AND THE WINNER IS . . .

 

Seven-hours, 55-minutes and about one-hard-turn (from eastbound Interstate 10 to southbound I-95) away from Pensacola, Fla., and well away from its reported floating, beach-fowling oil goo is Daytona Beach, Fla. – the location of a recently contested Round 8 of the Grand-Am Rolex Sports Car Series presented by Crown Royal Cask No. 16.

Seventeen hours, 17-minutes and at least a few more rights-and-lefts to the northeast of Daytona International Speedway is New Jersey Motorsports Park, where the “NJMP 250 Presented by Crown Royal” is next on the 2010 Rolex Sports Car Series Presented by Crown Royal Cask No. 16 schedule and where Michael Shank Racing’s No. 60 Crown Royal XR will go for its third-consecutive podium.

With a prospective record-tying seventh victory now in Scott Pruett and Memo Rojas’ sights, a historical first would be next on the No. 01 TELMEX BMW-Riley’s agenda.

Perhaps aiding a stymie, though, is the allure of the Pirelli P Zero Bonus Award distributing $20,000, $25,000 or $5,000 to a first-time winning DP or GT team (exactly the manner of the monetary award’s calculation and distribution eludes yours truly, but he didn’t do very well in Logic 101, either. Still, “thanks” to Pirelli for bellying up, even if “how” ain’t exactly clear and “don’t you think it’s time we stop now, what’s that sound, everybody look what’s going down” . . . (oops, sorry, just an Ol’ DC flashback, but thanks just the same, Buffalo Springfield).

WOULD YOU TAKE DRIVING LESSONS FROM THIS GUY?

Over on the Rolex Series’ Grand Touring side there’s a tenacious Andy Lally, who with co-driver R.J. Valentine won the July 3 Brumos Porsche 250 at Daytona International Speedway in The Racers Group No. 66 Advanced Aerosol Acquisition Porsche GT3 – something TRG’s previously accomplished a few times at Daytona.

On the other hand, SpeedSource’s Emil Assentato and Jeff Segal (No. 69 FXDD Mazda RX-8) must be thinking Lally is either a bad dream that won’t go away or something akin to a Jack Russell Terrier (the AKC Terrier Group’s non-explanation, by the way, as to why the Jack Russell is excluded or not excluded from the AKC also failing to penetrate this writer’s thick skull).

Thankfully for Lally, TRG Racing appears to be his home for the season’s remainder, considering it’s the fourth racing team for which he’s competed in 2010.

Through eight races, Lally (in order) has driven for TRG (3^rd, Rolex 24; 8^th, HMS); Matt Connolly Motorsports (15^th, Barber); TRG (1^st, VIR); Banner Racing (5^th, Lime Rock Park); TRG (1^st, The Glen); Team Sahlen (8^th, Mid-O); and TRG, again (1^st, Brumos 250).

Apparently on a mission (you think?) to win the championship, no matter beauty, Lally has scored four podiums (winning three) in his five 2010 races with TRG: Ted Ballou along for the ride at VIR; Bob Doyle and Spencer Pumpelly in The 6 Hours of The Glen; and, R.J. Valentine (far right, with Lally)at Daytona’s Brumos Porsche 250 – teaming again with Valentine and TRG for the July 16-18 Crown Royal 250 at New Jersey Motorsports Park. Should Lally and Valentine also win on Thunderbolt’s 2.25-mile track, Assentato and Segal, who in 2010 only once finished outside of the top 5, will need to finish fifth or better so as to retain first place in the points championship hunt.

In seven sportscar championship runs since the turn of the century, Lally has won three and placed second in four but, apparently, isn’t at all into “sharing” and wants still another championship as he gamely throws everything possible (hint: find Bill Auberlen and just ask “V-I-R?”) and available – Porsche (5 races), Corvette (2) and Mazda (1) into the pursuit.

You, too, can learn Lally’s best apex-finding move, if not his mental focus or spectacular VIR PIT maneuver, at the same place he’s racin’ this weekend – though at another time. Lally, occasional co-driving teammate Pumpelly and TRG Racing Queso Grande Kevin Buckler, the first driver to win the Rolex 24 At Daytona, 24 Hours of Le Mans and the Porsche Cup, have commenced teaching, demonstrating and exposing the art of racing to envious wannabes at TRG’s newly opened NJMP “Immersion” racing school.

OH, YES, THE DP WINNER . . .

(. . . un tramposo, oviamente, y . . .)

. . . despite being ordered to carry anew what roughly equated a half-tank of gas (weight-wise), Pruett and Rojas put Chip Ganassi Racing with Felix (y José) Sabates’ No. 01 TELMEX BMW-Riley in the 2010 Brumos Porsche 250’s Victory Lane.

Despite an attempt to slow the TELMEX juggernaut with Technical Bulletin #2010-06 and more than a few observers muttering an “Uh-huh, see?” after Rojas qualified fifth (as compared to first in 2009 – with a different engine) for Brumos Porsche 250 pole, Rojas and Pruett proceeded to put petal to metal for 295.48 miles over Daytona International Speedway’s 3.56-mile road course, combining to lead 40 of the race’s 83 laps (and, elsewhere, provided yet more fodder for a copy editors’ mangling).

Additionally, Rojas recorded the TELMEX’ fast lap (1:42.817) on Lap 6. You know Rojas, right? Really, “right.”  He’s the guy who wears an almost identical driver’s fire suit to that of Pruett’s but who rarely, if ever, is provided post-race TV “comment” time. (Heck, he’d probably speak ‘Mexican,’ anyway, especially to all those prospective Hispanic audience members who presently constitute the United States’ largest minority group and who, historically, enjoy open-wheel and sportscar racing.)

Following the team’s first victory in 2004 at Le Circuit Mont Tremblant, the No. 01 Riley Daytona Prototype of Pruett and Rojas scored a number of “milestone” victories. Teamed first with Max Papis (at left) as co-driver and (mostly) a Lexus engine behind, Pruett and his co-drivers have since won better than 1-in-4 DP races, including the Daytona Prototype’s 50^th (Pruett, Luis Diaz at Watkins Glen short course, 2006), 75^th (Pruett, Rojas at Barber Motorsports Park, 2008) and with the Brumos Porsche 250, the 100^th race – competed where the DP era began in 2003 at Daytona International Speedway. Dare one omit TELMEX team manager Tim Keene, who’s been hanging around the Grand-Am paddock since the beginning of 2004?

Yet, should one think CGR’s winning percentage to be overbearing on this side of the fence, be thankful Team Ganassi has but one car presently in the Rolex Series.

In 2009, Target Chip Ganassi Racing’s Scott Dixon and season-ending IndyCar champion Dario Franchitti evenly split 10 of 17 races won, following a 2008 season in which Dixon won the championship on the strength of a record-tying six race victories, among which was that year’s Indianapolis 500. Pruett and Rojas need win only two of the remaining four races to secure a record compilation of single-season wins, eight, besting Jon Fogarty and Alex Gurney’s seven 2007-season wins, which propelled the two GAINSCO Auto Insurance drivers to that year’s Rolex Series DP driving championship (with a 2009 championship to follow).

AND THE SECOND-PLACE CAR WAS . . .

. . . yet another BMW-powered car.

Poor Steve Dinan, who for years toiled and paid some serious dues (a necessity to sing the blues) as he showed at each race, knowing one team after another would likely put forth great effort though imparting meager results, in the process going from often seeing faces once looking to console but, given Dinan’s success, now are inclined to damn.

Part of a one-two Dinan engine sweep at Daytona, finishing second in the Brumos Porsche 250 driving Starworks Motorsport's No. 8 Corsa Car Care/Xtreme Indoor Karting BMW-Riley were Ryan Dalziel and Mike Forest, the former returning to second place in the DP driving championship points standings following a one-race hiatus. Forest and Dalziel combined to lead 13 laps (3 and 10, respectively) but, as importantly, ran good enough to finish second on, give or take, about half of the first-place-car’s budget.

Dalziel, who posted his team’s fastest lap (1:43.129) on Lap 39, probably best summed what everyone else must do: “Now I’ve got to go out and win some races” so as to even possibly win the driving championship.

Team-owner Peter Baron will give his all to do just that, yet, will such effort be enough to overtake a team which in 2010 has only once finished out of the top two? The way this writer sees it, Pruett and Rojas need only to score a ninth-place or better in each of the remaining races to win their first title since 2008. (see points-possibility grid here)

Occupying third was the Brumos Porsche 250’s first non-BMW powered Riley, driven by Ozz “Rocky” Negri (left) and John “300” Pew in their Michael Shank Racing No. 60 Crown Royal XR Ford-Riley. Heading into next week’s New Jersey Motorsports Park race – where Negri with Mark Patterson scored a win in 2008 (Pew teamed with Ian James that year to finish 7^th at NJMP) and given the back-to-back podiums at Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course and Daytona, one suspects the No. 60 Crown Royal car is on a roll. With an 87-point lead on Tracy Krohn, Pew has started pulling away, but hasn’t sewn up the race for the Jim Trueman award.

 

COULDA, SHOULDA, WOULDA . . .

Driving the No. 59 Brumos Racing Porsche-Riley, David Donohue and Darren Law crossed the Brumos Porsche 250 finish line in fourth, 47-seconds behind the race’s victors. An early race pit stop’s unsure seating of a lug nut caused the No. 59 to immediately follow with a second pit stop so as to assure its safety – likely costing more time than that which at race end separated first and fourth places.

Ricky Taylor, (below) driver of the Brumos Porsche 250 pole-sitting No. 10 SunTrust Ford-Dallara and race leader of 13 laps. Dauntlessly handling his driving duties after earlier this year being thrown into the deep end, Taylor not only is learning at the University of Central Florida but at the School of Hard Knocks, too, his having been the object of a deft PIT maneuver played by someone other than Andy Lally. All of 20-years in age, Taylor’s knowledge acquisition (and disappointments) in the present will make for one seriously cagey future driver.

Nope, couldn’t avoid another mention of Jon Fogarty, now could we? The No. 99 GAINSCO Auto Insurance (Childress) Chevrolet-Riley driver apparently befuddled even GAINSCO team owner Bob Stallings, who offered consternated apologies after Fogarty nudged Taylor from the track, which over the next couple of laps immediately drew a stop-and-go penalty that, in turn, led to a subsequent pit-road speeding violation and an additional stop-and-go. For good measure, Fogarty cracked first gear after serving the second penalty.

Bellying up to the Brumos Porsche 250’s “Bar of Woe” was at least two members of AIM Autosport’s No. 61 Pacific Mobile/BioSign Ford-Riley team. Team engineer Ian Willis, recently praised by an esteemed motorsports writer for having sat out the Rolex 24 at Daytona in favor of competing the season’s remainder, thinks sitting out the this year’s Rolex 24 wasn’t at all smart, given the tire, aerodynamic and mechanical-grip data not carried from Daytona’s frigid winter to its blistering summer. Driver Mark Wilkins (right) is the other, claiming fault for the team finishing 7-laps down in 24^th overall (11^th of 13 in class) and dropping from second to third in the DP driving championship. Still interesting was the car’s soaring front-end, un-guided missile launch.

Caught up in the Brumos Porsche 250’s apparent “PIT fever” was Adam Christodoulou who, according to Grand-Am officials, used the nose of his No. 68 MazdaSpeed Motorsports car to effectively end his (and co-driver John Edwards’) day, as well as that of the No. 07 AirJax.com/Mobil 1 Corvette, at the time driven by Scott Russell (shared with Paul Edwards), who evidently is starting to get the hang of this sporty car stuff because others are starting to take him out. (Nah, race car drivers wouldn’t do such a thing.)

Jordan Taylor, second son of Wayne (and Shelley) Taylor and younger brother to Ricky, has yet to be dislodged this season from the GT grid’s front. Still, Jordan Taylor and his Racers Edge Motorsports No. 30 3-dimensional.com/IDEMITSU Mazda RX-8 have only twice finished on following podiums (Barber Motorsports Park and Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course, respectively 2^nd and 3^rd). Averaging an 8.5-place finish, the driver is 9th in Grand Touring points.

HEADING TO NJMP

The first of the four remaining 2010 Rolex Series races, New Jersey Motorsports Park’s two past Rolex Series races has produced two winning teams: 2008, Ozz Negri and Mark Patterson (MSR No. 60 Ford-Riley); and, 2009, Nic Jönsson and Ricardo Zonta (Krohn Racing No. 76 Ford-Lola at right).

Finishing second each year was the No. 10 SunTrust Dallara – first as a Pontiac, then a Ford – with two Porsche flat-six Riley Daytona Prototypes following in third (Alex Job Racing, 2008; Penske Racing, 2009) and fourth (Brumos Racing No. 59, 2008; Brumos Racing No. 58, 2009).

With 45 lead laps, 2008 co-winner Ozz Negri is the NJMP lap leader. David Donohue that same year posted the second-highest lap count and retains that position going into this weekend’s race. 2009 co-winner Ricardo Zonta is third with 30 lead laps while his 2009 driving partner, Nic Jönsson, is fourth with 22 laps in the lead. The only other driver having recorded double-digit lead laps, Timo Bernhard, rounds out the top five with 14 (2009). Interestingly, none of 2008’s lap leaders made the 2009 list.

In 2008, AIM Autosport’s No. 61 Ford-Riley with Mark Wilkins at the wheel captured the DP pole with a 1:11.761, followed by Michael Valiante’s Pontiac-Dallara’s 1:12.023. Adding a chicane at a hill-cresting Turn 3 section for the 2009 race (though total track distance remained a constant 2.25 mi.), Penske Racing’s Romain Dumas, driving a Porsche-Riley, took the 2009 DP pole with a 1:14.057, while Scott Pruett and his Lexus-Riley was second fastest at 1:14.265,

GT front rows went to: 2008 – Bryan Sellers, 1:19.024 (Pole, TRG Porsche) and (at left) Andrew Davis (OP, 1:19.261, Stevenson Pontiac); 2009 – Kelly Collins, 1:21.369 (Pole, Banner Pontiac) and Andrew Davis, 1:21.443 (OP, Stevenson Pontiac).

Andy Lally and Tim George Jr. won the 2008 NJMP GT race in their TRG Porsche, while Dirk Werner and Leh Keen won the 2009 race in a Farnbacher Loles Porsche.

GT’s top-five NJMP lap leaders (name, lap totals) are: Andy Lally, 48; Ryan Phinny, 34, 2008; Dirk Werner, 22, 2009; Spencer Pumpelly, 17, 2009; Patrick Barrett (2008) and Leh Keen (2009), 16.

Including this year’s July 16-18 event, the NJMP races have yet to recur on the same calendar date; the first having occurred Aug 29-31, 2008, and the second on May 1-3, 2009.

The 2008 race was thought too dry, the 2009 race hardly so. For this weekend’s race The Old Farmer’s Almanac predicts it’ll be hot with thunderstorms and sunny skies intermingling. The National Weather Service says race-day afternoon temperatures will be in the upper-80’s, maybe lower-90’s, with about a 25-percent chance of precipitation despite a 50-percent cloud cover.

Four Grand-Am races will be held (remember the “race within the race”) over the weekend, with two championship  points fights – Rolex Series DP and Continental Tire Sports Car Challenge’s GS – in serious danger of soon becoming yawners while two – Rolex Series’ GT and Continental Tire Sports Car Challenge’s ST – are tight and the outcomes of which could produce new points leaders.

On the way to the NJMP weekend, Wayne Taylor (SunTrust Racing) and David Klym (FABCAR) share a birthday Thursday, though originally occurring a few years apart.

Mark Patterson, who won the inaugural NJMP race with Ozz Negri in 2008, appears headed for slightly more DP seat time that of the originally forecast races at Daytona and The Glen, and it’s possible such may begin at NJMP . . . but with an altogether different team than that with which he’s been most commonly associated. You figure it out.

Later,

DC