2011 Grand-Am Road Racing Season

[bradk12fan]

I think it would be easier to keep all of the Rolex 24 Hours and Grand-Am Road Racing news and updates in one thread on it's own.

Indycar drivers to compete in the Rolex 24 Hours:

Justin Wilson has set aside the wheel of his iracing.com console temporarily to get behind the wheel of a Daytona Prototype for the Rolex 24 Hours.
Wilson, who returns to Dreyer & Reinbold Racing for the 2011 IZOD IndyCar Series season, is co-driving for Michael Shank Racing. He’s among seven full-time IZOD IndyCar Series drivers from the 2010 season who are testing this weekend at Daytona International Speedway in preparation for the event Jan. 29-30 on the 3.56-mile, 12-turn circuit.
Also competing will be reigning IZOD IndyCar Series champion Dario Franchitti and Target Chip Ganassi Racing teammate Scott Dixon (Chip Ganassi Racing with Felix Sabates), Service Central Chip Ganassi Racing’s Graham Rahal (Chip Ganassi Racing with Felix Sabates), Team Penske’s Ryan Briscoe (Sun Trust Racing), Andretti Autosport’s Ryan Hunter-Reay (Level 5 Motorsports), and 2009 IZOD IndyCar Series Rookie of the Year Raphael Matos (Level 5 Motorsports).
Additionally, drivers with ties to the IZOD IndyCar Series and the Indianapolis 500 competing include 2004 Indy 500 winner Buddy Rice, Max Papis and Memo Gidley.
Rahal will join Scott Pruett and Memo Rojas, the reigning Rolex Series Daytona Prototype co-champions, plus Joey Hand in the No. 01 TELMEX/Target car. Franchitti and Dixon – a two-time IZOD IndyCar Series champion – will co-drive the No. 02 Target/TELMEX entry with Juan Pablo Montoya and Jamie McMurray.
Collectively, the two teams have won 12 series championships, eight Rolex 24s, one Daytona 500 and four Indianapolis 500s.
"The Rolex 24 At Daytona is always exciting for our team, especially because it involves so many of our drivers from all different series," Ganassi said. "There are so many elements out of the drivers' hands that need to come together, in order to have a shot at winning this event. That's what I love about it. You have to not only be good, but you also have to have a little bit of luck on your side to succeed in a race that lasts 24 hours."

from Indycar.com

[bradk12fan]

Several NASCAR and Indycar drivers will be competing in Grand-Am Racing's 24 Hours of Daytona Presented by Rolex:

Jamie McMurray and Juan Pablo Montoya for Chip Ganassi Racing, who will be joined from Indycar by Dario Franchitti, Scott Dixon, and Graham Rahal

Jimmie Johnson for Gainsco/Bob Stallings Racing aka 'The Red Dragon Motorsports'

Aj Allmendinger and Micheal McDowell for Micheal Shank Racing

Brendan Gaughan and Kenny Wallace for TRG

Max Papis for Doran List Racing

[bradk12fan]

Former Roush Fenway Racing Nationwide driver Colin Braun will also be in the Rolex 24 Hours, I don't know what team he will be driving for as of yet.

And former Germain Racing Truck driver, and current ARCA Racing Series driver Justin Marks will also be in the Rolex 24 Hours, and again, I don't know what team he will be driving for.

[bradk12fan]

J.C. France returns:

J.C. France back on track: The Grand-Am Road Racing community welcomed J.C. France back with open arms on the first day of testing for the upcoming Rolex 24 At Daytona. France, out of pro racing for more than a year after charges of drug possession and street racing in 2009 that were later dismissed, is one of five drivers assigned to the #9 Action Express Porsche Riley Daytona Prototype owned by Bob Johnson. France, grandson of NASCAR founder Bill France Sr., was suspended from Grand-Am competition only days before the 2009 season finale at Homestead-Miami Speedway. The 45-year-old driver was arrested by Daytona Beach police that October on a variety of charges ranging from street racing, DUI and possession of crack cocaine. The case was dismissed based on a technicality introduced by France's defense team. Daytona Beach police witnessed France run a red light in Holly Hill, a different municipality. Between his arrest and dismissal of the case, France underwent rehabilitation and drug testing required by Grand-Am, which is owned by NASCAR. Once cleared of charges, he was immediately reinstated by Grand-Am.(Daytona Beach News-Journal)(1-9-2011)

from jayski.com

I don't agree with Grand-Am and Nascar's decision to allow J.C. France back. What do you guys think?

Also, Colin Braun will be driving for Krohn Racing

[bpratt]

J.C. France returns:

I don't agree with Grand-Am and Nascar's decision to allow J.C. France back. What do you guys think?

Well technically he was never found guilty 

On that basis there is no ground to stop him from running, and now that Grand-Am have tested him (I assume they'll do regular testing), he has in effect done (some of) the time.

Just a shame he got off on a technicality, as it would've been better for him to have gone through the process of law, done the penalty, and now come back.  Clearly in 2009 he was a bit of a "wild child".

[bradk12fan]

J.C. France returns:

I don't agree with Grand-Am and Nascar's decision to allow J.C. France back. What do you guys think?

Well technically he was never found guilty 

On that basis there is no ground to stop him from running, and now that Grand-Am have tested him (I assume they'll do regular testing), he has in effect done (some of) the time.

Just a shame he got off on a technicality, as it would've been better for him to have gone through the process of law, done the penalty, and now come back.  Clearly in 2009 he was a bit of a "wild child".

True, but what precedent does that set? Could it be a basis that could allow Jeremy Mayfield (aka asshole) back into Nascar?

[Oldtony]

Daytona 24hr this weekend. And I understand that here is a fair bit of coverage on Speed TV which I don't have.
Latest is that Jorg Bermiester has put the Flying Lizard entered Riley Porsche on pole for the DP class. Sounds funny calling one of those pug ugly DPs a Porsche.
A real Porsche on pole for GT with Dominique Farnbacher punting.
Of interest to the F1 people is that Martin Brundle and Mark Blundell are having an outing in a DP.
Sounds like 24hrs of good fun to me.
The mix of banking and a tight infield, together with two classes doing very different lap times can sometimes lead to very eventfull races which are unpredictable right up to the end.

[bradk12fan]

Daytona 24hr this weekend. And I understand that here is a fair bit of coverage on Speed TV which I don't have.
Latest is that Jorg Bermiester has put the Flying Lizard entered Riley Porsche on pole for the DP class. Sounds funny calling one of those pug ugly DPs a Porsche.
A real Porsche on pole for GT with Dominique Farnbacher punting.
Of interest to the F1 people is that Martin Brundle and Mark Blundell are having an outing in a DP.
Sounds like 24hrs of good fun to me.
The mix of banking and a tight infield, together with two classes doing very different lap times can sometimes lead to very eventfull races which are unpredictable right up to the end.

Speed is covering 14 Hours of the 24 Hour race.

And as far as the DPs are concerned, Porsche is the chassis for Flying Lizard, and both in DPs and GTs set new track records.

[bradk12fan]

Also, you might be able to watching the Rolex 24 Hours on Speedtv.com, I believe they will be streaming the race live when it's not on tv, or you might be able to find it on UStream.

[bradk12fan]

And as far as the DPs are concerned, Porsche is the chassis for Flying Lizard, and both in DPs and GTs set new track records.

I was wrong, Porsche is the engine for Flying Lizard, and they are using the Riley Chassis

[bradk12fan]

Ganassi wins overall, DP; TRG wins GT:

Ganassi wins Rolex 24; TRG wins touring class: America's longest endurance race came down to a one-lap sprint. No surprise, the winner ended up being the guy with more wins in the Grand-Am Series than anybody else. Three-time and defending series champion Scott Pruett drove the last leg of the Rolex 24 at Daytona and held off Chip Ganassi Racing teammate Scott Dixon during a final restart. Pruett's smooth restart helped him pull away from Dixon and third-place finisher Joao Barbosa after the green-white restart and clinch the Daytona Prototype class by 2.42 seconds. It was Pruett's 32nd win in the series and his fourth Rolex 24 victory (1994, 2007, 2008). It could be his most meaningful, too. This one capped the "Ganassi Slam." Ganassi became the only car owner to win the four biggest races in the United States during a 12-month period. His drivers won the Daytona 500, the Indianapolis 500 and the Brickyard 400 last year. Andy Lally led TRG Racing to a two-lap victory in the Grand Touring class. Lally claimed the pole, but started in the back of the field after failing post-qualifying inspection. The team drove the final 17 hours without a clutch.()(1-30-2011)

from jayski.com

I will post the full results later this week

[bradk12fan]

Bill Lester became the 1st African American to win in Grand-Am today, bringing Camaro to victory lane for the 1st time, and giving Chevy it's 1st GT Class Grand-Am win in years! Congrats Bill!

[Mothers Worry]

Thanks for all this Brad. Keep up the good work mate!

 

[bradk12fan]

Bill Lester wins Grand-Am event: former NASCAR dirver Bill Lester became the first black driver to win a Grand-Am Road Racing event, teaming with Jordan Taylor to top the Rolex Series' GT class Saturday in the Bosch Engineering 250 at Virginia International Raceway. "We're ecstatic," Lester said. "Everything came together for us. We knew at the beginning of the season that this team had a lot of potential." The breakthrough victory in the Autohaus Motorsports Chevrolet Camaro came in the hometown of auto racing pioneer Wendell Scott, the only black driver to win a NASCAR Sprint Cup race. "I'm sure that the Scott family would be happy about what I was able to accomplish," Lester said. "I actually spent some time at the Scott residence in Danville and saw Wendell's old garage and sat in one of his race cars. It was quite an honor for me."(Associated Press/ESPN)(5-15-2011)

from jayski.com