Grand-American Series

HUNTERSVILLE, N.C. (January 23, 2012) – Raceworks is set to compete in the GRAND-AM 200 at Daytona International Speedway for the Continental Tire Sports Car Challenge Series.  Drivers Brad Wood and Alex Kirby will pilot the No. 29 Honda Civic Si in the 2012 season opener.

Wood, the 2010 South East division champion and 12-time race winner in the NASA Honda Challenge Series, will be making his first career start in the Continental Tire Series. Wood said, “I am very excited about my first race in the GRAND-AM Continental Tire Series. The field is full of world-class drivers and the competition is sure to be strong. The Daytona road course is fast, challenging, and sure to provide intense on-track excitement.”

Kirby, a veteran of the GRAND-AM Sports Car Series, will be making his first start with Team Raceworks this weekend at Daytona. He said, “Being able to get behind the wheel for a first-class organization like Raceworks is a dream come true.  The team has put together a fast car, and when you can go into a race knowing you have solid equipment, it gives you the confidence you need to run that much better.”

This will be the team’s first start at the “World Center of Racing”.

The Continental Tire Sports Car Challenge Series GRAND-AM 200 can be seen on Saturday, February 4 at NOON EST on SPEED.

About Team Raceworks

Team Raceworks is a professional GRAND-AM Continental Tire Sports Car Challenge team, which is owned and operated by Matt and Mary Beth Chambers. Matt functions as the Team Manager and has over 18 years of experience working in the racing industry. He has served as a crew chief in all three of NASCAR’s top-tier series – Sprint Cup, Nationwide and Camping World Truck Series. At age 25, he held the record for the youngest NASCAR crew chief with a win to his name. Currently, he is a Test Team Manager for a Sprint Cup team. From his tenure in NASCAR he has learned how to develop a competitive car and effectively manage race team operations.

Raceworks President, Mary Beth Chambers is a 15-year veteran of sports marketing and promotion. She has worked as the Marketing Director for an LPGA golf tournament, sold and implemented sponsorships for the Detroit Pistons and Palace Sports & Entertainment, has served as the Director of Sponsorship Sales and later VP of Ticket Sales & Marketing for the Charlotte Checkers hockey team. Most recently, she worked as the Marketing Director for the United States Olympic Canoe/Kayak team. She understands the importance of business relationships and the importance of measuring the value of corporate partnerships.

For updates and details about Team Raceworks, please visit www.Facebook.com/teamraceworksnc, or @TeamRaceWorks on Twitter.

Max Angelelli, driver of the No. 10 SunTrust Ford Dallara of Wayne Taylor Racing, has joined the throngs of people grounded by Eyjafjallajokull, the infamous Iceland volcano spewing ash that has affected all European air travel.

While many travelers were trying to get to family events or work meetings, Angelelli was just trying to get across the pond to his next race. Angelelli is set to race in the GRAND-AM Rolex Sports Car Series this weekend at Virginia International Raceway.

For five days and nights, Angelelli worked the phones and his laptop, trying to get from his home in Italy to the States. He had some initial success, leaving from his home in Bologna bound for Munich, Germany.

Angelelli made that first leg of the journey, but was stranded yet again by a secondary wave of ash and debris that threatened the next part of his trip, from Germany to Chicago.

The racing gods were with Angelelli, and his flight left this afternoon on its way to the U.S., much to the relief of his SunTrust Racing teammates, sponsors, and fans.

"It has been stressful," Angelelli said. "I think I can officially say that I know everything there is to know about being a travel agent. I was working on my flights and watching the weather for five days, 24 hours a day."

"I can tell you that I personally know every Lufthansa customer service agent by name," Angelelli continued. "By Wednesday, I was pretty confident I could get from Italy to Germany."

"I believed if I could get to Germany, 80 percent of the deal was done," Angelelli said.  "Thankfully it worked out. Now I can get back to thinking about the race on Saturday."

Of all the tracks on the Rolex Series schedule, Virginia International Raceway in Alton was the one track that Angelelli wanted to get to most. Angelelli and his teammate Ricky Taylor have put their SunTrust car in victory lane twice before at that track.

"I'm really excited," Taylor said. "Out of all the tracks we go to, except for Daytona, I've driven more laps at VIR than any other track. I feel comfortable there."

"The SunTrust car has been working very well lately," Taylor continued. "If we can just rid ourselves of those unlucky things that have been happening to us, I know we can piece together a bunch of winning weekends."

Their race car is so good that Angelelli and Taylor have started the car on the pole twice. The team has also led a total of 102 laps around the 3.27 mile, 17-turn circuit over the last six seasons.

With Angelelli battling the volcano just to get to the race, Taylor, who is a 20-year-old mechanical engineering major at the University of Central Florida, seemed just as anxious to get back behind the wheel of the car for the Bosch Engineering 250.

Taylor qualified on the pole two weekends ago at Barber Motorsports Park in Birmingham, Alabama. He dominated the first 15 laps of the race, but late race contact with another racer resulted in damage that put the No. 10 out of the race with just 28 laps to go.

Taylor and Angelelli finished the race in the 12th position, dropping the team from fifth to seventh in the points standings. The team is now 33 points behind leaders Scott Pruett and Memo Rojas, driving for Chip Ganassi with Felix Sabates Racing.

"This championship is so tight," Angelelli said. "Every weekend, it's like starting from zero.

"We will keep pushing and try to turn things right-side up because we are a little upside-down in the championship right now," Angelelli said. "But we have time to change that, and the team to do it."

We just need to hit our stride," Angelelli said. "I hope we can start this weekend."

Although Angelelli and Taylor have their work cut out for them with the upcoming race, Angelelli at least has conquered the worst of the challenges. He made it to the race track.

"I don't think I've ever felt more thankful to reach a racetrack," Angelelli said.

Josh Hurley and Ian Baas led 76 of the 83 laps to win the Grand-Am KONI Sports Car Challenge Legacy Credit Union 200 at Barber Motorsports Park.

It was the first career victory for both drivers of the No. 171 APR Motorsport Volkswagen GTI. It was also a home-course victory for APR Motorsport, based in nearby Auburn, Ala.
 
After leading the opening 36 laps Baas was passed by the No. 111 Subaru of America Subaru Legacy of Andrew Aquilante on the front straightaway. Baas quickly regained the lead on the next lap, and paced another lap before pitting and handing over the driving duties to Hurley.

“The Gunther VW APR crew performed an awesome stop. Said Hurley.  By the time my out lap was finished, we had pull 15 seconds out on the Subaru on the pit stop along.”

Hurley's only challenge in the closing half of the race came when the third and final full-course caution waved with 38 minutes remaining, erasing a 12.8 second lead. On the restart, Hurley motored away from Kristian Skavnes, who took over for Aquilante, finishing with an averaged speed of 75.473 mph

“With a half hour to go, a lap BMW spun in front of me and became buried in the gravel. This brought out the full course yellow and negated our 14 second lead. This was doubly worrying as the Subaru has all wheel and is effective with worn tires. Behind him was a Miata that due to low weight is also good on tires. On the restart I was able to pull out a slight gap and fend off the Subaru who then fell back further into a battle with the Miata. This allowed me to open up a four second gap and bring home my first victory of the season and the third for our team. I'm really proud of the Gunther Volkswagen APR Motorsport crew.”
 
Andrew Carbonell, who took over for 15th-place starter Rhett O'Doski in the No. 146 Freedom Autosport/Mazda Mazda MX-5, passed Skavnes following the restart and finished second, 4.118 seconds behind Hurley.
 
Skavnes finished third, followed by Owen Trinkler and Jade Buford in the No. 196 Cruise America/Four Winds Mini Cooper S, Bryan Ortiz and Wilden, and Sarah Cattaneo and Mark White in the No. 147 Freedom Autosport/Mazda Mazda MX-5.

Photo: Grand-Am

Quote: Josh Hurley.

Max Angelelli held off a last-lap charge from Alex Gurney to win the Brumos Porsche 250 at Daytona International Speedway, round seven of the 2009 Grand-Am Rolex Sports Car Series.  Angelelli, who also won this event in 2004, won by .270 seconds - the fifth-closest finish in the history of the series.
Together with co-driver, Brian Frisselle, in the No. 10 SunTrust Ford Dallara. Angelelli led the final 33 of the 70 laps to give his team its first victory of the year, and allowed the two drivers to close to within one point of point leaders Scott Pruett and Memo Rojas (199-198). Gurney and his Gainsco/Bob Stallings Racing co-driver, Jon Fogarty are another two points back with 196.

"It was a very fair game," Angelelli said after scoring his 13th career Daytona Prototype victory, second all-time. "It was a good, tough battle. It was really difficult today. Thanks to SunTrust Racing for the good car they gave me. I went out for my stint in the lead, which was really important."

The event, traditionally held in the evening, was moved to 2 p.m. to set up a holiday doubleheader that also included the Coke Zero 400 for the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series.

The No. 45 Orbit Racing BMW Riley took third with Ryan Dalziel and Bill Lester, who scored his first podium finish in Rolex Series competition.
"Our car was good from the moment we unloaded it," Lester said. "We feel like we can be much more formidable, a force to be reckoned with. We're really excited about what the future holds."

Coming from 17th to finish fourth The No. 6 Michael Shank Racing Ford Riley almost missed the race after John Pew crashed late in morning practice, causing major damage to the front end of the car co-driven by Michael Valiante. The team repaired the car with moments to spare before the start...

The No. 61 AIM Autosport Ford Riley of Burt Frisselle and Mark Wilkins, which started last on the 19-car grid after a post-qualifying infraction worked it’s way up the field to round up the top five

The two cautions helped to an average speed of 114.918 mph, the third-fastest race in Rolex Series history.

NASCAR Sprint Cup Series drivers Kyle Busch and Scott Speed finished 10th in their Rolex Series debut in the No. 02 Waste Management Lexus Riley fielded by Chip Ganassi Racing with Felix Sabates.

Keen, Werner Win Third Straight, Increase GT Point Lead

The No. 87 Farnbacher Loles Racing Porsche GT3, with drivers Dirk Werner and Leh Keen, led the final 29 laps to claim its  third consecutive victory and fourth in five races, opening a 29-point lead (221-192) in the battle for the Acxiom GT championship.

"For our success, the key is that Leh Keen keeps our car in the front in the beginning of the race," said Werner, the 2007 GT champion. "In the beginning of my run, Sylvan was not putting pressure on me. He was trying to stay close. I knew he would try to attack me at the end of the race - which he did."

Sylvain Tremblay in the No. 70 Castrol Syntec Mazda RX-8 started by Nick Ham finished 1.531 seconds behind, denying the its third consecutive victory in the event.
Andy Lally and Justin Marks finished third in the No. 67 Construct Corp./No Fear Energy Drinks Porsche GT3. Emil Assentato and Jeff Segal took fourth in the No. 69 FXDD Mazda RX-8.  Eric Lux and Wolf Henzler, the winner’s teammates finished fifthe in the No. 86 Farnbacher Loles Racing Porsche GT3.

Round 8 for the Grand-Am Rolex Series will be the Porsche 250 presented by Legacy Credit Union July 19 at Barber Motorsports Park in Birmingham, Ala. The weekend will also include a pair of KONI Sports Car Challenge races.

Photos & Quotes: Grand-Am

July at Daytona is a time when real NASCAR fans can't wait wait for—neither can Kyle Busch or Scott Speed, who, surprisingly enough, will be teammates when the Grand-Am Rolex Series goes to Daytona.

Most people are wondering how Toyota would allow this to happen? Tada...Lexus is made by Toyota.

Busch and Speed will pilot the No. 02 Lexus Riley for Chip Ganassi Racing.

This will be both drivers' debut in the Grand-Am Series and the first time driving for team owner Gannassi.

We usually see NASCAR regulars attempt the 24 Hours of Daytona in Feb., but rarely see them enter in the July race.

Waste Management has came along to sponsor Speed and Busch. They will be teammates to the No. 01 Lexus Riley piloted by defending Rolex Series Daytona Prototype champions Scott Pruett and Memo Rojas—they are also the defending winners of the July Daytona race.

Busch won his first road course race in the Sprint Cup last season at Infineon Raceway in Sonoma, Cal, and Speed is a former Formula One standout. Ganassi Racing is a two-time Grand-Am Series Championship winning team.

It should be interesting to see how these two guys do racing in the prototypes.

I believe if Busch won the race, he would be the first person to win in the Sprint Cup, Nationwide Series, Camping World Truck Series, Camping World East Series, and could put Grand-Am Prototypes on his resume. (All would be done in the same season).

The Brumos Porsche 250 will be on July 4 live on SPEED Channel. The NASCAR Sprint Cup Series will follow the two-and-a-half hour race at 8 p.m. 

Info courtesy of Grand-Am Media.

On the Fourth of July, race fans attending the Daytona International Speedway will be in for quite a treat.

As usual, they will get to see the stars of the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series race four-hundred miles on the 2.5 mile superspeedway Satruday night for the Coke Zero 400.

But to add to the excitement, the Grand-Am Rolex Sports Car Series will run the Brumos Porsche 250 on Saturday afternoon, using the infield road course.

Grand-Am used to race at Daytona on the Thursday of the NASCAR weekend, but attendance was always low as the stock car fans would only travel to the track for the stock car racing.

This will no doubt solve the attendance problem as the NASCAR fans will witness the sports cars as an appetizer before watching what they came for.

It will be a one day affair for the Grand-Am crews and drivers as practice and qualifying will be done on Saturday morning.

"This is a tremendous opportunity to showcase our exciting style of racing in front of more than 100,000 fans," said Grand-Am President Roger Edmondson. "Coming off the photo finish of last year's race, along with the exciting conclusion of the recent Rolex 24, non-traditional sports car fans will experience a terrific show."

History of the Grand-Am July race at Daytona goes back quite a while.

From 1967 to 1983, the race began at midnight on July 4 and ended later that morning to begin the NASCAR race formerly run during the afternoon.

Grand-Am revived the event in 2000 putting it on Thursday.

The Brumos Porsche 250 is round seven of 12 on the Grand-Am Rolex Sports Car Series schedule as the Coke Zero 400 is round eighteen of thirty-six on the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series schedule.

This will no doubt be an exciting Saturday of racing and I can't wait!

Thanks to speedtv.com for comments by Roger Edmondson.

I dare say that if you didn’t at least take a little bit of time out of your weekend to watch some of the Rolex 24 Hours at Daytona, you’re not a racing fan.

Sports car racing may not be the biggest thing going, but this was the first race of the year (okay, so there was the Chili Bowl earlier in the month…) and the beginning of Speedweeks at Daytona (since there wasn’t any on-track testing for NASCAR).

Regardless, the action was great, and you couldn’t have asked for much more than four cars being in contention in the closing laps. This after 24 hours of full-throttle racing (without rain, they were flat-out the whole time) and covering over 2,600 miles.

But could you ask for more? I could, and will. Read on as I review the 47th Rolex 24 at Daytona from a good, bad, and ugly perspective.

Conditions:

Good: The weather. Mother Nature delivered perfection. No rain, the cold from earlier in the week moved out, and it looked like it was just a beautiful winter weekend in Florida.

Bad: No rain. I’m not talking about a monsoon here. But this would have really challenged the competitors. Consider last year in Formula 1; Silverstone separated the men from the boys. Otherwise they should set up a sprinkler system from Lake Lloyd in the infield and pump some water on the track for a few hours to make things a little more interesting. But honestly, I think they did okay without.

DP Competition:

Good: The run by the top-four cars. Brumos had the speed and overcame some pit-road miscues to take first and third on the podium. The 01 Ganassi car got lucky with a caution allowing them to repair splitter damage without losing too much ground and did everything they could to fall just short of a third-straight overall win. Wayne Taylor’s SunTrust Ford/Dallara ran great in fourth – showing the wisdom of going with proven engine technology to ensure reliability.

Bad: The run by the 99 Gainsco Bob Stallings car. It suffered an electrical problem taking out the tail lights which required repairs, and then the gearbox went kaput. This took the team I was hoping would dethrone Ganassi out of the running for the win. You had the primary pilots of Alex Gurney and Jon Fogarty joined by former CART Champion Jimmy Vasser, and three-time defending Sprint Cup Champion Jimmie Johnson - So much talent gone to waste.

Bad: The 02 Ganassi Lexus Riley was strong early, but splitter damage would leave them in the not-so-envious position of having to make a change under green – effectively taking them out of contention. Dario Franchitti and Scott Dixon are going to be tough to beat this season in IndyCar.

Bad: The number 16 car for (Roger) Penske Racing led early and looked like it could add insult to the injury of defrocking the CGR team. Nothing would have brought the Captain more pleasure in beating his rival Ganassi than to do it by preventing his car from making history. Sixth place overall wasn’t good, but not all bad considering how other big names fared. Roger couldn’t draw Chip into running in American Le Mans Series head-to-head, so Penske decided to come play in his adversaries’ sandbox.

Ugly: The number 2 car for (Richard) Childress-Howard Motorsports was a non-factor all weekend. They didn’t even make it on the track for the first qualifying session. After addressing some gremlins during the race, including a door that didn’t want to stay closed, at least they did nurse the car home in eighth overall – 33 laps down. This was one bad run that can’t be blamed on Danica Patrick.

Ugly: Michael Shank Racing’s two cars stunk it up, both succumbing to Ford engine failures, resulting in 41st and 47th place on the score sheet.

GT Competition:

Good: The drive put in by the TRG (The Racers Group) and their Porsche GT3s. Ninth and tenth overall is a great day for GT teams up against the much faster Daytona Prototypes.

Bad: The number of cars Farnbacher-Loles Racing fielded (5) and lackluster performance: 13th, 15th, 16th, 26th, and 27th overall. They didn’t even get a podium finish. Five cars! And they were the same Porsche GT3s TRG went one-two and Wright Motorsports finished third with.

Ugly: A run across rumble strips or some other off-track excursion punctured the fuel tank and broke the pump on the SpeedSource Mazda RX-8 of Sylvan Tremblay and Nick Ham. These guys could have given the Porsches a battle, instead they spent 23+ hours running to make points.

Really Ugly: Team Sahlen. Three guys on the team named Nonnamaker, two Corvettes, only one started, and it made it all of 30 laps. Thirty? I could have done better on a bicycle and still enjoyed the party Saturday night. Please… If you’re not going to be worth a damn, don’t embarrass the bowtie by fielding a Vette.

Conduct of the Race:

Good: The call not to penalize Max Angelelli for racing hard with the Brumos Porsche and they both spinning in turn 6.

Bad: A record number of cautions (25) for 117 laps (both records). Yes, there were too many yellow flags, but it helped keep things tight (though that seemed to be happening based on the quality of the competition anyway). 

Bad: Waving the white flag before the 24-hour clock had expired. One more lap wouldn’t have hurt, would it? Or was the 58 car on fumes?

Ugly: The drive-through penalty assessed to the 02 Ganassi car for shooting the chicane at the Bus Stop because the brakes failed. Dario Franchitti immediately pitted the car, and they lost two laps as a result of a loose brake line. Why add insult to injury at that point? Dumb.

Coverage:

Good: SPEED’s coverage was good, as usual. Bob Varsha’s toes probably hurt a little from David Hobbs stepping on them so much.

Bad: The lack of overnight broadcast. Grand-am.com could have at least had an audio cast couldn’t they? SPEED went out to Irwindale for the Toyota All-Star Showdown, so I’ll give them a pass on that front. It would be costly to have crews on cameras and running the truck all night, but it would have been fun to watch flag-to-flag.

I was working overnight after monitoring live timing and scoring (see below), I couldn’t wait for 6 a.m. to roll around and SPEED’s coverage to resume. Last year I think grand-am.com had audio, and a live webcam that wasn’t worth a whole lot, but was better than nothing. Put one on the front stretch and one looking down pit road and let ‘em roll.

Good: The Grand-Am.com web site had live timing and scoring for the entire event. NASCAR.com also had articles, but being that the France family now owns Grand Am, and there were a number of Cup drivers in the field, this is no surprise.

Bad: IndyCar.com had nothing about the race, yet the biggest names in their sport were involved: Scott Dixon, Danica Patrick, Dario Franchitti, Ryan Hunter-Reay… What else would they talk about right now?

Results:

Good: The win by David Donohue 40 years after his father, Mark, did the same. Not to mention he did it from pole.

Good: Margin of victory: .167 seconds. If only it had been as close as the July race at the track... (Can you say, "Pruett by a nose!")

Good: Record number of cars on the lead lap (4). If only the 02 hadn't had the splitter issue, they would have been there as well. And the 16 certainly had the speed.

Bad: Juan Pablo Montoya complaining that the speed of the Brumos Porsche, “Wasn’t fair.” Come on, Juan, be gracious in defeat. If anyone had a right to complain about a lack of speed, it was the Gainsco guys.

Ugly: Did I mention the Sahlen team’s poor performance? I think a used Taurus on a doughnut could have gone farther than they did. At least Corvette will be redeemed in American Le Mans.

Intangibles:

Good: The racing season has officially begun!

Bad: There’s not another Grand Am race for three months… Three MONTHS! Who made this schedule?

Ugly: After the greatness of the DP race this weekend, see above. The GT racing will be much better going forward, and this year is going to be another great battle for the points championship. I’m ready for more now. I’d really like to see these guys come to Texas Motor Speedway for a 4-6 hour race on the Roval.

Yes, every other racing series will kick off between now and April 25th (the next race on the schedule), but if you don’t like the action in Grand Am, I dare say you’re not a race fan.

I had heard of the Grand Am racing, but I didn't understand how, why, or who would want to watch a 24-hour race. I'd caught some of the action before and it never caught on, so I wanted to make sure by watching the Rolex 24 at Daytona.

There were lots of Sprint Cup stars like Jimmie Johnson, Casey Mears, Juan Pablo Montoya, AJ Allmendinger, etc., so I decided to catch the last two-and-a-half hours of it.

I saw lots of drivers I'd never heard of, like David Donohue and Darren Moore. But they showed me.

At the 40-minute mark Montoya took the lead in a Chip Ganassi Racing Lexus Daytona Prototype, going for three overall wins in a row with co-drivers Scott Pruett and Memo Rojas, and Ganassi's fourth consecutive Rolex 24 win.  

At the 18-minute mark Donohue took the lead. He battled through traffic and fought off the hard charging Montoya at the end.

I had witnessed the most laps completed, the most cautions, and the end of Ganassi's era of winning at Daytona.

Forty years after his father graced Victory Lane, David Donohue won from the pole. The team of Donohue, Darren Law, Antonio Garcia, and Buddy Rice won themselves a Rolex watch each.

Also, Rice joined names like Foyt, Unser, Franchitti, Montoya, Dixon, and more by winning both the Indy 500 and Rolex 24 at Daytona.

In the Grand Touring class, the winner was RJ Valentine and SPEED's coverage was great. They didn't cover GT much but they didn't have the big names like the Prototypes.

I personally didn't think I could watch it, but I absolutely loved it! It was exciting and fast-paced racing—nothing like NASCAR, but still a great show.

Now the Rolex Series heads to the road couse at Virginia International Raceway the weekend of April 24 and 25. The race will be broadcast on SPEED. Check your local listings for times.

This is bound to be a great season in this series and this was an absolutely great way to start off Speedweeks 2009.

Joining me is SPEED TV’s Bob Varsha. Bob’s duties include calling Formula 1 races, hosting Barrett-Jackson Collector Car Auction coverage, and is frequently on the SPEED Report. This weekend though he’s in Daytona for the Rolex 24 Hours.

Bob, welcome and thanks for your time.

BV: My pleasure, Adam. Good to be with you.

AA: Alright let’s start with the 24 Hours of Daytona. This is the premier event in American sports car racing. How long have you been covering this race?

BV: Well Adam this was actually one of the first major international events I came to. The first time was 1984 I believe and it’s been pretty much every year since. Not every year consecutively, but it’s always a thrill to come down here to Daytona and get out of the winter weather and just get back to racing.

Everyone has a little cabin fever after the off season no matter how long or short it might have been. So to get back down here and smell the brakes, and the oil, and the tires, and the engine exhaust – it’s a real rite of Spring and I’m sure a lot of people that come down here will agree with that.

AA: How has the 24 Hours changed over the time you’ve covered it?

BV: Well, you know if you ask any driver in the field who has experience the first thing they tell you (it) is so much faster. You know back in the day old hands like Hurley Haywood – who’s going for a sixth victory here in the 24 Hours – back then the idea was just to preserve the car. Stay out of trouble, run to a pace that’s maybe a couple of seconds off your qualifying speed – be there when the race finishes.

That’s still the case but it has become so competitive, and the cars here in the Grand Am Rolex Series are so evenly matched that’s it’s basically a sprint now for the entire 24 hours. The key thing is to maintain your speed, again stay out of trouble, and stay out of the pit lane.

I believe last years’ winner with Ganassi Racing spent just an astonishingly small amount of time to do 25 or so pit stops. I mean they were barely in the pits for thirty minutes of the entire 24 hours. It really was a charmed run for them, and that’s why they’re going for an unprecedented fourth in a row here – something nobody has ever done. In fact nobody had ever won three until Ganassi did last year. I think their secret is go fast and stay out of the pit lane.

AA: Your perspective – the difference between the 24 Hours at Daytona and the 24 Hours at Le Mans?

BV: Well the first thing that strikes you about the two aside from the fact that there’s a lot of French spoken over at Le Mans is the fact that Daytona runs in January when there’s very little daylight in the winter time. Whereas Le Mans in June where there is lots and lots of daylight.

We spend very little time racing in the dark in France, whereas here in Daytona the sun goes down around six o’clock Eastern time and probably doesn’t come up until six o’clock the next morning. So the drivers have to spend a lot of time – and just a few years ago they raced entirely in the dark.

Now of course there are lights here at Daytona International Speedway. And though I think they only use about half of their available candlepower the track is much better illuminated than it has been in the past. But still in the night time you have the plunging temperatures, the drivers have to be very careful with their tire selection and the way they drive the cars.

In fact we’ve had a couple of very cold days here in the run-up to this years’ race and there’s been a lot of guys exceeding the bounds of traction, getting off into the run-off area – whether it was grass or pavement. Only one hard impact that I’m aware of thus far, and that’s a good thing obviously.

So it’s a very, very different sort of challenge despite the fact that the two races are equal in length.

AA: It seems to me over the past couple of years of actively monitoring both Grand Am and ALMS (American Le Mans Series), that sports car racing is really making a comeback in its popularity. What are your thoughts on that?

BV: Well I think it’s fair to say obviously right now nobody needs to be told what’s happening with the economy and that has had an impact on all forms of racing. They’re down a little bit on car count here at Daytona but really all the top cars from the top teams are here. And sports car racing I’d like to think is making a comeback.

AA: Where do you see sports car racing going? I mean, we’ve seen new tracks in just the past couple, three years in out in Toole, UT; Barber Motorsports Park – that wonderful track down in Birmingham, Alabama; and the new – I think it’s Thunderbird Raceway in New Jersey?

BV: That’s right. Yeah, it’s New Jersey Motorsports Park has two tracks: “Thunder” and “Lightning” they call them. But yeah, you’re right. There are tracks going up around the country either public or private and certainly the private motor sports country clubs have become very popular – although once again the economy is having an impact on that.

Racing, you know, is being embraced once again, particularly by television. Networks that would have never looked at motorsports in the past like Versus – which will have the majority of the IndyCar season this year. And Discovery and Outdoor Channel which has done a lot of dirt-track programs. And of course SPEED and ESPN and the major networks – and in that regard we’re going to do the first ninety minutes here in Daytona on FOX before switching over to SPEED for the other 14 and a half hours of our coverage so…

Racing is getting popular again, it’s being embraced by television again, and you know that’s a good thing. Hopefully the economy gets turned around soon. Sports car more so than stock cars and open-wheel racing depends on the pocket book of the enthusiast – a lot of gentlemen racers, a lot of weekend warriors that come to a race like the Rolex 24 if they can afford it.

As the economy gets better hopefully that upward trend in the popularity of motorsports will continue.

AA: We were talking a little while ago about Scott Pruett and the strength that Chip Ganassi Racing has shown in the 24 in the past three years. And he’s been so strong, he won the championship last year with his co-driver Memo Rojas. Now Roger Penske “The Captain” has moved over to Grand Am from the American Le Mans Series where his Penske Porsche Spyder RS’s dominated the P2 class the past couple of seasons and were just phenomenal challenging the Audis which were the P1 class cars.

What do you see – I think that Penske and Ganassi just can’t get enough of racing each other. What are your thoughts on that?

BV: Well I’m sure both men would tell you there’s nothing sweeter than beating the other guy. Obviously Roger has a long and highly-distinguished career, both as a driver, which is probably underestimated by the average racing fan, and of course as a car owner – with his 14 Indy 500 wins and his Daytona 500 victory and all the other things he has done, including victories here at Rolex 24.

You know, Chip is of more recent vintage he’s had spectacular success in partnership mainly with the Target stores. He’s won his Indy 500, he’s brought guys like Juan Pablo Montoya (JPM) to the sport, broadened the appeal of open-wheel racing and now of NASCAR. He’s still trying to get over that hump in NASCAR it would appear but terrific success in IndyCar and in sports cars and there’s really very few car owners out there, aside from Roger Penske, who can claim the breadth of competency that Ganassi Racing with Felix Sebates has.

It really is amazing to watch, they’re a terrific group.

AA: There are a number of (Sprint) Cup drivers in this race. Have you spoken with Jimmie Johnson, Casey Mears…Why do these guys like to drive in the 24 Hours so much?

BV: Well I think there are several reasons, Adam. One of course is the reputation of the event. It takes place right here at Daytona, a place they know intimately – although it’s a very different kind of racetrack. They’re running on the 3.56-mile combined oval and road course rather than just the big 2.5-mile NASCAR tri-oval.

And, you know, they’re racers to their core. If they can get in a race car they love to do it. Jeff Gordon has raced here, he’d love to come back. Probably the real watershed came back in 2001 when Dale Earnhardt joined the factory Corvette team for the Rolex 24. Before he died, I spoke with Earnhardt who said that one thing he would like to do in racing, other than win another NASCAR championship, of course, was to drive in the 24 Hours of Le Mans.

And I think that is what he was building up to in taking part with the factory Corvette team here at the Rolex 24. Their sister car won the race but Earnhardt…I think they finished fourth in class and were up there on the podium with their teammates spraying the champagne as happily as all the other guys, so…

Great driver, great teammate, and I think that opened the eyes to a lot of the NASCAR guys to say, you know, “This is pretty cool. This could be a lot of fun.” Although I should point out that guys like Fireball Roberts and Tiny Lund and Marvin Panch and fellows like that were driving in sports car races here at Daytona back in the 1960s.

So it’s not a new phenomenon, but the NASCAR guys are now seeing that it’s a lot of fun. You can get that very coveted Rolex watch that goes only to the winners of this race.

And then there’s the practical side of things, Adam, with all the testing being cut back or even cancelled not only by NASCAR but IndyCar and so on. A lot of these drivers haven’t had the opportunity to knock the rust off and to do what it is that they love to do in life which is drive race cars. So that makes this race even more attractive because they can come out here and prepare for their day jobs that come up in a couple of weeks.

AA: You’ve got, I would think, the best driver talent pool in the world, arguably, in this race. What are your thoughts on that?

BV: I think that’s fair to say. I think the driver pool here, you know, it can go up and down from year to year. And back in the day when I first started coming here in the eighties, you’d see guys like Al Unser, Sr. and A.J. Foyt, and some of the Formula 1 stars from Europe, and the stock car guys like Bill Elliott and Mark Martin and so on… And the off-track celebrities like Paul Newman and Gene Hackman and the Hollywood types. Of course Patrick Dempsey is driving in the race this year and he is a car guy to his very core.

It’s a tremendous cross-section, and in addition to all those great champions -  70 championships in I don’t know how many different series – and drivers from more than two dozen different countries entered in this race. Aside from the glittering professionalism is you have guys who have been driving in Sports Car Club of America (SCCA) events or Ferrari Challenge – whatever it might happen to be – who have dreamed of coming to this event. So they, you know, work hard on a budget to do this one event and race alongside the pro stars, and that’s one of the other great stories of this event: Is the guys you’ve never heard of who are out here living the dream and just going through that 24-hour odyssey.

But up front I’d have to say there isn’t any other field in the world, even at Le Mans, with the credentials you see at this one when it comes to variety and accomplishments.

AA: Well it’s going to be a lot of fun. The race rolls off about 2:30 Central, 3:30 Eastern tomorrow afternoon, that’ll be Saturday. Who should we watch for in the 24 Hours?

BV: Well, starting with the Daytona Prototype Class you gotta go with the guys who have pretty much dominated the dance the last few years. I think either the 01 or the 02 from Ganassi Racing – the Target cars – not terribly quick in qualifying but this is a 24-hour race so being on the front row is…Polesitter David Donahue said it’s bragging rights for a couple of days whereas if you win the race it lasts all year long. So I would look to the Ganassi guys.

There are some very quick cars: David Donahue leading the Brumos Porsche two-car Porsche Riley attack. Hurley Haywood will be with them trying to get that sixth Rolex watch. The cars from Michael Shank Racing the 6 and the number 60 cars have another terrific lineup. A.J. Allmendinger is in there with the series regulars, so they have been very, very quick.

Over on the GT (Grand Touring) side it gets even more crazy. Twelve cars – the top 12 qualifiers in this race – all broke last years’ qualifying record. So you can see the kind of competition we’re going to have.

And once again you gotta go with the guys who have done so well of late, and that’s the number 70 Speedsource Mazda – a Canadian entry – from Sylvian Tremblay and Nick Ham and that entire crew. They are the defending champions in class, in fact, they have won the last three races in the Grand Am Series held here at the Daytona

International Speedway. That is the two midsummer 250-mile sprint races, and last year’s Rolex 24.

But that GT class is always close…It’s very competitive the timesheets are telling us. You’ve got Porsche, Mazda, Ferrari, and the list goes on and on. Corvette is out there. You know the great makes are out there to do battle once again. The 47^th running of this twice-around-the-clock classic and I for one can’t wait.

AA: It’s going to be a real fun ride. I’m torn because I like Scott Pruett but I sure do like Jimmie Johnson and he’s co-driving with Alex Gurney in the Bob Stallings car from here in Lewisville, TX. And so that’s going to be a fun race there – Jimmy Vasser is on board with them in the 99 Gainsco car.

A lot of fun this weekend, we sure do look forward to your coverage. You guys come on at 3 Eastern, 2 Central tomorrow on FOX, is that correct?

BV: On FOX that’s right. Three o’clock Eastern on FOX – We’ll do 90 minutes including the first hour of the race and then we’ll switch over to SPEED and take you up to 10:00 Eastern time. And then be back at 7:00 in the morning on Sunday to go right through to the finish at 3:30 in the afternoon and beyond – to meet all of the winners.

And I apologize for not giving a shout-out to all of the Gainsco boys since you are in Texas after all…Gurney, Fogarty, Vasser and Jimmie Johnson. He’s been second in this race twice in the four previous times he’s done it and so he’s probably owed something too.

AA: He pulls off a win in that and he’s going to have two things to hang over his boss Jeff Gordon’s head at that point – three Cup title wins in a row and a Rolex watch, “Hey Jeff look what I’ve got here!” So that’s fantastic.

Well we look forward to seeing you this weekend, Bob, and then a whole new era of Formula 1 starts up in two months. We sure do appreciate you spending time with us today.

BV: My pleasure, Adam, thank you.