It’s safe to safe that with collective YouTube video views alone approaching 30,000 hits on Tuesday, SPEEDtv’s coverage of Carl Edwards’ crashing his and Marcos Ambrose’s No. 77 Aflac Ford-Dallara Daytona Prototype during a Montreal 200 recon-lap likely has taken 2009’s top spot of most-watched Rolex Sports Car Series videos.
For those unfamiliar with sporty car racing, a recon lap is used to start the fans’ juices flowing - ‘get ‘em in the seats,’ if you will - even earlier than a stock car field’s customary pace laps. It’s not that the sporty cars (preferred style: AP, “sports cars”; DC, “sportscars”) don’t also have those pre-race pace (by the way: whose “pace?” It darn sure ain’t “race” pace) laps, it’s just, well, another way to pour hydrocarbons into the atmosphere (at least, according to those who would take away our vices for “Mother Earth’s sake”) (Can you tell I’ve recently been in Montreal?).
Well, if you can’t win on the track, you might as well give your sponsor some exposure elsewhere. Besides, Edwards and Ambrose probably didn’t want to really race with the wine and cheese crowd losers, anyway, right?
“I think if we'd gotten to the race, the talent level of Ambrose and Edwards would've blown people away,” insisted No. 77 Aflac Ford-Dallara car-owner Kevin Doran, whose sportscar race-winning record is envied by more than a few in the sport.
“They practiced and qualified competitively but the best was yet to come because drivers of their caliber always rotate their intensity another click or two upward come race time. I tell you, I would’ve liked to have seen them run with the big boys,” said Doran, who today stands alone among sportscar owners in winning North America’s big-three sportscar races in a single season (1998): the Rolex 24 At Daytona, Sebring 12-hours and the Sahlen’s 6-hours Of The Glen.
Working as a team whose drivers each must spend a minimum of 45-minutes behind the wheel during a race, Edwards had qualified 8th-fastest in a field of 16 Daytona Prototypes and, had the team actually raced Saturday, would’ve had to dodge another 13, usually slower, Grand Touring cars.
Based on only two practice sessions - one the previous week at Virginia International Raceway and Friday’s in Montreal - with which to familiarize themselves in driving a far different racing machine, Doran had watched the pair as each learned at least something from the other.
“Marcos helped Carl a lot and conversely, Carl helped Marcos – though the informational flow balance probably favored Carl a little more,” said Doran (pictured at left with Edwards).
Doran pointed out that one the benefits realized by the two drivers was being able to chart how each drove their Italian-made Daytona Prototype throughout the 15-turn, 2.71-mile Circuit Gilles Villeneuve road course - originally designed with Formula One racing in mind - and modified how each approached racing the track as a whole.
“Carl would say to Marcos, ‘So that’s how you do that,’ while Ambrose did essentially the same with Carl. They learned a lot about each other’s driving style and how to overcome weaknesses in each because they could directly compare with (graph) overlays how each took a turn, or came onto a straightaway from a turn, or how each braked going into turns.
“While I’ve worked with NASCAR drivers before (including NASCAR Sprint Cup Champions Terry and Bobby Labonte) it was a real pleasure to see these two work and joke with each other. They were really comfortable around each other and clearly respected each other’s thoughts and professionalism.”
Doran wasn’t terribly surprised that both Ambrose - who now has led 62-percent of the laps run at Montreal by NASCAR Nationwide Series drivers - and Edwards would figure prominently in Sunday’s Nationwide Series race nor that the two would fight it out for the win at race end, with Edwards dramatically passing Ambrose for the win on the race’s final lap between the course’s last turn and the finish line.
“I think Marcos’ real mistake was being too conservative on that last lap and that's what did him in,” Doran
said. “Then again, it's probably hard to properly run that last lap when you have Carl Edwards on your rear.” (Ambrose leading Edwards, shown at right in a Jason Smith/Getty Images picture)
“I wouldn’t be surprised if (after the race) Marcos was bummed that he shared so much information with Edwards. You could see he was devastated after the race was over. My heart just went out to him. Yet, I also was thrilled that Carl won. It was a strange feeling because at times I wasn’t quite sure how I should feel. I’m used to two or more drivers winning at the same time in the same car, you know.”
Though Doran wouldn’t look too far down the road, he all but said the two drivers would again share a Doran Daytona Prototype though a look at the schedule says such isn’t likely to happen before the Jan. 30-31, 2010, Rolex 24 at Daytona.
It’d require at least another driver or two to run the event - fellow Edwards’ Roush Fenway Racing driver Colin Braun would be a good choice and, maybe, a Yurrupean hot shoe like 8-time Le Mans winner Tom Christensen for a little “rain” and nighttime driving “insurance” – but one thing’s for sure, Doran has clearly shown he knows the path to the Rolex 24 victory celebration, inasmuch as he’s got more than a few of ‘em under his belt. He believes Edwards and Ambrose can easily be shown the way, too.
Later,
DC
Yet, both have since pledged to work with each other
bit in just looking at each other's laps. The balance was
There was places where Carl was better than Marcos and each would excahanved knowledge on how each driver could compare notes.
Two drivers drive the same car, gets the information
one got to see just how talented they are. We would've liked to run with the big boys
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