Anyone going to the Rolex 24 this year?

[dinoracer]

Deb wanted to go someplace warm and to swim with dolphins this year, I'm not a big fan of Florida, so I negotiated tickets to the Rolex as part of the deal. Anyone else going to be there? Anything else in the Daytona /Orlando area I should be hitting? One day will be Cape Canaveral, the rest of the time is pretty open...

thanks Tom

[eastcoastbumps]

Paddy and I are going. This will be our 3rd trip.

Rent or buy a scanner and get garage passes.

[grovefromnh]

Hotel/motel rooms are dirt cheap for the 24 as they get very few spectators. Rates triple 3 weeks later for the Daytona 500.

[offcamber09]

I've got a scanner for you if you want.

[dinoracer]

Thanks Scott, if you bring it to the shop I'll stop by for it.

Pete, I got the GRM package, comes with garage passes etc. It was worth the money at least for the first time around.

[John F]

I'll be there for 4 days. Been looking forward to going for a long time.

[John F]

Well, I liked the whole experience, but the racing could have been better. Seems like since NASCAR bought the rights to IMSA racing, they intend to make it "yellow flag racing" like the stock cars. Maybe it's just Daytona, but every yellow lasted for at least 20 minutes while they cleaned up and then let the different classes pit. If it's the same at Sebring, I'm giving up on them. On the last yellow, with 30 minutes left, a car went off and brushed the tire wall, but got back on by himself. They put the safety car out and finally went green with 6 minutes left!

[962porsche]

god yes way to many yellows for no good reason ! the last yellow was not needed at all !
it does not make for good racing !
one of the reasons I stop watching nascar is they started draft and crash then a green and white flags come out .
they could save a crap load of fuel and just have 3 lap races because that what they make it come down to .
as a racer I want to see racing when I watch it on TV .
I think they have a good idea with the new USCC but it does seam to fall short with some of the things .
they showed very little of the IMSA cars and the DP cars seamed to be what they focused on more .
I tended not to watch to much of the old DP races series as they were to much of a cookie cutter type car .

[kfoote]

Seems like since NASCAR bought the rights to IMSA racing, they intend to make it "yellow flag racing" like the stock cars. Maybe it's just Daytona, but every yellow lasted for at least 20 minutes while they cleaned up and then let the different classes pit. If it's the same at Sebring, I'm giving up on them. On the last yellow, with 30 minutes left, a car went off and brushed the tire wall, but got back on by himself. They put the safety car out and finally went green with 6 minutes left!

I'm not sure where you get this impression from.

The new TUSC and CTSCC series cautions are 4 laps to cycle through everything.
IMSA's have been a minimum of 4 laps for the last several years.
Grand-Am's were 3 laps.

The number and frequency of the yellows this year during the 24 was very similar to what it has been in the past. This year there were 17 cautions. There were 16 in 2013, 14 in 2012, 23 in 2011, 16 in 2010, and 25 in 2009. If you want to compare it to Sebring, there were 4 in 2013, 11 in 2012, 9 in 2011, 5 in 2010, and 3 in 2009. Petit Le Mans had 8 in 2013, 7 in 2012, 10 in 2011, 9 in 2010, and 7 in 5 hours before they red flagged the race due to weather in 2009. Though there have been more frequent cautions in the 24 than at Sebring in the last few years, it's not by much, and the cautions are actually less frequent than they have traditionally been at the Petit Le Mans.

[Mark Swinehart]

Kevin, there you go again sighting actual facts and not some opinion!!!

[TroyV]

Yeah Kevin!!! What the heck is the matter with you?!!?!?

[dinoracer]

First, thanks Kevin for "bringing the tech" - you're certainly in the best position of all of us!. Good to see you and Dan by the way, sorry I didn't stop back later, but I got distracted by everything else, and Deb's patience was running out.

Second, I HIGHLY recommend you all put this race on your "bucket list". I don't follow particular racers or teams very closely myself, but man what a great time I had! The sound, sights, everything about the event was just great to be in the middle of. There's a good crowd, but plenty of places to watch from and you never feel crowded - Filled up with NASCAR fans, this place must be absolute madness.

Next time I go, I'll:

- bring a better camera
- Let Deb stay at home (she was a trooper, but had seen enough after 3 hours)
- book the same condo (nice place, 4 miles away, and even that far away I could hear the race clearly all night - I have no idea how anyone with a campsite in or around the track could ever sleep)
- rent a minivan or similar so I can pass out horizontal at the track for a few hours in the wee hours after trying to stay up all night anyway

Tom

[John F]

I'm not sure where you get this impression from.

The new TUSC and CTSCC series cautions are 4 laps to cycle through everything.
IMSA's have been a minimum of 4 laps for the last several years.
Grand-Am's were 3 laps.

Well, I guess I don't watch enough of this, Kevin.
Can you explain the rationale of keeping the pits closed until the incident is cleaned up and then cycling the different classes through in turn? Seems to me the pits should never be closed and the racing should go back green as soon as the incident is cleaned up. The safety car should not be deployed until it's certain that the incident can't be self corrected.

[kfoote]

Short version: it levels the playing field for the non-overall leading classes.

Long version: Suppose that the overall leader is lapping cars in a slower class, and comes up on a battle for the lead, with the first and second place cars in the slower class running nose to tail. Just after the overall leader passes P2 in the slower class, the full course caution comes out. The pace car then picks up the overall leader, and P2 in the slower class is stuck behind while P1 in the slower class effectively gets a full lap up on P2. P1 could then come into the pits, make a pit stop, and still be effectively a lap up, with full fuel and fresh tires. The current procedure with the wave-bys and closing of the pits equalizes this situation, where P2 is allowed to pass the overall leader, and P1 can't pit until after the wave-bys happen. In IMSA, until about 5 years ago, the pits were open all the time, and scenarios similar to the above example played out on several occasions, taking a close class battle and making it a runaway.

[962porsche]

what was stated is very true about pits and how they work and as to way they work .
how ever at the last 24 there was no reason to put out a full course caution .
the Porsche was still under it's own power and moving after it blew a tire and hit the wall . it was not leaking fluid and headed back to the pits . there was no reason to go full yellow for that and yet they did .