2011 Rolex 24 command center
01-31-2011, 10:07 AM
#76
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Field fillers? In a 24 hour endurance race? No, they are teams who spent a LOT of money to be there. They just don't have the resources that the top teams have. Most teams like to try to finish the race if they can, no matter what in a 24 hour event like this, so you'll see some cars limp back out on track for the final 30 minutes. I'm not sure what happened to the 56, but I know some of the drivers.
01-31-2011, 10:15 AM
#77
Congrats to Bryce Miller & Team Paul Miller Racing on 2nd in GT. They were plagued with a ton of bad luck all season last year - great result for the underdog.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cDobd88jOjc <- this one in particular was tough to watch.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cDobd88jOjc <- this one in particular was tough to watch.
01-31-2011, 10:26 AM
#78
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When I arrived Sunday morning I decided to head to the garages, and spent a couple hours off and on watching the TRG team put together the front end of the #53 car. It was fascinating to watch the interplay among the mechanics, supervisors, drivers. There were raw emotions on display fueled by the exhaustion inherent in the 18th hour of endurance racing. The shop foreman was constantly getting on the mechanics to hurry up, stop standing around, etc. The driver that went off was someone by the name of Dr. Joe Castellanos. He is from Rome. I overheard one of the TRG guys quizzing him about the incident. When Castellanos walked away, the team members were talking among themselves about how he was just going "too hot" in contrast to Castellanos' story which painted a different picture featuring something being out of his control. The driver was put into the car when they thought they had it ready. The newly installed radiators leaked however, so the driver threw up his hands in frustration, and they took him out of the car. I left at that point and about 30 minutes later I spotted the #53 back on track. Fascinating stuff.
01-31-2011, 10:37 AM
#79
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When I arrived Sunday morning I decided to head to the garages, and spent a couple hours off and on watching the TRG team put together the front end of the #53 car. It was fascinating to watch the interplay among the mechanics, supervisors, drivers. There were raw emotions on display fueled by the exhaustion inherent in the 18th hour of endurance racing. The shop foreman was constantly getting on the mechanics to hurry up, stop standing around, etc. The driver that went off was someone by the name of Dr. Joe Castellanos. He is from Rome. I overheard one of the TRG guys quizzing him about the incident. When Castellanos walked away, the team members were talking among themselves about how he was just going "too hot" in contrast to Castellanos' story which painted a different picture featuring something being out of his control. The driver was put into the car when they thought they had it ready. The newly installed radiators leaked however, so the driver threw up his hands in frustration, and they took him out of the car. I left at that point and about 30 minutes later I spotted the #53 back on track. Fascinating stuff.
Don't get me wrong, the crew is top notch, just not the"moneyed" drivers.
01-31-2011, 11:06 AM
#80
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01-31-2011, 11:07 AM
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01-31-2011, 11:30 AM
#82
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When you spend the amount of money that these drivers/teams do you don't just pack it up and walk away. Everything is paid for and there. You don't tell a driver who's spent 10's of thousands of dollars that sorry but we're going to just stop even though we can fix it. They had first electrical issues and then a clutch transmission problem.
01-31-2011, 11:47 AM
#83
Three Wheelin'
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Thursday evening, the Bennett Racing Ferrari F430 Challenge tangled with another car during night practice and left a mangled mess.
"At least 20 racers from other teams came up to us and told us, 'We're very sorry for your l...oss. Game over.' said team owner Skip Bennett. "We told them, 'The game is not over,' and they said, 'No way you can fix it by Saturday.'
"We didn't spend the last year and a half so we could sleep two hours before the race."
Of course, the team got a lot a help from another Rolex Series competitor.
"Spirit of Daytona Racing is an unbelievable team," Bennett said. "At 8 p.m. Thursday, right after the accident, they arranged for a flat-bed truck. They took the car to the Spirit of Daytona shop (in nearby Holly Hill). By 10 o'clock, the car was in the shop. At 10:05, team owner Stan Flis came over and handed me the keys to his entire building and asked me to lock it up when we left. He showed me where everything was - the parts bins, where they stored the nuts and bolts, everything."
No need to lock up. Bennett and crew chief Doug Taylor never left the building until 9 a.m. Saturday morning, working around the clock to repair the damages.
"You wouldn't have believed what the car looked like," Bennett said. "The wheels were folded up under it and the sides were bashed in. We stock as many spare parts as we can - spare engine, gearbox, uprights, splitters, bodywork, everything, so is was just a matter of removing broken parts, straightening, positioning, reinstalling everything."
They don't stock everything, though.
"We used at least $1,000 in carbon fibre, rebuilding complete body panels," Bennett said.
Bennett and Taylor have been awake since 9 a.m. Thursday morning. Their two hotel rooms have been untouched. In one change of plans, they do plan to spend Sunday night after the race in a hotel before beginning the drive back to Maryland.
"At least 20 racers from other teams came up to us and told us, 'We're very sorry for your l...oss. Game over.' said team owner Skip Bennett. "We told them, 'The game is not over,' and they said, 'No way you can fix it by Saturday.'
"We didn't spend the last year and a half so we could sleep two hours before the race."
Of course, the team got a lot a help from another Rolex Series competitor.
"Spirit of Daytona Racing is an unbelievable team," Bennett said. "At 8 p.m. Thursday, right after the accident, they arranged for a flat-bed truck. They took the car to the Spirit of Daytona shop (in nearby Holly Hill). By 10 o'clock, the car was in the shop. At 10:05, team owner Stan Flis came over and handed me the keys to his entire building and asked me to lock it up when we left. He showed me where everything was - the parts bins, where they stored the nuts and bolts, everything."
No need to lock up. Bennett and crew chief Doug Taylor never left the building until 9 a.m. Saturday morning, working around the clock to repair the damages.
"You wouldn't have believed what the car looked like," Bennett said. "The wheels were folded up under it and the sides were bashed in. We stock as many spare parts as we can - spare engine, gearbox, uprights, splitters, bodywork, everything, so is was just a matter of removing broken parts, straightening, positioning, reinstalling everything."
They don't stock everything, though.
"We used at least $1,000 in carbon fibre, rebuilding complete body panels," Bennett said.
Bennett and Taylor have been awake since 9 a.m. Thursday morning. Their two hotel rooms have been untouched. In one change of plans, they do plan to spend Sunday night after the race in a hotel before beginning the drive back to Maryland.
Field fillers? In a 24 hour endurance race? No, they are teams who spent a LOT of money to be there. They just don't have the resources that the top teams have. Most teams like to try to finish the race if they can, no matter what in a 24 hour event like this, so you'll see some cars limp back out on track for the final 30 minutes. I'm not sure what happened to the 56, but I know some of the drivers.
01-31-2011, 11:49 AM
#84
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Daytona 2011, even money sleeps during the period of fog. It cleared immediately at sunrise. Extremely low precipitation before dawn, could have great racing all night. No problem for Porsche DP or Gt. Why didn't they run the blowers at the chicane, use some technology, different color lights halfway down the back stretch and Ncar turn 4, anything to keep these interests in the money in advertising dollars, raising the ceiling a few feet let the 24 go on. Oh guess it was just the 230 feeling to again to slow the race down last minute.
The drivers know, thats important confidence building material for next rounds.
Lots of first year promo girls. Sorry Cmaro guys. Florida how about less rules, how about more true racing!
The drivers know, thats important confidence building material for next rounds.
Lots of first year promo girls. Sorry Cmaro guys. Florida how about less rules, how about more true racing!
01-31-2011, 12:09 PM
#85
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01-31-2011, 02:45 PM
#86
Three Wheelin'
I wasn't trying to be a dick or anyhthing and no disrespect. I couldn't remeber seeing it out there until race control started commenting on it being "showroom fresh". Thats when I realized I hadn't recalled seeing it.
They had a white ferarri in the garage as well...at one point the garage door was down and it wasn't being attended to...what's the story there?
They had a white ferarri in the garage as well...at one point the garage door was down and it wasn't being attended to...what's the story there?
01-31-2011, 05:03 PM
#87
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I wasn't trying to be a dick or anyhthing and no disrespect. I couldn't remeber seeing it out there until race control started commenting on it being "showroom fresh". Thats when I realized I hadn't recalled seeing it.
They had a white ferarri in the garage as well...at one point the garage door was down and it wasn't being attended to...what's the story there?
They had a white ferarri in the garage as well...at one point the garage door was down and it wasn't being attended to...what's the story there?
01-31-2011, 05:09 PM
#88
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This is true if you go back and look at Montoya's 24 Hour Daytona win from 2007 his driving was much more professional and way less crude strait out of F1. Perhaps NASCAR has fully rubbed off on him. After all we all know how those guys drive.
01-31-2011, 05:19 PM
#89
Three Wheelin'
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Probably. He was expected to perform at a very high level since he was an F1 driver and didn't do so well. Things are different in NASCAR, so yeah, rubbing/banging is apparently what he learned from them.
01-31-2011, 05:20 PM
#90
Three Wheelin'
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