Daytona 24

[bryanearll]

So who are we rooting for in the Daytona24?

I've been watching a bit of Speed Channel lately (and all of the hype for the NASCAR Daytona), and I think it would be a bit more fun to watch/read about the race rooting for someone. I'll root for Porsche if nothing else.

I think the endurance races are my favorite kind of race. Must have been watching Steve McQueen in LeMans at the drive in Pacific Beach once or twice

The GT class seems dominated by Porsche with the odd exception. That said, it looks the teams from California are based out of NoCal. Money? Time? Talent? Venue?

How much faster is the DP Class than GT? Why do you think that the organizers decided to have a "Daytona" class at all; to attempt to create something akin to IRL or F1, a corporate branding?

See you this weekend, if it looks like rain the Kumho's are definetely going on the car... More laps in the rain, right? If management calls a rainout what happens to entry fees?
bryan

[MikeD]

Personally, I'm a TRG (The Racer's Group) fan. So, while I'm not a big Pontiac buff I will be rooting for the TRG DP and of course their Porsche GT cars. I'm not sure after that as I haven't really looked at the entry list in detail.

[MikeD]

Hmmm.. I almost forgot about Brumos. Being a Porsche fan before I was a TRG fan, I'd be rooting for Brumos over TRG if it came to that.

[ttweed]

That said, it looks the teams from California are based out of NoCal. Money? Time? Talent? Venue?

I would guess the "dot.com-boom" gazillionaires from Silicon Valley have something to do with it.

How much faster is the DP Class than GT? Why do you think that the organizers decided to have a "Daytona" class at all;

When it first started, the Daytona coupes were slower than the GT cars. It was pretty embarrassing to see some big block GT Mustang pull them on the banking. Now the class is growing, they are being further developed and less restricted, and the GT class is being toned down so they can win. The reason for the class was originally cost containment and closer competiton, two ideas that the France family found very successful in NASCAR. The previous prototypes were very expensive and only factory efforts could afford successful teams.

If management calls a rainout what happens to entry fees?

It depends on whether we start the event or not. If it is called off prior to starting, we don't have to pay the Q and can return entry fees. If we send a car out, we might as well practice, if the rain is not too severe, as we will be obligated to pay for the venue. At least this has been my past experience (not trying to speak for the Autox chairs.)

TT

[David J Marguglio]

Here are some local boys to watch.

Tim Weiner of Mind Over Motorsports is the lead engineer on the G&W team for Blake Rosser's (of Del Mar) 997. Also noteworthy: this will be one of the first races for the 997. They will start three 997's and in testing at Daytona a few weeks ago they were very quick.

[MikeD]

I didn't know Blake was back to running Rolex. I thought he was still in a Nissan for the Cup races. In that case, I sure will be keeping my eye on them.

[Kenyon Blower]

I'll have to look for Tim at the races. I will be the tape producer at most of the Grand AM races (not the Daytona 24 race though) for Speed Channel. I always root for the Brumos guys. The Ganassi team was tough last year. The Brumos guys had a lot of bad luck last year.

There is also Cort Wagner, a POC guy. He went from the Washington Ferrari team (where he was kicking "our" butts) to a new DP team. He had a terrible wreck at VIR last year when another DP car pulled onto the track just past a blind corner. The car Cort was behind swerved to miss the car that came onto the track but Cort was unable to see him until it was too late. He rear ended the idiot at speed but was not hurt seriously.

One last thing, PLEASE PLEASE do not let the BMW teams win this year. The show producer drives a BMW and is impossible to live with when a BMW beats a Porsche

Kenyon

Here are some local boys to watch.

Tim Weiner of Mind Over Motorsports is the lead engineer on the G&W team for Blake Rosser's (of Del Mar) 997. Also noteworthy: this will be one of the first races for the 997. They will start three 997's and in testing at Daytona a few weeks ago they were very quick.

[MVZ944T]

A little more info on the Grand Am Rolex series. I read somewhere that the big guns behind this series is none other than NASCAR. Supposed to be 30+ DP cars this year (hopefully the Porsches can pony up some more HP so they can put the whip to Chip Gannasie's team Lexus and the Pontiacs (Pontiacs, Chevy's, NASCAR, get it). And I think I heard there will only be 2 classes this year, not 3. I don't know how that will work.