2012 Grand Am Series (Rolex)

[twomanymontes]

d**n! Tomorrow's race starts at 5PM, I won't be home until almost 6, Hopefully it will be a short delay and I'll get to see the majority of the race.

[85t5mcss]

Setting the reminder on the TV now. But family coming over for dinner, so not sure if I'll be able to watch or not.

[twomanymontes]

Was a really good race, lots of good clean passing. Great to see the Corvettes finish 1 and 2 in the Dp class and the Camaros finished 1 and 3 in the GT class.

[twomanymontes]

Mid Ohio Tomorrow at 4:30, I will be taping it.

[85t5mcss]

Crap, crap, crap. I'll be at a Birthday Party. Gonna have to get a VHS tape to record it.

[twomanymontes]

I tried to tape it, But it didn't work! so I missed it.

Westmore and the Spirit of Daytona Corvette beat Pruett again! d**n These Corvettes are HOT this year!!!!

[twomanymontes]

Caught a bit of Last weeks Road America Race. Really great to see Pruett and Rojas get their first win of the year! And they show why they are champions! They pretty much admitted that they are out gunned by the Corvettes, Human stratagy is what kept them in the lead all day.

This Sunday, I will be there in person!!! Watkins Glen! The Sahlens Six Hours at the Glen.
Coverage begins at 11 AM on SPEED

[85t5mcss]

Sweet! Pics of course. And you get to see a longer race than I do. Indy is only a 2 hour race.

[twomanymontes]

Pics are a Given!! And yeah, it's the second longest of the schedule.

[twomanymontes]

This weekend's Sahlen's Six Hours of The Glen takes on added significance as it joins two other major races as part of GRAND-AM's new championship-within-a-championship, the inaugural North American Endurance Championship presented by VISITFLORIDA.COM.



The NAEC rewards competitors in the three longest races of the Rolex Series season. It opened with the Rolex 24 At Daytona in January, continues Sunday with the Sahlen's Six Hours of The Glen, and ends at Indianapolis Motor Speedway on July 27 at the Brickyard Grand Prix.

Michael Shank Racing with Curb-Agajanian took a two-point lead over Starworks Motorsport in the DP class with its Rolex 24 victory (16-14), while Magnus Racing won in GT to lead the class by one point over Brumos Racing (16-15). The DP champion team receives $100,000 while the GT champion receives $50,000.

Teams can score a maximum of 20 points and minimum of eight points at each race. Points at the Glen will be awarded at both the three-hour mark and the finish on the basis of 10 points for first, eight for second, six for third, and four for the remaining positions.

"We are looking at the NAEC championship," said Ryan Dalziel, who will have Formula One and open wheel driver Sebastien Boudais joining himself and Enzo Potolicchio in the No. 8 Starworks Motorsport Ford/Riley this weekend. "For sure, we've got to capitalize on how the race is going to pan out with the bonuses at the three-hour mark and the conclusion. We're going to Watkins Glen not to make up numbers but we are going there to win, and we think that Bourdais is going to be a really excellent choice for us."

The three-hour Brickyard Grand Prix will award points at the finish, with 20 to the winner of each class, 16 points for second, 12 for third and eight for the remaining positions. For the Rolex 24 At Daytona, points were awarded based on standings in each class at six hours, 12 hours, 18 hours and the finish on a 5-4-3-2 basis.

"For our new North American Endurance Championship, we wanted to come up with a point system that was different from the regular Rolex Series," said GRAND-AM Managing Director of Competition Mark Raffauf. "We feel the new system will be fun for both fans and participants, while at the same time promoting close competition."

Drivers must drive the minimum 30 minutes to score points at each event. Team points will be awarded for the highest-finishing car from multiple car entries, with the team's additional cars not counted in the standings. Ties will be broken per the 2012 Rolex Series regulations, based on number of victories, second-place finishes, etc.

The endurance championship winners will be crowned on the Victory Podium at Indianapolis Motor Speedway, following the historic GRAND-AM debut on the 2.605-mile road course.

[twomanymontes]

This is the toughest week of the year for teams competing in the Continental Tire Sports Car Challenge.


After racing at Road America in Elkhart Lake, WI, on Friday, the teams are at Watkins Glen International today preparing for Saturday's Continental Tire 150.

That leaves little margin for error – even if nothing goes wrong. And that's not often the case in racing. A number of teams experienced difficulties in Friday's race, but due to advance planning, they will be ready to go at Watkins Glen today for promoter's test day activities.

APR Motorsport took the checkered flag in Street Tuner competition Friday evening, with Aleks Altberg and David Cheng winning in the No. 171 Volkswagen GTI. But it was a bittersweet event – with the team's other three Volkwagens experiencing problems.

"Our No. 171 won the race, but the other three cars were shot down in flames," said APR Director of Motorsport Jeff Mishtawy. "It was checkers or wreckers, with three cars nearly totaled."

APR made arrangements with a partner in Indianapolis to house the team following the race. There, they refurbished the winning car along with the No. 161 GTI of Josh Hurley and Nate Norenberg. However, neither of the team's two Jettas will be ready for Watkins Glen.

Turner Motorsport had its No. 94 BMW M3 of Bill Auberlen and Paul Dalla Lana finish second in Saturday's Rolex Series race, a pleasant turnaround from a Friday race that saw both of its Grand Sport cars eliminated in accidents. Owner Will Turner had the team work on the cars in the paddock at Road America on Sunday; then, the team packed up for Watkins Glen, where it continued its preparations on the No. 96 of Auberlen and Dalla Lana and the No. 97 for Boris Said and Michael Marsal.

"I hate to say it, but we're becoming very well practiced in putting together crashed cars," Turner said. "We'll have both cars fixed for the beginning of the first practice session. Hopefully, we won't have to do this again very often."

Roush Performance set its base between races at Monticello Motorsports Club, located east of Watkins Glen, where it prepared two cars for Saturday's race. The No. 61 Mustang Boss 302R finished second at Road America; that car went to Monticello. However, the No. 51 was badly damaged in an incident at the waving of the green flag; that car went to the team headquarters in Mooresville, N.C.

"The No. 51 was basically destroyed," said team manager Brad Francis. "It's already been through our frame machine, and we took a body in white and are rebuilding the car. It should be ready for Indy" (the next Continental Tire Sports Car Challenge race on Friday, July 27, at Indianapolis Motor Speedway).

At Monticello, the Roush team unloaded the team's No. 49 Mustang, which will be raced at Watkins Glen as the No. 51 Starstruck entry for Shelby Blackstock and Roly Falgueras.

"Everything is moving along," Francis said. "We wrecked a car pretty badly at New Jersey and had it turned around in six hours. I don't think we missed much – if any – practice."

While APR, Turner and Roush set up temporary headquarters between races, Multimatic Motorsports returned to its headquarters in Markham, Ontario (not far from Toronto) since it's close to Watkins Glen.

Scott Maxwell and Tonis Kasemets finished 11th in the Multimatic Aston Martin in the Grand Sport class; its two ST entries didn't fare as well, with the No. 15 Ford Focus ST-R for Gunnar Jeannette and James Gue getting some damage while the No. 16 was destroyed in an accident.

"We had another body back at the shop, and we're building it into another car," said team manager Sean Mason. "We might be a little late getting to the paddock but we should be ready for the start of practice. We're lucky to be able to get back to the shop for a few days between races."

Local driver Bret Seafuse and Nick Mancuso will drive the new No. 16 Jimmy John's Focus ST-R. The team will also have a second Aston Martin at Watkins Glen, the No. 71 for British drivers Philip Dryburgh and John Gaw.

Following Saturday's race, it's back on the road for the Continental Tire Sports Car Challenge teams. While the next race isn't until July 27, most teams are entered in a two-day test at Indianapolis on Friday and Saturday, July 6-7. They are hoping they can get through Friday's Continental Tire 150 unscathed. However, if they run into problems, chances are they've already made plans for contingencies in the few days between events.

[twomanymontes]

Here's one for you Keith!!!

Veteran NASCAR racer Kenny Wallace will join Rebel Rock Racing for the upcoming GRAND-AM Continental Tire Sports Car Challenge race at Indianapolis Motor Speedway on Friday, July 27, during the Kroger Super Weekend at the Brickyard.

Wallace and Jim Jonsin will co-drive the No. 08 Rebel Rock Racing Porsche Carrera during GRAND-AM’s debut on the 2.605-mile circuit at the legendary venue.

Wallace met superstar music producer and pro racer Jonsin in Long Beach, CA, during a practice run for the Toyota Celebrity Race earlier this year, when both raced in the pro division. The two racers were introduced by SPEED’s Rutledge Wood and built a fast friendship through their love of the sport.

When Jonsin approached Wallace and presented him with the opportunity to co-drive at Indianapolis, Wallace jumped at the opportunity.

A 25-year veteran with nine NASCAR Nationwide Series victories, Wallace was ecstatic to join Jonsin and the Rebel Rock Racing team.

“Jim is a well-respected man and I am honored that he has given me the opportunity to race inside the Indy Motor Speedway,” Wallace said. “It’s one of the biggest racing weekends of the year and I am taking it very seriously."

The feelings are mutual, as Jonsin is humbled to race alongside Wallace.

“I have to say that hard work pays off and childhood dreams do come true,” Jonsin said. “I'm a race car driver and I have a legend, Kenny Wallace, co-driving with me at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway in a professional GRAND-AM race. Life is great!”

[85t5mcss]

LOL, of course he jumped at the chance. I hate saying it but Kenny Wallace is more or less a has been. He peaked a while back just like Waltrip Rusty Wallace. Makes a better commentator now and that ain't saying much. Should be interesting.

[twomanymontes]

Funny you should say that. I know he will never be a Cup champion like his brother Rusty, But he is a great commentator! I love his excitement on the pre race shows. I have great respect for the man.

hey, Maybe he can make a name for himself in the Rolex series???

[85t5mcss]

Would be nice to bring NASCAR fans into that series as well.

[twomanymontes]

WATKINS GLEN, NY– Moments after his induction into the Legends of The Glen, Scott Pruett steered the No. 01 TELMEX/Ganassi BMW/Riley to the pole position for Sunday’s Sahlen’s Six Hours of The Glen. Pruett took his first DP pole position in two years at The Glen and Jordan Taylor claimed the GT pole for the second-consecutive year in Saturday’s qualifying at Watkins Glen International.



Sahlen’s Six Hours of The Glen begins at 11 a.m. and will be live on both SPEED and MRN radio.

In the final moments of the Daytona Prototype session, Pruett turned in a time of 1:41.309 (120.818 mph) to knock Antonio Garcia of the pole and take the TOTAL Pole Award for himself. It was Pruett’s first pole since also taking the starting spot at the 2010 Sahlen’s Six Hours of The Glen.

“It’s great to be back,” said Pruett, who shared the DP points lead with co-driver Memo Rojas. “It’s certainly been a long time for us at TELMEX/Ganassi. It was all we had. WE wrung every little ounce we could out of that car.”

Garcia starts second in the No. 90 Spirit of Daytona Racing Corvette DP he is sharing with Richard Westbrook and Oliver Gavin after a qualifying time of 1:41.599 (120.474 mph). Joao Barbosa qualified third at 1:41.667 (120.393 mph) in the No. 9 Action Express Racing Corvette DP. Barbosa’s co-driver is Darren Law.

Frank Stippler gave the new Audi R8 GRAND-AM its best qualifying run to date with a second-best GT time of 1:51.018 (110.252 mph) in the No. 52 APR Tuned/Audi Sport Customer Racing Audi R8. Stippler’s co-drivers are Dion von Moltke and Marc Basseng. Qualifying third was GT points co-leader Emil Assentato at 1:51.158 (110.114 mph) in the No. 69 FXDD Ferrari 458 Italia he is sharing with Jeff Segal and Anthony Lazzaro.

David Rosenblum ran a lap of 2:30.367/81.401 mph in the No. 18 Leo’s Apparel Ford Fiesta to capture the pole for Sunday morning’s TOTAL Performance Showcase race. The Langhorne, Pa., resident will lead the field to start at 9:15 a.m. for the 45-minute event for GRAND-AM’s new series for “B-Spec” sub-compact cars. Todd Buras will start from the outside of the front row in the No. 50 Irish Mike’s Racing Ford Fiesta.

[twomanymontes]

I am burnt to a crisp!!! But it was SOOOOOO worth it!!! Yesterdays race was awesome!!!! Tim, Matt and I were all over the place! Took over 170 pics until My batteries died. Shook hands with Boris Said and talked to other racers, even ran into old friend Friend Jamie AKA "Hardrocker". Oh and the best part, The look on Diana's face when I pulled the tire out of the trunk!!

Can't wait till next year!

[85t5mcss]

Tire? Inquiring minds want to know

[twomanymontes]

LOL! Yeah.

I was talking to the guys at the Continential Tire trailer. My last question was what do they do with all the old tires. The guy said they have to pay a company to take them, then they get shreaded and made into mulch. I jokingly said, I'll take one off your hands for free. He then said, do you want it now or later. I took it then so I didn't loose out!

I got the left front tire off the #60 Michael Shank Racing DP. The same car that won the 24 hours of Daytona this year. Wish I would have gotten it signed by the team, But I didn't want to be too greedy.

[85t5mcss]

Lol, is Diana gonna let you mount a piece of glass to it and make it a table?

[twomanymontes]

Well, I thought about that, But seeing as I don't have any room down here. I decided to just hang it in the garage in the wheel well of the fender thats hanging.

[85t5mcss]

Heading to IMS on Friday to watch GrandAm. Short race, but planning on getting there early to do some walking.

[twomanymontes]

I caught the last hour and a half of the race, But thanks to Keith's texts I was up to date all day.

What I did se was some really good racing, I thought Montoya was a little too agressive though. But seeing Scott Pruett, take the car from 7th to 2nd in about a half hour was great!

[85t5mcss]

What a great race. Tried to keep Dave updated but it was hard to tell who was driving when. We moved around a little and the leader board wasn't always visible. The replay screens were hard to see from turn 1 also. But, overall my daughter and I had a great time.

Continental Tire Series we sat at the exit of turn 5 with my brother and some of his friends. We had a backpack and a small cooler. We were good to go. We ended up putting cells and cameras into a Ziploc bag that we dumped food out of because of what was coming in. Got the umbrella out and I ended up standing in the rain holding the umbrella down with my daughter and the backpack underneath it. No room for me since it was raining so had and the wind was strong. I was soaked with not a dry spot on me. I was still wet 6 hours later when I got home. But there is more to it.

After the CTS race was red flagged for rain and finally restarted Nd finished we moved from the infield mound to the ovals turn 4 entrance. Watched the Rolex Series from there until it started raining again for the 3rd or 4th time (lost track because I was so wet). Went under the stands until the downpour moved past since the caution came out due to the track having standing water. When it slowed we went to oval's turn 4 exit/road course turn 1 and watched. Impressive speed down the front straight and turn 1 was busy. Several spins. Even saw Waltrip's Ferrari take out a Camaro. Good place and got a few pics when we didn't get rained on.

Overall, we love it. Definitely doing it again. Got plans next year for more people to go. Have to get there earlier to save an infield spot on the hill and I will take better cover in case it rains. We had more rain yesterday than we have all year. We have had a serious drought and it broke loose all in one day. Still not enough, though.

I will try to post a few pics soon. Due to rain, the camera mostly stayed put away and we missed the fan walk. The camera with zoom never came out because of weather do we only used a small 4x zoom. I do not regret going.

Do yourself a favor; go watch a Grand Am Series race. I cant imagine anyone regretting it.

[twomanymontes]

Glad you and Amanda had fun. Plus I'm glad you talked me into watching the Grand Am series years ago.

Watkins Glen was awesome! But I never got to see the CTS races, just the cars in the paddock. They always run a different day. Maybe next year I'll try and make it a weekend deal.

Keith, see if you guys can make it up here for the Glen next year.

By the way, How did you like the exhaust on Waltrips Ferrari?? LMAO!! I thought it was an electric car at first, it was so quiet.

And yes, I agree! It is one of the best forms of racing, I don't regret it at all!