Rolex 24 hours of Daytona

[THE ED3]

I'm rather shocked there isnt a thread on this already.

Who else is watching this? Its been a great race so far 👍

 

[mwoodski]

I watched it from 12 to 2:45, that BMW cirtainly took a shot on that wall, didnt he.

 

[THE ED3]

Not sure what you mean... I must have missed that part. That crash between the #10 and the bwm looked painfull though.

 

[mwoodski]

It was the Day-Glo orange porsche and the PTG BMW that I'm talking about, and I just saw the Suntrust/BMW wreck, that was a massive hit.

 

[RACECAR]

I just got watching from 11:00 to 5:00 down here in Texas. damn those Porsche-Powered cars are fast! I saw a onboard with the Red bull car and the Ganassi car, I swear the #58 looked a lot faster then the #02 did.

 

[THE ED3]

The porsche cars are fast but they dont have the reliability. They have been having problems with the cv boots melting.

 

[VIPFREAK]

that Blow out or whatever it was the GTO had was pretty fun... er.. scary. liked that guys recreation of his experience of the same thing in the Porsche with the steering wheel.

 

[ND4SPD]

Well I watched it from the beginning till 11 pm here, since speedtv doesn't want to show most of the race....I mean what the hell, speedtv has the lost drive in playing right now with some crappy 80's movie....I'd rather see the race.

 

[dougiemeats]

I know what you mean ND4SPD... I was busy all day and was hoping I could come back and watch the race very late into the night. Oh well, I guess I can go to bed now and wait til morning.

 

[THE ED3]

I was very upset about that. I thought I had another hour left so I went to get a snack... When I come back theres a movie on... I was like wtf! I want the race!

That gto-r had a rear suspension collapse vip. It looked like a bit of a wild ride taking out all those poor plastic cones...

Well they are going to break the most laps run record this race.

This has been a great race. I've really liked the old footage they've shown of the older cars. I really like these DP cars to though...

after race edit
-----------------------------------------------------

Wow that was a great race! 👍

I dont even mind that toyota won... very impressive race. 734 laps.

 

[mwoodski]

That was a very good race, too bad the Brumos Porsche had that tire let go, they came so close to the pits before it exploded.

 

[THE ED3]

Yeah that had to hurt.

 

[RACECAR]

man that race was awesome! most of the DPs were inhereting the lead, then falling off the lead lap. who would of thought of all people that Casey Mears would become a rolex 24 winner?

 

[ND4SPD]

Damnit, I woke up an hour late to finish the race! This sucks....Oh well, hopefully there will be re-runs.

 

[mwoodski]

That Porsche/Crawford combo is going to be very potent this year, so i'd watch out for them.

 

[h0ss]

Interesting thing about the Mears win: not long ago, he was inches from getting let go by Chip Ganassi Racing.

He had a couple of good finishes near the end of the season this year, though, and with this win, he probably will be seen to deserve his new 'senior driver' status at CGR.

I thought it was funny that Stewart got knocked out again. He's got no luck in this race.

 

[RACECAR]

That Porsche/Crawford combo is going to be very potent this year, so i'd watch out for them.

yeah and not just that car, but also the Porsche fabcars and the Porsche Doran. ironically, three of the four porsche powered cars lead the race for some time so this must be sign that porshe is coming back full circle.

 

[Matrixhasu77]

I watched almost four hours of coverage on Saturday before I had to go to work. Excellent race this year! However, I noticed that it's down to only two general classes. I loved in past years how they had all different types of cars. Nearly half the field was DP class (not complaining) but it was still a great race.

The blue GTO-R with "Don't Hit This Car!" on the back was one mean looking car. Kinda makes me want one now.

 

[JohnBM01]

* If you love Pontiac, this year's race wasn't too favorable. Lexus was the winning DP and overall make, and the Porsches won in the GT class. For Pontiac to emulate their success from last season was going to be tough, and Daytona's rocky road isn't the way to start the season. * It also wasn't a good start for Suntrust as they crashed out early. * Sadness also for the team Danica Patrick was with. I didn't have her winning the race with her team, but I also didn't have her team out of the race either. * Whereas one IRL star on a team didn't do too well, the other did DAMN well, and that was Dan Wheldon's boys. My congratulations to Mr. Chip Ganassi. I have so much respect for him. Now, much more with this win overall.

Daytona's changed, but I didn't notice too much change since the remodelling deal. Also, it's the longest distance in the Daytona Prototype era. Hate Daytona Prototypes or not, but they went a long way in this year's race. Overall, I usually say this race has lost its glamour, but the list of racers in this race was pretty good. It was a can't miss deal.

 

[THE ED3]

This years race was only 28 laps under the all time most laps record I think.

 

[Kylehnat]

More than anything, this race reminded me that the ALMS/F1/SPEED GT/TC/ChampCar seasons are just around the corner Is there any better season than racing season?

 

[dougiemeats]

More than anything, this race reminded me that the ALMS/F1/SPEED GT/TC/ChampCar seasons are just around the corner Is there any better season than racing season?

I know what you mean!

 

[THE ED3]

I was so lonely without my racing on speed... Now the seasons are finaly starting back up and its like a long lost friend just showed up at my door step. 👍

The only drawback is nascar showed up with him 👎

 

[Kylehnat]

NASCAR is indeed the drunken uncle who shows up uninvited at family gatherings. He just happens to be a multi-millionaire who keeps SPEED on the air

 

[THE ED3]

I wish he'd actually leave... I have no idea why they need shows over an hour long talking about nascar races. I dont know why they need to replay the same race several times... I dont know why they cut out all the good racing and show nascar insted... It just plain sucks.

At least they havent droped the alms like they've droped the wrc.

 

[JohnBM01]

I'm pretty sure our own "Layla's Keeper" will praise the GARRA and doubt anything from the ALMS boys. If you're going on "kylenhat," then it's also a reminder that during Spring Break or so, it will be time to qualify for Le Mans 2006. So how do you qualify? Simple! Win the Daytona 500 (just joking!) No, do things the real way and place well in the 12 Hours of Sebring. One thing I love about sportscar racing is diversity. With the many makes and cars looking to go to Le Mans for the mid-year classic, you can be sure that teams will fight it out at Sebring to get those invites.

As far as the GARRA goes, I think the Rolex24 is special because you don't have to be invited. Just have to enter for the race and all that. As much as I'd want to bash NASCAR-type racers at Daytona, this is actually a good thing, and here's why. You get a chance to see how NASCAR racers race outside of their element and outside of their usual cars. If a NASCAR team wanted to, they can take their team drivers (for example, some of Hendrick Motorsports or Roush Racing or something) and come up with an all-NASCAR team to compete against GARRA stars in DP. I say that the Rolex24 has lost its glamour since the Daytona Prototypes were introduced, but Daytona still remains a menacing road course challenge. Not only must you contend with the road course, you must also tackle the oval banking (if any).

You can hate NASCAR, but don't hate NASCAR racers undertaking this challenge. It brings the best out of NASCAR-type racers in terms of driving talent and taking on bigger challenges.