Rolex 24 hours....

[studemax]

Anyone watch parts of this years race? Two big rain delays (the last cancelled the race). Wayne Taylor and Cadillac won again. The Ford GT team looked bitchin, that dark red Mazda looked the shit, and you will probably see far too much of that red and black PLAID Porsche....It looked like it was wearing jammies....

[pdub]

Missed it this time. Just plain flat missed it. That was super fun to watch on TV the week after we'd run Red there some years ago. In comparison, LOOK how fast they're going! Just amazing. I wouldn't have understood how fast they go having not been there. Those guys haul BUTT.

[Big Dave]

I watched about 16 hrs of it. The rain came and it poured but in the dry racing was outstanding but weather is always in play when it comes to racing. I actually went to the Rolex 24 several years ago hope to get back there again a sporting event. Fans can go into garage area anytime, watching these crews working on these cars through the night is amazing.

[pdub]

The garage area at Daytona is a true antique, a throwback. Walking around there you fan actually feel it, the history. As big as the facility is, it's a lot bigger for the fans than it is for the race teams. Parking becomes an issue when all the rookies come to town to go out and play. I still don't know yet where the Yellow Corvette Club was hiding, they just magically showed up from somewhere when it was time to stage up. En Force. I think maybe they were all holed up in a motel in Orlando and all had their timing so perfect, they just "knew" when to show up roll out.

[Gateclyve Photographic]

Too much rain delay this year.

Also, the "Bagman" and "Pistol Pete" on the Sirius/XM NASCAR channel 90 are totally wrong about adding a "stock car' class to the 24 with joint NASCAR-IMSA sanction. It would be totally awesome. Many of the mega-funded superteams (e.g Penske, Ganassi) already compete in the 24 and have enough drivers in their "pipeline to staff four drivers to a car.

There's also no real risk that fans would confuse a 24 hour road course race with multiple drivers in the cars and three or four other classes of cars also on track with the Daytona 500 (one of Bagman's silly strawman arguments)

A 24-hour NASCAR race NEEDS TO HAPPEN and there's no better place for it than the well-established and self-supporting Rolex 24 in January. Besides IMSA and NASCAR are both owned by the Frances and adding a couple dozen cup drivers to the event will drive the gate and the ratings (Historically proven when the Earnhardts and other NASCAR stars appeared).

What NASCAR is probably worried about is that fans of "stock cars" (chortle, chortle) would probably be shocked at how much slower NASCAR cup cars are than most of the normal IMSA stuff.

What might be even better is for the NASCAR drivers to run the Rolex 24 in more stock-based FIA GT4-type cars such as are currently run in the IMSA Michelin SportsCar Challenge, But then the risk to that is a GT4 is almost an actual stock car and it would point out how much the NASCAR cup car is unnecessary for great competition.

[pdub]

I've got to say, that road course at Daytona is total mortal fun. That is a blast. I'll bet that's more fun than running whole laps on the big track. It IS, that's FUN.

[Gateclyve Photographic]

I've got to say, that road course at Dayton is total mortal fun. That is a blast. I'll bet that's more fun than running whole laps on the big track. It IS, that's FUN.

No doubt. BTW, one of the things I liked about Tom McCahill's stuff in the 1960s Mechanix Illustrated magazines was how often he used his position as a Daytona International Speedway board member to test bone-stock new cars flat out on the high banks. No way they'd allow such hijinks now.

[tedly]

Didn't watch it, but you got me curious with the plaid Porsche comment, so I had to look it up. Is this what you are talking about? If so I'm not completely against it. I know, I'm weird. I can't imagine 2 different plaid Porsches though.

[tedly]

OK, I was wrong. There IS at least one more plaid Porsche.

[studemax]

Yes, the red plaid is the one I referred to....

[pdub]

Yes, the red plaid is the one I referred to....

Stude, thanks for the subject line of the thread. Jogging memories. Dang I just so completely forgot to watch the Rolex 24 this time. Somebody remind me next year. Like Big Dave, I'd be in the 16-Hour Club watching it. Dang, I missed it.

[Gateclyve Photographic]

pdub you could make up most of the experience by parking Red under a car cover on a rainy day, watching it sit through a security camera system with a wet Daytona pit lane "blue screened" in, and listening to the BBC on shortwave .(or Radio Le Mans http://www.radiolemans.co/ ) . . . .

Given the huge number of caution flags and hours of red flags (not to mention some drivers who apparently didn't get a stint), no one probably ought to get credit for the full 24.

Don't forget the 87th 24 Hours of Le Mans (24 Heures du Mans) is June 15-16, 2019 . . . .

[pdub]

That danged road course at Daytona.......that is just too much fun. I'm glad I don't live any closer to it. I'd have to sell the house to keep paying track fees. That's the only place I've ever run every run of the day. There's a point when I've had "enough" at the end of the day. Especially the last run of the day when they let EVERYBODY out there, everybody. The rocket ship pilots and the handicapped folks as well, all on the track at the same time. That's a dangerous mix. I've never done that at any other track other than at Daytona. That place is so much fun it's even fun to get your doors blown off by faster cars. And there's enough room on the track to do it (blow doors off).

Sue Unit wanted to go back to the motel (right across the road from the track). I took her there and I said, "I'm going back to the track." Damn that was fun. Super deluxe fun.

[antmnte]

I've been twice. Really good time! It's nice you can leave for a while,go eat or something then go back. Great variety of cars too.

[pdub]

Driving at Daytona is a tremendous deal. Being able to get in at all. I've posted this video before, boring stuff. But the view of the track coming out Turn 4 into the tri-oval is just breathtaking. The camera doesn't do it justice. What a view.

And that yellow Dodge wouldn't get out of the way for a long time. I didn't have enough to blow him away but I finally made him give up after a few laps. If anything I was out-braking him, which is a major part of the road course scene, too. This is the last thing I did with Red before we put the blower on him. In this video his drivetrain is bone stock, but I think I had the MagnaFlow exhaust on him, and that was it. Brakes, yes. Definitely brakes.

Dang, this is making me want to do all of that again. No no no no........NO....NO.