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

POST SCRIPTS, MMP

"'HI,' TO THE FAMILY BACK HOME"
Having returned his attention to racing after on Wednesday helping culminate the process (well, one part of an ongoing process) which provided oldest-daughter Natalie a little sister, Savannah Reese, and again wearing his familiar black-on-red GAINSCO Auto Insurance driver's suit, now multi-child father Alex Gurney said at the front of a SPEEDtv interview that "I've got to pull a 'Scott Pruett' and say hello to my wife (Colleen) in the hospital ..."

Not to be outdone in an interview soon afterward, Scott Pruett said, "'Hi' to the family back home and also congratulations to Alex and his new little girl ..."

Pruett has for years been the butt of jokes and at least some derision for his famous hi-to-the-family line but one needs to remember that Pruett is a hellacious young racer in an old guy's skin. Along with his unworldly win count he's suffered broken legs, race-car fires, wall-hitting and shattered race cars - never mind the true danger of having all his life faced wannabe race-car drivers on California's byways. Enduring such tends to place high value on life's most important things.

Unlike most who go home after each day's work, Pruett, often flirting with death faraway, believes when all is said and done that his family ranks first and foremost in his thoughts and tells them such.

It's probable Alex Gurney is starting to realize the same. Who doesn't? Eventually.

For those attending the Rolex Series' final, championship-determining Grand Prix of Miami Oct. 10 at Homestead-Miami Speedway: grab some paper, sheets, poster boards, midriffs or whatever and pen your own "Hi to the family" sign so that your special ones feel special each time a camera's eye lands on you.

BACKING IT UP
With NASCAR's various championships coming down to the wire, one can't help but notice at least one considerable contrast between its oldest and youngest siblings.

At New Hampshire Motor Speedway in Sunday's first-of-10 Sprint Cup Chase, an early race pit stop injured Casey Mear's right-rear tire changer, Clint Pittman, who was struck by the right front of Denny Hamlin's car. Rushed to the care center, Pittman was out of action. Quickly filling Pittman's spot in the all-important season-ending championship run was backup Shane Church.

Thus, so important is The Chase that Childress makes sure a ghost crew hovers in the background, ready to roll, just in case a frontline worker gets knocked out.

WHAT WAS HE THINKING?
From along pit road starting barely before the Utah 250's end, to a red-eye Delta overnighter, to between-plane transitions at New York City's JFK International and, even, to Loudon, NH, where the Sprint Cup's "Chase" got underway Sunday, people were asking, "What was he thinking!?"

The "he" was Acxiom GT championship driver points leader, German Dirk Werner (at right, pronounced "Deerk Veh-ner" who like Tomas Scheckter, will undoubtedly be "Americanizing" his name at any moment).

For the 2009 season Werner has co-driven the No. 87 FarnbacherLoles Racing Porsche GT3 with South Carolinian Leh Keen (who probably also needs to Americanize his name ((that's a joke, man)). Werner and Keen share the Acxiom points lead. Keen solely leads in the Bob Akin Trophy hunt, awarded to the best of the Acxiom GT non-professional driver (with all due respect, Mr. Keen, you're as good as or better than many professionals in the biz).

The pair came into the Utah 250 with a 35-point lead over Kelly Collins (whose usual co-driver, Paul Edwards, was eliminated from the same points position after dislocating his shoulder in a mountain bike wreck and sat out Watkins Glen's Crown Royal 250). The two FarnbacherLoles No. 87 Porsche (soon BMW) drivers could've mathematically locked up the 2009 GT driving title had they only finished one position better than the No. 07 Drinkin' Mate Pontiac GXP.R, which ultimately finished third and, possibly, would've otherwise had a fifth-place finish had Werner not tried his ill-fated push for the lead in the race's final stages.

Ironically, Werner on Lap 45 of the race's 56 laps passed the Drinkin' Mate car, driven by the still-healing Edwards, at that time sealing the championship had Werner merely stayed of the Pontiac. Instead, Werner headed straight for the race lead.

"The sun's glare made it all but impossible to see the turn," No. 57 Bryan Mark Financial Pontiac GXP.R driver Robin Liddell said.

"We've got this little TV screen for our rearview and I couldn't even see it because of the sun's glare. As I started turning in I could see he (Werner) was no longer behind me so I assumed he was coming alongside and I went wide through the turn, thinking I'd given him enough room to pass to the inside."

There wasn't enough room or, perhaps, Werner's partial use of the corner's rumble strips - which do little to mimic the track's regular surface, much less improve traction - unsettled the Porsche. Whatever the case, the two cars kissed right to left fronts and subsequently caused flat tires on each.

"My car was really good at the end," Werner said. "I saw Robin sliding around and he braked early in one turn and we went into the (next) turn side by side. I was already up on the curb and I think I do not have enough room to avoid contact. It was a little tap, but I got a flat, front-left tire" and "It took me a long, long time" to get to the finish line.

Sinking like a couple of stones thrown into water as each tried to make the checkered flag on flats, Werner finished sixth and Liddell - earlier having set the race's fastest Acxiom GT lap - finished seventh, leaving Werner and Keen to wrap the championship Oct. 10 at Homestead-Miami Speedway. Though lagging by 30-points and needing everything to work for him and the opposite happening to the FarnbacherLoles duo, it remains possible for Collins to capture the championship.

"It would be nicer to come to Miami with everything already done," Werner said. "It was in my hands to win the race or clinch the championship and I did not do (either)."

LEAVING, ON AN AIRPLANE
(In memory of the recently deceased Mary Travers, of the Grammy winning Peter, Paul and Mary, with whom many disagreed politically but nonetheless in whom was found a beautiful voice)

Taking a circuitous route to his South Florida home base after the Utah 250, Sylvain Tremblay settled into his first-class seat aboard Delta Red-Eye No. 1002 to New York's JFK International. He didn't look to be a happy camper and vented a tad after a certain scribe approached.

Noting a late-race, gravel-trap visit that caused a full-course yellow and offering a tongue-in-cheek suggestion that Tremblay might need a Skip Barber Racing School refresher course, the scribe during the race, at the time in the pits, wasn't aware that Tremblay had found himself sliding into that gravel trap (loved by none) only after a punt from Patrick Dempsey Racing's No. 40 Mazda RX-8 driver Charles Espenlaub (subbing for a still-filming Patrick Dempsey).

Though in sixth place at the time of the shunt, accumulated between first-shift driver Nick Ham and Tremblay the No. 70 Castrol Syntec Mazda RX-8 completed 19 lead laps of the race's 56-lap total - a single-team race high.

"Charles said over the radio 'Oh, God, I definitely didn't mean for that ...' so I know he didn't mean to do that on purpose," Dempsey Racing co-driver Joe Foster said, "Though there is no doubt the 40 (right) hit the 70."

Following Espenlaub, who qualified and started the Mazda, Foster would later complain of light-headedness, thought to be caused by carbon monoxide leaking into the car's cabin. Espenlaub hopped in for a second stint and sent Tremblay into the gravel.

The No. 30 3-Dimensional.com Mazda RX-8, also in the lead hunt at one point, became the third of four Mazda RX-8's to somehow fall short of the goal when its throttle cable snapped while in third place with under 40-minutes remaining in the race. Dane Cameron, seemingly star-crossed since the season's opening Rolex 24 At Daytona, was at the wheel shared earlier with Jade Buford and Jordan Taylor.

Down to the sole remaining Mazda having any chance, Jeff Segal shot into the lead in his (and co-driver Emil Assentato) SpeedSource-built and managed No. 69 FXDD Mazda RX-8 (above), which shortly thereafter won its second race of the season after starting last on the grid.

"We don't want our customers to think they've got second-best equipment," Tremblay said the night before as the SpeedSource crew labored to replace the No. 69 Mazda's engine. "All the data indicates it's okay," Tremblay said of the engine being replaced, "But Jeff (Segal) said he felt something odd in it during the last practice. I want them to get in the car with complete confidence that they have a chance to win, even if up against Nick and me."

TRG’s Scott Schroeder and Andy Lally, in their No. 66 First Service Commercial RE/AXA/Cohen Financial Porsche GT3, took second after qualifying eighth.

WE'LL TRY HARDER ... NEXT YEAR
Flying in to Salt Lake City International from the IRL's Twin Motegi race in Japan (where Target Chip Ganassi's Scott Dixon retook the IndyCar Series championship points lead after Penske Racing's Ryan Briscoe first hit a safety cone and then a wall), Roger Penske, Tim Cindric, Briscoe and 2009 Indy 500 winner Helio Castroneves drove over to Miller Motorsports Park, arrived in the No. 12 Verizon Wireless Porsche-Riley’s about 10-minutes before the Utah 250 race start. 

Asked during the race by SPEEDtv's Chris Neville as to what will happen should Penske Racing's No. 12 Verizon Wireless Porsche-Riley end the 2009 season without a win (almost unheard of by a Penske team), Penske said:

"I don't think anything's going to happen other than we're going to have to try harder next year. I think that's the key thing. You know, we've learned a lot. We've had more rules changes on our car probably than anybody in the last three years so, now that we've got maybe a good baseline, we can work on being more competitive."

Though the team, Castroneves and Briscoe have publicly stated their being unsure of any 2010 Rolex 24 At Daytona plans - other than a desire to run the race - out-of-the-spotlight discussions have cast a slightly different light on the subject. Look for Penske Racing to field two Rolex 24 entries, each having three drivers. You can do the rest of the math.

Oh, and speaking of Danica Patrick ... she'll stay in the IndyCar Series but will start honing "stock car" skills in NASCAR's Camping World Truck Series along with a few ARCA rides, as she prepares for the possibility of moving over full time. Between this season and next, though, Ms. Patrick will squeeze in another Rolex 24. Tony Stewart will continue helping her along on the stock car side of the fence. You can connect the rest of the dots.

OH, YES, THEN THERE'S EL DIABLO ROSA
Bob Stallings' No. 99 GAINSCO Auto Insurance Pontiac-Riley qualified on its fourth pole - in Jon Fogarty's hands - and took the checkered flag - in Alex Gurney's hands - for Saturday's Utah 250 at Miller Motorsports Park.

In dominating form the pair led 43 of the race's 56 laps compiled on the 4.486-mile circuit to win the two-hour, 45-minute race.

"We got the pole, fastest lap and the win - we had the whole shebang this weekend," Gurney (pictured left of Fogarty at right) said after scoring the team's fourth victory of the season, leading all others in the "wins" column.

Also on top of the championship standings since the team's third-place Montreal podium, with 309 points Gurney and Fogarty take a bare eight-point lead in the Daytona Prototype standings heading into the season-ending  Oct. 10 Grand Prix of Miami at Homestead-Miami Speedway.

Having 301 points, Maxwell Angelelli (well, heck,  might as well, after "Americanizing" Sheckter and Verner) and Brian Frisselle, drivers of the No. 10 SunTrust Ford Dallara, separated themselves from a third-place Scott Pruett and Memo Rojas, No. 01 TELMEX Lexus Riley, by one point. Ten points cover the top-three DP driving teams with one race and no "pole" or "lap leader" points to be awarded.

"You can trust me, all three of us were pushing like crazy," Maxwell Angelelli said. "We absolutely, for two hours, were running like qualifying. It was the best I could do and I'm sure it was the same for the 99 and the 01. They all gave 100 percent, I have no doubts. I could see it."

And through what rearview mirror would that be, Maxwell?

Just about everyone else in the paddock and on pit road finishing short of first place were certain "The Red Devil" wasn't trying as hard as it could, the benefit of something other than human having picked up the slack.

"The only thing they can't do is win seven races like they did in 2007. They've managed a way to modify the Bosch electronics, I'm sure of it," one longtime sportscar team head said off the record. "They're a crafty bunch over there; doing it just enough and in such a way that (Rolex) series' officials aren't catching on."

PROTO-AUTO, LOLA ON THE VERGE?
According to a well-connected soul, antagonists Proto-Auto and Lola Cars (no, The Kinks had nothing to do with the name) will find a way to soon end the acrimony that has caused each to take up legal counsel in opposing the other - perhaps with enough time for Krohn Racing to load the transporters and head for Homestead-Miami Speedway and the season-ending Oct. 10 Miami Grand Prix.

After winning two races (above, at NJMP) and looking to keep its knowledge curve, um, curving (?) the team has tested at least once since Tracy Krohn absented his team from Rolex Series racing just before the August event at Circuit Gilles Villeneuve.

Later,

DC

DOWN IN THE VALLEY

 

ROJAS’ DEMISE PROVES TO BE WAY EARLY …

In the thick of a points battle needing all hands on board, Chip Ganassi Racing No. 01 Telmex Lexus-Riley driver Memo Rojas arrived in Salt Lake City Friday having fought bronchitis since Monday.

Apparently growing worse instead of improving after stints in his race car Friday, the air was ripe for concerns over Rojas’ health given swine flu’s steadily increasing negative drum beat accompanying  the North American continent’s charge into its annual flu season.

Throw in the driver’s visit to Miller Motorsports Park’s medical clinic and an additional late-Friday consultation with a medical doctor, the paddock’s rumor mill started churning out Rojas swine flu reports that spread faster than the virus itself.

Similar to those which once falsely proclaimed Mark Twain’s demise, actual word of Rojas medical condition proved to be much milder and the driver will be in the cockpit for today’s 3:30 p.m. Utah 250.

 

2010 SCHEDULE, CRYPTICALLY SPEAKING

At Miller Motorsports Park the 2010 Rolex Sports Car Series schedule is at the center of more conversations than illegal fueling methods but don’t look for the series’ 2010 dates to be officially released early enough for owners to provide sponsors with anything but cost-of-participation estimates for corporate budget makers – which thus makes such sponsorship even less likely to occur in an age wherein many are cutting expenses to the bone; on time.

For now, 2010 will get started a week later than usual with the Rolex 24’s test 6-miles inland from a 28-mile beach whereas another supposedly long beach won’t happen at all, having a paddock with an area also too small. It'll be a busier-than-usual late-winter and spring when one early season date absent this year returns next and one hot-and-sweaty date returns to cooler weather.

The northeastern tour will change slightly in form, having a partially new venue added; a long-established and otherwise thought “untouchable” late-spring date moving from one coast to another - the former date-holder for now tenuously clinging.

A midsummer’s night dream is made better with Coke, and a once-absent Left Coast date, possibly two, rejoin the show with a visit to a “second” Paris somewhere around. A false desert mirage thus far tenuously clings.

 

BAGHDAD BOB? DOES THIS MEAN WAR?

The American Le Mans Series and Grand American Road Racing evidently have ended whatever semblance of civility may have tenuously existed for the past 10 years between the North American sportscar sanctioning bodies, with name-calling between officials now supposedly entering the picture (fans have been way ahead on that curve).

Reportedly, those on the ALMS side have taken to referring to NASCAR communications VP Jim Hunter as “Baghdad Bob” after he posted an opinion piece on a company owned site that took issue with ALMS’ reported recent solicitation of Rolex Series teams.

Originally hung on former Iraqi Information Minister Mohammed Saeed al-Sahhaf, whose 2003 Gulf War news updates were widely ridiculed, “Baghdad Bob” most famously proclaimed there were no U.S. troops in Baghdad just before making like a sewer pipe and getting the crap out of the Iraqi capital as those supposedly nonexistent troops marched on government offices.

“I’ve been called worse,” Hunter said stoically.

 

DP CONSTRUCTORS MEET AT MILLER

If not seen elsewhere subsequent to a second 2009-season win at the Aug. 7 Watkins Glen International Crown Royal 250, Krohn Racing nonetheless had a presence at Miller Motorsports Park as team owner and Proto-Auto principal Tracy Krohn flew in for a meeting of Daytona Prototype constructors.

The DP future design being a principal focus of the talks, constructors as a group were reportedly disinclined of any immediate major bodywork changes, preferring instead to maintain the status quo “for another three years,” said one insider present at the talks.

“The formula is working so why change for the sake of it?” the participant said, preferring to remain nameless herein.

The constructors, some of whom were already in the midst of massaging current designs, seemed uniformly aligned on a matter that will be decided sometime in the coming months.

 

RACING’S PEAKS AND VALLEYS

Situated in a valley surrounded by mountain peaks on three sides and the Great Salt Lake to the north, one can’t but be reminded of a metaphor often associated with life’s highs and lows after the Koni Challenge’s Salt Lake City 200 Friday at Miller Motorsports Park.

Driving the GS-class Horsepower Ranch’s No. 61 Roush Valvoline Mustang, Jack Roush Jr. is on a high after he scored his first professional racing victory with co-driver Billy Johnson, who’s already been there and done that in five previous Koni races.

Roush, who many in the paddock thought simply to be on a personal kick upon first arrival, has since properly paid his dues and has consistently improved over the last few seasons, according to many seasoned observers and competitors.

In a hard-fought contest that didn’t much involve anyone other than the race-within-a-race’s top-two finishers, Dion von Moltke passed APR Motorsport teammate Josh Hurley with two laps remaining in the Street Tuner (ST) portion of the Salt Lake City 200, earning his and co-driver Mike Sweeney's third victory of the 2009 season.

The next morning, though, would prove deflating after Grand-Am officials in a post-race inspection the previous evening found numerous internal engine modifications that ran afoul of Koni Challenge rules. Unapparent superficially in the engine compartment, the noticeable changes were discovered only after officials tore down each of the first and second-place-finishing APR Motorsport Volkswagen engines.

The series had only recently changed the Volkswagen engines’ turbo-boost pressures and Koni officials’ alarm bells began loudly ringing during the race when it appeared the cars were otherwise unaffected, dominating the ST class.

Though not officially released as this is written, sources say APR’s two teams will be levied the Koni Challenge’s stiffest-ever fines and penalties for the infractions, if nothing else because Grand-am types didn’t leave the track until early Saturday morning.

Later,

DC

ON THE EDGE

 

 

It being “that” time of the year when schools reopen in full-tilt-boogie mode; Federal tax forms near the absolute, bottom-line deadline and driving along the southern edge of Great Salt Lake being a daily routine – for at least a few days, anyway - thoughts of course can’t but help to turn to …

GRAND-AM FUTURE IN DOUBT?

In its August 24, 2009, issue a weekly automobile magazine stated “ … according to rumors that refused to die” that future Lexus-badged engine participation in the Rolex Series’ Daytona Prototype class appeared over “unless funding is found.”

Frankly one would’ve thought the issue was settled at the series’ June Mid-Ohio event, considering Toyota Racing Development representatives stated the TRD-supported program would conclude at the end of the 2009 season.

Yet, having years ago shifted the “Lexus” engine’s production to East Coast engine-builder Don Miller, the TRD representative also said that while TRD research and development of the DP series engine had ceased, Miller wouldn’t be prohibited from building and supplying future TRD-based engines for the series.

But Wait, There’s More because the kicker of the whole magazine piece, though, was its highly trained professional assessment that the Rolex Series series might soon wreck out as a result.

“Earlier this year, General Motors, through the outgoing Pontiac brand, also pulled its factory support from the series, calling Grand-Am’s long-term future into question,” it read.

Oh, for goodness sakes, the world as we know it must be ending.

Well, maybe such ain’t a bad thing and, furthermore, perhaps even expected by a series that has for years clearly stated its intent was to break sportscar racing’s historic, almost masochistic dependency on manufacturers.

Breaking into the Rolex Sports Car Series when in late-2002 Darius Grala drove his red Toyota-powered FABCAR Daytona Prototype onto Daytona International Speedway’s high banks, Toyota Racing Development hasn’t exactly slacked since, having powered a combined six driving, team and manufacturer championships – not to mention three-straight Rolex 24 At Daytona endurance crowns.

TRD’s biggest problem? Most likely, it having proportionately demanded more cold cash for the use of its leased engines than that requested by other Rolex Series engine suppliers. (Did anyone else note the subtle shirt of the term used to describe from whence the engines come?)

While your basic building-block ingredients may well, but not always directly come from a manufacturer, an approved Grand-Am supplier is responsible for building, leasing and servicing those engines found in Daytona Prototype engine bays. Texas-based Lozano Brothers Porting, builders of the Porsche Cayenne V-8 used in the No. 90 AMA Pro Racing Coyote of Buddy Rice and Antonio Garcia, their first Cayenne race engine was derived from junkyard parts because Porsche wouldn’t sell the Lozano Brothers an engine block – or any other part.

Ford engines aren’t really “Ford” as much as Roush Yates Engines; “Honda” engines come from Bill Margraf and Computech; Infiniti from Menard; and, so on. Oh, and TRD’s engines? Don Miller – whose Toyota engine-building history started in 2000 with Eric Van Cleef and led to a 2003 NASCAR Goody’s Dash Series championship for five-time Dash champ Robert Huffman.

Whether TRD’s and Miller’s engine-building economies of scale are better or worse than others is anyone’s guess but Pontiac was known to heavily subsidize DP engine programs by providing sponsorship money to teams for acquisition and use of the GM-branded product. Ford, not Roush Yates, would slip a DP or two onto a seven-post and have one of its top aerodynamicists oversee the test. Thus, a team like Mike Shank Racing could put a Ford in its Riley engine bay and put both on a seven post rig mostly at Ford’s expense.

Even though GM/Chevrolet isn’t completely gone from the Rolex Series – it’s behind Johnny Stevenson’s two 2010 Chevrolet Camaros for the Acxiom GT class – the manufacturer’s roll has lessened substantially and, one could say, just about at a comfortable involvement level for the Rolex Series.

Sure, manufacturer involvement kicked the Daytona Prototype into gear in 2003, and the Acxiom GT to some extent later, but even their relatively small involvement - ‘cause we’re not talking whole cars, here -  started biting teams in the rear because the escalating cost of racing since 2003 has been found more in the engine bay than anywhere else. Seems to me that TRD has gone through at least three cam configurations since it joined the series – each new crank costing money to correctly dial it in.

Krohn Racing’s Jorge Bergmeister won the 2006 DP driving title with a Ford behind him. So with what engine manufacturer did Krohn go for its 2007 engines? Pontiac. Why? The overall cost of the engine program was lower than that of Ford’s. When Krohn later switched back to Ford, he candidly admitted he’d made a mistake with the Pontiac brand. For sure, he then got some 7-post time that may well have been instrumental in his wins at The Glen and New Jersey Motorsports Park in prior weeks.

Nope, this manufacturer going away thing will be both sweet and sour – but necessary if sportscar racing truly is to break the wildly oscillating cycle that for far too long has controlled the fortunes of tens-of-thousands of people.

And Grand-Am is doing exactly what it needs to do – and said it would.

Later,

DC

GAINSCO leaving Indy Pit

Jon Fogarty takes the No. 99 GAINSCO Auto Insurance Pontiac-Riley out onto IMS.

Rolex Series Indy Test Testers

Rolex Series Indy Test - John Pew

John Pew beauty shot on Indy front straight, if one can call it such.

Rolex Series Indy Test

Ricky Taylor at Indy. Look closely and you'll see Max Angelelli's name on a 'borrowed SunTrust suit.

Rolex Series Indy Test

Formula 1 course, 'slightly modified in Turn 8' will be the only course used during Indy test; MotoGP course out.

Threatening legal action at this point - which seems customary nowadays - should you have read through the above is rather inane, no?

Rolex Series Indy Test Driver's Meeting

THIS WEEK

 

OUTSIDE MIRROR: MONTREAL

Up on “Mount Penske” (Penske Racing’s towering pit box having only slightly lower elevation than that of nearby Mont Real) sitting to “The Captain” Roger Penske’s right during the Rolex Series race was 1989 NASCAR Sprint Cup champ Rusty Wallace, headset and all. Wallace’s departure from Raymond Beadle’s Blue Max Racing Team at the end of 1990 signaled its end and the beginning of Penske South (of which present-day Verizon Wireless No. 12  Porsche-Riley team director John Erickson also owned a piece). Wallace retired from Sprint Cup Racing at 2005’s conclusion but soon thereafter jumped in a 2006 Rolex 24 At Daytona ride, co-driving Howard-Boss’ Callaway Golf-sponsored Pontiac-Crawford with Danica Patrick, Alan McNish and Jan Lammers. Finishing 50th of the 66 cars starting the 2006 race, it was Wallace’s last DP driving effort but who may yet become a team owner as he is among many NASCAR owners reportedly taking a hard look at the Rolex Series.

Former Penske South and present-day Rusty Wallace Racing driver Brendan Gaughan is a personable sort who tends to make newfound acquaintances quickly feel like lifelong friends. Gaughan hadn’t previously raced on the Circuit Gilles Villeneuve and decided to maximize his experience there by teaming with Andy Lally in Kevin Buckler’s TRG No. 66 South Point Porsche GT-class racer. Pulling his stint and keeping the car from bouncing off Circuit Gilles Villeneuve’s walls, Gaughan successfully handed off to Lally who drove the car home to a second-place finish. Finishing ninth the next day in his No. 62 South Point Casino Nationwide Car, Gaughan claimed his sixth 2009 top-10 finish in that series.

Three different engine manufacturers were represented on each of the Rolex Series’ DP and GT Montreal podiums. In finishing order, DP had Ford, Porsche and Pontiac (still in business) and GT had Pontiac, Porsche and Mazda.

“I didn’t let him pass, I just didn’t want to wreck him,” said Ricky Taylor, who with first-shift driver Mike Forest and their No. 13 Beyer Racing Chevrolet-Riley came within less than one lap of claiming their first DP podium. Closing fast on Taylor was the No. 99 GAINSCO car of Alex Gurney (at the wheel) and Jon Fogarty. “They’re in the points fight and I didn’t see any point in potentially wrecking both of us out and tearing up good equipment with so little time left in the race,” the 21-year-old Taylor added while at Dorval/P.E. Trudeau International awaiting his return-flight home Sunday.

Scoring their highest finish thus far in the 2009 Rolex Series Daytona Prototype class were Romain Dumas and Timo Bernhard in the No. 12 Verizon Wireless Porsche-Riley. Finishing second at Montreal, the pair had previously finished with a third-best at New Jersey Motorsports Park.

Three drivers can now claim back-to-back Rolex Series wins at the 2.71- mile Circuit Gilles Villeneuve: Andrew Davis, Robin Liddell and Brian Frisselle. Driving Stevenson Motorsports’ No. 57 BryanMark Financial Pontiac, Davis and Liddell teamed for the win both years, while Frisselle with Mark Wilkins won last year in the No. 61 Aim Autosport Ford-Riley, this year teaming with Max Angelelli (who won the inaugural Montreal race in 2007) in the No. 10 SunTrust Ford Dallara.

TELMEX Chip Ganassi w/ Felix Sabates’ team director Tim Keene unabashedly claimed blame for the retrospectively ill-advisable rain-to-dry-to-rain tires in and around the time No. 01 Lexus-Riley starter Scott Pruett handed off to Memo Rojas. “I made the call and I’ll take the blame,” Keene said Tuesday while appearing on WELE 1380 AM’s Grand-Am Weekly radio show. Pruett and Rojas held a four-point lead coming into the Montreal race but ceded nine points by race end, dropping the pair into a second-place points tie with Angelelli and Frisselle (269 pt.), five-points behind a first-place Fogarty and Gurney (274). Keene also related as to how he, at the time a Target/Chip Ganassi Racing hauler driver, nearly took out Chip Ganassi and father Floyd Ganassi. “I almost lost my job,” Keene understated. Nevertheless, it’s pretty clear the Ganassi operation likes to promote from within.

For all the conspiracy theorists out there: Why didn’t SunTrust car-owner Wayne Taylor order son Ricky Taylor take out Alex Gurney in that last lap? About the only people who didn’t see Gurney coming on like a freight train are somewhere in Papua, New Guinea

Four Rolex Series Daytona Prototype teams have won two or more races in 2009: Angelelli and Frisselle (2 races); Pruett and Rojas (2); Nic Jönsson and Ricardo Zonta (2); while Gurney and Fogarty teamed for three victories.

With two events remaining on the Rolex Series 12-race 2009 schedule, the two 2009 Rolex Series season’s rain races - New Jersey Motorsports Park and Montreal - produced the two largest victory margins (47.752-seconds at NJMP and Montreal’s 1:01.264). The rest of the MOVs, added together, are less than either of the rain race margins. Well less.

Finishing fifth at Montreal and thus claiming their first top-5 since NJMP were David Donohue and Darren Law in their No. 58 Brumos Racing Porsche-Riley – after being sent to the field’s rear at race start for being 4-lb. underweight after qualifying.

Six drivers in four cars led laps at Montreal: Romain Dumas (20), Timo Bernhard (18), Jon Fogarty (15), Max Angelelli (12), JC France (1), Alex Gurney (1).

Saturday's race marked the ninth-time in 10 races thus far in the 2009 season that a car has won after having started in one of the two front rows.

Joe Foster and Charles Espenlaub captured their second fourth-place finish of the season in the No. 40 Dempsey Racing Mazda RX-8. Espenlaub led one lap before yielding the lead with a hairpin-turn spin but moved back into the top five by race end. Owner Patrick Dempsey said he’ll be back in the seat for the Sept. 17-18 Miller Motorsports Park race.

Eight drivers in seven cars led laps in GT: Tom Sutherland (20), Robin Liddell (18), Leh Keen (17), Sylvain Tremblay (3), Nick Ham (2), Eric Lux (2), Charles Espenlaub (1), Andy Lally (1).

Montreal was the third Rolex Series victory of the 2009 season for Liddell and Davis in the No. 57 BryanMark Financial/Stevenson Automotive Pontiac GXP.R. The team also won at Virginia International Raceway and Barber Motorsports Park.

In a matter of irony, Montreal was Pontiac's third GT victory of the season BUT 25th in Rolex Series GT competition all-time, tying the marquee with BMW for third all-time.

Coming off a victory earlier this month at Watkins Glen and sealing another podium at Montreal were a third-place Jeff Segal and Emil Assentato in the No. 69 FXDD Mazda RX-8 out of the SpeedSource stable.

 

THROUGH THE WINDSCREEN: INDY

Nine Rolex Series teams will participate in the historic test Thursday at Indianapolis Motor Speedway: five Daytona Prototypes and four Acxiom GT cars.

On familiar ground is 2004 Indianapolis 500 and 2009 Rolex 24 At Daytona winner Buddy Rice (who scored his Rolex 24 win with David Donohue, Darren Law and Antonio Garcia in the No. 58 Brumos Porsche-Riley). Rice will drive the No. 90 AMA PRO RACING Porsche-Coyote.

Scott Pruett and Memo Rojas, currently second in the Rolex Series championship points, will drive their CGRwFS No. 01 TELMEX Lexus-Riley.

Drawing the short straw for the test date was Jon Fogarty, who will share test duties with car-owner Bob Stallings – the latter having taken a few spins in the No. 99 GAINSCO/Bob Stallings Racing Pontiac Riley a couple of weeks ago  in Texas.

“Alex and I had an agreement to alternate test dates and I’m making him stick to it,” Fogarty said, noting that usual co-driver Alex Gurney tested in a short-notice Barber Motorsports Park July test.

“Huh!? Are you kidding? I’m driving Indy, man,” Stallings said in answer to the obvious.

Wayne Taylor and oldest son Ricky Taylor will test the No. 10 SunTrust Racing Ford-Dallara while Michael Valiante, John Pew and Michael Shank will share honors and duties in the No. 6 Michael Shank Racing Ford Riley.

Coming off their Circuit Gilles Villeneuve win in Montreal, Andrew Davis and Robin Liddell and their No. 57 Stevenson Motorsports Pontiac GXP.R lead the Acxiom GT teams, which include class points-leader Leh Keen and co-driver Dirk Werner in the No. 87 Farnbacher Loles Racing Porsche GT3; Spencer Pumpelly and Kevin Buckler in the No. 66 or 67 TRG Porsche GT3; and, Sylvain Tremblay in the No. 70 SpeedSource Castrol Syntec Mazda RX-8.

Fogarty could’ve been at Indy years ago when he was offered but turned down a Letterman Rahal Racing ride for 2004 – the same team for whom Rice drove in the former’s victory there. Funky, huh?

In a dream-come-true for Shank, he’ll finally drive at-speed at a place where he’s wanted to go fast for a very long time.

“I can’t tell you what it means to me to do this,” Shank said, who recently said he’s thinking of fielding a IndyCar Series team for some or all of the 2012 season.

“And, no, I’m not leaving the Rolex Series,” he said. “I’m just doing what a few others like Roger Penske and Chip Ganassi already are doing. The Rolex Series has been good to my bottom line; I’ll be there forever.”

The test, originally scheduled for Aug. 18, went from a super-secret three-car DP test to a “happening,” where IRL, NASCAR and still other Rolex Series and sportscar stars and players are seeking entree.

“We’ve been deluged with credential requests,” Grand-Am president Roger Edmondson said earlier this week. “It’s looking like quite the place to be but, wouldn’t you know it, I’ve got to be at the AMA Pro Racing’s final (2009) race and championship ceremony at New Jersey (Motorsports Park).”

Heck, I ain’t missing it.

Later,

DC

DON’T, JUST DON’T

 

Carl Edwards – the NASCAR star who wrecked Doran’s No. 77 Aflac Ford-Dallara Daytona Prototype in his and co-driver Marcos Ambrose’s debut in the Rolex Sports Car Series presented by Crown Royal Cask No. 16 at Montreal – had all sorts of reasons to be bummed out about his racing weekend at Circuit Gilles Villeneuve.

He had every reason to quit. First, since graduating to NASCAR, he’s not scored a road-course win. While Edwards has done decently by many standards, that he could over his career thus far win on ovals and capture championships while still failing to get even one road-course win grated him.

Then, there was the terrible embarrassment of Saturday’s Rolex Sports Car Series race, where he jumped on the gas a little too hard – at the time “he was putting in his usual 104-percent when he probably needed to do about 98,” is how Kevin Doran described it -  just about one turn before he’d get off the gas and cruise in to assume his 8th-place grid spot. Imagine how Edwards must’ve felt at that final quiet moment when all the noise abruptly ceased as he sat still in the No. 77 Alfac Ford-Dallara’s cockpit.

Edwards could’ve gone through the motions in Sunday’s Nationwide Series race on the same track and drove his CitiFinancial No. 60 Roush Fenway Racing Ford to another respectable finish and taken home the resulting paycheck and, perhaps, gain a couple or three points on Nationwide Series leader Kyle Busch.

Yet, he shared a common trait that’s seen again and again in winners and champions in whatever endeavor, they just don’t quit. Not quitting isn’t a guarantor of success, but it’s much like the salesman’s credo: “You can’t possibly get a ‘yes’ if you aren’t willing to hear a ‘no.’” Edwards said as much after he won Sunday’s Nationwide Series race.

Here’s a guy for nearly all of that race followed a now-competing Ambrose, sometimes well back in the field, lap after lap and, at times, was sure there was no way Ambrose could be headed by anyone, much less he.

And yet, at the last turn of the final lap, Ambrose bobbled and Edwards slid into the lead. Some say Ambrose handed Edwards the victory but the latter couldn’t have possibly won it if he’d given up at any time beforehand.

“That’s the lesson, I guess,” Edwards said, “You don’t give up.”

Later,

DC

AFTER THE CRASH

 

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