Wallace, Stewart and Earnhardt Jr. @ Daytona

jhansen · 3 Jan 2004, 00:19 (Ref:826090)

If this has been covered already sorry for the repeat. I checked around and didn't see it on here. Here's the link.

http://www.crash.net/uk/en/news_view...d=26&nid=83147

This definitely makes the grade in marketing 101. Nice PR move for the Grand Am folks.

**skycafe** · 3 Jan 2004, 00:51 (Ref:826112)

Yea, we heard originally that Dale Jr. was going to do Daytona with Friesinger in a Porsche GT3, but I think that was before the Porsche restrictions, and also you have to think there was a lot of 'something' going on in back rooms.

jhansen · 3 Jan 2004, 00:53 (Ref:826115)

That's probably putting it mildly, but I concur.

**skycafe** · 3 Jan 2004, 01:03 (Ref:826122)

Jimmie Johnson now signed up to drive in a DP also.

paul-collins · 3 Jan 2004, 01:08 (Ref:826126)

Quote:

Originally posted by skycafe
Yea, we heard originally that Dale Jr. was going to do Daytona with Friesinger in a Porsche GT3, but I think that was before the Porsche restrictions, and also you have to think there was a lot of 'something' going on in back rooms.

As far as restrictions go, Freisinger already knew about the fuel cells - this rumour surfaced in September.

What they did not know was that Grand Am were not going to allow the new 911GT3 RSR.

And, yes, there was a blanket offer to teams from ISC - there would be unnamed "NASCAR drivers" available.

**skycafe** · 3 Jan 2004, 01:23 (Ref:826131)

I was wondering about timing on fuel cell. I didn't recall. It would have been rather humorous if Dale Jr. won Daytona 24 Hour in a Porsche!

Grand Am could really take off if they could get the NASCAR stars in there type of guest appearances. The NASCAR schedule stops that idea as there are way too many conflicts.

Could you spin some of the Busch races off to run on their own, run the Grand Am's with NASCAR guests on Saturdays at the roval tracks, and have Nextel on Sunday? Big challenges with track configurations and such, but I wonder if that would get them a bigger audiance for Grand Am?

jhansen · 3 Jan 2004, 01:29 (Ref:826134)

Why not pair Grand Am up with the two regular road course races at Sonoma and Watkins Glen? That seems like a no brainer.

And I agree, pulling in NASCAR drivers could really help their attendance. My problem is that better road racing talent could be passed up in the process. On the positive side it does pull in fans that would not ordinarily watch a sportscar race.

My mistake, just saw that Grand Am is at the Glen during the Nextel Cup race.

Fogelhund · 3 Jan 2004, 02:25 (Ref:826148)

Well certainly, the offer of having a couple of NASCAR drivers available, and some money to put in your pocket is a hard offer for potential DP teams to turn down. Pookfare is hard to turn down.

**skycafe** · 3 Jan 2004, 03:07 (Ref:826159)

Anybody heard if Mark Martin will show up with any DP teams? He has a heck of a record at Daytona with Roush Mustangs, and he seems like a good fit into a Ford powered DP.

Hazza · 3 Jan 2004, 11:30 (Ref:826386)

Where is the entry lists?
Are there any "Big Gun" drivers, Brabham, Herbet etc?

**FIRE** · 3 Jan 2004, 13:13 (Ref:826459)

Quote:

Arie Luyendyk Jr., Indy Racing League competitor and son of two-time Indy 500 winner Arie Luyendyk, will pilot the No. 9 Ford Multimatic Daytona Prototype for SpeedSource in the upcoming Rolex 24 At Daytona, January 29 - February 1. Luyendyk Jr. will be teamed with veteran endurance racers Mike Borkowski and Paul Mears Jr., with a fourth driver for the No. 9 team being announced in the near future.

http://www.grand-am.com/news/news966.html

Chevyguy · 3 Jan 2004, 19:20 (Ref:826685)

So the Howard-Boss team went and snagged some Winst..umm..Nextel Cup drivers, and some of the Dyson stable. It would seem smarter to me to put Wallace with Leitzinger and EFR, and keep the Nextel drivers together, if they want to win that is. I think both cars should do well though. Jr. is alot better of a race car driver since 2001, and qualfied in the top ten at Sears Point last year. Stewart should fit right in there. I can't remember the last time I saw Wallace get in the car without getting up the order. Johnson finished 5th, I beleive, at last year's Watkins Glen race. Leitzinger is fast in everything. EFR is the perfect long distance driver, much like Haywood. Brule might be another Forest Barber. While the NASCAR drivers might not be the most versatile out there, they do know how to take care of a car to be fast at the finish. They race 400 and 500 mile races every weekend. At least they got good Nextel drivers, the '02 champion, Jr. 3rd in points last year, and Johnson 2nd. Better hope it stays dry. Where is Robbie Gordon?

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