A Thousand Miles in A Thousand Words.

“Strange how the night moves,
with Autumn closing in…” -- Bob Seger

Braselton, GA –

With a return to its rightful place as the season-ending Last Big Bash for the American Le Mans Series, this year’s Petit Le Mans powered by MAZDA 2 was a fantastic end to the 2010 sports car racing series.

One year ago, Petit Le Mans was a wash-out, quite literally. The anticipation of Audi vs. Peugeot taking on the hills, valleys, and twists of Road Atlanta had all of the excitement of Ali vs. Frazier on wheels. Of course, epic floods turned parts of the track into swimming holes and fishing camps, cutting short the action and delivering to Peugeot what could best be described as a split decision.

The sports car world didn’t get to see a proper rematch until the 24 Hours of Le Mans back in June, in which the Audi teams fielded a somewhat slower but much more reliable R15+ against the quicker and quirkier Peugeot 908 HDi FAP. For a couple of years now, it’s been no secret that Peugeot has the speed, but Audi has the experience and reliability down to basic math.

Still, with this year’s Le Mans 24 decided more by mechanical failure than by 86,400 seconds of racing, and with last year’s Petit cut short by floods, the stage was set for Ali vs. Frazier II. Peugeot was back. Audi was back. The fight of the year was expected.

This year’s Petit Le Mans lived up to all of the billing.

By now all of the results have been posted, the fan videos are all over YouTube, and it’s history in the books that Peugeot took a 1-2 finish while Audi scored a 3^rd place podium finish. The results, however, skip several crucial points that a 15-second analysis on the Speed Report might have missed:

If anyone had any doubts before, Peugeot is for real. The 2009 Le Mans 24 was won arguably by as much luck as played into their loss at the same race this year, but last weekend’s Petit Le Mans showed that in heads-up competition with Audi, Peugeot have gotten the car sorted-out and dialed-in, and the entire team is focused.

Audi, for all of the rumors and hand-wringing over the future of their program in North America, still have the game to beat. Had Dindo Capello not been forced to slow for a lap and pit due to a wardrobe malfunction (the cushion in his helmet worked loose, nudging the fireproof balaclava over his eyes and obscuring his sight), it’s a safe bet that the race would have come down to a last-lap duel, and the win would’ve been anybody’s guess.

The series regulars in LMP2 and GT2 classes were fantastic battles. Faced with a competitive disadvantage for most of the 2010 season to tighten up the class, the Patron Highcroft Racing team scored its second straight series title. While last year was a true head to head fight against fellow Acura team of de Ferran Racing for the crown, this year saw intense competition from both the CytoSport Porsche RS as well as the Dyson Racing Mazda Lolas.

As is often the case in GT (or GT2 for Petit), the season-ending race provided fantastic action and an exciting finish worthy of a Jerry Bruckheimer flick – if Bruckheimer were to ever do a movie about real race cars. An endurance race decided by fuel mileage on the very last lap? Outstanding. While Risi Competizione’s Toni Vilander saw his great run turn into vapor on the last lap in the team’s last race with the Ferrari F430, Corvette Racing’s Oliver Gavin won by the racer’s classic definition of luck: Preparation at the point of opportunity. A thin margin of racer’s luck, too, as Gavin’s C6.R ran dry of E85 as he pulled into the pits after the race.

I haven’t seen the TV numbers, but attendance this year seemed stronger than ever. Entire families, and more young children running around in the infield and posing for pictures next to million-dollar race cars, were everywhere to be seen. Is it possible that while most other racing series in the US have been struggling in bad economic times with declining ticket sales, and TV ratings on a roller coaster, that the ALMS is still broadening its appeal and gathering more fans month by month and year by year?

This seems to be the case.

Spec racer series, where cars are differentiated more by decals than by bodywork, just don’t seem to pack ‘em in like they used to. Fans love variety, and when racing fans in the stands, on the paddock, or watching TV can see a curvaceous GT car that they might actually afford some day, the appeal is undeniable. And while Prototypes certainly aren’t street-going vehicles (outside of Long Beach, anyway), it’s still hard to confuse an R15+ with a 908 HDi, or the curves of a Lola, or a Porsche RS Spyder with a HPD ARX-01c. If variety is the spice of life, the American Le Mans Series brings everything from sage to saffron to habaneros, while some other series keep repackaging salt and pepper.

The American Le Mans Series has continued in 2010 to use the moniker “Global Leader in Green Racing,” and Petit Le Mans provided further validation for the series’ claim. The podium was all-diesel, the GT2 winners won with the last gasp of E85 petrol in the tank, Dyson Racing’s Mazda was highly competitive on Bio-Butanol, and we also saw the debut of Porsche’s much-anticipated 911 GT3 Hybrid. How’s that fuel injection research working out over in NASCAR?

Speaking with many of the fans in attendance, there was widespread agreement that new automotive technologies need to be proven on the race track – specifically in endurance racing – before being considered worthy of customers’ confidence (and money) on the street. While the 911 GT3 Hybrid was not scored by IMSA for the race, it ran great and finished well ahead of quite a few petrol-only entries.

Lastly, a tip of the hat to the American Le Mans Series for returning the season-ender to Road Atlanta, and to Road Atlanta’s staff for making racing’s Fall Classic such a must-be-there. Petit Le Mans has grown over the years into such a great race, it just seems a perfect book-end to match the season’s kick-off at Sebring. Make no mistake: Only Sebring will ever be Sebring, but as of 2010, only Petit Le Mans is Petit Le Mans.

That’s it for now – I’ll see you at the next pit stop.

Good times, Bad times, you know I’ve had my share…

Sebring, FL –

Last week, while the rest of the country was no doubt busy arguing with itself over the future of health care, a small historic town in Central Florida was busy getting its race on.

Saturday’s running of the Mobil 1 12 Hours of Sebring presented by Fresh from Florida is now in the books; a triumph for Team Peugeot Total, a continuation of turbo-diesel dominance in endurance racing, and a highlight reel that most of the teams featured would love to make disappear. On the way to the checkered flag at the storied 3.7-mile circuit, an abundance of weird calls, unprecedented mistakes, and flat out rotten luck defined the race.

It’s hard to point to any one item, but this year’s Sebring had a different groove to it – as if there was something missing. Something we had all grown accustomed to, something expected, something that makes sportscar racing great. It wasn’t just all the new LMP Challenge cars and GT Challenge Porsches; there was something new that just didn’t feel right:

In their first absence in many years, Audi helped shape Sebring for 2010.

After last year’s hard luck at the Le Mans 24 Hours and rain-shortened Petit Le Mans, Sebring seemed destined to be the point at which Audi would return to form and give relative upstart Peugeot a serious run. As it turned out, Audi was forced to skip Sebring because the R15 TDI racer had to undergo rhinoplasty to sort out its much-protested nose.

With Audi out of the picture, Team Peugeot was the odds-on favorite and they did not disappoint. In a run reminiscent of the last few years of Corvette Racing in the now-defunct GT1 class, Peugeot ran as if they had the class to themselves – working together to put the rest of the field behind them, and occasionally finding the chance to race against each other. Minus another Le Mans-winning turbo-diesel entry in the field, it was Peugeot’s race to lose, and they did a superb job not losing it.

Not to say that Peugeot was the only entry in P1 worth a look – the stunning Aston Martin Racing Lola, done up in traditional Gulf livery (though with Lowe’s as a primary sponsor, which looked a bit odd on the car) was fast throughout the race. All that kept the Aston from running up front, it seemed, was a diesel mill.

While Peugeot merely needed to show up and avoid trouble to effectively guarantee a win in P1, the highly competitive GT2 class (under ACO rules for Sebring and Petit Le Mans this year) was anybody’s guess. Prior to the race, expectations were high for a late-race re-match between Corvette Racing and the Flying Lizard Porsche team – the rival groups had fought like Sugar Ray Leonard and Thomas Hearns in the latter part of 2009, culminating in a finish-line crash in the season-ender at Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca between the Lizards’ Joerg Bergmeister and Corvette Ace Jan Magnussen that sent the latter hard into the outside wall -- but last Saturday, between a renegade wheel from another Porsche taking out Bergmeister’s Flying Lizard, and a first-time ever disastrous miscue in the pits for Corvette racing, both teams were out of contention before the sun retreated into the Western sky.

If the laser-guided attack tire wasn’t enough to ruin the day for the #45 Porsche, driver Joerg Bergmeister was forced to wait for approximately six years before the pits opened, making it all but certain that the second half of the race would be left to the BMW entries from Rahal Letterman Racing to chase down the perennially-fast Risi Competizione Ferrari.

Corvette’s pit-lane shunt between the #3 and #4 car was something nobody had ever seen -- much less dreamed a possibility. It is also something, we can all be certain, that we will never see again from the multiple-championship winning group.

Marc Lieb brought the #45 Flying Lizard Porsche to the finish a mere one lap down from the podium-sitting BMWs, and just two laps off the class-winning Ferrari. The Corvettes, which lost much time due to mechanical and crash issues, still worked out a finish barely 10 laps off the class leader.

Drivers from both teams claim there’s no bad blood between the two, lingering from last year. We’ll see how nicely they get along over the remaining 9 races in 2010.

This year, the American Le Mans Series is sporting a new look, having signed Tequila Patron as Series Sponsor. Patron’s involvement in ALMS over the last several years has been building in size and scope, and they’re an excellent fit. Patron’s name and colors adorn all ALMS banners, as well as a number of entries in the field.

One such entry, the newly minted Extreme Speed Motorsports Ferrari 430 GT, was more notable for its frightening Car-B-Que adventure late in the race. Driver/Owner Scott Speed escaped injury, but the 150 MPH inferno down the Ulmann Straight into the Sunset Bend, destroyed the car and ended any hopes of Speed continuing the success he enjoyed while driving the Patron-sponsored Highcroft Racing prototype in years past.

Highcroft themselves had an early lead, this year going back to their former class in P2. Drivers David Brabham, Simon Pagenaud, and hired endurance ace Marino Franchitti – all once former competitors for Acura, now make up the lone entry for Honda Performance Development. While Honda reps at the track spoke briefly of the name change from Acura to HPD as being done for “marketing concerns,” it seems obvious that with the demise of the Acura NSX, there isn’t anything in the Acura lineup to correlate to motorsports – hence the HPD moniker.

That said, Highcroft’s strong run early in the race was marred by electrical problems which set the team back more laps than they could recover, and the Cytosport Porsche RS Spyder driven by Sascha Maassen, Klaus Graf, and American driver Greg Pickett wasted no time in nabbing the team’s first class win.

The isobutanol/ethanol powered Mazda/Lola of Dyson Racing was fast, but suffered mechanical glitches and was out of contention in the daylight hours. The BP-sponsored Mazda is one of the latest in a number of alternative-fueled entries that are keeping the American Le Mans Series both vital and relevant when it comes to proving new technologies on the track, in the heat of battle. While other series are just recently divorced from leaded gasoline – and now considering the giant leap of getting rid of carburetors in favor of the modern idea of fuel injection, the ALMS is now several years into showcasing a Battle of the Propulsion Technologies with diesel, cellulosic ethanol, and isobutanol all competing with conventional petroleum-derived fuel to help shape how our vehicles will be powered in the near future. Not “some day,” but now and just around the corner.

Casting aside debates between the Gores and the Limbaughs, a few realities have made themselves abundantly clear in the last few years. Chief among these: That petroleum-based fuel carries too many liabilities (be they environmental, political, or both), and that the internal-combustion engine is not going to wither and die off, to be replaced by expensive and environmentally unfriendly batteries.

Want to see where we’re headed for tomorrow’s fuel? Go to an ALMS race.

Joining Patron among the new changes to the American Le Mans Series, we now have two spec-racer Challenge series for 2010: LMP Challenge and GT Challenge. Both are designed, if we’re honest, to increase the car count and keep the grid from looking like the Indy F1 race in 2005. With economic times still dire, the cost of racing at the top-shelf level aren’t exactly in retreat. The two Challenge classes certain did add to the action and excitement, as well as the number of full-course cautions.

I can’t mention caution periods without a comment on how they were handled. When it takes three laps and spare change under caution before the safety car takes to the circuit, something’s not working right. Bergmeister was forced to spend enough time waiting at the entrance to pit road, he could’ve watched Truth in 24 from beginning to end. In this age of gigahertz electronics and instant-everything, it makes no sense that the pits are closed for so long as to directly affect the outcome of the race itself. Safety is and should be the paramount concern of those calling the shots. Providing racers with the opportunity to race and win, should at least be in the top five of those concerns.

Lastly: “You know why there’s no Toyotas here, right? Because you need brakes if you’re gonna’ survive the hairpin…” -- overheard on the paddock.

That, my friends, is a sign of the times.

That’s it for now – I’ll see you at the next pit stop.

[Car notes, Sebring Wednesday, 2010]

Car notes: Wednesday, March 17, 2010

Sebring, FL –

I arrived trackside at 7-something this morning, following a rather leisurely cruise down from Denver, NC. In years past, I’ve had everything from torrential downpours and tornado warnings to dense fog on the way down, but this time it wasn’t the elements making it an interesting ride.

This time, it was my dash gauges.

The gauge cluster in my green car has been a little flakey for a few months now, so I’m used to the spotty occasion when either the fuel gauge slowly drops down to E (and then slowly recovers, as if having popped a Viagra) or when the speedo will sometimes blink-out, but come back after a mile or two.

From Charlotte all the way down to Sebring, the speedometer was dead. Not a peep, not a twitch. For those of you who skipped class during Car Stuff 101, when the speedometer on a modern car dies, it stops counting miles on the odometer as well. I’m now missing over 630 miles that should otherwise be showing – and my celebration of turning over an indicated 196,000 miles will be somewhat delayed.

In other exciting news, while visiting my dad in Denver, I noticed my tires – what’s left of them, anyway – are now suitable for use on a playground swing set, but not on a passenger car. My Falkens have served me well, but with the alignment both front and rear being more than a little bit, er, "off," and with a LOT of negative camber at both ends, let's just say it's hell on a highway drive.

Since I had some time to kill, I decided “well, I’ve got at least an hour of free time, I’ve got tools, and I’ve got flat tarmac, why not...” so I set about the business of rotating the tires. The rears were in fairly better shape than the fronts, so I got out the jackstands and the lug wrench, and got to work.

Lug nuts on the driver’s front were torqued to approximately 5 silverback gorillas worth of force, which meant I not only pulled something in my right forearm breaking them loose (a minor but persistent nagging ouch), I also bent the lug wrench. The large black cross-style one I’ve used for 10 years, now has a noticeable twist at the ¾” head. Drat.

34 minutes later, I had better tread up front, and had also discovered that on the left rear where there are supposed to be brake pads, there is a rather nice gap with only air to fill it. It doesn't appear the pads have worn all the way down -- it just looks like there's nothing there. Oh cock.

With all of that committed to my notes for repair when I arrive home (new dash cluster, check. New brakes, check. New... er, some other stuff too, double-check), I made the trip just fine. Years of driving the same car teaches you that 2800 RPM in 5th gear equals 70 MPH, which is the speed limit for most of the trip. The math got a bit more fuzzy when I got to I-4 through Orlando, where it dropped to 50 (keep pace with traffic), and the constantly fluctuating 55-60-45 do-see-do on Rt. 27 (ibid), but in the end none of Florida’s Finest seemed too interested in making me late for work.

So at last, I’m at the track. It might be all of 54F and overcast here, but it beats a sunny day in DC any time. The only racecars in DC are in the Smithsonian. Down here, they LIVE!

More pointless nonsense (and possibly some interesting shit) as time, alertness, and dedication to my writing craft permit – in that order.

Washington Auto Show, 2010

Washington, DC –

The Washington Auto Show returned to the City of Political Fallout this week, with a mission more ingrained than ever before: Look busy, the bosses are watching. The DC show isn’t about big splashy introductions or horsepower, but rather a chance (or penance) for those involved in the US market to tell the policy wonks in town just how upstanding and environmentally conscious and “pro-active” (a phrase I’d love to see go the way of Saturn) they really are.

This year, however, isn’t the same as every other.

With Toyota in the midst of its biggest PR nightmare ever, and with GM and Chrysler still on the hook for a few dollars to the Feds, it seemed most of the big players were keeping a low profile and giving the impression “sorry, we’re keeping our heads down and, oh this is a car show? We’re GREEN!”

GM, which for years had rented the “up front” space near the main doors of the Center, this time moved rearward and offered a scaled-down display featuring – among other cars – a 2009 Cobalt. The new Regal was on display, as was the Cadillac Converj concept and the “what on Earth is that supposed to be” GMC Granite shoebox on wheels, but the standout at GM, if there was one, had to be the 2011 Chevy Aveo. GM brought one, and put it behind the rope. It’s not ready to be touched yet, you see. The same treatment was afforded the new Cruze, which really should’ve been open-for-business on the floor.

From DC Auto Show 2010

To prove that GM isn’t just about odd shoebox concepts and rebadged Opel sedans, a squadron of Camaros (including the Transformers’ own Bumblebee) and Corvettes (Z06, ZR1, and Grand Sport) took up the half of the display and gave the kids something to dream about.

From DC Auto Show 2010

Chrysler, also in the midst of trying to re-tool and pay back loans from Uncle Sam, could offer little in the way of new sheet metal – of its own, anyway. So, beside the existing production lineup and one-off rides on display, were a pair of attention-getting Fiat 500s. In only a few minutes of speaking with a Chrysler rep on the floor, the sheer volume of people walking over to ask “when will the 500 be on sale” was huge. Unfortunately, the answer isn’t “now” but rather “in a little while…”

While Chrysler is waiting out most of this year for fresh sheet metal and new engine bits to come down the line, the recent earthquake devastation in Haiti prompted them to donate a 300C for Haitian relief efforts. On display was the 300C, having been signed by most of Hollywood after the Golden Globe awards. Chrysler’s new CEO, Olivier Francois was on hand to dedicate the car – which he pointed out had been his own ride – and share the podium with officials from the American Red Cross and Leake Car Auction.

From DC Auto Show 2010

From DC Auto Show 2010

I had the chance to get Olivier Francois alone for a few minutes - he was looking for a place to have a smoke, so I escorted him out front for a spell. I got to pick his brain just a little bit, both on his impressions of America (and DC) as well as his vision for where he wants to take Chrysler. Without going into too much detail, he certainly has vision, and if -- this is a might IF -- but if things pan out as planned, we should have some astonishing new cars under the Pentastar in years to come.

Indeed, it seemed the group that really wanted to put on a show and enthusiastically tell people about its new and upcoming products was Ford. As you enter the Convention Center, the first plot of floor space you see is draped all in blue, and all manner of Fords – their whole Domestic lineup – is situated in such a way as to greet you and say “welcome – this is OUR house, and the rest are just here to take notes.” It’s no joke. Displays of Mustangs (including on on its side, the better to admire the glass roof), Taurus, Focus and the new Fiesta were out in front, while its big trucks were on display just off the main walk – passenger cars are the new thing, it seems, after two decades of SUV craziness.

From DC Auto Show 2010

Alan Mulally flew in to kick off the show, and gave the assembled media an enthusiastic yet brief speech, emphasizing Ford’s turnaround in the marketplace and how the company has adapted in the toughest of times. Mulally is the image of a man who was born to do exactly what he’s doing right now, and his appearance at the DC show was a welcome change from the typical boilerplate policy-based nonsense we’re so used to hearing.

From DC Auto Show 2010

While Ford made the most of the spotlight, one absolutely major company was doing its best to stay out of the glare.

Toyota, once the darling of the media – and of numerous Senators from the South – placed a number of production cars on the floor and tried its best not to answer any questions about the production shutdowns, recalls, lawsuits, and outright hammering the company is taking as a result of three years of sudden acceleration problems in a variety of its vehicles.

If the recall fiasco wasn’t enough, factory workers from Toyota’s NUMMI plant in Fremont, CA had been flown in to protest Toyota’s planned closing of the facility. NUMMI is a UAW plant, and Toyota has wanted out of that deal for years – regardless of the number of workers put out on the street.

So, with reporters inside the Center questioning Toyota about its bungling of a defect that has led to an increasing number of crashes, injuries, deaths, and lawsuits, and with workers outside handing out literature saying “Toyota is trying to shut down our plant and create even more unemployment,” the former media darling is now chasing its tail trying to find the right answers and lay low, VERY low, until the storm passes.

No wonder they didn’t bother bringing out the LF-A.

That’s it for now – I’ll see you at Sebring.

What I learned out on the road...

Just spent the last few weeks on the road --- first Road Atlanta for Petit Le Mans (and the biggest storm in that area since Sherman), then a brilliant ride out to the Bay Area for my inaugural trip to Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca.

Anyone who's read the Petit article, thanks - it was probably one of my better ones. I had fun with it. And anyone who read the most recent one from MRLS, well, I'll just say I had to throw it together, and try to get it sent out in between power outages in Sausalito last week. Not my best journo work, though my photos are getting better by leaps.

When my babe and I first landed at SFO, we were signed up to get a "Wild Car" through Thrifty. Worked well last year, so I hoped for a similar experience. "I can get you Kia Optima, Kia Forte, PT Cruiser..." Hmm, I wouldn't mind a PT, I thought... "or for a couple more dollars, I have Mustang."

Oh, really? And you say you've got my choice of drop-top or hardtop? Let's talk further!

I ended up with a 2009 Mustang, dark red metallic, convertible.

The 4.0L V6 had over 55k on the clock, the body had several scratches and light dents (each and every one documented with the agency), and it had Hawaii license plates. I searched the trunk, however, and found no evidence of Barak Obama's birth certificate.

The only downside to this car, as I saw it, was the lack of a manual gearbox. I asked the rental agent "do you have anything with a stick-shift?" He replied no, they don't have any. "Is everyone in the area handicapped?" I don't think he got the joke, exactly.

The '09 Mustang, for a year-old hire with heavy use (the tires were brand-new BF Goodrich, thankfully), seemed as if it was at least somewhat well-maintained. Oil and other fluids looked OK, brakes felt good, and everything worked as it should. No blown fuses, no burned-out bulbs. Pre-flight cross-check, clear.

Mustang-buddies of mine will be amused that it took me over an hour in the car, before I figured out where the OD kill switch was - and who at Ford ever decided to put it there?

Our ride, which I dubbed "Mustang Sally" got us around downtown San Francisco for the first few days in a manner that would make Steve McQueen proud. Well, it at least would've been cool to Chad McQueen :) In an area with steep hills, you NEED good torque off the line, and you NEED it going to the wheels with the most traction. Aimed uphill, that's gonna' be your rears. Mustang beats all hell in that setting. I didn't make it a point to light up the tires coming off any stoplights, but it was nice knowing I could have.

On the drive to Muir Woods, we encountered some fantastic twisties that exposed the topless car's handling limits - any time you lop the roof off a car designed as a hardtop, it suffers. The 'Stang showed some chassis flex and a little cowl shake, but I was going too fast and eating the curves too quick for it to bother me. Muir Woods was a fantastic walk, and the redwoods there are astonishing.

Part 2 of the fly/drive holiday took us down Highway 1 to Monterey. Now, I've written before that "the 1" is easily the most scenic drive West of the Mississippi, but it seems like an all-new experience every time I run it. Monterey was almost as quiet and laid-back as Sebring -- a very good place to spend some time (and dollars) checking out Cannery Row and sleeping in a nice hotel... but I was really there for the race.

I had already run Laguna Seca hundreds of times on various video games. Gran Turismo has always been about which car you can get to rip through the corkscrew the fastest, so I at least had a decent concept of the track before I got there.

I was not disappointed at all.

From the top of the hill, one can see a clear shot of the corkscrew leading down to turn 9 -- and a few steps back from there, you've got a great view of turns 10, 11, and on through the front to 1 through 3. It helps if you've either got a track cart, or a buddy to give you a lift.

Speaking of - and this is a sign of the times if there ever was one - I gave Greg Creamer a ride from the paddock up to the parking area. I might not have had much good to say about the guy once upon a time, but then I got to know him. True stand-up guy, lotsa' heart, and quite a talent as an announcer.

The races themselves? A blast. Got to see Jim Hall's Chaparrals, and Jim Hall himself. When the spectacular end of the ALMS race went down, I was in the Flying Lizards' pit, talking with one of my friends on their crew. The Speed/SCCA World Challenge races the next day were fun, but by then we were pretty worn out. And my pick in the race, Boris Said, had a rough go of it.

We finished off the deal with a ride back to Sausalito, and checked in at the Inn Above Tide. The place was so nice, we hardly left for the 3 days we were in town. Of course, the fact that the Bay area was having some of the worst storms in decades, helped in that decision. But when you've got a comfy room with a fireplace, right above the San Francisco Bay, you're already where you want to be...

The flight home was, if I can complain, too short. Virgin America still stands as the best airline operating in this promised land, and if I had my way I wouldn't fly any other. I got through a couple of movies, as well as dinner and drinks on the ride home - and only spent four hours in the air from SFO to IAD. Landing at home was the downer, if there was one, but it's still pretty good to be back.

I'll have a ton more pics coming soon.

Ending 2009 on a high note: ALMS takes on Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca!

“California’s been good to me,

hope it don’t fall into the sea…” – Tom Petty

Salinas, CA –

Years from now, when racing cars will be powered by happy wishes or some form of government-mandated recycled sunshine, we’ll look back on the glory days of racing – when horsepower and driver skill meant everything. The old days, when the test of man and machine was all about speed, danger, and fire shooting from the exhaust pipes – not who could program a vehicle to go round a road course with the least amount of offense to groundhogs and snakes and spotted advertisers.

As we saw this past weekend at Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca, the old days aren’t yet gone. In fact, the horsepower war, even in these supposedly dreadful economic times, is still quite alive and well – and it’s moving nicely into the future.

The track itself is most famous for its palpitation-inducing downhill curve, the Corkscrew. No other race course in North America has a twist quite like it – both challenging to racers and amazing to spectators – it’s the one physical element that makes the track stand out most.

With Audi and Peugeot currently back home in Europe and planning their assaults on Sebring and next year’s Le Mans, the time was right for the American Le Mans Series regulars to finish up their business, run the final race of the year, and get a couple of championships sorted out. The fact that two of the three ALMS classes were not decided until the final race, shows just how close the competition has become.

In the P1 class, of course, we had Acura vs. Acura. Two brilliant teams, Patrón Highcroft and de Ferran Motorsports, both provide Honda Performance Development with a strong case to maintain its presence in the series into the next year. Having split most of the year’s victories between them, the Patrón Highcroft team came in with a points lead over de Ferran – and needed to complete at least 70% of the race in order to seal the deal for 2009.

Meanwhile, Gil de Ferran and his team entered the race with more than the title in mind. Without firm control over the championship, all they could do is go at it the way we do in the good old days – hard, fast, unrelenting. Team owner and driver de Ferran won his first Indy Car race at Laguna Seca, with the ride provided to him by the legendary Jim Hall. Thus, as de Ferran brought his driving career to a close, he turned once again to Mr. Hall – this time with a tribute.

De Ferran’s Acura, typically not what we’d call a very eye-catching machine, was done up in livery closely resembling the “milk white” #66 of Hall’s famous Chapparals. Not only were the Chapparals on-hand for the event, but Mr. Jim Hall himself was at the track – signing autographs, shaking hands, answering questions, and even taking one of his old steeds out for a parade lap.

Timeless and as visually stunning today as they were decades ago, just seeing a Chapparal on the course and hearing it rumble by is a great treat… and something even the kids in the crowd hold in awe.

Meanwhile, in the production-car-derived GT2 class, another championship battle had yet to be resolved. The #45 Flying Lizard Porsche group held a lead over the #62 Risi Competizione Ferrari, and, as with the Highcroft team, needed to complete a certain percentage of the race just to hold on to the title.

Holding on, however, is a relative term. Sometimes, holding on to a bull for 7 seconds is all it takes. Racing four hours in chilly and damp air for a class win – championship or no – is like taking those 7 seconds on the bull and doing it hundreds of times over the span of half a night.

The results spoke for themselves – while Patrón Highcroft won its first ALMS championship by staying out of too much trouble and finishing well, de Ferran started from the pole, took off like a shot, and never looked back. The gorgeous white 66 negotiated every curve flawlessly, and it almost seemed as if Gil de Ferran and co-driver Simon Pagenaud were just along for the ride. Not to take anything away from either driver – both are among the worlds best – but the car looked as if it was on rails around the 2.238 mile circuit.

While de Ferran appeared to coast to an easy victory, the battle in GT2 was as hard fought as anything since… well, the GT2 finish at Sebring a couple of years back. In the closing laps of the race, Jan Magnussen seemingly willed his Corvette Racing C6.RGT to the front of the pack, and gave Flying Lizard Joerg Bergmeister (whom had already wrapped up the GT2 championship during the race) two hands full of a challenge. Mags relentlessly chased the silver and red Flying Lizard Porsche around the track during the last few laps, passing him briefly and then yielding the lead back to Bergmeister, before closing in on the final corner of the last lap. The Corvette nudged the Porsche once or twice, then dove to the narrow gap between the Porsche and the inside retaining wall.

The champion Bergmeister was having none of it, and drove Magnussen into the concrete, before Mags propelled the ‘Vette forward – contact with the Porsche again – and suddenly Mags is hard into the outside wall with the Porsche showing brake lights before taking the checkered flag.

Clearly, these two teams have a rivalry that seems to be mounting with each race – and while the forum fanboys from either side will each assign blame to the other side, the truth is it was racing. Neither driver would yield an inch, and neither one should. You simply can’t manufacture a finish as good as we saw in GT2 at Mazda Raceway the other night – and with the rules for 2010 becoming a bit more consistent, we’re likely to see the same kind of excitement from these two teams all year long.

The one remaining class title, P2, had already been secured during the rain-shortened Petit Le Mans a couple of weeks ago. With the title wrapped-up, Adrian Fernandez and co-driver Luis Diaz brought the Lowe’s Acura to a last-man-standing class win in P2 – hot on the heels of de Ferran, and missing the overall win by just 0.662 sec.

Fernandez was one of the first to sign on when Acura entered the series a few years ago, and has always been a consistent performer. It seems bittersweet that this season, as he finally takes the P2 championship, it’s his last in the series.

Elsewhere in P2, Dyson Racing’s Butch Leitzinger and Marino Franchitti had a great-looking car (the ARCO/Mazdaspeed Lola #20) die suddenly early on, while the team’s second car – the BP-liveried #16 of Chris Dyson, Guy Smith, and Ben Devlin was one of the quickest on the track. The 16 was running a blend of petrol, ethanol, and bio-butanol, and it was fast. Damn fast. And, because the fuel is not yet officially approved for competition, the team’s efforts made for what amounted to a very good test session. Expect to see this alternative fuel OK’d for use in the future, though, as it shows lots of promise.

Off the track, Marino, Butch, Ben, and Guy were being adopted – as those were some of the names given to dogs and cats (as well as other animals) from the local SPCA. It’s no secret that racers love animals, and it seems quite a few tracks have animal shelters close-by, if not across the street. To that end, the Mazdaspeed team took advantage of running on their “home track,” teamed up with the SPCA of Monterey County, and offered a number of animals for adoption who had been named for various drivers, crew, or even Mazda’s corporate motto: “Zoom-Zoom” the cat. A great move by Mazdaspeed, the SPCA, and the fans they helped connect with animals needing good homes.

That’s it until Sebring – I’ll see you at the next pit stop.

Man Plans, God Laughs.

With all of our advancements in technology, sometimes it's easy to become complacent – after all, we have so many toys, so much accumulated knowledge. We have touch-screen everything and cinnamon dental floss... and Google. What could possibly be beyond us in the Internet age?

The answer is simple: We need to control the weather; which I expect we'll get around to, soon after we solve the global economic crisis, famine in Africa, and Bernie Ecclestone.

Last weekend's Petit Le Mans powered by MAZDA6 was set up to be the racing world's version of Ali vs. Frazier - a match the American Le Mans Series and its fans had been waiting for all year. While Audi has unquestionably been at the top of their game for the better part of a decade by now, having won the vast majority of endurance events dating back to the turn of the century, the last two years have seen the emergence of the young lions from France, in the form of Team Peugeot TOTAL. 2008 saw Peugeot bring a hard challenge, though Audi showed the world it was still the great force it had always been. Audi's triumph over Peugeot at last year's 24 Hours of Le Mans has been chronicled masterfully in the film "Truth in 24," one of the best documentaries of auto racing you'll ever see.

Peugeot finally broke through with a fantastic win at Le Mans this year, having gone seemingly overnight from young guns to seasoned vets, and with the addition of hired ace (and multiple Le Mans winner) David Brabham. Having proven they not only have the technological edge of a faster car and top-shelf talent behind the wheel, the last piece of the puzzle - the ability to run full-tilt with no errors on track or in the pits - was finally in place.

Finally, Audi had a worthy competitor to their endurance racing crown.

Yet, for all of the hype surrounding these two teams and their return to American soil to settle their Le Mans-borne grudge, Mother Nature had other plans. Now, sports car racers pride themselves on the ability -- no, the specialty -- of racing in any conditions. Burning hot sun? No problem. Darkness? We've got headlights that work. Heavy rain? Bring it! Wipers and Rain-X were made for this, weren't they? It's what sets the sports car guys apart from NASCAR, a series that has to pack up and go home if the announcers have to break out their umbrellas. Sure, nobody can run an oval in the rain, but as my fiancée recently pointed out "those guys in NASCAR have a hard enough time turning right, so on a wet track that would be a disaster."

But enough about Brian France's Circus of Dwindling Ratings: We came to Atlanta to race, rain or shine.

And race, we did... for just under five hours.

Watching Allan McNish run away from the pack on lap 1, you'd think he was being chased by crazed autograph seekers who had mistaken him for Dale Earnhardt, Jr. McNish flat-out tore away from the field, eager to establish a lead that even the lightning-quick Nic Minassian couldn't touch. The repeat-Petit Le Mans-winning Scot wasted no time getting so far out in front, it looked as if he might just put a full lap on the entire field - the wet track working to the Audi team's benefit, as they've run (and won) in the rain at Le Mans so many times.

Then, the inevitable happened.

Or, to borrow another oft-used metaphor, the wheels fell off - literally. Multiple caution flags flew due to cars simply losing their wheels, most notably the Drayson Racing Lola/Judd, and the Primetime Dodge Viper Competition Coupe. The loose-wheel cautions, combined with a perfectly-timed full-course yellow for the Doran Ford GT's hood flying off (for the second time that day - the first time was during the morning warm-up), played right into Peugeot's hands.

As the track began to dry after the morning downpour (the first in Petit Le Mans history), the twin Peugeot 908 HDi FAP cars were able to get traction and cut into the Audi team's lead, lap after lap.

No sooner did Peugeot gain the lead, the inevitable happened, again. The rain that had caused so much disaster in Atlanta and the surrounding areas during the previous week, returned with a vengeance. The rainfall itself would not be enough to stop the action, but the flooding across the track at various points - standing water deep enough to be impassable by race cars - caused the first Red flag in Petit Le Mans history. Just under 5 hours into what would have almost certainly been a full 10 hour race, the cars were parked on pit road while track officials fought Mother Nature. A huge disappointment for the racers, the fans, the series, the track, SPEED channel - everyone involved.

Of course, it didn't take long at all for thousands of FaceSpaces and Tweety-pages to fill with angry voices, complaining of every conspiracy imaginable: The track or the series was trying to cut things short, for some idiotic reason. Michelin had provided "good" tires to one team, and "bad" tires to another. All of it absolute bullshit, without a doubt. Michelin was forced to issue a press release, stating that no, the ALMS has exact rules governing wet tire specs, and ALL of the LMP1 teams were running on the same spec tire. For Michelin to have to defend itself during a race, shows that some of the "wonderful" internet-related technology we've all come to embrace, has its downside.

The Red flag period lasted nearly as long the race itself, as the flooding was so immense, there was no way to continue. There simply was nowhere for the water to go, with all of the water runoff areas overflowing -- even the Media center was overcome with water, though that was quickly and efficiently remedied by a combination of helpful staff and an inventive idea or two. Coupled with the torrential rain was occasional thunder and lightning, the latter of which is a show-stopper in any series.

Alas, a bit after 8 PM, the checkered flag was waved, and the race declared complete. The result of racing's Ali vs. Frazier was, arguably, a split decision. Peugeot's Franck Montagny and Stephane Sarrazin scored the win (with their teammates Nic Minassian and Pedro Lamy second), but nobody had much to celebrate. We will now wait for Sebring – pending Audi and Peugeot announcing their intent – to see the now even-longer-awaited rematch.

Man planned, and God laughed.

Now, that said, there was no shortage of outstanding action and notable events that DID take place during the week: Following an absolutely disastrous crash of the Patrón Highcroft Acura (which left driver Scott Sharp amazingly free of serious injury) the team immediately ordered up a spare tub to be sent from their shop in California. Forget the obvious staggering freight bill to overnight the monocoque - the cost to the team to skip the race would have been absolutely prohibitive. Many of you reading this, have already seen the crash on Speed TV and Youtube.

If you haven't seen the time-lapse video of the Highcroft team building the car from tub to complete racer in a mere 20 hours, you're missing out. That video, released by Highcroft during race day, shows just what can happen when a real team gets down to work and doesn't stop to breathe until the last bolt is tightened to spec. The effort these guys showed was absolutely epic, and it paid off with a solid 6th place finish - one which likely would have been higher, had the race gone the full run.

The BP Dyson Mazda/Lola team in P2 scored a victory in more ways than one. Not only was it the first Petit Le Mans win for Dyson Racing, but also for Mazda - making Mazda the first Japanese manufacturer to win both the Le Mans 24 Hours, as well as Petit Le Mans. A second Dyson Mazda was entered, though not scored, because it was running an experimental fuel. The mix of gasoline, ethanol and biobutanol seemed to propel the car around the circuit at least as well (if not better) than most of the other petrol-powered cars, adding further credibility to ALMS' goal of leading the way in alternative fuels and 'green racing'. In fact, the alt-fuel car finished far ahead of the other cars in P2. Fuel for thought.

That the race was sponsored by Mazda6, is just more pride for the company that seems to be more deeply vested in sports car racing than any other. Rather than throw millions of dollars at NASCAR and F1 (yes, that's you, Toyota), Mazda's sponsorship and backing of sports cars - from grassroots to the Le Mans level - is highly commendable. The same goes for their open wheel program, with the Skip Barber series, Star Mazda series, and Cooper Tires presents Mazda Atlantic series as well.

In the same breath, it's impossible to look at the last endurance race of 2009 and not recognize the Corvette Racing team. For all of the media-fed derision of the biggest car company on Earth (depending on what week it is and whose numbers you believe) this year, GM's commitment to keep the Corvettes a top-flight operation is proof that the company's still got all the mojo it needs - at least when it comes to its racing program.
On the other hand, privateer Primetime Viper racing manages to soldier on without so much as acknowledgement of its very existence from Dodge.

Speed Channel deserves a nod, for finally having the good sense to agree to air the entire race flag-to-flag. Of course, because Mother Nature had her own agenda for last Saturday, much of the coverage was dashed. Still, it was the right move, and it will still be the right move next year. Keep doing it right, Speed.

The latest entry into the SPEED/SCCA World Challenge Series is the stunning TRG Mercedes-Benz SLR McLaren 722 GT. The car isn't yet winning races, but the visuals and sounds of this beast are absolutely devastating. The engine is said to be a 5.5L V8, driven by pistons. It sounds, however, as if it's driven by the angry tortured souls of a thousand Prussian warriors. Get out of its way, before it eats you.

The staff at Road Atlanta and the American Le Mans Series have certainly suffered tons of undue criticism, thanks to circumstances beyond the control of any human beings. Their handling of the situation, however, was the best anyone could hope for. These are true professionals at work, and their ability to respond to adversity is worthy of sincere praise.

Speaking of which...

Last and far from least, long-time IMSA Pit Chief Dick Martin announced at Petit le Mans that he intends to retire at year's end. In a meeting on Thursday, he made it clear that this wasn't due to illness or disagreement with the sanctioning body -- he just wants to do other things and enjoy life while he's young enough and in good enough health. Over the years of covering the sport, it's rare to find anyone so universally respected and genuinely loved by everyone from the paddock to the corners to the announcer's booth. I'm not the only one who wishes him the best in this life, whatever he chooses to do. Thank you, Mr. Martin.

That's it for now, I'll see you at the next pit stop.

Ciao, Emanuele.

ALMS finished up the season at Laguna Seca, and I still didn't get to go. Am hoping I can make it there next year.

The only real story of note was Emanuele Pirro leaving the Audi team. To many of you, you're probably thinking "Emanu-who?" but Pirro has been one of the most lively and interesting characters I've had the pleasure of getting to know these last few years. He's taught me a thing or two, and definitely made me laugh.

A few years ago, I was in the pits at Sebring with Lug and Gladys from the "Speed Freaks" TV show. We had just met, and were basically showing each other around the pit area. After they'd introduced me to Terry Borcheller (nice guy, good interview, and a damn fine racer in his own right), I saw Emanuele Pirro walk by and I asked "Emanuele, do you have a minute?"

I introduced him to the Speed Freaks, and we all got to talking shop with Pirro and Alan McNish. Alan was getting ready for a stint so he had to leave, but Pirro stayed with us. I like to ask the questions nobody else thinks of, so I put it to him: "Emanuele, I have a question - Ron Fellows said when Johnny O'Connell re-upped with Corvette, that 'he might as well, since we've been pissing in the same seat for so long'. How often does that happen?"

"Oh, it never happens - never! No no, never.... .... OK, one time it happens," he tells me "I am driving the car, early in my stint and I have to pee. I call on radio to my crew chief, I say 'I have to pee!' and he says 'it's OK, you go in the car.'" (We're all starting to fall apart laughing at this point) "I tell him, I can no pee in the car, I am driving! How can I pee while I am driving! He says too bad, you pee in the car or you wait. So I try and try, and I cannot pee... All the time, I am driving as fast as I can! IT TOOK ME 8 LAPS!"

When he got to "8 laps", I was literally clutching the fence wall to keep from falling down. He just delivered the story so matter-of-factly, so damn funny... It was one of the funniest moments I've had at the track, and I wish I'd been recording it at the time.

I took this shot of Emanuele last year at Atlanta, on the grid just before the start of the race:


Thank you, Emanuele, for being such a great driver, a fantastic interview, and a good friend.

Remembering PL Newman

With the death of Paul Newman (known in the racing community simply as "PL", the tributes to the beloved driver, team owner, benefactor and award-winning great American actor have been as astonishing in number as they have been deep in sentiment. When Newman died on September 26, the racing world didn't just lose a popular team owner -- everyone here lost a friend.

Lots of Hollywood-types have been known to make appearances at big races, some even suit up and get behind the wheel, but few have fallen in love with racing and devoted themselves to the sport in quite the way PL did. He had said that racing was "the first thing that I ever found I had any grace in," a statement that echoes like a song to those with Racer's Blood in their veins.

While the mainstream media reported (rightly so) that Newman had raised and donated huge sums of money to children’s charities and other causes, his generosity and leadership throughout the world of motorsports was and still is one of the greatest stories to be told about the man. And at no place was this story told better during the week than at the Mazda Atlantic Championship Series Awards banquet held on Friday night. Numerous racers and teams in the Atlantic series had the benefit of PL’s involvement, and his presence in that series – as with all the others in which he participated – will be missed for a long time to come.

All over the track, any series that competed, it seemed every car had a sticker remembering a racer modestly called PL Newman.

[excerpted from tomorrow's AE article]

Road Atlanta 2008: The Gallery!

The story's not yet written, but the photos are in the can.

VIEW THEM HERE!

Comments, as always, are much appreciated. I think I've learned a couple of things about shooting with a little old pocket econocam - and I think some of the shots look quite good. That said, some of you are better at this than I am, and I'm always looking for criticism: I don't mind at all if it's harsh, really, I just want to learn more.

And... speaking of comments - I laced most of the pics with a goofy comment here or there. If it makes you laugh, then I did it right.

Enjoy. And watch for my article on Autoextremist.com this Wednesday.

Caption contest!

I took this shot about 85 seconds after it happened, right in front of me. Have fun in the comments.

Quote of the Day...

"If you're not at the table, you're on the menu." -- American Le Mans Series President/CEO Scott Atherton, issuing the challenge to other racing series to follow the lead of the ALMS into the age of Green Racing.

More later.

FBI invades Road Atlanta? Day 2.1

Super-famous multiple Indy 500-winning driver Helio Castroneves (yes, the smiling Brazilian dude on "Dancing With The Stars") has just been arrested here at Road Atlanta. I was having a yummy catered dinner at Peugeot's hospitality suite when I got the news. Four big black Suburbans rolled in and took Castroneves, his sister, and his lawyer into custody. [edit: All I have been able to verify is that Helio is wanted on a Federal tax evasion charge, and later events have confirmed he was taken to Miami to appear before a judge, make bail, and get himself back to Atlanta. However, the original source for the info above, may not have been 100% reliable. If I did in fact get any of this wrong, well, shit...]

However, he is, as I write this, IN THE RACE CAR AND ON THE TRACK. He's listed on the leader board, and it's definitely his helmet visible just 50 feet away from where I'm sitting. Guess that lawyer of his really is quite good.

I may have inadvertently flirted my way into a job offer. Team Peugeot Total has a serious presence here in ALMS, and their team PR manager (a really cute French girl named Cecile, who speaks just enough English to order a burger) wants to know (1) how do I get an American on-board as liaison for the company in the US, and (2) do I know anything about racing? I won't get too far ahead of myself, especially with my rusty hold of the French language and my small-if-impressive contacts, but this is an interesting twist.

Of interest probably only to a friend at home, but since she never reads email I'll post here anyway:

Marco Andretti nearly ran me over with a golf cart, but was so humble and apologetic afterwards. He's a great kid. David Brabham and I got to talk shop at a conference earlier, before I visited the Patron hospitality suite. He's doing great, and I expect he'll kick serious ass on Saturday [Update - his car fell out of the race before Brabs ever got to turn a wheel. Damn!].

Lord Drayson is a total freakin' hoot. We spent about 20 minutes discussing Top Gear, E85, Tony Blair, Saturday Night Live, girls, and more Top Gear. If you watch the race on Saturday, the incredibly awesome Aston Martin V8 Vantage GT2 is his ride, and it's just a gorgeous machine. Far better than the DBR9, I think.

Tracy Krohn may just stick to Grand Am series next year. Too damn expensive to run here and there at once. Similar rumors about Penske/Porsche, but I'm not qualifying them as anything but rumors at this point.

Amanda Stretton is said to be here at the track. I still have my permission slip, too! :) [Update - I haven't been able to find Ms. Stretton. Oh well...]

Earl Fannin is not in good health. More cancer than a lab rat - bone cancer in his leg, a tumor on the back of his neck, the latter is inoperable. Talking with him is such a reality check, a reminder of just how damn tough I don't have it, and how damn easy I've gotten along this far. I wish him the best; the man is like a favorite uncle to me.

Road Atlanta in fast-forward, Day 2

Just back from the "Green Challenge Round Table Forum" being held in the administrative offices here at Road Atlanta. I met one to one with representatives from the American Le Mans Series, General Motors, Sebring Raceway, Mazda, as well as drivers David Brabham and Lord Drayson - the latter of whom insisted I just call him "Paul." I won't bore the crowd with too much minutiae, except to say that the cars you will drive in just a few years' time, will be powered by the technology that's being proven right now at the track.

At this year's Petit Le Mans, Audi's unstoppable R10 turbo diesel seems like old news at this point. Peugeot is back with their fantastic and amazingly fast 908 HDi racer, also running on diesel.

Chevy's two-car Corvette Racing team will be running on cellulosic E-85, which is ethanol NOT derived from corn, but from other biodegradable waste. The exhaust fumes from a race car running on E-85 will give you a nice buzz, too.

Wait, trick fuels aren't enough? How about a hybrid race car? Zytek has brought out a racer with an electric pack that might not win this endurance outing, but is quite the laboratory on wheels. It's fast (everything from Zytek is fast), it looks good, and it's the first racer I've seen that uses a partial-electric powerplant. We will see many more of these in years to come.

I have to give a nod here to Mazda and their sponsorship of the Atlantic open-wheel series. The series is celebrating its 35th year. They also fed me a very nice lunch. I thank everyone who feeds me :)

More stuff later, probably after Night Practice.

The road to Atlanta: Day 1.1

Braselton, GA --

Gas pumps everywhere with bags on the nozzles. People searching for gas and running the tank dry. Long lines leading to a dismal supply being tapped out in a few hours. People sleeping in their cars at gas pumps in order to be "the first" to get some petrol. This is the Southeast of America in the Fall of 2008. You'd think it was a page from the original script from "Mad Max."

Having heard from a friend in Georgia that there was a severe gas shortage following hurricanes Gustav and Ike (both of which were piddly thunderstorms when compared with Katrina in 2005), I set out from my home near DC with a pair of 5-gallon gas cans, loaded at $3.47 per gallon.

I'm glad I did.

Traveling down I-85 into North Carolina, prices visible from the highway start to creep upwards towards the $4/gallon mark and beyond, then... nothing. Most gas stations are open for snacks and coffee, but don't bother stopping if you need gasoline. It's the same in South Carolina and Georgia; there's just too little fuel to go around.

I found a Wilco station with regular unleaded for $3.63/gallon as soon as I crossed the border into SC, so I stopped to fuel up. I don't want to touch the 10 gallons I have in reserve unless I have to. Still, I've been averaging from 38-41 MPG in my backup car during the trip, which beats the pants off of most of the things we Americans still drive. Nice lady at the Wilco station refused to charge me for the 1L thermos and 16 oz cup of coffee I filled, too.

I'm still trying to understand the wisdom behind the idea of driving around on an empty gas tank and running out of fuel, during the process of aimlessly searching for a good supply in what is otherwise a vast desert of "NO GAS."

So, having managed the fuel situation well enough for the start of it, I headed South. As I often do on my way to Atlanta, I stopped in NC to visit with my dad. He was overjoyed that I'd brought along a new hard drive for his laptop -- the old Win2k image on the Dell I gave him a few years ago, just lost the registry, and became a big doorstop. The new drive is imaged up with XP, and his "old" hard drive is now in a USB enclosure to be used as external storage.

I arrived at the track this morning at 0330. Amazingly, there was a live person at the registration trailer who was able to get me credentialed-up and into the infield. I parked by the office, got cleaned up, enjoyed some coffee and watched the sunrise.

It's a damn good thing there are racecars all around me, because there's no internet here. No, wait, there is for some of the people here, but not me. Neither by iBook (which I'm writing this on) nor my trusty XP laptop will obtain an IP from the network here. Reason? Apparently neither of them supports WPA/AES cryp. Uhh... AES? WTF??? Yes, AES is stronger than TKIP. And no, it isn't workable under either of the wireless cards used by my laptops.

The meatball who's been put in charge of the network here, told me "uhh, see, I had read a website where it said that AES is faster than TKIP..." He apparently didn't read the rest of the article. I should be able to walk into this office with a 386 running Win95 and be able to connect to the network. It's a fucking media office at a race track, not the Pentagon! Too bad nobody else seems to realize this.

So, now that the racecars are done with their testing and practice sessions for the day, and since I don't have a hotel room to go to yet, I'm sitting in the office... offline.

[update: At 17:12 EDT, the meatball finally got himself out here, and switched the cryp on the router from WPA to WEP. Yes, the same WEP that Munchkin could break in 5 minutes if she wanted to, but I finally have signal!]

Road Trip: Summer 2008, in a nutshell... (Part 1)

Ten days on the West coast brought more smiles and memories burned into my soul than I can count. With the better part of a week in Vegas, a long an exciting drive out to Avila Beach, CA, and then another long and super-exciting drive up Highway 1 to San Francisco, it was really a 3-part holiday - each of which would've been outstanding on its own.

I don't have the full story tonight, just the first leg of it -- a quick recap of some of the highlights, with more detailed stuff to follow when I've got all the photos compiled (done) and uploaded (in process).

We started out with a flight (on United, which was pretty decent) to Las Vegas - my first ever, in fact. What I found in Vegas was astonishing: A super-sized playground in the desert for America to come and dispense with its inhibitions and hard-earned cash. I can understand why the place is so controversial. That 113F heat really is the Devil breathing down your neck, or at least I can see why some see it that way. I just took it in stride, and realized it's stashed out in the desert for a reason.

[Note: Credit where it's due -- While I still find "Airport Security" to be one of the most laughable oxymorons in the English language, the TSA seems to be getting at least a little better at getting people through the line, and NOT pissing me off too much. I had no trouble carrying my Zippo lighter in my pocket, plus my backup Zippo in my carry-on, plus three more Bic-style butane lighters I always have in the same bag that I never clean out. My Leatherman Wave in my checked bag was just fine. I'm also quite certain that my checked bag was not opened by any screeners - everything was perfectly in position, and the tamper-evident floss I'd left inconspicuously threaded on the zipper was intact. So, still not a fan of the TSA and all the "we're looking out for YOUR security" nonsense, but at least they're less of a hassle than the last few times.]

Starting out at the airport, I hopped into a '08 Chrysler Sebring Convertible and headed directly for the Strip. The car itself, for a rental, had some of the usual wear & tear I'd expect: At 28,700 miles, the driver's door speaker was blown (which left only 7 good ones), the 2.4L "Dual VVT World Engine" was sluggish below 4000 RPM, the automatic gearbox... well, it was a typical 4-speed OD box - as exciting as waiting in line at the Post Office. The front-end suspension needed some maintenance, as I later found the driver's front side would howl under light cornering. The brakes would squeal a bit when hot. And, under the circumstances, the car was absolutely perfect. When you're doing a week and a half out in the Devil's Playground, nothing beats a drop-top with some extra room. I had open-air motoring, a half-decent suspension setup for the highway, and overall 28 MPG on the drive from LV to CA.

Fry's in Las Vegas is truly Geek Heaven. I needed a simple dual-1/8" plug so I could use my iPod in the car, and found lots more than I was looking for. K&mdash also found more than she was looking for, though I will most likely defer to her modesty and not post any videos on Youtube of her playing on her new Wii Fit. [grins] Besides, she also found Mario Kart there, and I wanna' play!

We had some fun at the casinos (Bellagio, New York, New York, Paris), lost a little bit of cash on the tables, but made up some of it on the slots. I never understood the draw of slot machines beyond the appeal of a Skinner Box for humans, but turning $1 into $15 in a minute isn't a bad thing in my book. It does, to be certain, beat losing.

Knocking back free drinks on the casino floor is something I could get used to, and am glad I won't.

To kill an afternoon, we drove down to Hoover Dam, where the temperature was just slightly higher than the oven in my house on Thanksgiving. K&mdash, normally as good with the elements as I, was nearing heat stroke on the bridge over the dam. I parked her in the Visitors Center, got her some water, and ran up the hill to fetch the car. On the way home, we saw what was clearly a huge thunder storm. It never got close enough to us to put any rain on my car, but looked quite ominous.

We saw a few other kinds of shows, too: The first was Zumanity, which is Cirque du Soleil's hotter, hornier, more naked side. I want that fishbowl in my house, too. Cirque is always a dazzling group, but Zumanity really takes the brilliance of all the acrobatics and rope-work and kicks it up several stunning notches. A midget flew right over my head - twice!

We also took in Blue Man Group, which I'd expected to find entertaining... and was still quite blown away. Nothing I'd seen of these guys in various media could've prepared me for the live show - and their backup band was quite good, as well. The description of "how systems become interactive" is worth the price of admission on its own. After the show (which is beyond description, so I won't even try), we had a surprise encounter with one of the Blue Men. I believe this was Ninja Blue Man, because he was quite good at stealthing up behind me, staring over our shoulders as we gazed a the artwork on the wall, and then smudging K&mdash's cheek with a dot of blue before disappearing back to the dressing room. Cooooooooool.

Beyond the casinos and the shows and the Bellagio (yes, we stayed at the OMGWTFthisissodamnnice Bellagio), we took a gondola ride at the Venetian, ate at so many wonderful restaurants I lost count of them all, and... got room service on our last night in town, before taking in what was absolutely the most intense show of all.

[Description of last night in Vegas redacted]

Well, shit.. I guess what happens there, really DOES stay there.

The next morning, we got up, got showered and dressed, loaded up the convertible, and hit the road for the California coast...

Stay tuned.

Waking up in San Francisco...

Poking head up from a week's absence from all things online. Behold, first Internet access in a week -- no, I wasn't ignoring anyone, I was just in Las Vegas.

Arrived in San Francisco last night, and am now looking out from the window of what has to be the most spectacular room ever. Just let me get some coffee in me before I go out today [grins]

Driving up the PCH from Avila Beach yesterday, was... incredible. I have lots to tell there.

Anyway, I'll have more time to sit on my ass and blog LATER. For now, I'm getting cleaned up and looking forward to seeing some things.

Gettin' outta' Dodge... upcoming travel plans!

Tomorrow morning (Friday), I'll be wheels-up at 0822 hrs and bound for Las Vegas, with my K&mdash in tow, for what the Top Gear guys would call a Fly-Drive Holiday: From 1 Aug to 5 Aug, I'll be in Sin City, looking for a drag race with the devil, who may or may not look suspiciously like Gary Oldman. We'll be checking out some shows, some of which I may blog about, and others you might have to loosen me up with a few drinks to get the dirt. I'm my usual sketchy self when it comes to itinerary stuff, but K&mdash has the details down. This'll be my first time on the ground in Vegas - and looks like it'll be fun.

(Question for those who fly often: Is my Leatherman Wave likely to make it through if it's in my checked bag? I know R&mdash has had a few stolenconfiscated by the TSA, and I'm not keen on losing mine. Same question for my Zippo lighter - I know a plain butane Bic lighter is OK now, but my Zippo should be fine in a checked bag... right? I needs to know.)

Sometime on 6 Aug, we'll be gearing back up, stealingrenting a car, and hitting the road again. Driving from LV to the California Coast. A night in Avila Beach (at a really awesome hotel K&mdash found), and then it's back on the road for a cruise up Highway 1 to San Francisco.

All my dear SFO friends, I'll be in town from Aug 7 until early on Aug 10, and would love to get coffee or a bite to eat with any and all of you. If you're reading this, you most likely have my email (morningaj-at-gmail-dot-com) and my phone (as well as that of K&mdash will be on for most of the time.

August rocks -- I get to travel. If you add up all the traveling I'm doing this month, plus the two American Le Mans races I usually cover, I'll have almost as much domestic travel down as J&mdash does in three whole months, or R&mdash does in a typical hour.

Once I'm back on 10 Aug, it'll be a day to rest and recoup, then it's on to the business of starting a new 9-5 grind. I still have yet to attract a well-founded media outlet to hire me on for keeps, so it's gonna' be the same old Standard Hire Information Technology... for the time being. We might be in the 3rd quarter of '08, but I'm not letting up on the writing, dammit.

More to come...

Auto. Extremist.

The pic of me in that OMGWTF Audi R8, is here:

A few other pics were taken, and those will be forthcoming in some gallery or other.

I cannot begin to tell you just how bad it sucks to be home. The weather is cold (not that I mind the rain, but the chilly weather blows - quite literally), and the goddamn traffic... Every time I come home, I ask myself "self, why did I come home?" Then my dog looks up at me with his reddish-brown eyes matching his coat, and I forget what I was grumping about. I just wish the traffic up here was a little less... traffucked.

Anyway, if you know me, you know I'm in the middle of my usual week to ten days worth of hating life after a racing trip. My Sebring 2008 article's submitted, the PHOTOS ARE UP, TOO, and now I have time to just get back to the business of... what passes for life when I'm not Doing What I Do.

Home from Sebring. *sigh*

After a 17h 14m drive, which began with brunch at Denny's, a brief stop on the sand at Daytona Beach, and then playing through literally 1/2 of the songs on my iPod, I arrived safe at home at 0545 this morning, exactly 12 hours ago.

I've had a good bit of sleep, but I'm still quite knackered. I also have a deadline, so I probably won't be responding to many emails over the next 24 hours, but as of 1800 tomorrow, I should be back in circulation.

LOTS more, later.

Sebring Saturday: Mid-race hyper-ness

Let me tell you a little something about Sebring: There is simply nothing else like it in the world. No, I'm not talking about the Green Park, with its Animal House antics and bizarre culture unto itself. And I'm not talking about the cars, teams, and drivers, because these are all the same people who race the rest of the season here as well as Le Mans. I'm not even talking about the weather, because I've seen more rain at the 24 Heures du Mans in recent years than we've had at the 12 Hours of Sebring.

No, I mean the track itself. As one team guy told me earlier today, "this is the exact opposite of the Daytona 24 we just ran. Daytona was 24 hours of heaven. This is 12 hours of hell."

Why is that, you might ask?

It's because this track is one hyper-challenging, unforgiving, mean-spirited bitch. She doesn't cut you any slack, and if you're lucky enough not to demolish the car when you go off-course, you still end up shoveling half of the dirt in southern Florida as you limp back to the pits.

Such is the case with today's race, just about halfway through. It seems as if nobody wants to win this one. The fastest car on the track all week, that being the Peugeot 908 HDi, suffered mechanical crapitude and is now running down in back. The lead was then inherited by the #1 Audi R10 TDI, who just fifteen minutes ago retired to the pits with some kind of engine failure (yes, an engine failure in an Audi, rare that may be). Many of the Big Dogs are just dropping like flies, be it an error in judgment or just plain bad luck.

Though, if I'm honest, maybe it's not just the unforgiving heartless bits of 3.7 miles of bumpy tarmac. Maybe there's more to it.

On my fifth trip to the historic race, I'm still discovering so many little things that all make this such a great event. Not just the parties in the infield, but the people there. The big fat smelly ocean of humanity, the no-shirt-no-shoes-no-problem beer-guzzlin' rednecks, and the prim wine & cheese crowd with nary a hair out of place. The people who drive in from 1000 miles away, and the locals who live just down the road. The ones who have been coming here for more than 50 years (yes, I've met quite a few), and the ones who are experiencing not just their first Sebring 12, but their first ever auto race. The people from so many different countries there aren't enough translators in all of Florida to make sense of it, the people with southern drawls so thick, they need their own translators...

It all comes together, and it all blends beautifully.

What makes this race so great, I think, is what has made our country the greatest place in the history of the world. It is where everyone else comes to be the best, and to challenge for the win. In Sebring, there is no McCain or Clinton or Obama. There are no pollsters and no breaks in the action - except for a caution flag or six. This is the greatest road race in North America, and international diplomacy played out on tarmac. The French, the Germans, the Brits and the Italians, the Swiss and the Aussies, the Kiwis and the Scots, and us, the Americans. Somehow, we all just get along and have the best damn time in the world.

Some people wonder what it is about motorsports that moves me so. What about it wakes me up in the morning and literally drives me to sacrifice so damn much, just to see a bunch of cars going fast on a road circuit. If you've read this far, I hope you have more of an idea now.

Sebring notes, Thursday, Part 1

Yesterday left little time to post, given the 13-hour drive down from NC the night before. That, and the fact that I was positively knackered by the time the sun rose over the historic 3.7-mile road course here in Sebring, FL. Along with my "crew" (that would be Tim and his wife), we were all wasted from the trip and desperately in need of showers and sleep. By early afternoon, we'd decided to use what little coherency we had left, and retreat to the hotel.

Before we got going, however, I was offered a lap at speed around the course in an Audi R8. This ride, for once, is not a race car but a proper road machine, and I totally agree with Clarkson, it is STUNNING!

The Red Carpet Inn on Rt 27 certainly isn't the worst place I've stayed, but when I have to call the front desk to have someone come up and plug in all of the electrical things (alarm clock, microwave, mini-fridge, hair drier, etc), well, that's just odd. I have my own room, though, so I can sleep. The shower is nice n' hot, the A/C works, and the TV... well, they have good wireless, at least.

Anyway, cleaned up and rested, we were off to the Sebring Gala. For some reason, I'm still among the few of us media types who knows this party exists -- which is amazing, considering "free open bar" usually attracts everyone in the room. I was self-appointed Designated Driver last night, not wanting to overdo it and have hell to pay on Thursday, so my company took advantage of the free booze. Patrón is entering racing in a big way this year, both as a series/race sponsor as well as full sponsor of David Brabham's P2 Highcroft Racing Acura. So, to underscore their commitment to the American Le Mans Series, they saw fit to have their own Tequila bar at the gala, and do their best to get everyone annihilated. I had one small "Le Mans-arita" and a couple sips of a "Brabham Bender," their term for a straight shot of their agave silver. Good stuff, even if tequila isn't usually my thing.

This time, they weren't serving Tilt, so I didn't get "tilted" like I did last year. And I'm not rooming near Aunt Nancy, so I'm not getting attacked by the Grey Goose, either.

Time for GT-class combined qualifying -- either Jan Magnussen or Max Papis should take the pole.

More stuff later, as time permits!

Getaway in Appalachia - Days 1-2 of Sebring 2008

Mopars DO love mountains!

I'm currently in Burnsville, NC, way up in the Blue Ridge mountains. I started out on the drive on Sunday down I-81, but the sheer number of speed traps (15 in less than 100 miles) and the traffic incidents seemingly caused by people slamming on the brakes to avoid cops...

Well, it all got to be too much, so I diverted off I-81 onto Blue Ridge Parkway. Now, I've driven some of the most amazing roads in North America, but there is absolutely nothing that compares to this. I now have a very clear understanding of the term "breath-taking." I had to remind myself to breathe, it was that impressive.

As luck would have it, after about 200 miles of heaven, I ran out of road -- Blue Ridge Parkway is closed right near Boone, NC... so I had to re-route my course. This is where the road atlas came in handy: In the time it would take to re-program a GPS to map out a new course, I was able to duck into a Quik Stop, get coffee, check the atlas, and find Route 221 which leads down down to where I was headed.

What I didn't expect was for Route 221 to be the tightest, twistiest, least-forgiving ribbon of asphalt I have ever seen! This was like the Nürburgring, in North Carolina! I left probably 1/3 of the tread from my Falkens on that road, over a span of about 150 miles.

Where I'm from, if you take a curve too fast, you might hit some guardrail, or maybe a tree. Up here, you either eat a boulder the size of a small house, or... you fly off the side of the mountain.

Back home in DC, you might have to dodge a raccoon, a possum, maybe a fox or even a coyote. Up in Appalachia, the skunks are the size of small bears. I don't know what they eat, but I damn sure wasn't gonna' stop and ask.

Anyway, I'm rested-up, and will be getting back on the road to Sebring in just a few short hours. I'll probably be in touch sometime tomorrow, with a dispatch from the front stretch.


--
"there's more to life than gears and horsepower
not much, admittedly, but you get the point..." -- Road Kill

DC Auto Show 2008

Went to the DC Car Show (er, s'cuse me, The Washington Auto Show today, to take in the media preview - which consists of lots of press conferences, lots of picture-taking opportunities, and a pretty good catered luncheon.

I got to meet with some of the top brass from GM and managed to charm my way into them letting me drive one of the way-nifty hydrogen-powered Chevy Equinox vehicles.

For those who don't know, Hydrogen power is the King Badass of all green automotive technology. Screw hybrids, be they petrol or diesel, only hydrogen (and plug-in electrics) give absolute zer0-emissions. Plug-in electric cars are neat, in a glorified golf cart sort of way, but the advantage of a fuel cell vehicle is range.

I was offered a drive (not "ride", but drive, as in they gave me the keys and off we went) following a press conference this morning. Motoring around the streets in downtown DC, it drove... just like a car. It accelerates, brakes, corners, and handles the road, just like its petrol-powered counterpart. The only thing missing, really, was engine sound. The vehicle is almost entirely silent.

I pulled up at a stop light next to a Prius, and stuck my tongue out at its driver. Felt good.

There's more stuff to tell, but I'm compiling photos and writing up a bunch right now. Whatever doesn't make it onto AE soon, I'll post here.

In other random notes...

Heath Ledger just joined Brad Renfro on the list of actors who Just Couldn't Handle Themselves. Tragic, I think. I didn't really care for either one as an actor, really, but tragic when anyone ODs and dies. Apparently, Amy Winehouse isn't far behind, with her Homemade Crack Testing Kit all over Youtube. And so far, in 2008, at least 10 people have been killed while crossing railroad tracks.

Evolution, it seems, is a very slow process... But a sure one.

Home from Road Atlanta...

Arrived home from Atlanta (or, more correctly, Gastonia, NC) this morning at 0330. A bit exhausted, I went right to sleep in my own bed for the first time in a week. Some ten hours later, around 2 PM, I finally woke up and set about the business of getting my article together.

First thing for me was to get the automated bits running -- compile all the photos and get them submitted as early as possible. I shot about 260 or so photographs this week - a small number, but I only did much shooting on race day. Out of those, I selected 51 for my 2007 Petit Le Mans gallery... and then my editor told me "oh, I'm all set as far as photos go..." He's got some excellent shots by John Thawley, though, who's a far better shot than I. Go see for yourself.

So, since they're not going to be used for my story this Wednesday, you can see them all right here. (And for you cubicle types, yes they're all SFW)


(photo copyright 2007, A.J. Morning. All rights reserved)

Comments and questions, as always, are extremely invited and encouraged.

Coffee Break with a Legend...

I met Chris Economaki yesterday. He was the very first to do what I'm doing right now. He's also the very best. I have so many fond memories of watching him on TV when I was young, but nothing will ever compare to spending about an hour just talking with him yesterday.

And, the man was taking notes, constantly... on what I was saying...????? I don't know what to make of it, but I hope I was able to give him something he can use. We talked about current things - the race, the new surface on the track, and lots of racing history. Mr. Economaki's memory dates back long before we had television, and he's better at describing a scene than anything you'll see in HD on Speed Channel today.

Chris is just shy of his 87th birthday now, and obviously doesn't get around quite as easily as he used to. But he's still quick with a great story, his wit hasn't suffered in the least, and he could charm the habit right off of a nun.

I hope I get to see him again soon.