Rolex 24 coming up

Well. it just about that time again,the time for the racing season to begin with the Rolex 24. 49 cars are entered, up from 45 last year. The high points:

Ganassi, as always, has brought both his Nascar and Indycar guys.

The illustrious Jimmie Johnson will again be taking part. Granted, he's not the strongest on a road course, but he'll be fine behind the wheel of the relatively undemanding Daytona Prototype.

Lots and lots of good sportscar guys, and a few former F1 drivers as well.

A fair number of other Indycar drivers are entered.

The not so high points:

The DP cars still look dumbed down. They're better than when they started, but still not good.

The GT cars are maybe a bit slow for a major professional series.

The NASCAR presence is diminished from what it was. We have the two Ganassi drivers, JJ, and the dinger. Did I miss anyone? The presence of the other well known NASCAR guys made the race more visible.

TV coverage is down a bit. No presence on Fox this year, and 13 hours of race coverage, Still pretty good, but maybe not quite what it was.

should be a good watch.

Notes on qualifying...new track record...quotes from Taylor and Angelelli

http://www.fanviewpoint.com/2011/01/...kicks-off.html

For me, the most important thing is that it's my first chance to watch a race on my new tv. :D

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Originally Posted by Steve-o

Notes on qualifying...new track record...quotes from Taylor and Angelelli

http://www.fanviewpoint.com/2011/01/...kicks-off.html

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Ok, the new track record is cool, too.

Won't be long now. One of these years, I need to either attend one of these 24-hour races or, if that can't be arranged, host an all-night watch party.

I love this race since it marks the start of racing season.

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Originally Posted by billiaml

Won't be long now. One of these years, I need to either attend one of these 24-hour races or, if that can't be arranged, host an all-night watch party.

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If only Speed would give us 24 hours of coverage!

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Originally Posted by Mark in Oshawa

If only Speed would give us 24 hours of coverage!

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Yeah, I could use a couple more hours of coverage this evening.

I don't know the specifics of Grand Am's TV deal. but I assume it is Grand Am that is choosing the number of hours to broadcast.

I got to watch a little last night. The added interest of Mark Blundell and Martin Brundle should keep me going back for more.

Well, that was a fun race. I'm not sure I care for that new wave-around rule, it makes it to easy for cars to get their laps back, and because of that, there was some rough driving, but it did make for a good finish.

Yeah, good race. My first experience of watching the 24 live and I enjoyed it immensely. And on a Brit centric note; the boys done good! :)

Wasn't expecting that one!

2MB in finishing 4th! I was expecting 5th.

It wasn't a bad race, but the finish is the same old, same old....Ganassi's prep of these cars is just above everyone elses, and they just get more out of that Riley chassis.

And the Riley seems to be the better chassis, too. At least @ Daytona.

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Originally Posted by Sonic

Yeah, good race. My first experience of watching the 24 live and I enjoyed it immensely. And on a Brit centric note; the boys done good! :)

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Watching it on tv is nice. One of these years, I have to attend. Looking at the stands, it seems like it would be an easy ticket to get ahold of.

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Originally Posted by billiaml

Watching it on tv is nice. One of these years, I have to attend. Looking at the stands, it seems like it would be an easy ticket to get ahold of.

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As always, there are only a few people in the grandstands, but lots in the infield. I'm going to attend in 2013, that will be the 40th anniversary of the first time I attended. Last time was 1993, and quite honestly, it's wasn't the best place to watch a road race. They had raised the fence around the track to where you had to look through it to see the infield. There isn't that much fence along the turns anyway, so the place isn't nearly as fan friendly as Sebring or Road Atlanta. That plus I may want to take a book to read during all the yellows.

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Originally Posted by Mark in Oshawa

It wasn't a bad race, but the finish is the same old, same old....Ganassi's prep of these cars is just above everyone elses, and they just get more out of that Riley chassis.

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Watching the Gainsco guys taking their brakes apart really brought home. The pit reporter pointed out that Ganassi's team had full quick change sets of brakes, where the Stallings boys had to take theirs apart and fix them. When you consider that 10 of the 12 races are short and they probably don't have to change pads for Watkins Glen either, it makes sense to economize there, but if you want to win the 24 hour race, you need all the good parts.

Ganassi domination may be the Rolex series's achilles heel. If the other teams all figure out they've little chance at the top spot on the podium, they may very well find somewhere else to do their racing. And it's not like Grand Am attracts a lot of spectators anyway.

I've been to a couple AMA Superbike races there in the past, so I kind of know my way around the paddock area -- which is where I'd spend as much time as possible. Plus I like to go to drag races and have lots of practice finding something to do while they stop the race to clean up a mess on the track -- lol.

On the other hand, the Sebring 12-hour & Petit Le Mans @ Road Atlanta are on my "bucket list," too.

The Rolex may have been the best all-star event of the weekend. Indy 500 and Daytona 500 champions on one team, the 5-time Sprint Cup champion racing, the play-by-play man for the Beeb's F1 coverage, just can't say enough of how the organisation finds the best drivers to race. And if that's not enough, race fans can run (on foot) the course early on Saturday morning and earn a race ticket by crossing the finish line.

Excellent points, Bobby -- and all reasons that the race is on my bucket list.