Ganassi DP

[gttouring]

well the lexus Riley, strangely enough doesn't look nearly as good as the all red Doran Toyota.
and ganassi is using "gasp" something other than Target sponsorship- CompUSA?!
http://www.grand-am.com/news/news969.html

and they are near the front of the speed chart as expected
1. (54) Forest Barber; Terry Borcheller; Andy Pilgrim; Milka Duno, DP, Bell Motorsports Chevrolet Doran, 01:48.311, 118.326.
2. (58) David Donohue; Darren Law; Sascha Maassen; Lucas Luhr, DP, Red Bull - Brumos Porsche Porsche Fabcar, 01:48.635, 117.973.
#3(01) Scott Pruett; Max Papis, DP, CGR Grand Am Lexus Riley, 01:48.877, 117.711.


what is the Daytona road course track record- pre DP any way?

[GeorgeA]

1:33 and a bit -- Gurney Eagle-Toyota, 1993.

[full throttle]

The fact that the Ganassi car is on pace with almost no testing should be a large warning sign to the rest of the DP field. They may not win the Rolex, but this team will dominate during the season. Well... they'll dominate as much as one can in a series where they throw yellows every 10 laps to bunch the field.

[Try Hard]

I really don't like the look of that riley, roof looks, well, squashed...

seems to go quick though (compared to the other DP's). Might have something to do witht the team behind it methinks.

Ed

[gttouring]

yup-
and side note to GA and the DP's
at www.NASCAR.com there is a poll on if the daytona 24 Hours is more interesting now that they have some Cup regulars there- the result when i was there was a 59% interest with cup drivers rather than the supposed zero interest with no Cup drivers? maybe GA has an edge and will easily take the sportscar reigns
of course they could divide it easy and make the Grand Am run solely on rovals, and watkins glen- this would make for an easy tie in with the tracks and Winston cup- especially if they can run before cup or truck races- and let the infield fill up after ward...

[Tim Northcutt]

I think it is due to:

1. The team Behind it

2. The Rileys are superb designers...their record speaks for itself

3. Can't ask for better drivers...

I also agree with full throttle...if they are this quick this early, everybody in Grand Am better take notice, because the stakes have just been raised in the game...big time...

[nsxr]

oh yeah except for that whole irl car that ........

[Tim Northcutt]

...actually won its second race that it ever competed in...but had too much downforce for other tracks that required trimmed-out speed on superspeedways.......

For a small operation compared to big manufacturers, I think their record for the MkIIIA stands on it s own...

[jhansen]

Nicely put Tim.

I agree, the Grand Am bunch should keep an eye on Ganassi. He has been successful in a number of series and will continue to do so. There is no reason not to think so. The team is well funded, well organized, has well prepared cars and good talent. How many of the teams in GA have this team's experience and resources? The only variable is did they choose the right car? I have no clue as I do not follow GA.

[Megatron]

Forest Barber came out on the G/A fourm a while back and openly questioned if the series was ready for a team like Ganassi and he felt threatened by a team with that kind of budget.

When asked if there was concern about it, Roger Edmenton, PR nightmare, replied "Yes, but not by us".

[Megatron]

And the IRL car was killed by the regulations. The regs said that a car can't be altered to any kind of effect in the s4eason itself instead they must wait for the winter and the "update" kit. The R&S guys could not take out any development to get rid of some of the drag.

If your name is Chevy, IRL will make exceptions. If your R&S, they didn't and the existing and any future customers saw a car that couldn't get about 212 in practice at Indy and said no way.

The IRL is an expert at chassis regulations. Note the exclusion of Lola for an unknown MK chassis that never saw a customer, I don't think it ever tested.

Great world of US motorsports isn't it?

[billnchristy]

I really do think they will be quick, but I also think that even though the other teams cannot outspend him, he isnt really gonna gain much with bottomless pockets in GA as much as say ALMS or F1.

I would be afraid of those Crawfords with Wallace and Lietzinger behind the wheels too...

Once Heritage gets there car sorted out they will be near the top too...there are plenty of teams that can easily factor in.

Along with Theys in the Doran, The Brumos cars, and of course the Bell Motorsports car too...should be about an 8 way battle!!

[GP Racer]

I agree billncristy, that Chip probably won't be able to get much of an advantage spending alot of money on his DP.

The rules are pretty strict as to what can be done to the car to make it quicker, and its a pretty short list.

His advantage will be in the drivers he's got and the team he assembles. They may get a quicker read on setting up the car. Thats where they'll make up some time, and possibly be better than the rest.

[JAG]

The DTM has very tight regs, in all areas, yet the might of GM/Opel has not won a single race since 2001 against Mercedes and Abt Audi.

Just look at Super touring for a series that was ititially set up with tigh regs, to allow for 'cheap' racing. They ended up with £5m budgets for a single BTCC season and domination by the likes of Audi, BMW and Renault.

[paul-collins]

Strict regs and fluid interpretations don't stop teams like Ganassi from spending cubic dollars in NASCAR. You don't spend on testing and development and not expect a return on the expenditure, ergo there is something to be found. I believe that there is similar potential in the DP chassis, and that money spent will reap rewards for whoever does it.

I just don't see that anyone can say "here's your chassis, you're not allowed to touch it other than at race weekends." Well, other than Audi...

[Chevyguy]

That thing is ugly. The R&S is just butt frickin' ugly.

I think the Ganassi team's times were all on the drivers. The short history of the DPs shows that a good driver decides these races. You got two guys in there who are quite accustomed to makin' it happen real fast.

The Ganassi team will certainly be a regular on the podium, but don't discredit the competition. I think the Taylor car will be the badass of the field this year. I wonder what they were sorting out all weekend. Should have got the Chevy.

Barber might be intimidated by Ganassi, but Borchellar is certainly not. Got to ask him what he thought about it on the GA site, he says it will up the competition. You watch, there's plenty of great drivers out there that can run Pruett and Papis down. What interesing about that though, I sat and watched their times Sunday. Pruett and Papis were lapping consistantly in the 1:51;1:52 range. Most of the other front runners were in the 1:54s. Most of the slower cars were like 1:58 most of the time. It's just testing though. I think Wallace, Borchellar, Pruett and Papis were trying hard to be the fast guy. I 58 car was up with 'em too, which is impressive as they have the smallest engine.

[GTRMagic]

I agree Chevyguy, there are some sweet sportscars around, but that Lexus thing is dreadful...

[BSchneiderFan]

Jaysus, what a monstrosity.

[full throttle]

Mark my words, the Forest Barbers of the GA world are done. Had their moment in the sun similar to Buzz Caulkins in the first year of the IRL. Ganassi or someone like them will ascend. And to those who think you can't spend a ton of money in a closed formula and have it make a competitive advantage, the most obvoius example is NASCAR itself of course!!! There isn't a more technologically backward, over-regulated series on earth, and yet the manage to spend millions looking for 100th's of a second around Martinsville.

[Tim Northcutt]

You took the words right out of my fingertips, full throttle....

In a closed series that is tightly regulated, having the $$$ to learn or develop the little things that can make a difference pays back with huge dividends....

[gttouring]

so for a 19 car DP grid and relative growth in the series is Ganssi the beginning of an early end- or will more teams flock to it to challenge and try to topple the might Chip empire?

[BobN]

One thing to keep in mind is that IF Toyota are funding Ganassi's DP effort and they don't want to "upset" the NASCAR folks (where Toyota is really aiming) they might just tow the line and have a presence that "pleases" the owners of Grand-am.

Speculation is that Ganassi "could" dominate, but will he if it means biting the hand that feeds?

[GP Racer]

Originally posted by gttouring
so for a 19 car DP grid and relative growth in the series is Ganssi the beginning of an early end- or will more teams flock to it to challenge and try to topple the might Chip empire?

Thats a great question gt!

Time will tell, having Ganassi's name in Grand Am, could be both a blessing and a curse.

I'm betting at first it will be a blessing, because he will bring a legitamacy to the series, and other big names will probably get into the game.

But then could come the curse when the privateers can't keep up and quit, leaving only a smaller number of top-team cars with big names.

It does seem to be the trend in alot of series, doesn't it?

[full throttle]

Thus we have the catch-22 that all racing suffers from in todays 'zero attention span' society. Its all well and good that the Forest Barbers of the world are investing in a new form of racing by participating, but nobody really cares or wants to watch as is amply witnessed by the dismal attendance at most races. I'm not putting anyone down but the viewing audience wants sizzle... action... stars!! So, you bring in Toyota and Ganassi with their hired guns to put some sizzle in the show so people will watch, but after getting steamrolled for a year or two, the ego-driven privateers all bail, leaving you with a small field and a poor 'show' and everyone switches channels to the next big thing. Toyota doesn't like the reduced 'show' and heads for greener pastures, leaving you with an empty shell of a series.

Then the whole process starts over again.......

[GP Racer]

Ahhh, the ol catch-22 trick!

Well, maybe we'll get a couple of good years out of this series!