Thursday, February 3, 2011

Grand Am: 2011 Daytona 24hrs Postscript


So I did the unthinkable... Although some Grab Bag Sports Dudes were apparently hostin’ a BlogAthon – whatever ‘Dat is, your humble No Fenders Head Scribe held a ‘Mega Speedython - Gorging meeze Eyeballz outs upon 12.6666666hrs ‘O SPEED’s 14-hours of Rolex 24 race coverage; CRIKEYS!

And whatever happened to the Good ‘Ol Dazes ‘O Endurance races, eh? When John Wyer told you exactly what lap time to run and NOT exceed it by even ‘Juan blink ‘O the eye! (Back in the David Hobbs era...) As I guess The Cheepster summed it up best by saying its 24 one hour races... Whale at least I think it was ‘Cheep who said ‘Dat? (As I simply “Vegged Out” in order to get away from le Confuzer & did NOT attempt taking any notes...)

And it was pretty entertaining hearing Booby Ruble, Err Bobby Rahal telling his story ‘bout his 1981 victory – when Brian Redman told him do NOT pass one single car, just keep your nose clean – having gone out in sixth place. Several hours later during the driver change, Redmand asked what position are we in? To which Rahal said P1. Redman retorted; “I told you NOT to pass anybody!” To which Bobby said; I DIDN’T! They all fell out...

MAC MONTOYA: What can I say? As even Scott Dixon had a brief chuckle ‘bout JPM during the Post-race interview; saying Yuhs gotta LUV Juan – he just knows ‘Juan speed... Even if he took off 3-noses & 1-splitter during the night hours; Aye Karumba!

As Dorsey Schroder noted how ‘Monty was in KILL mode very early on in the race, as the whirling derbish first pummeled the No. 99 “Red Dragon” (Guess it was outta Fireballs, eh?) and then just minutes later knocked the No. 10 outta-duh-way... Incensing Team Owner Wayne Taylor so much that he could only say some Stock Car driver crashed into us... While Leigh Diffey had an amusing quip ‘bout Chip Ganassi Racing’s Mike Hull telling Juan to SLOW DOWN! To which Leigh said; Good Luck with that!

And it’s become quite fun to me that the race becomes two events – as there’s the first day’s coverage before they go off the air – and whilst I’m Snug as-a Bug in-a Rug... Whilst the drivers hurtle ‘round DayToner under the artificial light – there seems to always be a set ‘O new class leaders the next morning. Not to mention the eventual winners... Whale at least I didn’t haveda sit thru the 2hr 49min Yellow flag period caused by FOG!

NicolasMinassian – pretty entertaining Pitlane interview; talking ‘bout how crazy the bumping ‘N banging is and having fun vs. high pressure of Peugeot Factory drive...

And how ‘bout that ‘lil Team Seattle, eh? As I was very surprised to tune-in early Sunday morning and discover that no less than Patrick Dempsey’s No. 40 Mazda RX8 was leading the GT Class! Although unfortunately it all fell apart – Kudos to the team for dealing with a faulty battery & clutch for the remainder of the event to eventually wind-up on the final Podium step of the GT rostrum. As I’m told whomever this Doctor McDreamy fellah is - was shedin’ tears ‘O joy up thar...

Kevin Buckler’s 786 Porsches... NOT really, but some Alan Wedge Dude in the Blogosphere has been having fun with this, denoting the Panzerwagon known as TRG(The Racers Group) who ran a 5-car armada of Porsche 911’s and won their 496th GT Class victory; Hya! As according to Andy Lally, who was on duh Speed Freaks Sunday night – they too ran without a clutch, albeit for the final 17hrs of the race; SHEISA! As apparently they were within a whisker’s breath of bringing the No. 67 into the garage to rebuild the clutch, but said SCREW IT! When they figured it would cost them 20-laps to do so...

But for Mwah, the drive of the race was unquestionably Joey Hand’s final triple-stint segment when he had to suffer a 30-second Stop-Go penalty for hitting the errant tyre a crew member had forgotten to move outta the way towards the end of the race. Joey, who was making his debut as a Chip Ganassi driver – who’d already complained to the crew his right foot was going numb... Drove like a man possessed – almost like that JPM fellow! As Hand simply put the hammer down and sliced a 52-55 second deficit in half! Handing over to Scott Proffessor/Anchor/Ironman Pruett, who after some sage Pitstop strategy leapfrogged Scott Dixon in the No. 02 for the victory...

Thus, I found it somewhat amusing how The Graminator, (G. Rahal) – as Kurty Cavin noted – scored his easiest Rolex timepiece by being part of the winning crew... As I spent the weekend thinking how little Graham musta been driving – since I never heard a peep ‘bout him being behind the wheel. Guess he got the midnight/early morning shift? But I’m happy he at least seemed to be keeping his lips closed ‘N letting all of the other drivers do the talking.

As Scott Pruett summed it up best on Speed Freaks, saying; “To put it in perspective – I’ve got a 22yr old daughter & Graham’s 22...”

As I know Pruett has been pounding ‘round the DayToner High Banks an awfully LONG time – I vaguely remember watching him in those uber DOMINATING Roush BAD ASS Mustangs... Along with the likes ‘O Dorsey Schroder & Calvin Fish... As Pruett admitted his first time to race in the Daytona 24hrs was 1983; Aye Karumba!

And I really wanted to see the Action Express Boyz ‘O Joao Barbosa, Terry Borcheller, Max Papis & Christian Fittipaldi BEAT those pesky Ganassi Starz... As I found it amusing how much Facetime Papis got during the weekend’s broadcast. While Christian sounds a lot alike somebody named EMMO to Mwah...

Thus I found myself growlin’ at le Telescreen – Get him Joey! GO PRUETT! As I didn’t wish to see the No. 02 Ganassi car win. I means, Dario’s won everything, Dixon’s got a low pulse, JPM is a HotHead – apparently having become fully immersed in the slogan Racin’ is Rubbin;’ CRAP! And I didn’t wanna see McMurray join Mario & A.J. in the only two drivers to have won the Daytona 500 and Rolex 24... Although I was MOST pleased of all to see poor ‘Ol Jimmy Johnson’s race fall by the wayside; Ah Shucks – NOT!