Michael Shank Racing Wins the 50th Rolex 24 Hours of Daytona!

 

After 24 hours… your winner is Michael Shank Racing’s #60 car in the Ford/Riley car driven by AJ Allmendinger, Justin Wilson, Oswaldo Negri, and John Pew.  On the GT side… Magnus Racing #44 took the victory.

Some of the storylines are:

The Big 3 Falter: Chip Ganassi Racing, SunTrust Racing and Bob Stallings Racing all had huge expectations going into this 50th Rolex 24. It started yesterday with SunTrust Racing having terminal engine problems after 30 minutes. The Bob Stallings team had gearbox and engine problems. Ganassi had lost 1st and 2nd gear. They finished sixth.

Starworks?: The Starworks team has had there ups and downs. They didn’t know their exact driver lineup in one car (2) until yesterday morning. The #8 car shocked the world and sat on the pole. Both cars ran great.

Michael Shank Racing:  Nobody expected the Columbus, Ohio team to contend. Everybody left them out even though they had a great lineup of drivers. They shocked everybody. In the other car (#6) Young Brazilian Felipe Nasr brought them a podium finish.

Marco Andretti: Marco didn’t know until Friday night that he would be driving in this race. Yesterday he tested his new DW12 in Palm Beach and got to Daytona at night. He ran most of the night. He was later hospitalized with dehydration. Heck of an effort for him considering he didn’t know the car or track.

RESULTS

24 Hours of Daytona Update: The Rise of Starworks

There are about three hours left in the #50thRolex24. Since I last left you about two hours ago, there has been a lot of action. The #8 Starworks car has gotten back on the lead lap.

Ganassi and Shank have been going back in forth for the lead.

Starworks #8 just put in Allan McNish replacing Ryan Dalziel.

On the GT side….

1. Brumos #59
2. Magnus #44
3. TRG #67

DP Running Order

1. MSR #60
2. Ganassi #01
3. Starworks #8

Update 24 Hours of Daytona: 5.5 Hours Left

With five and a half hours left it looks like its going to be a battle between the #60 Ford/Riley from Michael Shank Racing driven by Justin Wilson, AJ Allmendinger, Ozz Negri, and John Pew, and the Ganassi team #01 driven by Scott Pruett, Joey Hand, Graham Rahal, and Memo Rojas.

Starworks #8 has lead the most laps. Marco Andretti has done quite good considering he only got there yesterday, he’s running seventh.

Speed TV has it until the finish. Update in another 2.5 hours.

Who’s Your Winner

SunTrust Eliminated at the 50th Rolex 24

Reblogged from Racing Mania:

The pre-race favorite SunTrust Racing (Ricky Taylor, Max Angelleli, and Ryan Briscoe)  have blown an engine in the first 30 minutes.

Marco Andretti has arrived for Starworks. Mike Shank, Ganassi, Starworks and Bob Stallings have been battling for the overall lead.

More to come later.

2012 24 Hours of Daytona Preview

Tomorrow is the 50th Anniversary of the 24 Hours of Daytona.  I view this as a celebrity event because racers all over the world come to win this big prize.  Past winners include: Mario Andretti, AJ Foyt, and Dan Gurney to name a few. T.V. coverage is on Speed and Speed.com.

There are a total of 60 entries (14 Daytona Prototype and 46 Grand Touring).

ENTRY LIST

A quick note (Marco Andretti is expected to join the #2 Starworks Ford/Riley as a last minute addition). 

Predictions:

Front Runners: (DP)

SunTrust Racing #10: Wayne Taylor’s team is always strong at the 24 Hours of Daytona. They bring back the same lineup from last year. With the combination of that and their new Chevy Corvette DP chassis it could be a winning combo.

Ganassi Racing #01 and 02: Both Ganassi cars bring back the same lineups/cars/engines from last year.  I expect the 01 team (Scott Pruett, Memo Rojas, Graham Rahal, and Joey Hand) to be great once again since they have been the team to beat the last few years but they will have to it from the back of the pack this year because of an engine failure yesterday.

As for the 02 team, Montoya will be looking for a win after a dismal season last year in Sprint Cup, same story for Jaime McMurray.  As for the open-wheel side of the lineup. Both Scott Dixon and Dario Franchitti will want to open up strong after testing the IndyCars in Sebring over the winter.

Starworks Motorsport #2: With the confirmation of Marco Andretti, Michael Valiante, and Ryan Hunter-Reay as there so called “guest drivers” this could be a great team for the race. Expect them to contend all day long tomorrow.

Starworks Motorsport #8: After winning the pole yesterday in qualifying, the team will want to show on the big stage.  Expect Ryan Daizel to get in the car for the first 5 hours then they switch to Allan McNish and Lucas Luhr at night.

Bob Stallings Racing #99: This year Jon and Alex are back as their main drivers. No Jimmie Johnson or Jimmy Vasser, but Memo Gidley is the third driver this year.  This team has the new Chevy car also. They dominated ‘Roar Before the Rolex’.

Also expect the Action Express and Spirit of Daytona cars to be up there also.

On the GT side I see TRG, Dempsey, Mazda Speed Source and AF Waltrip as contenders.

Winner: DP: SunTrust Racing #10

Winner: GT: Dempsey Racing #40

Peugeot Sport Endurance Program 2007-2012

Two days ago it was announced that Peugeot Sport had halted the Endurance racing program. I for one was greatly disappointed. After watching them hushly run this came as a shock to me as well as others who follow endurance racing. It was reported in Auto123 that the test team was in Sebring awaiting testing for the up coming World Endurance Championship. A photo posted on Sebring Raceway’s twitter account showed the Peugeot “Garage” constructed and awaiting a test. The accompanying text summed up it up best, ” “Peugeot’s last stand” Abandoned Sebring paddock garage for testing this weekend. We will miss the Lion!” 

I too will miss the Lion. It’s amazing to me that between the 908 HDi FAP and the 908 that they won 24 times in 36 races in between 2007 -2011. But they only won the 24 hours of Lemans once. The Peugeot Sport team won four team championships, four constructors championships, and 3 drivers championships in that same time span. One can’t argue that they dominated the world of LeMans endurance racing.  The thing that I hope they are remembered for more than anything is the fierce rivalry that they had with Audi. Although most races the diesels would leave the petrol cars in their dust. I still admire stories like last years Lemans race were Simon Pagenaud in the 908 ran down Andre Lotterer’s R18 in the final minutes of the race. The 908 fell short and finished 13 seconds behind the R18. After 24 hours only 13 seconds!

 

sigh this is the last time I got to see them race.

The battles between Audi and Peugeot will go down into motorsport and sporting history with the greatest of rivalries. Camaro vs. Mustang, Larry Byrd vs. Magic Johnson, Texas vs. OU, Star Wars vs. Star Trek, and Ferrari vs EVERYBODY. I would like to see a racing  rivalry start up at Lemans between Honda and Toyota, but time will tell how that will play out. The Pug vs Audi had everything, running a pace so quick that the rivals car broke down, blocking, partying with the rival team after they won Lemans, getting Audi banned from racing at Sebring because they had a clear aerodynamic advantage. I’m a huge Audi fan, and I deeply hated Peugeot because of it. But as Jason Statham put it in “Truth in 24″ (epic documentry if you havent seen it yet it’s a must), Peugeot was a talented up start in the 2008 24 hours of Lemans. but as there record suggests they were very very talented. I hope Peugeot decides to come back and challenge those, who now have to try, and reach the bar that they and Audi have set.

As John Dagys said on his twitter account, this maybe the first of many teams to close up shop in the WEC. I hope it isn’t true, but anything can happen.  Just like with Indycar good things are coming for endurance racing. A rise in car count in the ALMS, ELMS, and the WEC point to that. I do wonder though, if Peugeot may come back. 2014 is going to be a big year. Porsche returns to the top-tier class, its been reported that Toyota should have a newer design. Honda Performance Development has some very quick cars in the ARX chassis. Plus the other chassis teams like Oreca, Oak-Prescarlo, Lola, and Zytek, should provide excitement in all the series’. Just wish that a screaming Aston Martin would make a return.

Ohhh how I wish I could go back in the day and see these factory monsters again.

A big questions that are boggling my mind is, will Audi keep going? When will they return to the ALMS? Will the Audi teams become the Porsche team? Will Porsche call up an old friend in Mooresville, NC to run a team again? I mean who wouldn’t want to see some Penske Racing prepared Porsches? Would’ve been nice to see some Audi’s prepared by Penske Racing, but I could settle for Porsche.

Rebellion Racing announced this morning that they would return to the WEC with two Lola-Toyotas. Drivers Neel Jani, Nicolas Prost, and Andrea Belicchi return. A new addition to Rebellion is former Aston Martin driver, Harold Primat. With the announcements that brings the total to 4 teams entering the LMP1 class in the WEC.

I hope to have a break down of the whole WEC entries soon on here and on Racing Mania 101.

Geez Is It Racing Season Already?

Do you hear that? Yes off in the distance….the rumble of a idling V8. the shrill cry of the Rotary at full song on the high banks at Daytona. The sound of Darrell Waltrip describing what driving in a pack is like. The unmistakable noise of a V6 Turbo tearing around Sebring. Yes kids it’s once again race season.

After what seemed like a short few weeks, has brought back all the fimilar sounds that gives us racing fans goosebumps well except for Waltrip. Dakar is in the books as well as the 24 hours of Dubai. Were yours truly’s favorite automaker Mercedes-Benz finished 1-2-3 in thier ever so wonderful SLS AMG. I would love to see that car in either Sports car series (Grand-Am/ALMS). But until then I’ll enjoy what we have, ya know instead of bitching about it.

In just over a week the racing season will kick off in the friendly confines of the Daytona International Speedway, with the 50th 24hrs of Daytona. Even though it’s not my prefered Sports Car series. It’s still a 24 hour race against the clock, and grueling test of man and machinery. So I watch it. I would like more of difference in the top class Daytona Prototypes, but I understand the reasoning. I am interested to see if the Corvette DP’s can keep the speed they had going at the Roar before the 24 test session. With Team Corvette factory drivers Oliver Gavin, Richard Westbrook, and Jan Magnussen at the helm it should be fun to watch. In another Corvette DP entry Ryan Briscoe (Team Penske) teams up with the always quick Ricky Taylor and Max Angelli in the Suntrust/Wayne Taylor Racing entry. The car I will for sure have my eye on is the Starworks Motorsports Riley-Ford. Allan Mcnish (Audi Sport Team Joest/North America) joins Ryan Dalziel, Enzo Potoliccho, Lucas Luhr (Muscle Milk-HPD) and Alex Popow. Personally I’m a huge Allan McNish fan, as my wife found out when I got giddy as school girl at Sebring, when he was just on the other side of the Pit fence from us.

In the GT class ALMS teams Flying Lizard and Extreme Motorsports enter into a highly competitive class of racers. Although they may find some familar faces around the paddock like Tommy Milner (Team Corvette), Dirk Mueller (RLL BMW), Bill Auberlin (RLL BMW) and others. Flying Lizard brings Jorg Bergmeister, Patrick Long, Seth Neiman, and 2009 24 hour of Daytona and Lemans winner Mike Rockenfeller, to do battle with Grand-Am regulars Stevenson Motorsports, Dempsey Racing, and Brumos Porsche. I expect the racing to be extremely close. Should be tons of fun with the addition of the Ferrari 458GT and the mighty Audi R8 LMS. I actually can’t wait to watch. 

ALMS’s season starts in March at the 60th running of the Mobil 1 12hours of Sebring fueled by fresh from Florida. With so many late announcements coming, and the uncertainty of even one of the top factory teams. I cant do a very good preview. So when the race gets closer or even after the Winter Test I should have some better answers.

Indycar starts testing the DW12 today with diffrent teams and should give us a better idea of what the new season may hold. Im excited for the upcoming season in Indycar and no I don’t drink the Kool-Aid and I’m not a paid PR guy as someone might suggest. One thing is for sure the hiring of Beaux Barfield away from ALMS was a smart move. It was extremely nice to see the ALMS and other sports cars guys congratulating him on his new job. The way I see it, if he can handle 4-5 classes of cars at say Lime Rock. Indycar racing should be a breeze for him. As with ALMS several late announcments have produced some of the most surprises in Indycar. Like Jay Penske’s move to get Sebastian Bourdais and W.o.P. member Katherene Legge into a Lotus powered DW12. Just an incredible secret secret move. Now only if Paul Tracy’s cryptic tweets would add up to something.  

Nascar’s Daytona Test session this past weekend showed us TWO things fans have wanted. 1. Pack Racing: woohoo the show is back. I for one liked the always dramatic two car tandem and the accompyning jokes for Nascarasm on twitter. But if Nascar wants to win back fans this is the start. 2. Speeds above 200 mph: When the EFI system was released it was thought that the cars still wouldn’t go 200mph, fans got discouraged yadda yadda yadda. Well after some tweaking, and I don’t mean by some always itching jumpy in a wal-mart checkout line methbilly, the cars hit 201 in a pack on the final day of testing. Speeds the day before were 206 in a two car tandem and 205 in the pack. But what does this mean in connection to the  Indycar fans?  Yes the DW12 has some issues but guess what IT WILL GET BETTER!

So there you have it folks a quick synopsis for the upcoming season in some of the racing series’. Be sure to check out the podcasts whenever they get posted on 4 guys opinons on racing. Until then thanks for reading!

Cole Whitt To JRM: Let the Battle of the Newbies Begin!

Former USAC driver Cole Whitt has a ride.  He’s been picked up by Dale Junior Motorsports (Hendrick’s team in Nationwide) to run the full season in the 88.  He replaces Aric Almirola who’s heading off to RPM’s 43 in the Sprint Cup Series.  Cole Whitt leaves the Red Bull fold and now is part of NASCAR’s most powerful team.  Here’s the funny thing; Whitt’s teammate is Danica Patrick.  Danica is not technically a rookie as she’s ran enough races in the last two seasons to lose that designation.  That said she’s not especially experinced and hasn’t seen a lot of success so far in NASCAR.  The decision to hire Cole Whitt is especially interesting as instead of hiring a teammate Danica can rely on for help with setup JRM has decided to hire a driver who’s success or failure can be measured directly against Danica.

Danica’s 2011 Nationwide season was forgettable.  To be fair no JRM car won a race.  If the plan is to get her in a Cup car as soon as possible she needs to win a race or two like Bayne and Stenhouse.  While Go-Daddy will likely push for her to get a ride either way for anyone to have any confidence in her then she has to win a non plate and non fuel race.   Because if a driver cannot beat Edwards and Busch in a Nationwide race it’s hard to have faith that they’ll be able to beat Edwards, Harvick, Gordon, Stewart, Johnson, Busch, Hamlin, and more during a Cup race.

Red Bull Will Be missed

As for Cole Whitt 2011 was also mixed.  At one point he led the Camping World Truck Series points but by the end of the year he had faded to 9th in points.  Considering only 20 drivers ran or attempted to run the full season that’s not a great finish.  Of course Turn One Motorsports wasn’t a top team either. Whitt also ran a a few Nationwide races and a couple Sprint Cup races.  Whitt seems like a good driver and it makes sense to get him in the Hendrick fold since many of their drivers are older (mid 30′s or above) and will eventually retire.  His main competitor for the ride appears to have been David Ragan.  Considering Ragan did nothing with a Roush ride for five seasons it’s hard to see him having done much with the JRM ride.  At least with Whitt they’re developing a young star.

However it still suprises me that JRM would put a rookie with Danica.  It gives everyone a benchmark to measure Danica against.  You could argue Danica has more experience than Whitt! If one driver does well while the other struggles it will make the struggling driver, whether Danica or Whitt, look pretty bad.   As well if they struggle to setup a car who does the team turn to?  They can go and hope that another Hendrick driver will help them out but none of the current Hendrick drivers race regularly in Nationwide either.

2012 Nationwide Champion?

The question remains how good is JRM equipment.  It should be top tier.  JRM is the Hendrick Nationwide program.  With a variety of sponsors they’re fairly well funded.  Despite not winning a race this year they are still one of the better teams in the series. Danica and Whitt will be given every opportunity to succeed.  It’s up to them to seize the opportunity.  With the Nationwide series looking pretty weak especially in terms of full time Nationwide regulars Danica and Whitt should be in the top 5 in points.  Who knows… either one could end up hoisting the trophy at the end of the year.  After all their main competition will be Austin Dillon and Sam Hornish Jr.  If Bayne or Stenhouse show up then they would likely be the front runner.  I know there are other drivers including Justin Allgier who may do well but can Allgier’s team really compete over a full season against Hendrick, Childress, and Penske?  As long as Stenhouse doesn’t show up I would expect Austin Dillon to be the front runner for the title.  If Dillon struggles some then Danica or Whitt might be able to profit off of it.  Between the two my gut says Whitt will slightly out preform Danica.  I wouldn’t go out on a limb and say that’s for sure.  If Danica is going to make the move to NASCAR work then she’ll need to stay equal or out preform Whitt.  By the end of the season we should have an answer one way or another.

Beaux Barfield Hired By Indycar: Repairing A Broken Race Control

Indycar has many problems.  Lack of marketable drivers, no ovals, no exciting races, and an under-preforming 2012 car.  Another major issue Indycar has is one of the worst race officiating in modern racing.   Thankfully one of those issues looks like it’ll be resolved.  Beaux Barfield, former director of the American Le Mans Series Race Control (since end of 08), will join Indycar and replace Brian Barhardt in Indycar Race Control.  Barfield was a driver in Indy Lights and worked in Race Control for Champcar and Atlantics.  There are many questions and issues Barfield has to work out before we reach St. Pete.  Barfield by far seems to be the most qualified person for the job having ran ALMS race control.  His experience in Champcar and Atlantic’s means he’s also been around ovals.  Overall I’m not an optimistic person when it comes to Indycar.  We’ve been burned too many times by false hope.  That said I can’t help but feel hopeful that Barfield will be able to repair the damage that has been done to Indycar’s race control.

After ALMS, Indycar shouldn't be too hard

The American Le Mans Series features 2-6 classes on track depending on year and race.  Sebring and Petit recently featured LMP1, LMP2, LMPC, GTE, GTAM, and GTC.  All at once.  There are huge differences in speed and talent between classes.  LMP1 teams like Audi and Pegeout and GTE teams like Corvette, BMW, and Ferrari operate just like any other professional team (NASCAR, Indycar, F1).  On the other hand many of the cars in the other classes are effectively being run by amateurs as a fun and relatively cheap way to go racing.  A timing and scoring issue alone could be disastrous in this situation.  Issues with starts, restarts, rain, or  a truck out on the race track would be even worse.  As far as I know Barfield has managed that series remarkably well.  None of the sports car fans I know are unhappy with him or have much negative to say about him.  I’ve never seen twitter blow up with angry sports car fans due to Barfield.  I’ve never heard Mid Week Motorsport blast him.  If you can handle the 12 hours of Sebring you probably can officiating the Indy 500.

Of course it’s not all Barfield.  It’s also the people he puts in place.  That’s kind of the point.  Loudon’s rain restart was due to poor communication.  One of the hallmarks of the ALMS is communication between the various members of Race Control as well as the teams.  The fact Barfield has built up a strong team in Race Control once should bode well for Indycar.  As long as he’s able to make the decisions needed.  I tend to think Bernard will give him that power and support.

Barfield does have some oval experience, both as an official and driver

The lack of oval experience shouldn’t be too much of an issue; because he does have some oval experience with Champcar and Atlantic’s.  As anyone who follows him on twitter knows he also watches NASCAR and Indycar races.  He understands what oval racing is.  Also he adapted from open wheel to sports car.  I’m guessing he can adapt from sports car to open wheel oval racing.  It is unfortunate that he will have to go into Indy without having officiating a current Indycar oval race.  It’s unfortunate there’s no pre Indy oval for many reasons, not the least that the 2012 car, new teams, new drivers, and new Race Control director’s first oval race will be the biggest one of the year.  Out of all of those issues I think Race Control is the one that concerns me the least (the car is the worst, then drivers).

In interviews and during the press conference Barfield has shown himself to have a good view of what Race Control needs to do.  During the press release he did mention that it is impossible to have black and white rules written down.  Some discretion will remain.  However the point is to have consistent and fair penalties and he seems to understand that.

Just don't let Indycar officiating turn into F1

That’s not to say there are no area’s where I have reservations.  Barfield is against the current blocking/defending rule.  Overall that’s a good thing.  I’m no fan of the current rule.  In fact at one point I said the current rule would make the Corkscrew at Laguna Seca and Kink at Road America impossible to race.  However my concern is if Indycar were to become very strict on contact while at the same time very loose on blocking it would end up F1 like.  If you can block then passing’s harder and if contact’s not allowed then drivers will be too afraid to make aggressive moves.  That’s going to create processional racing.  Especially at the very narrow and passing challenged road and street courses Indycar runs at.  From what I’ve seen in ALMS and what Barfield has said in his press conference he is going to try and find the middle ground.  I believe he will do that, but, if there’s one thing that concern’s me then this is it.  Should Race Control’s decisions make the racing even more processional then we might be asking for Barnhardt back.

Savoir of Indycar

There is every reason to believe in Barfield.  I understand the concern that it’s another Champcar employee  trying to turn Indycar back into Champcar.  Barfield may have worked in Champcar but his most recent job (and most important) has been with the American Le Mans Series.  ALMS race control seems to work well.  If anyone’s going to fix Indycar Race Control then Barfield is the guy.  He only has a one year contract, but I would expect so long as he does a good job that he’ll get many more.  Overall there’s a lot to be concerned about next year for Indycar fans.  The racing may be hard to watch.  I feel pretty confident in saying that Race Control disasters won’t be one of the issues that Indycar will have to deal with next year.