Club Arnage

Looks like a fine weekend for the Rolex 24 at Daytona.  Temps in the mid-sixties with a chance of rain for Sunday. I'll take that over the frozen tundra of the midwest in a heartbeat.  Anyone else besides Matt & I headed for Daytona Beach? Pidge, Phil?  Sorry Rick, I know your a Gunnar Racing fan but I'll be pulling for one of the Doran chassis. They're built here in Cincinnati and the factory squad of Theys, Lammers, Gossens & Lienhard has looked very strong in pre-race testing.
John

[attachment deleted by admin]

John/Matt:

It'll be weird sitting in snow covered Indy staring at Speed on Saturday afternoon - but having the little fella around takes the sting out of it.

Hope you guys have a blast and don't run into night chills, fire-proof firewood, Florida State Police hassles and ugly chicks at Hooters.  In fact, this will invariably be the weekend when it's nude server night, right?

I'd better get a few cases of the black stuff in to snuggle-up with for the duration.  Looking forward to a disorientated call from you guys some time over the weekend.

Hi John

REALLY wish I could be there again this year (have only made it once so far, in 2001 as a guest of the Jeannette family) - fantastic weekend despite the weather!

Hope it's a goodie. I'll be following via Daily Sportscar. Just hope it's a good thrash for the prototypes and an overall DSP win too this year, much as I loved the fact that The Racers Group did the business last year!

Have a great time, you lucky blighters!!!!  ;D

Thanks for good wishes - could be a bit chilly (for FL) this weekend and cold weather causes upsets at Daytona. At least we won't be drinking warm beer.
I like the look of the Wallace/Little E/Stewart Crawford Chevy - but I think one of the Brumos cars will probably end up nicking it.
Fax - the Sho Boat Tavern awaits - all you need to bring is your drinking boots - cooler, tents, bags and fold-away chairs are all in my loft. Should be a good weekend - missin'yal'ready Dave.

 ;D

And the Gunnar car just happens to be last year's #58 Brumos Redbull car, so you never know!!! Hope springs eternal!!

Still jealous as hell!! Have a crate of beer for me and say "hi" to the #45ers if you see them in the paddock!

Rick - I think your choice has everything going for it - except the old fossil. It's now time to concentrate on the salad dressing and hang-up the racing boots. Enough is enough. (Kyle Petty is pretty crap too)
In fact, now I think of it Gunnar would be better off driving this one solo! If we see him, we'll pass on your regards.

Matt, I'd have to agree that the Brumos guys are odds on favorites.  Hurley Haywood has won so many races at Daytona he could drive around there blindfolded.  Word is that this is PLN's final race so I do hope the Jeannette lads do have a good showing.  Dave it goes without saying that we will miss ya, we'll throw back a few for you and the kiddo.  This will be his introduction to the voices of Derek Daly, Calvin Fish, Jeremy Dale and the rest of the Speedchannel gang. I've got my drinking shoes laced up Matt!
John

LOL Matt!! Have a great time and bring me back a stick of rock.  ;D Here's hoping I have a good excuse to phone KJ on the cell at 6.05pm GMT Sunday.

Thanks Dave & Rick for the well wishes.  A girl I work with had a funny comment about the race.  She said "I hear that Tony Stewart & Little E are sharing a car? That thing will be full of pizza boxes and beer cans by Sunday morning!"
John

Hi Fax, Matt, Dave, & Rick. The Daytona crew eh!
I will be misssing this one watching on SPEED of course. While it is not what it used to be it is still a fine excuse to go racing. roll on Sebring.
Canada Phil

I'll second that Phil!

And just to get us in the mood, the latest MB wallpaper is a blast from the past on the banking:

www.maisonblanche.co.uk/download.html (http://www.maisonblanche.co.uk/download.html)

 ;D

Ah yes! The much missed Rob Dyson Riley & Scott.  Used to be great to see them mixing it with the Ferrari 333SP's up on the banking, carving in and out of backmarkers.  Great memories.
John

Tyre fiasco. Well, what a load of b*****ks!! Just so a GT wouldn't win again, they pull the red flag out!!! What a fairytale it would have been for the Policastros!! Hark back 3 years when I went and dejected faces all round when their Gunnar Racing run GT3R wouldn't make the start after a qually accident, and they could/should have won overall this year. Orbit deserved it. Devastated for Andy W. but elated for Andy P.

Interesting event that will be debated for years. GA still haven't got it right have they? Bless 'em!

What ? Three hours under yellow and then the race was red flagged to be commenced again after the rain, oh dear.

Yeah, the DPs were using their rain tyres too quickly and they were on the verge of running out of GoodYear supply which would have handed the win to the Orbit Porsche - it stinks!! Those guys deserved it!!

But no-one deserves to be robbed of a 24 hour victory with 30 mins to go, whatever had transpired before. Devastated for Andy Wallace.

Jesus - that was one tough event to spectate - so God knows what it was like to drive. Fax and I (and several other American friends) arrived at the track around 9.30am Saturday and did the usual sustained heavy drinking until the kick-off at 1.00pm. Even at that point the skies were looking somewhat threatening as we sat up in the main stands, above the tri-oval. The start was quite spectacular and the nature of the run into the infield course (track narrows by about 50%) provided some lunging overtaking moves - and the inevitable offs.
Excellent race credentials got us on the pit wall, where Fax had Tim Sugden making him coffee and discussing race strategy. The rain was relentless and heavy enough to put our campfire out, during a short trip to Daytona Beach for R&R and one of the best tit bars I've ever been to. The strippers outnumbered the punters - and it was a busy place (Lolipops, if you're ever in Daytona).
Got back to the Speedway about 1.00am and things were getting ugly. We had cautions off and on throughout the night. A return trip to the pits had us leaning over the wall and eyeball to eyeball with first Andy Wallace and later Tony Stewart in the Citgo car. Pretty special, despite the deluge. We also witnessed the one by one failure of the Multimatic DP's - each suffering terminal engine management failure. We saw both Brumos entries in bits and the relentless charge of the Flying Lizard 996.
By daybreak the place was silent - nothing on the track - slashing, sideways rain, everything f**k*ng soaked - very un-Florida. After several hours of bizarre nothingness, it all started again. The Wallace Earnhardt Stewart car was strong, but wounded and the whole thing eventually came apart at the seams. It was good that Andy Pilgrims car was positioned to pick up the pieces - but as Rick says was there by default. In reality the race should have been Johnny Mowlem's. MVP, for me, was Michael Rockenfeller in the Flying Lizard. He was fast and clean all race long and deffo one to watch.
Not the best 24 hour race I've attended, but certainly the wettest - and yes, that does include Le Mans 2000.
Roll on Sebring (I was going to say 'The 500', but I know you guys are somewhat scornful of NASCAR)
JPC - your Rolex 24 at Daytona 2004 shirt is secured - Dave will do the honours for Sebring.  

As Matt said, the relentless rain made it a difficult one to sit through.  However the pit passes and the company made it a damn fun event, right down in the thick of the action during the night hours.  Did manage to get myself scolded for carrying a beer in the pits, didn't even realize I had it with me.  Fortunately Daytona is a sprawling beachfront party town and after a major face-stuffing at Hooters our knockout of a waitress tipped us off to Lolipops...Holy Christ! Must have been a hundred girls working the place, everyone of them looking like they just stepped off the pages of Playboy.  More eye candy than you could possibly keep up with.  To say that place will be doing a brisk business over the next couple of weeks is a massive understatment.  Roll on Sebring and may it be dry!
John

Apart from the tittie bars, which obviously would have no appeal,  ;D You lot are utter jammy bastards.

I must agree there.  ;)

[attachment deleted by admin]

Sorry I don't want to rub your noses in this guys - I know I'm a jammy bleeder - but check out these babies....

How come you're slumming it in the grandstand?  Where's your UPS suite?

Are your vaccinations up to date sitting with that bunch of animals?

Actually I asked for 'em Dave. We were in their suite for the Pepsi 400 and it has a restricted view - added to which I nearly boiled my taters off. I don't mind a bit of shoulder to shoulder with my rednecked kinsmen. I'm thinking of installing webs between my fingers and having a few teeth pulled out, so I look the part.
Boogidy boogidy boogidy....... Let's geddit owwn!

I have an oceanview apartment (for ocean read beach :P :P :P!) at the Daytona Inn Beach Resort (which is v central, and not cheap!)) for a few days before Sebring.

The hotel said it is Spring Break week. Will I be safe?  ;D ;D ;D

Hi Smokey
Safe - yes, generally. Undisturbed? Probably not. They're a rowdy bunch, these kids. Daytona Beach hotels get some serious hammer (NASCAR events, Bike Week, Spring Break etc. etc.) You should be OK if your hotel is not too budget priced - but I'd still take a black light, which reveals bodily fluids on bedding, carpets, drapes, lampshades, ceilings and the like. (heh heh heh) Avoid hot tubs at all costs - and if you fancy a pint in O'town with Fax, Dave and myself before or after the race, let me know.  

The hotel has a bar where they had wet t shirt contests last year. I came a close second  ;). The place was a total riot, and I did plenty of "sightseeing"...

The surprise this year has to be car hire - with a strong £ v $ I thought it would be cheaper, but it seems to have gone up. Any thoughts?

Hi Smokey,
I'd have thought so too. How much have you been quoted?
Where are you flying into?
Tourist rates are deffo higher than domestics. I'll see if I can get a rate for you, if you like. What type of car and for how long?
Matt

Hi Smokey, I have had some succes with http://www.nationalcar.com/servlet/DocHandler/index.html?329a282c85ec2524
They will hold a reservation with your email address so easy to do over the web. be sure to check the specials section and some times cheaper to get a bigger car  for a week than a small for a few days. 5 days is minimum for a week. Insurance is the killer for you unless your credit card offers insurance to cover you in USA. $165 on todays special.
Canada Phil

Hire is from Sat evening to Sun afternoon (therefore 8 days), collect from and return to Tampa.

I'd really like to have a convertible but that would set me back about £260 a week (which isn't too bad, but over budget) so I'm looking at a compact which I thought I'd found at about £165 (but having just checked Dollar its come up as £204)

Phil is right, I need the whole shebang for insurance.

I did consider getting the car from Sat to Wed just for the off-circuit part of the week, then dropping it back at Tampa and Greyhounding down to Sebering, and back again on Sunday. Not sure it saves a whole load though, and certainly adds hassle...

Someone here has recommended getting a compact as they will often upgrade you on arrival.

The main companies (Dollar & Alamo) request that UK bookings are made through their UK websites, so, being ignorant about the insurance ramifications, that's what I've been doing. I'm wondering if I'd do better just turning up and seeing what I can get on the spot.

Hi Smokie, Defintely cheaper to have a reservation. Play the websites against each other on US site they ask for country of residence. it has never changed rate for me between US and Canada but may for UK
Canada Phil

Smokie:

Do the car man - even if there was a Greyhound route (which I can't believe there is) it would send you via Miami or Toronto and be a complete pain in the ass.  Plus you're going to need a car to hide in from the deluge we'll probably have again!

Florida renters are usually cheap and have the benefit of not stinging you on one-way drop-off charges so you could pick it up and drop it off in different markets.  Let us know what your game plan turns out to be.  I'm flying into Orlando on the Friday night and Matt and I will be heading over first thing Saturday morning I expect.

dh

I'm thinking about doing a Canada Phil and driving down on Friday then take a few days to drive back after the race. Swing by Augusta, Georgia on the way north and visit little sis and her family for a few days. We've got the same pit box as usual.
John

Nice one Fax - and it sounds liuke Matt's got the pits credentials again too.  Not sure if you need to break out the firesuits from your collection so we can walk around on the hot side of the fence, or is that just at RA?  Somehow I don't think I'd fit into any of your collection.

I just can't face that 17 hour drive dude or I'd come with you.  I'll land in Orlando around 5ish - got a pretty cheap fare on ATA out of Indy - couple of hundred notes - maybe you should think of that?

I'll look into the flights out Indy and see whats there.  Maybe thunder over I-74 and head down with you.  I'm not sure if the ALMS requires everyone pit side to be kitted out in Nomex or not.
Always looks that way though.  There's not a snowballs chance in hell that I would be able to get into that Pironi/Ferrari firesuit and the seams were screaming for mercy when I tried on that Tambay/Silk Cut Jag suit.
John

Just thought I would offer my advice.

There are a couple of ways you could search for the best deals.  
1. You could go to google.com and type in any of the car hire company names and add the word coupons after it and see what comes up.  There's usually lots of deals around.

2. You could go to bnm.com.  They specialize in car hire deals.  

3. You could go to each car hire site and look for specials/hot deals.  they all have a tab at the top labeled this way.  When I checked the rates at Alamo for someone coming from the UK for a week the rate was $149 for 7 days in a compact car.  If you add insurance, I believe it came to $335.

Cheers and good luck!

Smokie

I havent looked but if you try sixt.com i have an "express" card which gives 10% discount and delivery to a place of your choice.

If you want  the card details i can PM them.

Thnaks guys. It's the insurance which makes the headline prices go from very reasonable to not so cheap.

Anyway, I found a Neon for about £170 then just enquired what a convertible Mustang would be (with Hertz). OK, it was more expensive, but how can you "do" Florida with a roof over your head?  ;D ;D ;D

you can't.  I went down last year and insisted on having a convertible.  It was all good.

Hi Smokey
re. the ragtop - unless you can rent a V8 'stang (and I seriously doubt that you can) go for a Chrysler Sebring 'vert. It's a much nicer and quicker ride.
If you've time in your schedule to get together for a few beers pre or post race, let me know. Tampa is an hour one way, Daytona 40 mins the other - and of course, there's plenty to see and do in O'town.
Dave and Fax get in on the Friday evening and we usually partake of a pre-race warm-up sesh (just a couple of light ales and a scotch egg apeice, you understand).
Matt

Dunno what "'stang" it is, I suspect the cheap 3 cylinder one, but it looked a bit less girly in the pic. I could have had the Sebring for about £20 less...

I'll be "on track" from Wed afternoon with Pidge, Les and Phil etc but could easily scoot off for a beer or three one night. Before Wed I have no agenda except to do just what I like - no Mrs Smokie deciding what I want to see and whether I've drunk too much...no Smokettes worrying to go to the parks...bliss... Will be in touch a bit nearer the time...

Smokes, you forgot no Mark to hold you back. ;) ;)

Sebring's nicer, roomier, faster and less thirsty. V6 Mustang is a bit lame and cramped and it's trunk shrinks to Hornby sized when you drop the roof.
Do give us a holler when you're ready, Smokey, 3 nights at Hendrick Field is a bit of a trial, even for a dyed in the wool motorhead.
Anyone heard what the Moose's Sebring plans are yet?
How'bout it Phil?

The suspense is killing me too ;D

Canada Phil

Cancelled the Hertz Mustang in favour of the £20 cheaper Sebring ("or similar") from Dollar...and not only is it cheaper but I don't have to return it with a full tank...

Roll on March!!!

HI Matt,
            "3 nights at Hendrick Field is a bit of a trial, even for a dyed in the wool motorhead."
3 nights = 3 Pidgeon breakfasts which makes it all much easier to take and anyway those who arrive raceday have missed half the fun. Sweating your bollocks off in the blazing sun is just what is needed by those of us from the Great White North.
Canada Phil

Now that is a comment I can relate to.  Since moving to Indianapolis from Tampa in 01 I've finally remembered why I moved down there in the first place.  2 months generally below freezing with constant snow on the ground is a bastard.

Looks like we'll have quite a good group forming for Sebring - I have a feeling that, as usual, this will be a nice shake-down for the rest of the year in terms of what cars are going to feature in the US and European series.

Let's pray for a dry one - Hendrix is completely toss when it's a swamp - right Fax?  If it's going to be wet, bring your fly fishing waders Matt.