Alright, players. Nice of you to get involved in my first Rolex24 thread on GTPlanet. Thanks you all for joining in on this deal. Here is my commentary deal.
First of all, I'm greatly appreciative to listen to Bob Varsha greatly introduce this race to people who may not be familiar with sportscar racing or the Rolex24. The comparison between stock cars, Indy cars, and Daytona Prototypes is a great comparison. Kind of surprised that Daytona Prototypes can go about 185 mph. Richard Petty gave the command to start the engines. * Holy s:censored:... that Pontiac Pace Car is horribly ugly. Vertically-elongated grills look terrible if done wrong. Pontiac still needs to get their act together in designing cars. I don't care what ANYONE says. * Two of my other favorite announcers helped call this race- Leigh Diffey (the Thunder Fron Down Under) and David Hobbs. Dorsey S. also had the call. * Alright boys and girls... let's get it! * -went to Houston Auto Show, missed most of coverage- * When I seen the rest of the race on Sunday morning, I was actually pulling for the Suntrust crew because Jeff Gordon was part of the team. They finished 3rd in DP and overall. Reason why I had Jeff Gordon as a favorite is because he is the road racing king of NASCAR. I'd REALLY love to see him challenge Le Mans before his career is wrapped up. * But I also love Juan Pablo Montoya. He was part of the winning team. J.P. Montoya really earned my respect winning the 1999 (then) CART title, the 2000 Indy 500, an F1 race winner, and now... the Rolex 24. He's going to somebody's Hall of Fame someday. * It's still great for Milka Duno to continue to get it done. The lovely Venezuelan is part of the 2nd Place team. * How about Bill Lester? He's maybe my only other African-American motorsports hero other than Willy T. Ribbs. It was great to see him compete at will. * What I was disappointed about there wasn't a lot of talk about the GT class in the intro of this race. Almost as if the main feature was on the prototypes. Most of the ALMS coverage is pretty diverse on all of its classes. But the Rolex24 deal... it's almost as if the race seemed more about Daytona Prototypes than the GT class cars. I know the DP's are the better of the series, but don't forget the GT pack. * Speaking of the GT competitors, I will say that I do appreciate the level of GT level competition. Some of the more common sports cars and such competed against the more powerful machinery. I hate Pontiac. However, you have to hand it to Pontiac to build a machine like the GXP.R to compete against and finish second behind a Porsche in GT.
Let me kind of recap on my "FACT OR FICTION?" statements. After every race, I will try to recap on all or some Fact or Fiction statements based on what happened during the race. So here's my recap of the first Rolex24 I've hosted a thread for.
* Pontiac GXP.R will have a terrible debut.
FICTION = I was actually surpised the team did so well in building and making this car competitive. As much as I'm unimpressed about today's road-going Pontiacs (except the Solstice), Pratt and Miller (I'm sure you may have heard of them in another sportscar racing series) made it a star. Here's the thing. I've wanted the GTO.R to win because it looks killer. It was lovingly designed. It was a wicked sick car. I don't know all the specs on the GXP.R, but I'm not seriously impressed. [UPDATE] Okay. Here is a site with specifications on the GXP.R: <
http://www.ultimatecarpage.com/frame.php?file=car.php&carnum=3058 > (watch out for annoying ads). It's actually a RWD vehicle with 450hp from an almost six-liter V8. I thought it was the overhyped FWD road car taking on real cars. Instead, it's a pretty powerful sleeper. Pontiac must have been taking lessons from Australian cars in making cars that don't look all that powerful, yet have that get-up-and-go to take on any car out there.
* Porsche will win in GT.
FACT = Pontiac came close, but any wet dreams of Pontiac winning in GT were dashed by the winning Porsche.
* Suntrust won't finish at all or finish lapped.
FACT = They fought hard to get back on the lead lap. It's better to keep fighting hard to get back into contention than to just give up. They finished 3rd on the lead lap. Great job, boys!
* Krohn Racing won't finish.
FICTION = Krohn and company held strong in Florida. I'm sure the garage door wasn't closed with the Krohn Racing DP's.
* American sweep of DP engine makes.
FICTION = Lexus broke up an all-American deal. This even though Lexus is the American luxury arm of Toyota. No one could keep up with Lexus. Here's a funny stat for you... the top three teams are all binary. The #01 DP finished first, followed by the #11 DP in second, and then the #10 DP finishing in 3rd to bring up the rear.
* Winning make is powered by Pontiac.
FICTION = Last I checked, Chip Ganassi doesn't run Pontiacs.
* Five cautions or less by race's end.
FICTION = What do you expect? More drama takes place in Rolex Sportscars than the ALMS. Either roughneck racing or some really unfortunate moments helped shape this deal. I heard about 13 cautions were put out in this race. Almost like a NASCAR race in terms of caution-happy racing. The race was even red-flagged because of the torrential rain that fell during the overnight and morning sessions. But this isn't NASCAR. So the teams tried their best to go through rain and darkness- not easy.
Now for my final thoughts.
JOHN'S FINAL THOUGHTS
I unconditionally love sportscar racing. I know I made my editorial about what this race means now compared to when groups like Jaguar and such were competing on the high banks and flat infield, but this race still is pretty significant in America even if not about international pride. The pro-American crowd would likely say that the Rolex24 is a 24-hour race that doesn't require any invitation or any insanely-capable race cars. Then too, such people would probably be proud to say that this is where Pontiac can proudly overtake any Porsche or BMW. The newer look Daytona Prototypes now seem to take on some cues from road going cars. Remember the CAD image I shown you all in my editorial? I said that more presentable designs would make these designs really impressive to race with. Take me. I was at the Houston Auto Show where all kinds of automobiles from compacts to trucks to exotics. One thing I really do hope for is that the cars actually look more presentable and more like machines people may actually want to race, then I won't be as harsh on Daytona Prototypes.
But what continues to stand out for me as to why I love sportscar racing so much is because of the diversity of cars as well as their drivers' abilities to brave the elements. Sportscar racing truly emphasizes how much of a team sport sportscar racing is. There is NASCAR, but what about all the driver changes and long-distance tests of endurances. Don't give me that garbage about "wine and cheese" or anything that isn't seen in NASCAR. Like everything has to be brought to a NASCAR level to be enjoyable by most people. For example, when that ugly-ass Hummer was "bump drafting" a machine ahead. Anything resembling NASCAR seems to be the best marketing tool for something like this... even a racing series founded by the head cheese of NASCAR. Which is really sad for a series like this. The NASCAR-style action has been apparent with Daytona Prototypes. Whoever can forget that one race at Homestead when two DPs went side-by-side banging each other until one of them evenually spun out? It has been this style of racing that has made more fans tend to appreciate this brand of sportscar racing. Whether you like today's Rolex24 or not, you have to appreciate what lengths these racers and teams will go to win in class and/or overall.
Lexus wins in Daytona Prototypes while Porsche wins in GT. The next race is in Mexico City, Mexico. Last year's race was true to typical American race coverage- overplay the fight while paying no real regard for the actual race. Will we see a repeat performance, more racing than cautions, or what? We shall see for Round 2. The Super Bowl of Rolex Sportscars is over. Now it's on to the rest of the season. There may be some sprint car events that signal the beginning of the new year in motorsports. However, it's not the Daytona 500 that starts big time racing in America- it's the Rolex 24!
Of course, if you love sportscar racing in Florida and liked/hated the Rolex 24... (the other series) will have a race in Central Florida during Spring Break where you're one step closer to glory in the other series if you place well in this 12-hour race. Hope you enjoyed the race! Anyone want to share their thoughts and comments on this year's event?
