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Accipiter
12-12-03, 07:14 PM
Papis and Pruett return to sports car racing

By Motorsport.com staff

On the heels of winning his third Trans-Am championship, Scott Pruett will compete again in endurance sports car racing. Joining Pruett will be Max Papis. The two will be teammates for the newly announced entry of Chip Ganassi Racing in the 2004 Grand American Rolex Series.

CGR has proven that they are a formidable racing team in multiple series. Ganassi teams have won four consecutive CART Champ Car titles with drivers Juan Pablo Montoya, Alexander Zanardi and Jimmy Vasser. In 2003, CGR and Scott Dixon won the IRL IndyCar championship. Combined those titles with the NASCAR Cup car chase by CGR and one will know there is no doubt that this team with two top road racing experts will be in the chase for the Grand-Am Rolex championship next year.

Pruett and Papis will share the driving duties in a Daytona Prototype Lexus Riley MK XI for the 2004 12-race series. Both drivers have demonstrated their abilities in endurance racing, including the Daytona 24 Hour event which will open the season on January 31st.

"We are very, very excited about running the entire season," expressed team owner Chip Ganassi. "We look forward to joining the intense competition that we saw this year in the Daytona Prototypes. We plan on having a lot of fun."

CGR joins a growing list of new entries in the Daytona Prototype class. Grand American Road Racing Association president Roger Edmondson commented, "The Daytona Prototypes momentum continues to build, it looks like we will start with the most competitive Rolex 24 at Daytona in many, many years. Pruett and Papis both have a great record in the 24-hour event."

Pruett's record in CART Champ Cars, International Motor Sports Association championships, American Le Mans Series, International Race Of Champions and the Sports Car Club of America amateur and Pro Racing, Trans-Am, and NASCAR Cup speaks for itself. Pruett last drove for CGR this year at the Watkins Glen event where he finished second.

Pruett expressed his delight with continuing his relationship with Ganassi, "Coming off a dominant season in the Trans-Am, and experiencing my best NASCAR Winston Cup Series in a Target Dodge for Chip Ganassi, I'm looking forward to continuing my relationship with Ganassi Racing in
the Rolex Series."

About his new teammate, Pruett stated, "Max (Papis) and I have been friends for a long time, and I'm looking forward to driving with him this season."

Papis also comes to the team with high credentials. In his first-ever appearance in the North American racing arena, Papis finished second in the Daytona 24-hours. The event earned him his nickname of "Mad Max". Papis returned to Daytona in 2002 with Doran-Lista Racing, the team won overall. Papis competed in Champ Cars where Pruett was one of his competitors. The two have met on the track in other series as well. The Italian driver ran go-karts, F3000 and Formula One before his venture into North American racing.

"I am really excited for the great opportunity and great honor to join Chip Ganassi Racing in their new adventure," Papis said. "I had great success in Grand American and sports car racing in America. In particular, Daytona has been the 'business card' of my American career."

Papis who has been on a roller-coaster ride for the past few years, bouncing between series: Grand-Am, ALMS, and CART, commented on his thoughts for 2004 and his new ride. "This is definitely the right year to be in a Daytona Prototype, and I look forward to sharing a car with Scott Pruett. I think our combination will be a potent weapon, and I am hoping to help bring success to Chip Ganassi Racing."


Meet the prohibative Championship favorites. Though it's not explicitly stated in the article, it would shock me if they didn't use Dixon as their third driver at Daytona and other non-conflicting enduros.

Turn7
12-12-03, 07:23 PM
Notice that there is not T in the team name. I suppose Target drew the line and said, "Enough already!"

Soon enough the T in TCGR will stand for Toyota and not Target

Kiwifan
12-12-03, 08:34 PM
;)

Heard a wee whisper that Scott was looking to turn right again but it may have just been a news release on his wish to be in F1.

Rusty.

DaveL
12-12-03, 11:02 PM
The press release announcing the changing of the team name to Toyota's Bitch Racing will be out early next week.

rabbit
12-13-03, 12:11 AM
I heard they're going to make a movie about Chip Ganassi. Ned Beatty is going to play Chip and a couple inbred hill-jacks are going to play Jim Aust and Lee White. :eek:

Hink
12-13-03, 01:02 AM
Look at where the little brick road to nowhere leads one.

Pathetic.

Accipiter
12-13-03, 12:17 PM
Originally posted by Turn7
Notice that there is not T in the team name. I suppose Target drew the line and said, "Enough already!"

Soon enough the T in TCGR will stand for Toyota and not Target

LCGR. They will be running with their engine badged as Lexus, and probably with massive Lexus logos on the side of the car leaving no doubt who is funding this thing. Toyota must have looked at how much they were paying Cheep, and decided there wasn't enough return on investment (I mean, what exactly do you get out of an IRL Championship?), and told him he'd have to help them suck up to NASCAR some more to smooth their transition to Cup racing, where the big bucks are.

mapguy
12-13-03, 12:56 PM
What a whore.

JT265
12-13-03, 02:22 PM
If a ProtoCrap car stalls in the forest, will anybody hear?

cart7
12-13-03, 02:44 PM
Originally posted by JT265
If a ProtoCrap car stalls in the forest, will anybody hear?
Hopefully the tree will fall on it and put it out of its misery.

Racewriter
12-13-03, 03:23 PM
I saw the car at PRI. It ain't ugly.

Ankf00
12-13-03, 06:31 PM
:rofl: :rofl:

his shamelessness knows no bounds.

rosawendel
12-13-03, 07:44 PM
"Alexander Zanardi"??? what the hell is that?:confused:

Accipiter
12-14-03, 11:18 AM
Originally posted by Racewriter
I saw the car at PRI. It ain't ugly.

Really? I thought they had yet to finish building any of the Riley & Scott cars.

Peter Olivola
12-14-03, 11:53 AM
I disagree with your esthetic sensibility. I consider the Eagle Westlake F1 to be the epitome of automotive art. The car at PRI looks like something done by a talentless first grader.


Originally posted by Racewriter
I saw the car at PRI. It ain't ugly.

JT265
12-14-03, 12:55 PM
I'll agree 100% on the Eagle Peter. The Toyo Grand Sham ProtoCrap I haven't seen tho'.

Tall1
12-14-03, 02:37 PM
Once upon a time I liked both drivers, when they were at Rahal; my 2nd favorite series is/was Trans-Am. Now that Pruett has signed to do the grand-scam thing, can I read a message about the future of Trans-Am, since he would be the defending champion in that series?

Racewriter
12-14-03, 04:07 PM
Originally posted by Accipiter
Really? I thought they had yet to finish building any of the Riley & Scott cars.

My mistake. What I saw at PRI was a Toyota-FABCAR, and I wrongly assumed it was one of the Ganassi cars.

FCYTravis
12-14-03, 04:48 PM
No Prototurd can be described as anything other than fugly. They look like a GTP drawn by a three-year-old. That gigantic greenhouse, puny rear wing and gaping front end combine to make a car that is the epitome of ugly.

turn1
12-15-03, 11:19 AM
Originally posted by rosawendel
"Alexander Zanardi"??? what the hell is that?:confused:

I agree - if they are going to use the long version of him name then they should use Alessandro!

Warlock!
12-15-03, 11:45 AM
Originally posted by JT265
I'll agree 100% on the Eagle Peter. The Toyo Grand Sham ProtoCrap I haven't seen tho'. Just picked up the Eagle Weslake diecast from SpeedGear as my Christmas present ($106 with the discount Joelski found!) It came in the mail today. When I opened it and finally took a look at it, I came too. :o

Warlock!

rabbit
12-15-03, 01:07 PM
Originally posted by rosawendel
"Alexander Zanardi"??? what the hell is that?:confused: Wasn't he the guy that was replaced at TCGR by John Paul Montoya?

JT265
12-15-03, 07:37 PM
Originally posted by Warlock!
Just picked up the Eagle Weslake diecast from SpeedGear as my Christmas present ($106 with the discount Joelski found!) It came in the mail today. When I opened it and finally took a look at it, I came too. :o

Warlock!

Beatch!!! Sweeeeet! :thumbup:

Accipiter
01-07-04, 02:15 PM
And here it is at the Daytona test days:

http://www.theracechannels.com/photos/03gadaytestmon-26.jpg

It was 3rd quickest in most of the sesions it ran in. None too shabby for the first time the car ever turned a wheel. Can't say the same about the looks of the car though. :eek:

indyracer56
01-07-04, 02:29 PM
The look of that car reminds me of the old Camel GT Lights cars.

http://www.race-cars.com/carsales/tiga/1053553086/1053553086pa.jpg

Ziggy
01-07-04, 05:10 PM
Accipiter

That is one ugly racecar. WB might take offense to the vulgar waste of exotic metal and carbon.

To think someone actually spent time building this thing is a crying shame...

How fast is third quick? I bet a Turbo 935 Porsche from 1978 would wax it's ugly ass

Ziggy

pchall
01-07-04, 05:35 PM
[QUOTE][i]Originally posted by Accipiter

http://www.theracechannels.com/photos/03gadaytestmon-26.jpg


Yikes.

I've seen better looking turds pushed out by Consulier and Mosler...

pchall
01-07-04, 05:39 PM
Originally posted by indyracer56
The look of that car reminds me of the old Camel GT Lights cars.

http://www.race-cars.com/carsales/tiga/1053553086/1053553086pa.jpg

http://www.theracechannels.com/photos/03gadaytestmon-26.jpg

Any use of interesting additives affecting that memory? ;)

JoeBob
01-07-04, 06:07 PM
I must say, that is the best looking Daytona Prototype I've seen yet.

Of course, that says a lot more about the other cars than it does about that one.

http://www.grandamerican.com/daytona_prototype/Picchio8.jpg
http://www.grandamerican.com/daytona_prototype/speedsource200.jpg
http://www.grandamerican.com/daytona_prototype/Cegwa3.jpg
http://www.grandamerican.com/daytona_prototype/doran200.jpg
http://www.grandamerican.com/daytona_prototype/crawfordweb.jpg

:shakehead

Joe in LA
01-07-04, 09:19 PM
The shape of those cars would make perfect sense if they had riding mechanics. Does anyone know what drove the rules makers to require gigantic foreheads on the cars?

devilmaster
01-07-04, 09:21 PM
double as circus clown cars?
;)

Steve

Railbird
01-07-04, 10:08 PM
looking from the sills to the fender tops it kinda looks decent in a generic sorta way, from there on up it looks like a canistoga wagon dropped on it.

If that thing is a racer this guy is a surfer



http://www.ri.net/schools/Narragansett/NES/SWAT/Narragansett/Narra%20photos/Potato-Head.jpg

or maybe this guy is the driver

JoeBob
01-07-04, 10:15 PM
Originally posted by Joe in LA
The shape of those cars would make perfect sense if they had riding mechanics. Does anyone know what drove the rules makers to require gigantic foreheads on the cars?

They wanted to make sure NASCAR drivers could comfortably drive these as well. The France Family promotion plan pretty much revolves around having the Winston Cup guys do one-offs at Daytona, and perhaps elsewhere. So, they needed a car that could accomodate a driver as tall as Michael Waltrip and as wide as Jimmy Spencer.

Peter Olivola
01-08-04, 10:33 AM
The oversized greenhouse was specified for two reasons: Drag and safety. GrandAm thinks providing more cockpit space will provide more driver protection ala Nextel Cup. GrandAm wants to be able to easily tweak individual designs with drag devices and thinks a specified cockpit size will eliminate opportunities to defeat the program.


Originally posted by Joe in LA
The shape of those cars would make perfect sense if they had riding mechanics. Does anyone know what drove the rules makers to require gigantic foreheads on the cars?

Accipiter
01-09-04, 01:32 PM
Originally posted by Ziggy
How fast is third quick? I bet a Turbo 935 Porsche from 1978 would wax it's ugly ass

Ziggy

Best test times were a second off the best lap turned by the World Superbikes a few weeks earlier. :shakehead

Joe in LA
01-09-04, 03:37 PM
Originally posted by Peter Olivola
The oversized greenhouse was specified for two reasons: Drag and safety. GrandAm thinks providing more cockpit space will provide more driver protection ala Nextel Cup. GrandAm wants to be able to easily tweak individual designs with drag devices and thinks a specified cockpit size will eliminate opportunities to defeat the program.

I suppose I can see some argument on the aero--but unless the cockpit shape (as opposed to size) is specified, I could still see a decent aero guy getting around the "devices". Also, unless you spec the entire body, I would expect the better designers to find ways to minimize the damage of the big greenhouse. As to driver protection--once it is big enough so that the driver isn't going to strike the structure in an accident, I don't really see how the bigger greenhouse helps. Given that the drivers are restrained, its not like they can "use" the additional space in an accident. The only benefit I could see is in extraction and/or possible penetration--get the penetrating object farther away?

Peter Olivola
01-09-04, 11:01 PM
My guess on the aero "reasoning" is that the relatively high ratio of greenhouse to total frontal area minimizes the opportunity to make small tweaks to achieve big gains and the cost will be a brake on development.

On the safety issue, let me emphasize that I don't think GrandAm/NASCAR has any credibility. Having said that, I think you need to take a look at the spatial relationships in the old GTP and current GT category cars. They are very confined. As huge as the DP's look, it's really more a function of the greenhouse size being so relatively large compared to the overall car. We're not used to seeing these kinds of relationships. When Ford turned the GT-40's over to John Wyer the first thing he did was shrink the greenhouse (Ford had maintained and even slightly englarged it as part of the safety revisions following Walt Hansgen's fatal LeMans testing accident.) That was over 30 years ago. Cockpit space has been in steady decline ever since.


Originally posted by Joe in LA
I suppose I can see some argument on the aero--but unless the cockpit shape (as opposed to size) is specified, I could still see a decent aero guy getting around the "devices". Also, unless you spec the entire body, I would expect the better designers to find ways to minimize the damage of the big greenhouse. As to driver protection--once it is big enough so that the driver isn't going to strike the structure in an accident, I don't really see how the bigger greenhouse helps. Given that the drivers are restrained, its not like they can "use" the additional space in an accident. The only benefit I could see is in extraction and/or possible penetration--get the penetrating object farther away?

pchall
01-12-04, 12:24 PM
Accipiter

That is one ugly racecar. WB might take offense to the vulgar waste of exotic metal and carbon...

Ziggy

I've got a pretty good idea that Ziggy could put chalk marks on his garage floor and weld, rivet, and bond up a better Grand Am chassis than that from chrome moly tubing and sheet aluminum.

ps: while Ford's thinking about the usefulness of a larger cockpit probably made sense in 1967, modern safety practices have obviated many of those concerns. But NASCAR wouldn't know that, would they? The tall cockpit is there so they can sit upright like truck drivers, some their fanbase understands.

Peter Olivola
01-12-04, 02:02 PM
I'm right up there with cheap shots at NASCAR, but you do realize, of course, that the seating position is irrelevant to what the spectators can even remotely see in these cars compared to the cars being built to the new FIA specs. If you're arguing in favor of open cockpit cars that's a separate issue unrelated to GrandAm, the France family or NASCAR.


ps: while Ford's thinking about the usefulness of a larger cockpit probably made sense in 1967, modern safety practices have obviated many of those concerns. But NASCAR wouldn't know that, would they? The tall cockpit is there so they can sit upright like truck drivers, some their fanbase understands.

Accipiter
01-28-04, 02:28 PM
Jimmy Morales to join Chip Ganassi Racing for Daytona 24


MEXICO CITY, Mexico (January 27, 2004) -- Jimmy Morales has confirmed that he will join Chip Ganassi Racing for this weekend's Rolex 24 At Daytona, January 31 - February 1. The Mexican racer will partner with Scott Pruett and Max Papis in the No. 01 CompUSA Lexus Riley Daytona Prototype.

"I feel very optimistic about the opportunity to participate in the Rolex 24 At Daytona. The team's professionalism increased my performance during training. I have adapted quickly and have achieved my timing goals on every lap. Scott and Max are talented, hard working drivers, and I feel confident that we will be very successful," said Morales.

Morales recently traveled to Phoenix where he tested with the team, adapting to the new Daytona Prototype and developing his driving techniques. Luis "Chapulin" Diaz accompanied Morales to the test session.



Can you say "Pay Driver?" I knew you could.

Steve99
01-29-04, 04:09 PM
Jimmy Morales to join Chip Ganassi Racing for Daytona 24


Who is Jimmy Morales?

I guess I won't be shopping at CompUSA anymore.

Ziggy
01-29-04, 05:01 PM
The only Morales in racing that I can remember are the brothers out of Southern California who ran the Tamale Wagons in the CRA for years. They also did Indianapolis and the entire champcar trail in the mid 70's.

Bob Hogle was their shoe in the California Racing Association for years, and won several titles.

Any relation?

Ziggy

Turn7
01-29-04, 05:22 PM
The press release is from Mexico City so, I doubt this Morales is connected with the California group your referring to.

EDIT

With a little additional digging, he was the Mexican F3000 champ in 1997. That was the secnond and final year of Mex. F3000.

He did some testing for Panoz last year it appears.

http://www.motorsport.com/photos/popup.asp?N=10&I=alms/2002/gen/alms-2002-gen-tm-0169.jpg&SN=1_161.114.1.183:89372&S=

Accipiter
01-30-04, 08:20 PM
He did some testing for Panoz last year it appears.

http://www.motorsport.com/photos/popup.asp?N=10&I=alms/2002/gen/alms-2002-gen-tm-0169.jpg&SN=1_161.114.1.183:89372&S=


Oh, he's that guy. I remeber wondering who the hell he was last year when he did those PR laps promoting the aborted Mexico City ALMS race.