BMW power takes Rolex 24hr of Daytona

[Omega Man]

Nice win again from the team organized by Chip Ganassi Racing. Scott Pruett and the gang win again....with BMW power

[lkchris]

Middle name is "motor" after all. Dinan-prepared engine.

[40427]

The way they absolutely dominated the day makes me think there will be enough protests and back door politicing that there will be weight penalties forth coming .

I am a huge Scott Pruett fan and heartily congratulate him and the teams win today.

The bigger news was the way the Audi teams finished , IMHO.

[lkchris]

There was a bunch of wrangling regarding air intake restrictions and aerodynamics prior to the event.

[lkchris]

More to the story ...


http://jalopnik.com/5979703/why-does...ctory-in-years

[EMSimon]

I used to be a fanatic about the 24hrs of Daytona. I went there religiously every year and for a while, worked with a team as a chassis set-up engineer/consultant. I experienced the great days of Porsche 962s, Nissan GTPs, Jaguar V-12s and Mazda rotary engines in Kudzu chassis. Then, after the sanctioning body (originally IMSA) mauled itself through endless in-fighting and went through a couple of different identities, the NASCAR good-old boys around the Frances took over and killed it for good. They changed the rules for prototypes to make it more "attractive to grass-roots racing" (translation: keep the European sports car manufatcurers out and enable Ford and Chevrolet to compete) and tried to bring the NASCAR crowd to the race by having their drivers participate. What a joke. As a result the race is being red-flagged when it is raining. Because the left-turn only experts can't race when it is wet. I stopped going. I usually invited friends and customers, hosted them from friday through Sunday and spent about $3,500 in tickets and at least the same amount in hotel rooms and food. I have not been back for 7 years.

[rhyeks]

After saying for years that I would go to this race, I finally made it this year. We had a great time and will go back again. I have seen them race in the rain in previous years and they had rain tires mounted and waiting but didn't need them this year. The weather was perfect and with a couple of races before the Rolex 24, you couldn't fit more racing into a weekend. A great race that I would recommend going to if you get the chance.

[EMSimon]

I always recognized a different perception about what constitutes the excitement of racing between people who live north and those who live south of the Mason-Dixon-line..

[lkchris]

Well, you're a legend in your own mind.

[EMSimon]

Well, you're a legend in your own mind.

What are you saying?
Difference in opinion justifies your resorting to personal attacks?

[HexST]

I remember when people whined when the Can Am cars left, then when it lost the World Championship points total, It was gonna be a joke as just IMSA, then no prototypes, it could have gone the way of ALMS with 2 to 6 cars per class but didn't. I don't like a lot of the political stuff but the racing was good this year and hopefully with the joining with ALMS next year a world class schedule can develop. Also didn't know Delaware, Pennsylvania, New Hampshire, New York, Michigan, Illinois, Indiana, Kansas, Northern California, Nevada were South of the Mason Dixon Line.

[EMSimon]

Also didn't know Delaware, Pennsylvania, New Hampshire, New York, Michigan, Illinois, Indiana, Kansas, Northern California, Nevada were South of the Mason Dixon Line.

Again, I am not so sure what this is supposed to refer to, but before we get any deeper into throwing rocks at each other, my remark was based on my own experience when attending races and demographic facts, like this from NASCAR directly:

Region % of NASCAR Fans
Northeast 17%
Midwest 23%
South 41%
West 19%

And yes, I agree, the merger with ALMS may bring a better series. One can only hope. Doubts are allowed, are they?

Let me just say this: I know many people who went to the 24hrs of Daytona in the late 80s, early 90s, and they do not go anymore. While I still run into them at the 12hrs of Sebring or other places.