24 Hours of Daytona live starting at 9AM

[Tim Comeau]

Can't find a final qual list, but 6 or so POC drivers are in there.
Car # 06 Bernheim, Dement, K. Roush, Anders Hainer,
and car # 80 with Blake Rosser.
Good luck guys.
Wish I was there.............

[kary]

Tivo is all set to cover the action!!!!

[Tim Comeau]

Hey Kary,
Looks like the DP drivers are being a little bit more respectful of the sports cars this time around...
Can't wait for Fontana.

[kary]

Yes they are, but what is up with TRG running a Pontiac engine????

[Pete Millikin]

Just saw Hurley Haywood interviewed on Speed. He indicated that they are going to get development support from Porsche & Norbert Singer on their DP car. Even though Singer is now retired from Porsche, he is clearly a guy who can make it happen.

Since it looks like the DP class has good momentum, it would be great for Porsche to conquer this world. GT racing with nearly all Porsche pretty boring unless you have a favorite team.

[Tim Comeau]

Agreed. My favorite Porsche team is the one with "Wolfie." Wolf Henzler kicked everyones butt in the two races he entered here in the US last year, with a lesser car. I can see the guy can drive. Fun to watch. A new Porsche hero.

But my newest driving hero is Jan Lammers. He spun the car in the infield portion of the track. That's not unusual.
What was unusual is that he didn't fold up like a wuss man. He didn't just close his eyes, lock up the brakes, stall the car out and wait for it to come to a stop. NO!
No, my friends..........he kept driving the car like a manly-man!
He must have pushed the clutch pedal in because he kept the car running, he spun all the way around, corrected the last part of the spin, and hammer down....he kept on driving. Total time loss approximately 4 seconds. He probably stayed in the same gear.
Now that takes skill as well as presence of mind.
This reinforces a lesson learned in the past.
"Just because you're spinning, it doesn't mean you're done driving."
"Never stop driving the car until it has come to a stop."
You just might be able to continue on like this guy did.
You might be able to steer and keep the car from hitting a wall, if the brakes aren't locked up!
You might be able to steer and roll off the track backwards to keep from getting run into by oncoming traffic.
It seems like there's always something new to learn while watching this most prestigious of American races. And I'm a front row (couch) student every year, with eyes and ears wide open.
GO PORSCHE!

[MikeD]

...
"Just because you're spinning, it doesn't mean you're done driving."
"Never stop driving the car until it has come to a stop."
You just might be able to continue on like this guy did.
You might be able to steer and keep the car from hitting a wall, if the brakes aren't locked up!
You might be able to steer and roll off the track backwards to keep from getting run into by oncoming traffic.
...

There has been much debate on this topic in different racing communities. The best conclusion I have been able to decipher is this.

When in traffic, or traffic is close behind you must be predictable for the other drivers. And they are expecting your heading to remain constant. Trying to "save" it in this case will likely cause more problems than it is solving.

However, if you are all alone, sure keep trying to save it until the effort becomes futile. But this requires that you are completely aware of who is around you. When in doubt "both feet in and stop the car!"

[Tim Comeau]

Agreed on part of trying to be predictable. There is a distinct skill in learning to "read" a car spinning in front of you (I have perfect race video of this). As the race driver who is spinning, you can't be thinking about that. You're too busy looking out the windshield, then as the car comes around 180, you're looking at the rear view mirror, then out the windshield again, trying to regain control of the car.
"Both feet in ?" I have never agreed with that teaching. It might be safer for new drivers. I don't talk about it unless asked at the perf driving school. The brakes do you absolutely no good when the car is side ways. If you're rolling frontwards or backwards, then ride the brakes down. Don't lock them up. All you're going to do is flat spot your tires.

I can't count the number of times I've had massive spins and drivers have come over to me afterwards and said, "Well, you ruined that set of 4 tires, huh?"
"Nope.......didn't lock up the brakes. Tires are fine. Look for yourself."
BTW, When are we going to have that racing school we were talking about?