Grand-Am Phoenix

[Danske]

Well, let's see. It's not surprising to see the Ganassi cars qualified on the front row. It is somewhat surprising that the #6 Michael Shank car qualified 3rd, the #81 G&W 5th, and that the #58 Brumos, #80 G&W and #3 Cegwa cars had their times disallowed for downloading data before post-qual inspection and will start at the back (the #58 would have been 5th).

The #10 SunTrust car qualified 4th with Taylor driving and should be faster when Angelelli gets in. Ditto for the #2 Citgo car with Duno and Wallace starting in 8th, and the #54 Kodak with Barber and Borcheller in 12th.

I'm interested in who will win GT, but I don't really have any thoughts about it. Will Maserati get its first win?

Full Results

With 40 cars on a 1.51mi (2.43km) track, contact will inevitably move some cars back, and conversely other cars forward. I'd expect the starting order to be put through a blender before the end.

[Patrick B]

Its good to see the Trofeo up to pace, not sure if it can out last the RS's yet tho.

http://www.racingfanatics.com/FoodCi...50homepage.htm

Is it just me or does the BOSS look even beter then before-

[Chevyguy]

I'm not at all surprised by the #6 car qualifying so well, they really looked good the last race. I think the Lexus teams have the horsepower advantage right now, as they can rev higher than the Pontiacs. What I found surprising was that all of the DPs, including the Cegwa car, had a faster time than any of the GTs. This would be the first time that has happened. With all the storms moving around the US right now, rain might become an issue. Most importantly, the track is going to be cool, so I'm hoping the cars will get good tire life.

I dont know if it looks better, but with it's driver lineup, I think it is absolutely beautiful! I beleive this will be Ganassi's race, but the Boss car will probably be a big problem for them as soon as Mr Leitzinger gets in the car. EFR did a great job qualifying, I have never thought of him as one of those "hot foot" drivers. If he can stay in the top five, and there's a late race caution, look out!

[GP Racer]

40 cars on a small track, should make the qualifying position alittle less important, for sure. Should be a close, and competitive race, where almost anyone can take it.

I love the fact that a great badge like Maserati is back, and very competitive already. It would be great to see them win the GT class, and give the Porsches something to worry about.

The Boss is looking very good!

[Danske]

Ah, looks like they've revised the penalty for the data downloading to be starting from the back of the class instead of the grid. I did think that being pushed to the back of the grid with the expected traffic would have been the kiss of death, no matter how much contact would randomize the finishing order.

I thought the #6's position was suprising in general, with them having moved up to the Rolex series from Toyota Atlantics and not having a large budget or having tested since the last race. They did apparently play some qualifying tricks by having a spotter in the stands telling them when they could get a clean lap in and waited for that.

Wish I knew who was in the cars for the final practice.

[dretceterini]

I agree that the Boss car is the best looking of the DPs.

[Cadete]

I liked to see the Maserati in the top, especially because it was Barbosa who put him there. But what about the other drivers of that car, are they up to the challenge of keeping Barbosa's pace?

[Danske]

Well, the Maserati finished 5th in the last race after qualifying 11th with two of the same drivers as this race, so they can't be too shabby.

[Liz]

Ganassi has The Call for the weekend if they can keep the car together. But he's in Japan with his *** team....

Mags is at this race and we'll have some good photos if we can get Jim (who loathes GA) to let us put any up.

[GP Racer]

Originally posted by Liz
Ganassi has The Call for the weekend if they can keep the car together. But he's in Japan with his *** team...

I'm really afraid to ask you what that means, "the call"?

Please tell me your not saying that the fix is in? I figure thats what it is though, because you've made a similarly ridiculous statement like that once before concerning GA.

[independent]

Liz, no offense but you sure Mags is at Phoenix today?

I don't doubt you but it would certainly change something I heard about him yesterday.

Can you confirm 100% he is there?

Thanks!

[independent]

They just showed Ganassi in the pits at Phoenix. I don't think he's in Japan. fyi

[dretceterini]

The R&S is already dominating. The Picchio and Multimatic are a joke, and the Fabcar isn't much bettter...and no more new chassis builders...

[Patrick B]

I wouldn't call the Multimatics a joke. The Essex team was only a couple seconds off the Rileys times and where up to 5th overall. Thats like saying the R8 is a joke because its a bit slower then the speed 8, or the Renault F1 being a joke for not betting the Ferrari...

Put a top level team with deep pockets in some Multimatic's and i bet they'ed be at the sharp end of the field pretty quick.

I will say that the Speedsource team would be beter off sticking to the GA Cup ST series. They just can't seem to get thier hands around the prototypes... Or their spread to thin between the two programs.

[independent]

It was quite a race, the "yellow flag 250".

[Liz]

Apparently it's only some of their people who were in Japan (sorry about that).

I don't call that a race. I call it bumper cars. After some of the drivers said that they spoke to the "dive bombing" of other cars by competitors in the drivers meeting, we get 8 yellow flags from people dive bombing each other????

I don't normally watch Grand Am, so I don't know if this race was an abberation or the way they usually race. But to me it looked like a lot of people are playing above their heads and have no more business on a race track than the baby has playing with matches.

What a huge disappointment for Shane Lewis to be rammed out of the race like that when he was heading for the front! I hope the officials see fit to give the little twit who did it more than "community service" for his behaviour!

[GP Racer]

Well, I call it a race!

It sounds as though some people are alttle envious of the fact that Grand Am can pull in 41 cars to race. Yeah, there were some tough breaks, with some guys getting punted off, like Maserati, but hey, thats racing. A big field on a small track, its bound to happen. But I'd rather see that than some boring parade, where nobody's even close enough to try a pass, let alone make one!

It was a close, competitive, and hard fought race to the end, and all this time, I thought that what racing was supposed to be.

I guess Max Angelelli, didn't know that Ganassi got "the call"...

[Danske]

It looked to me like Negri was pulling along side Lewis' car before the Lewis turned in. I think Lewis, being in a right-hand drive car, just didn't know that Negri was that far up, and when the cars hit Negri was a bumper-width in front. By the time it was obvious that the #81 was going to leave no room between the #6 and the wall, there wasn't anything Negri could do about it as he was well overlapped. Didn't look to me like Negri tried to force his car in there.

[GP Racer]

I agree completely Danske.

Negri was carrying alot of speed, and I don't think Lewis expected him to be there so fast, thereby Lewis turned in. A tough break for Lewis, but it was just a racing incident. Luckily, the oval track was ahead of Lewis, or it could have been ugly. They were really moving at that point!

Felt real bad for Maserati. They were running strong, and doing well with the Porsches. What a great looking car! Tough night for Borcheller to, but he did come back strong. Papis was really on his game last night, as he lead all the way, good stuff. Pontiac seems to be the engine to beat this season. I like that!

All-in-all, a very entertaining race!

[Burd]

Originally posted by GP Racer
I guess Max Angelelli, didn't know that Ganassi got "the call"...

Yeah, I wonder if he'll get fined for winning when he wasn't supposed to...

[dretceterini]

Let's see....Pontiac drops of of nA$$kawr and wins 3 in a row in G/A....hummmmmmm

[Danske]

Ack, relatively early in the morning after staying up for the race and afterward. Please replace car #81 with #7 in my post. I got my BMWs mixed up due to caffiene insufficiency.

I could have done with fewer laps under yellow, but I really can't know what the condition of the track was.

The #5 Multimatic did finish only one lap down. That accomplishment may diminished by the yellows, but one lap was also only 1.5 miles.

I was also surprised by Theys spinning all by himself.

[Burd]

Originally posted by dretceterini
Let's see....Pontiac drops of of nA$$kawr and wins 3 in a row in G/A....hummmmmmm

I'm with you on this one. It's obvious to me that NASCAR ordered Papis and Magnussen (both "Lexus" drivers) to violently take each other out at the end of the Homestead race so Wallace/Duno would be gifted the win in a Pontiac. Clearly NASCAR is trying to lure the Pontiac brand back into their series due to the fact that GM no longer has any NASCAR representation. And all this time I thought NASCAR was supposed to be coddling Toyota... who knew?

I love these boards

[RacingManiac]

Well in all seriousness I am surprised at the winless situation of Ganassi boys......but it sure is nice to see the level of competition is a lot more stout then I expected....which is good I guess...

[dretceterini]

Quote:

I wouldn't call the Multimatics a joke. The Essex team was only a couple seconds off the Rileys times and where up to 5th overall. Thats like saying the R8 is a joke because its a bit slower then the speed 8, or the Renault F1 being a joke for not betting the Ferrari...

My Response:
IMO, the Multimatic is more like the Norma or the Minardi F1 car. Even if it was run by a better team, it wouldn't be a real contender. There are already too many R&S, Crawford and Dorans for it to be anything better than a mid-field runner.