Gurney + Fogarty spank field at Mid-Ohio

[FCYTravis]

While one Atlantics grad is going home DNQ, two others just pretty much thoroughly had their way with the DP field at Mid-Ohio this evening. Wasn't even close - they combined to lead 105 of 111 laps with a victory margin of more than 31 seconds.

:)

[extramundane]

While one Atlantics grad is going home DNQ, two others just pretty much thoroughly had their way with the DP field at Mid-Ohio this evening. Wasn't even close - they combined to lead 105 of 111 laps with a victory margin of more than 31 seconds.

:)

Yeah, well, those 2 Atlantics grads don't cry themselves to sleep if the car's not perfect.

First time I ever watched a DP-era GA race start-to-finish. Blame the whiskey & painkillers. Matt Alhadeff needs to be smacked in the face with a live eel.


(Glad to see you're hitting the major PR outlets first :D )

[FCYTravis]

First time I ever watched a DP-era GA race start-to-finish.
That wasn't so bad, was it? :D

Really helped that nobody parked it in a gravel trap - it's sure nice to not see the pace car more than you see the leaders.


Matt Alhadeff needs to be smacked in the face with a live eel.
:laugh:

Oh yeah, and our very own Sean O'Gorman was on hand - I think he's our good luck charm. Scary, innit? :o

[nissan gtp]

saw the last 30 laps or so. nice to see mid-ohio again, it's a track I really enjoyed going to for many years.

good racing back in the pack. the 99 needs a big weight penalty ;)

[G.]

Congrats. Travis!

You would really help out your team's PR if you would try to stay out of the camera shot.:p ;)

Observations:
DP's be fugly. This is not up for debate, it is true.
DP's have a lot of really good Racers driving them, MadMax notwithstanding.
I don't get to go to Mid-Ohio for the near future. Thanks, Tony!:flame: Nice track.

[Spicoli]

Oh yeah, and our very own Sean O'Gorman was on hand - I think he's our good luck charm. Scary, innit? :o

I didn't know Mid-O was on the Parma busline. :gomer:

[chop456]

Congrats. :thumbup:

[extramundane]

Oh yeah, and our very own Sean O'Gorman was on hand - I think he's our good luck charm. Scary, innit? :o

How many times did he tell Alex & John that he knew a better line around the track?

[Sean O'Gorman]

The only thing I said of value was that Travis should write a press release with five commas in between every word, which prompted about 2-3 PR folk to turn around and start laughing hysterically.

Really, it was boring, I was only there because I got free tickets for the weekend by "assisting" with the company hospitality suite on Friday (read: driving people around on a golf kart). Racing sucks.

[Easy]

Matt Alhadeff needs to be smacked in the face with a live eel.



If I am ever asked to give my favorite quote this will be it.:rofl:

[G.]

Travis,

So you guys tore apart the 99 car to let the other teams snoop around for cheats?!?

Was that mandated, or volunteered?

[Rus'L]

While one Atlantics grad is going home DNQ, two others just pretty much thoroughly had their way with the DP field at Mid-Ohio this evening. Wasn't even close - they combined to lead 105 of 111 laps with a victory margin of more than 31 seconds.

I was at Watkins Glen when this team destroyed the field there (the only thing that kept it close was the constant full course yellows).

What in the world are these guys doing that no one else is?

[FCYTravis]

Sssshhhh, can you keep a secret? It's the ground effects tunnels. ;)

In all seriousness, it's a combination of a lot of things, and that starts with the guys bolted between the seat and the steering wheel.

Let nobody tell you different - Alex and Jon are world-class racing drivers. They're really fast, they work together really well and they're getting the endurance racing "thing" down to a science. IM(biased)O, it's the best pairing in the Grand-Am paddock right now. There *might* (and I stress might) be one or two drivers as individuals who are better, but there are none better as a team than Alex and Jon.

I think they also had something to prove - Alex got some bad deals in Atlantics and Jon's 2x Atlantic titles didn't get him a Champ Car ride. Their loss, obviously.

Our engineer, Kyle Brannan and our DAG/shock guy, Eric Crowder, are top-notch and always thinking about every small detail. For example, this weekend we were the only team to put a TV feed in our pit box. There were no track hookups and with a tape-delay, you can't just pull it off a dish.

Eric had a brainstorm - using a 2.4GHz wireless TV transmitter to grab the feed from a coax cable in the media center. I ran to Best Buy, picked up the stuff and we bodged together a crude but effective, system that made sure Kyle and Bob could monitor the race from the timing stand. All the other teams were bewildered - Krohn's guys kept hovering around us going, "WTF? Where are you getting this?" One of our guys told them Bob had his own private satellite :)

The pit crew is a well-oiled machine - they're ripping off pit stops faster than anyone. In with a 5-second lead, out with 15. In with 15, out with 25. In an all-green race, that is huge. Link Smith (Pat Smith's son) has brought a ton to this team as crew chief.

We did specialized testing in the offseason to develop a high-level understanding of what the car does under different aerodynamic situations, and how each tweak affects the car's balance and speed. That means we can come out of the box with a strong setup and not have to guess at what the car wants.

Lastly, we're all hungry to win, and none more than Bob. He's fiercely competitive and truly committed to road racing. He gives the guys the tools and resources they need to get to the front and then lets them do their jobs. This is not a short-term lark for him - his dream is to build a team organization that history will place in the ranks with Newman-Haas, Alex Job, Penske and Ganassi.

We'll see how the rest of the season plays out, but there's no reason to think we're going to get any slower.

[pchall]

I'm sure everybody enjoyed the spanking.

BTW, anybody got a split time for the DP through Madness? I'd think that Nappy is quicker in his FV.