Joe T

Seeking qualified and funded drivers for Rolex 24 and the other NAEC races (Sebring, Watkins Glen and Petit). Obviously, Daytona (including The Roar) is our primary focus. We are doing this at cost without any compensation for the investment in/ownership of the car so I can't imagine anyone can do it for less. Motor and transmission already out to PMNA for rebuild and the car will be very fresh.

analogmike

Very cool, was wondering if you would have a seat available...

amso3

Go ahead Mike, you know you want to!

James-GMG

That is very cool Joe, good luck to you and the team!!

Joe T

Christmas bump! We only need one more driver to make this work. I get it that it is a very expensive proposition but it is only going to get more expensive. We believe we have one of the very few seats available at the best possible value. A definite bucket list event!!

fatbillybob

Joe,

What is a "qualified" driver?

Joe T

That is a good question. At a minimum, you need to have or be able to get your IMSA and FIA driver's licenses. Beyond that, we're hoping that us non-pro driver's are within 2 seconds per lap of the pro guys in terms of race pace, can be consistent and make good decisions/stay out of trouble (as best one can in the slowest class in the field). It will be interesting this year as I believe that the GTD cars will be every bit as fast as the GTLM cars on the straights.

TraqGear

Good luck guys! I would LOVE to do this, but timing isn't right with current funds. Truly a bucket list item for me and I imagine many others. Certainly can't go wrong with Autometrics either...top notch. Best of luck Joe!

Joe T

Thanks Roger! I think Traqgear should consider some sponsorship! I'm doing my part on the other way - Traqgear cool shirt (just received) and now the pants and top (on order). I'll be sporting it at the race if we get there!

TraqGear

Thanks for Joe..very appreciative!! For the sponsorship, I don't think the size area we could afford on the car would be visible to the naked eye at this stage. But ya know, if we keep up this momentum in a couple of years TraqGear could begin some sponsorship at this level. Super grateful!

I think you'll get there. PM me the buy in and time in the car...I've got a couple of good guys that may be interested.

stujelly

heck the comments here made me look up traqgear so the advertisement works

TraqGear

Thanks! Yes, many many RL'ers have supported us from the start. In fact, the company was birthed right here from suggestions from rennlisters. And, many of those suggestions helped shaped the products that we have. Very grateful!!

pcbloom

Hi Joe, I'm interested. Can you fill me in on the details? PM me.

Joe T

The best laid plans of mice and men....

We finally got the funded drivers we needed but they came in very late. Not sure if that is just the way it happens but they came in so late that we were extremely pressed for time. We sent the motor and transmission out right after the test in November but didn't get them back from PMNA until December 30. We waited to spend the money with IMSA as well as some other fairly big ticket items until we knew the deal was going to come together. Given that the drivers came in so late, that left us very, very short of time. Then the unexpected struck. My guys at Autometrics had two key crew guys have serious personal issues to attend to (deaths in the family) and that ended the dream. Given the timing of the test (the Roar), we really only had 3-4 days to get the car prepped and that was not going to happen. We scoured for support we could bring in but to no avail - too short of a notice and most people with experience were committed other teams. Timing is also bad - over the Christmas / New Years holiday. I even explored using another team for the Roar but we couldn't make the $ work. We contacted IMSA but were informed that the Roar is mandatory to run the race for BOP issues.

Moral of the story / lesson learned is we need to either (a) write some big checks in advance and hope things come together (which is not really an option) or (b) get drivers in place EARLY.

We're going to try to run Sebring 12 Hours and need 2 funded drivers. That just needs to happen sooner rather than later.

al@cpt

Sorry to hear that Joe!