual measurements, a process that was both time-consuming and prone to minor inaccuracies. The introduction of advanced metrology tools has significantly reduced the margin for error, ensuring compliance from the moment the car comes off the truck.
“Before, we were using jigs that we built ourselves — rudimentary measurements that got the job done but left room for error,” said John Church, Managing Partner at JDC-Miller MotorSports. “With Hexagon’s scanning technology, we’ve eliminated that uncertainty. We’re now able to establish a precise baseline for the car before we even get to the track, which means less troubleshooting and more focus on performance.”
JDC-Miller uses Hexagon’s MARVELSCAN to scan the car before and after each race weekend to see exactly what’s moved and what needs adjustment.
Unlocking Performance with Advanced Scanning
At the heart of the partnership is Hexagon’s cutting-edge 3D portable scanner, MARVELSCAN, which captures millions of data points in seconds, creating highly detailed digital models of the vehicle’s exterior and components. This allows engineers to quickly identify deviations from optimal specifications, enabling them to make necessary adjustments before the car takes to the track.
VIDEO: MarvelScan Tracker-Free and Marker-Free Portable 3D Laser Scanner
The scanner’s advanced features — such as edge detection, built-in photogrammetry, the ability to scan reflective surfaces, and scanning without targets — make it particularly well-suited to the complex geometries, large objects and lightweight composites used in motorsports.
“With all the different curves and surfaces on these cars, it’s nearly impossible to measure accurately using traditional methods,” Church said. “MARVELSCAN changes that. We can scan the car before and after each race weekend and see exactly what’s moved, what’s changed, and what needs adjustment. That level of detail helps us fine-tune everything — from body panel fitment to suspension alignment.”
Beyond compliance, metrology technology enables JDC-Miller to optimize aerodynamics and structural integrity. By catching even the smallest inconsistencies, the team can make data-driven adjustments that enhance overall performance. Whether it’s verifying the precision of newly installed components or ensuring a perfect fit between subassemblies, accurate measurement reduces repair time and improves reliability.
From Workshop to Trackside Advantage
JDC-Miller is now incorporating metrology into its standard workflow, scanning the cars before each race weekend and after any incidents to assess structural integrity. By comparing pre- and post-race scans, engineers can quickly determine whether components have shifted or sustained damage, allowing for faster repairs and more consistent performance. This proactive approach not only saves time during trackside inspections but also minimizes the risk of undetected misalignments that could hinder race results.
MARVELSCAN fits perfectly in the hand and is light enough to take anywhere to scan for hours.
“There’s never enough time at the track,” Church explained. “The last thing we want to do during a race weekend is double-check things we should have already validated at the shop. With metrology, we know exactly what we’re working with before we even roll the car off the truck.”
The benefits were on full display during the grueling Rolex 24 At Daytona.
Over 24 hours, JDC-Miller executed 32 pit stops, fueling the car and changing 21 sets of tires — each stop averaging under a minute. “We compete with all the other teams in the pits as well as on the track. The goal is to minimize the amount of time the car is stopped. At Daytona, we were among the very best at quick and efficient stops,” Church said. “That level of efficiency is a game-changer. Consistency in setup means fewer surprises, and fewer surprises mean more confidence in the car for the driver and the crew.”
Bridging Technology and Expertise
To ensure seamless adoption of this technology, JDC-Miller is working with Productivity Quality, Inc. (PQI), a regional metrology expert providing hands-on training and ongoing support. PQI’s expertise is helping the team master the scanning process and best practices in measurement analysis. Over time, JDC-Miller aims to take full ownership of the technology, using remote support from PQI as needed.
The handheld scanner allows you to reach into hidden areas to get the right inspection angle without line-of-sight restrictions.
“When we first started looking for a scanning partner, we knew we needed more than just the best equipment — we needed a team that could help us leverage the technology and integrate it into our workflow,” said Roger Johnson, Partner Relations at JDC-Miller MotorSports. “Hexagon and PQI have been great in that regard. The equipment is user-friendly, and with PQI’s guidance, we are quickly gaining proficiency. The team is already identifying new opportunities to find uses for the technology that go far beyond what was initially anticipated.”
This collaboration highlights the growing role of metrology in motorsports, where even the smallest deviations can impact performance. By incorporating precise measurements into their workflow, JDC-Miller is positioning itself for greater consistency, faster repairs, and more predictable performance outcomes.
Looking Ahead: Innovation Beyond Compliance
As the partnership evolves, JDC-Miller is exploring additional applications for metrology beyond regulatory compliance and damage assessment. This includes creating digital molds of body panels and subassemblies for rapid repairs, as well as using CAD-to-part comparisons to prevent rework during assembly. By leveraging accurate data throughout the vehicle lifecycle, the team aims to streamline maintenance processes and improve long-term reliability.
“We’ve barely scratched the surface of what this technology can do,” Church said. “We’re looking at scanning body panels to create digital molds for repairs, analyzing subassemblies before installation to prevent rework, and even using real-time data to refine our performance strategy. The possibilities are endless.”
