THE POINT SPREAD

 

The Rolex Sports Car Series presented by Crown Royal Cask No. 16 championship race as is currently situated - give or take.

ACXIOM GT

Ground yourself for a major earth shaker: Leh Keen and Dirk Werner have won the Rolex Series' 2009 Acxiom GT Drivers' Championship. 

Yep, though No. 07 Drinkin' Mate Pontiac GXP.R driver Paul Edwards eliminated himself for The Glen II during an attempt at going down (okay; downhill) (yes, yes, okay, okay; in a downhill mountain bike crash) co-driver Kelly Collins has a mathematical chance at winning the driving championship being only 30-points down to the drivers of the No. 87 FarnbacherLoles Porsche GT3.

With respect due to a heckuva driver, Collins' has about as good of a chance as hitting the moon with a BB or, heck, for that matter, a 30/06.

For the sake of debate, let's say Collins and Edwards combine for a first-place finish in the Oct. 10 Grand Prix of Miami at Homestead-Miami Speedway on the way to which the Drinkin' Mate Duo on the first lap accidentally on purpose punt that pesky South Carolinian Keen and German Werner entirely out of the race (with no one getting hurt, of course).

Based on the number of Miami Grand Prix entrants as this was posted, even should such an outlandish situation occur the BMW, er, Porsche drivers will lead the Acxiom GT championship parade two days later up the road in Hollywood, Fla., at the Seminole Hard Rock Hotel and Casino (does the image of a Seminole tribesman getting into hard rock seem as strange to you? Like tossing Florida State University's "Chief Fullabull," it's time to adjust, huh?).

All of the above being said, Drinkin' Mate car-owner Leighton Reese, Collins and Edwards should get some sort of major recognition for sticking out the season after General Motors at Mid-Ohio tossed the former Pontiac-supported team on their keisters.

ACXIOM GT MANUFACTURER POINTS

Porsche wins it; Pontiac is runner-up, seeing as the numbers and scenario doesn't differ a whole lot from that diagrammed above.

IN THE MANFACTURER PENALTY CHAMPIONSHIP

Really, check it out: on the Rolex Manufacturer Points page.

Wow, it's tougher to figure than initially imagined.

Barber Motorsports Park leads as the track having had the most penalties levied. Lexus and Pontiac are tied for the lead in all DP-connected manufacturers but if one throws in the Mid-Ohio Pontiac GT-related penalties the soon nonexistent carmaker breaks cleanly into the lead by five points. Porsche is a distant third under either scenario. For some odd reason that mean ol' nefarious Riley chassis not only leads all chassis makers with 10 penalty points but is in a class by itself, literally.

Go Pontiac!

DAYTONA PROTOTYPE

Though Ford has cleaned clocks in the Daytona Prototype Engine Manufacturer category with 356 points (congrats to John Maddox and his Roush Yates Engines team) to Pontiac's 315 second-place points, and Riley Technologies has won its umpteenth-straight DP Chassis Manufacturer title (351 pt. to Dallara's decent second-year but catchin'-up showing of 315 pt.) the Daytona Prototype Driver Championship title has not been settled - such unsettled feeling being de rigueur in the Rolex Series' championships hunt.

Inasmuch as one manufacturer's product may be preferred over another - thus likely  present at any one event is a greater number of one brand as compared to another brand - points-title awards therefore generally then depend in large part on the "popularity" of a product, which to this capitalist pig is the essence of how a democracy "works" because one "votes" with money. (Still, someone, somewhere "knows better" is prepared to tell everyone else such, too.)

If anything, automobile race-sanctioning bodies (save the ALMS) are "socialistic" in that they strive for pure equality - an ideal steeped in utopian ideology - as rules writers attempt to balance or juggle a diverse playing field wherein the strengths of one power plant or chassis are not precisely mimicked in another. (Despite those thirsting for such, the ALMS' "system" will herein presently escape definition, er, description, um, whatever.)

Unfortunately, however much one may otherwise strive, a human element is always interjected into the process. Like that which we singularly refer to as “automobile,” humans have many different parts, or aspects, which can vary widely within just one human (bipolar disorder comes to mind, as does someone having such) and much more so as each human is added to the equation. After all, it's highly doubtful that any two people, however "close" in spirit or body, will uniformly think alike and not at some point disagree even should each desire achievement of a shared goal, however important such may be to even a society. (A 1950's controversy between Drs. Jonas Salk and Albert Sabin comes to mind, wherein both sought a polio vaccine but one vehemently attacked the efficacy of what eventually became the only inoculation method available today in the U.S.)

You really want to know? Really?

Okay, the ALMS is as close as anything today to that which John and Peg Bishop created with their original Can-Am (yes, it was an SCCA "corporate" product, but the Bishops created it). Without getting too deep, the original Can-Am was "run what you brung" or, in modern vernacular, "LHP" (Le HodgePodge) - something the Bishops today realize was also Can-Am's undoing. But more on LHP at another time. (Those just brought to ire need to hang in there another few days for an under-construction blog so as to not expend an otherwise good bender too early.)(Then again, go ahead should the need exist; it's doubtful minds will be changed, anyway.)

Though the DP engine manufacturer's title is out of reach, Alex Gurney and Jon Fogarty ("Blackhawk" No. 99 GAINSCO Auto Insurance Pontiac-Riley), along with team-owner Bob Stallings, want to win the driving title for Pontiac, having so stated back at Mid-Ohio even when GM pulled the plug on yet another car division. After this year Pontiac hasn't a chance to win a title almost anywhere, save something like "Class Fiero."

The GAINSCO driving team, breaking into the lead after their second-place late-August Montreal finish, has accumulated 309 points to lead the championship pursuit as the Rolex Series heads to Florida's southland (roughly a 5-hour drive south of Daytona Beach; J.C. France can make it in 40-minutes) for the season's concluding, all-on-the table, gotta win or try-again-next-year race.

Eight-points behind in second with 301 points are Brian Frisselle, who has capably responded in the face of intense early season pressure, and a smooth-like-fine-Italian-wine Max Angelelli - once so feared his moniker was "Max The Axe" 'cause he'd chop whoever, whenever. Owner Wayne Taylor doesn't handle defeat well because he's just not into it; never really has been. You can bet his No. 10 SunTrust Ford-Dallara is as clean, slick and as tight as Simon Hodgson and the guys back at the Indy shop could possibly make it and don't be surprised if Max wields his axe with vigor one more, perhaps final time at HMS. 

Scott Pruett and Memo Rojas are in third in the driving championship with 299 points, in arrears by two-points and 10-points to Angelelli/Frisselle and Fogarty/Gurney, respectively. Rojas and, especially, Pruett already have earned more  Rolex watches than a majority of people will even see over a lifetime but aren't likely to refuse still another, each. Wanting to go out on the highest-possible octave, the defending Rolex Series champions' Chip Ganassi Racing w/ Felix Sabates No. 01 TELMEX Riley have alone sung Lexus' swan song in 2009, save a sole Rolex 24 At Daytona stable mate.

Elementarily speaking, for SunTrust or TELMEX to have even a chance of wrestling the championship from the GAINSCO team, the second- and third-place teams must finish ahead of the blood-red No. 99. Thus, with simplicity in mind (which will leave us after a few paragraphs):

No other scenario will play any role whatsoever should GAINSCO's Fogarty and Gurney finish ahead of the others and therefore the two drivers will score a second set of Rolex timepieces in three seasons (um, doesn't 2009 - 2007 = 2?) but the Bob Stallings-owned team only bolts from the series after Fogarty, Gurney, Jimmie Johnson and Marcos Ambrose put an exclamation point on a following win at the Jan. 30-31, 2010, Rolex 24 At Daytona.

Assuming SunTrust's Angelelli and Frisselle win the Miami Grand Prix, they'll also win the championship should the GAINSCO team finish fifth or worse. Given that Angelelli and team-owner Taylor are all but joined at the hip, Frisselle is the only driver on the team who need wonder as to his exact standing for 2010 and beyond (don't forget, two talented Taylor offspring, Ricky and Jordan, are in the wings, learning the family trade). Regardless, Frisselle in 2009 will have demonstrated a champion's key component: overcoming distraction and pressure. Sure, he screwed up at Barber Motorsports Park; name a driver that hasn't sometime; somewhere.

Los hombres Pruett y Rojas va a ganar el campeonato si Fogarty y Gurney terminar en séptima posición. Mi amigo José Sabates entonces danza de sombrero o, quizás, Cha-cha-chá en la Callejuela de Victoria de Homestead-Miami! Olé!

Beyond an elementary "first-place" explanation, wrestling the championship from the present leaders - especially for Pruett and Rojas when the pair must also overtake the SunTrust team to win the championship - figuring points relative to other finishing positions becomes somewhat more complicated, if not confusing, because successive finishing positions are awarded disproportionate numbers of points.

With such in mind, below is a points grid through 11 spots, which should give the reader a fairly good feel.

 

	1st	2nd	3rd	4th	5th	6th	7th	8th	9th	10th	11th
GAINSCO	344	341	339	337	335	334	333	332	331	330	329
SunTrust	336	333	331	329	327	326	325	324	323	322	321
TELMEX	334	331	329	327	325	324	323	322	321	320	319

By the way, with each having 311 points going into Homestead-Miami Speedway, Penske Racing's Timo Bernhard and Romain Dumas won't be able to drive their No. 12 Verizon Wireless Porsche-Riley fast enough to to snatch victory from the jaws of championship defeat - if not an altogether demoralizing season.

 

THROUGH THE PAST, DARKLY

NO. 01 TELMEX LEXUS-RILEY
As a pair, Pruett and Rojas have only two races at Homestead-Miami Speedway. For the 2007 Rolex Series race at Homestead-Miami Speedway Rojas teamed with Pruett for the first time and the two finished in third place, Pruett closing after Rojas qualified seventh. In 2008, Rojas started third on the grid and Pruett again closed, cutting the race's fastest lap on Lap-77 on the way to a first-place finish.

Pruett's been competing at the track with his present TELMEX team since 2004 - the year of the team's worst finish there, 10th. The irony is that Pruett finished better in that year's first Miami race - from which came the classic video footage of Max Papis, who over multiple laps near race-end banged doors, rear-ends and front-ends with Doran Racing's Jan Magnussen. The Chip Ganassi Racing w/ Felix Sabates team has scored an average qualifying position of 4.33 and a 4.8 finishing position over those years. Interestingly, subsequent to Papis' departure at the end of 2004, the team has averaged a 4.5 starting spot but improved finishes to a 3.0.

 

NO. 10 SUNTRUST FORD-DALLARA
Max Angelelli, like Pruett, raced at Homestead-Miami Speedway beginning with the 2004 season. Excluding endurance races, though Pruett's shared his ride with three drivers (Papis, Luis Diaz, Rojas) from 2004 to the present, beyond Angelelli and Taylor the No. 10 SunTrust car has had five additional drivers (Emanuel Collard, Jan Magnussen, Memo Gidley, Michael Valiante, Brian Frisselle) variously sharing rides with Messrs. Taylor and Angelelli. Only Taylor and Angelelli shared the car during the team's 2005 championship season. Still, for Homestead-Miami, Angelelli has been the constant in the mix, with the team averaging a 6.0 grid start; a 5.8 finish.

Though not in the SunTrust car until this season, Brian Frisselle since 2005 nonetheless has compiled a four-race track record at Homestead-Miami Speedway - two with VIR-based No. 8 Synergy Racing (Doran JE4 chassis; powered by BMW in 2005 and Porsche in 2006; Burt Frisselle co-driver) and, subsequently, No. 61 AIM Autosport Ford-Riley with Mark Wilkins co-driving, qualifying 7.0 on average; finishing 15th on average. Throw out the 2005-2006 seasons and Brian Frisselle's qualifying average comes in at 6.5; team finish at an average 9.0.

NO. 99 GAINSCO PONTIAC-RILEY
Early in the GAINSCO's Daytona Prototype life, which began in 2005, Alex Gurney shared his ride with team-owner Bob Stallings and Jimmy Vasser. Stallings has since mostly rode a reserved pit-side, war-wagon seat while Vasser has regularly been a principal part of the team's endurance crew. Jon Fogarty joined GAINSCO part of the way into the 2006 season after having enjoyed a successful singing and recording career (nah, just kidding; this particular Fogarty likely can't carry a tune any better than this writer can race a car. Um, check that; he probably can, too). With two hot shoes in the car (and Stallings being largely fingered as firing the opening DP all-pro salvo), the duo and GAINSCO would capture its 2007 title - only after that season's final, literal nail-biting, bang-up, barn-burner-of-a-race at Miller Motorsports Park.

But by joining the team five races into 2006, Fogarty has since carded only two HMS races and, among the top-three teams, is therefore tied with TELMEX's Memo Rojas for fewest DP starts on the 2.3-mile track. Yet, Fogarty didn't want for much in his first qualifying effort there, putting the GAINSCO car on the race's outside pole in 2007, sliding slightly to fifth on the grid in 2008 (3.5 avg.). Gurney each time closed with an 11th and sixth, respectively, where the team also finished in 2006 (without Fogarty), thus providing a 7.7 average team finish. In 2008, Rojas and Fogarty tangled early in the 2008 race, suggesting absolutely nothing for this year. Then again, there was that Miller race ...

 

AND THE WIN GOES TO...

South Florida's weather. 

Are you kidding me?

The Oct. 8-10 event, situated relatively early in the month, occurs at the very tail-end of the South Florida summer rain season, which almost assuredly will play some sort of role at some point over those three days.

However, assuming it doesn't rain, expect to get wet anyway because historical midday relative humidity there easily runs into the mid-90th percentile, reaching a zenith just about the same time teams undertake driver changes.

Adding heat to humidity, at about the same time the day's high temperature will approach, if not slightly exceed 90-degrees (Homestead's Oct. 10 record high is 98-degrees). The end of the 2004 HMS-2 race also produced a run on intravenous fluids, ice bags and emergency medical personnel as many drivers were treated for heat exhaustion, among them Angelelli, whose condition frightened more than a few usually hardy souls. That day's toll on race car drivers to this day stands head-and-shoulders above any other thus far seen, before or since.

Then, there's the still-churning hurricane season (June thru November), which in September 2004 produced four named tropical systems (Frances, Jeanne and Ivan) that directly affected HMS-2, first delaying the Rolex Series race by a week (to Sept. 19) and from that point generally keeping everyone's eyes on automatic horizon scan.

Though October generally mellows a bit relative to September, the reality is that Miami's National Hurricane Center's own statistics reflect the August through October calendar period as hosting 78-percent of all named tropical systems.

Still, it appears El Nino has held down the activity this year.

Now, for the national weather map: It'll be snowing in ...

Later,

DC