Rolex 24 At Daytona - 2009

[F1boat]

Thanks for the info. I guess that they can be happy now

[DanicaFan]

Well, Danica's team didnt do to bad. They started out in the back and were out early in the race, came back in and placed 8th. Not bad.

I liked how Danica said her door came open out on the track. Thats not good.

[Mark in Oshawa]

Close finish for a 24 hour. The whole problem with this race is that the cars are just plain funny looking and race fans from other disciplines look at a DP and think they are watching toys...

ALMS cars have pedigree and are seriously wild machines pushing a technological boundry often. DP's are kit cars with stock restricted motors....

The only thing is...they have a lot of stars for the 24...and NASCAR now OWNS Grand AM. Anyone want to bet this form of racing is going away? Don't think you want to, they will make it work somehow and the racing is pretty good once you get watching....

[F1boat]

Yes, the DP cars are not as cool looking as the LMP cars, but the racing is closer and besides I think that a Grand am owner has stated that if he gains a small percent of the NASCAR popularity it can still be bigger than the sports car popularity in the US...

[FormerFF]

Yeah, that was a neat finish. I was surprised that the #58 car was able to get its three laps back, but I suppose that was mostly due to the vast number of cautions.

I'm a little surprised that Montoya wasn't able to get away from Donohue. Once the two of them got in traffic, it's not surprising that Donohue wound up getting the lead, since the Brumos cars had a little better top end speed, while Ganassi's were better on the infield and in the midrange. Especially on a track like Daytona, the car with the top speed advantage usually wins when traffic figures in.

How many sessions did Danica do? I saw on timing & scoring she got in last night around 11 PM Eastern time, but I saw most of the race today and didn't see her in the car at all.

It also seemed to me that the crowd was smaller than it had been. Usually there is a decent smattering of people in the grandstands at the beginning and end of the race, and it seemed like there was hardly anyone there at all. I saw a blimp shot of the infield today a couple of hours from the finish, and was surprised at the amount of empty space.

[wbcobrar]

Great race!!!!! 4 cars with a real shot at victory . Fords trouble, though devistating for the race ,seems correctable . Crank position sensor ? Congrats to Bromos , the son of Donahue becomes 24 hrs. of Datona winning Donahue . Winning this event still is one of those resume wins that transends to all motor sports .

[beachgirl]

Danica was in the car from about 10:30 P to 12:30 A, and then for 45 minutes early this morning (7:30-8:15), and that was all.

[Easy Drifter]

Any idea how much time each of her co drivers were in the car?
I know it was behind the wall for a time.

[beachgirl]

The team lost a total of about 20 laps in the garage.

[beachgirl]

Any idea how much time each of her co drivers were in the car?
I know it was behind the wall for a time.

The car was behind the wall in the garage for approximately 20 laps. At a conservative 1 min/50per lap, they lost 40 minutes or so there. There were times they had really long pit stops. The problem was that since they were never competitive, they didn't get the coverage. The other three teammates, Finley, Mears, and Wallace, drove all the rest of the hours (right around 20) between the 3 of them. I was watching the coverage while also watching timing and scoring while it was on TV, and timing and scoring while it was off TV. I couldn't find any lap charts available for us rabid fans, either.