If anyone is interested, I downloaded my photos from the race on the following webpage, http://photobucket.com/albums/v687/Commish43/ I was lucky enough to get to drive to Daytona in the Red Daytona Coupe from Atlanta GA. That car runs a Roush 402/Tremec 5-spd, will do about 190mph, and it got 18mpg on the highway. Very entertaining weekend, fairly large crowd in the infield, pretty cold and windy Friday and Saturday, but temps warmed up a bit on Sunday. Good to see the 2005 Mustang in race trim, finishing 1-2 in the Grand Am Cup 200 mile race Friday. Commish
Hey Bill, I watched most of the 24 Hour race. It was a great show for the Pontiac crowd. I thought the (two) new class field was impressive. Lap times? Wow! I thought the GAC race was very interesting. Who would have thought a new race car could finish 1 and 2 (and 9)? I'll be tuned in for the tape delay on 3-5-05 (11am eastern). Did you see the 24 minutes of Daytona (the vintage race)? Any thoughts on the new infield since they completely remodeled it? Are you around the shop next week? I'd like to drop by for a "look see". Doc p/s nice photos
Hard to look at a DP car and see "Pontiac", but I guess it's their engine so they have the bragging rights. Saw the "24 Minutes", more of a parade, but still good to see and hear these old racers. All cars were available to see in the new Fan Zone behind the garages. Having not been to the track since the 1977 24 Hours of Daytona, I would say the infield improvements are great. Many more clean restrooms/shower facilities, the boardwalk along the lake on the backstretch is nice, but the new Fan Zone is pretty cool. For $45, had full access to the FZ all three days, and that included access in the garage/pit area. Also allowed usage of the observation deck which runs along the top of the garages. On the back wall of each garage, is a large viewing window to see what's going on inside, which I'm sure when NASCAR goes, there's probably no access on the pit road and garage front so folks will have to use the windows. There are also TV's on the back walls in places to be able to see the race. In the FZ are vendors, eateries, etc, but with 24 hours of racing, there are more things to see in the garages and pits than the track, so that's where I spent most of my time. The new tunnel under Turn 1 I'm sure also helps with the traffic flow. That's the new oversize vehicle access to the infield.
