Brumos 250 at Daytona Thursday Night!

[billnchristy]

Another round of the Rolex series is coming up, a 250 miler at Daytona starting in the evening and going into the night.

http://www.grandamerican.com/Events/Event.asp?ID=84

entry list: (56 cars entered)
http://www.grandamerican.com/Events/...asp?EventID=84

live timing and scoring:
http://grandamerican.vfx.com/Rolex/G...erican_800.asp

event schedule (its with NASCAR so its packed pretty tight)

P1 06/30 9:00 AM
P2 06/30 11:45 AM
Q 06/30 1:00 PM
R 06/30 7:15 PM

All time EST

No time to fix the car if you screw it up!!
This race was amazingly good and close last year, this year should be no different...

Big news:
Dyson entered again
Tony Stewart and Andy Wallace team up in 20 Crawford
25 DPs entered, 31 GT
2 New Pontiac GTO-R entered by TRG
10 Non-Porsche GT cars (4 GTO, 4 BMW, 2 Corvette)
New Riley team using Kyle Petty as 2nd driver

[Silk Cut Jaguar]

I really wish they'd broadcast Grand Am over here in the UK, looks like a great series.

[billnchristy]

I believe race world still shows recaps!?!

[Danske]

The TRG GTO-R's are the factory Pontiac Pratt & Miller-built cars that are going to destroy the series, BTW.

Last year the Howard-Boss Crawfords shook things up by going on a one-stop fuel strategy. It was dramatic for them to take the lead when everyone else pitted and then stay out...and stay out...and stay out. Chip Ganassi got a little agitated over that and came within a hair's breath of accusing them of cheating. Heh. It may be interesting to see if everyone can make one stop work this time around. The infield has been repaved, so perhaps that will result in teams trimming-out the cars more and make a one-stop strategy work for everyone. If not that may be a key to winning.

This race is also the second race on the new specification of Hoosier tires. The Howard-Boss team whinged a lot about the introduction of the new tire at the last race (partially justified whinging, in my estimation), and they may have recovered from the change.

This is the first track to be revisited by teams and drivers new to the series this year, so there may be a few surprises from that. Hmm, if I'm expecting them then they're not surprises. No matter.

[TheNewBob]

Originally Posted by Danske

Hmm, if I'm expecting them then they're not surprises. No matter.

Philosophy like that is just mind-bogglingly upside down and back to front to me lol...

[Danske]

Originally Posted by TheNewBob

Philosophy like that is just mind-bogglingly upside down and back to front to me lol...

I suppose a particular surprise may not be expected but also not un-expected.

Wanna hear my theology?

[cybersdorf]

Originally Posted by Danske

I suppose a particular surprise may not be expected but also not un-expected.

Wanna hear my theology?

Hell no!

[Danske]

Looks like it may be raining at the track tomorrow for the practice sessions if not the race. With all sessions compressed into one day and the repaved infield the rain will complicate matters.

[19dodge]

for sure. its going to be a very interesting race, since its all in one day!

I have written a preview to this race, you can find it here

[billnchristy]

very nice article! Cant wait til tomorrow night! Its gonna kick off a really good weekend of racing, GA, then SWC and ALMS on Monday!

[19dodge]

thanks

i just noticed that the race will start 45 mins before the SPEED coverage comes on, , so it will be on a ~50 min delay.. well, it wont be too bad i guess, its better than showing it a week later!

[Danske]

Just an idle thought, the NASCAR boys did well in the wet in 2004, IIRC, so rain may produce some other not entirely unexpected surprises. I wonder if driving a stockcar has some similarities to driving in the wet. Hmm, sudden moves are unproductive and once grip is lost it's hard to get back? Well, rain certainly lowers the performance of the cars, so that is more stockcar-like.

[billnchristy]

I think the delay is to put it right into prime time...i gotta remember not to watch live timing though...i usually have it and the track web radio on next to me...but this time it will spoil it!

[billnchristy]

Top 10 in session 1:
01,10,02,2,4,20,6,8,99,66

GT Top 5:
21,36,73,61,80

Top time 1:45.8 for DP and 1:56.7 for GT
4 second dif. practice 1 comparo for DP and barely a dif. at all for GT

[billnchristy]

http://www.grandamerican.com/News/Article.asp?ID=4532
practice notes for session 1...lots of happenings.

session 2 starts at 11:45 EST, just a few minutes away.

[Danske]

Funny to see the Dyson Crawford at the bottom of the order way behind its sister Howard-Boss cars. They're still only 104% of the fastest time set by the #01 Ganassi Riley, which has a hefty 0.5s advantage over second-fastest. The 0.5sec gap between first and second is the largest gap in DP between any two adjacent positions. There's a whole host of gaps that begin 0.0 or 0.1. We've got about one second difference between third and thirteenth in DP in the first practice.

[billnchristy]

Qualifying is done:

heres the links for the sessions and notesp1,p2,qual)
http://www.grandamerican.com/Events/...?SessionID=526
http://www.grandamerican.com/Events/...?SessionID=527
http://www.grandamerican.com/Events/...?SessionID=528

Good to see all 4 chassis maufacturers in the top 10:

Riley 1,2,3,4,6
Crawford 5,7
Doran 8,9
Fabcar 10

Should make for a great race!!

Also good to see the GTO-Rs running well but not dominating...lets see what happens during the race, either P&M learned to sandbag better or GA did a better job at keeping the reins on them.

[19dodge]

yea, i thougt the GTO.R's would be faster, but i guess they are still in development a bit. It will certainly make for a great race tonight!

[GP Racer]

Finally, something to watch on Speed Channel during the week!

Can't wait!

[billnchristy]

A great race...as usual...

#4 Crawford wins followed by the 10 and 66

[19dodge]

yep, the races are always exciting. my little race report is up and online


http://www.the-paddock.net/index.php...99f3b34645f6b1

[FIRE]

Why do they race on Thursday?

[chocmonster7]

Originally Posted by Silk Cut Jaguar

I really wish they'd broadcast Grand Am over here in the UK, looks like a great series.

As Bill says the Raceworld show on Sky shows very edited highlights quite a while after the event but it's better than nothing.

Problem I have is that I don't have Sky+ and keep forgetting to watch/tape the programme!

[19dodge]

Originally Posted by FIRE

Why do they race on Thursday?

Because Nascar has to occupy the track for Friday and Saturday for their races there.

[GP Racer]

I really enjoyed this race. The DP's are great to watch at these sprint distances. Alot of great passing moves and action throughout the race, with alot of lead changes. Great stuff! I also think these cars have really evolved into some great looking machines.

This looked like the best crowd I've ever seen at a GARRA race. I know it was mostly NASCAR fans, but I think they had to be pretty impressed with the show that they put on. I'm sure that GARRA made a few new fans last night...