Thinking about running IMSA 24 hrs of Daytona

If you need volunteer crew, I'd be happy to help! I'd be more a boy Friday, but if it helps keep cost in line - give me a holler!

We go to Florida a lot, and usually right around Daytona time. My family gets a vacation, I'd get a once in a lifetime experience.

Of course, I might be smoking crack, but nothing ventured, nothing gained...worth asking and getting a "no", right??

Either way - good luck, I think that would be awesome - definitely a once in a lifetime experience!

 

Then PM me. Lots of relevant experience racing and campaigning there (and elsewhere.)

Just this-maybe more money than you may think-even to do it as an "experience" and not too worried about winning.

 

I defer to Brian, but I will say that, generally, the most economical way to do this is by buying a ride.

CW

 

Interesting read about a PC team's cost for that race.

This Is How Much It Costs To Run A Professional Race Team

 

From what I've heard, 1 million just to run the team for 24 hours at Daytona. It can vary depending on drivers, accidents, parts, etc.

 

+1!

 

I have a fire suit and a place to stay.

 

Here is how you should approach this....to adapt a saying popular at one of our fine state universities:

"We may not win every race, but we ain't never lost a party!"




P.S. put me on the volunteer crew list as well....have fire suit, will travel!

 

I just competed at the SCCA Runoffs at Daytona this weekend. Only a 14 lap sprint race on Friday after a week of testing and qualifying, but my body is sore and tired and my brain is still fried ... I can't imagine how demanding the 24-hour would be! Good luck if you enter.

 

I agree with S chao. I just got back from the Runoffs last night. I had a difficult week that ended as best it could considering the start after a blown clutch at MIS right before Daytona. I got the "Hard charger award" 2 years in a row now. Maybe with another $15k of development into my car I could be on the podium 2016? I'm really happy to be back in 70*F SoCal beach weather. I was dying in Florida humidity and so were many cars. I think Daytona was the hardest track I have ever been to as far as hard on the car. I was running oil temps in the low 300*F and had to back off the throttle! I noticed rolling my car into the transporter my RF Hoosier Sticker tire delaminated in 14 laps! I did not look at the other tires.

Anyone serious about do 24hr there is going to have to spend a fortune doing proper testing before even thinking they can complete 24hr. To win 24hr I could not fathom what it would take to win that.

One thing for certain the fishing around Daytona is phenomenal!
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You weren't the only one dying in the humidity. I think it rained every day there except maybe 2. I thought the track was very easy on tires from a wear standpoint. I am definitly glad to be back in cooler weather though. Why they didn't run it in October I have no idea.....

 

Word I heard was that SCCA moved the Runoffs dates up to ensure enough workers would come and not conflict with Petite Le Mans this week.

 

Yes but thankfully for me it only rained out one of my qual sessions. Are you running a light car? Mine is a 3450 min weight corvette on Dot-R's. I saw blistered LF's on GT-1 cars too. In my qual group lots of carnage. I did not practice so used 1st qual as a practice shakedown and got lame time as expected. qual 3 rained out no time. In qual 4 my cooling system spiked in 2 laps and freaked me out turned out to be a bad sender no time. Qual 2 had two clean laps with all the yellows and I screwed them both up trying too hard.

I saw one FF crushed up to the footbox, some front running HP cars coming to tech on flatbeds after coming across the finishline not front wheels first, and a former national champ a couple of garages away pissed that he was forced within a whisker of the wall packing up his car and go home stating he does not want to die for a plastic trophy. My friend was in the GT1 qual group hit a wall and is still in the hospital there with multiple orthopedic injuries he will recover from in time. The SM night race was incredibly clean uncharacteristic of SM races I have seen before. They were on their best behavior and I think some drivers a little fearful bumpdrafting at the highest speeds some of these SM drivers have ever seen in an SM around 137 I think was top speed. They realized typical spec pinata activity could have painful consequences. I remember lots of carnage at Laguna's Runoffs last year but Daytona just seemed to be more dangerous with higher consequences and higher speeds. Daytona is a man's track.

 

I may have some insight that is helpful for you @ costs running the 24hr. Tried to send you a PM...your box is full.

 

I was running a small formula car (I won the FV race actually). I didn't realize the larger cars were having such issues with tires. All my conversations with Hoosier were about how easy the track was on tires.

Your friend in the GT1 car was parked right next to us. It was sad to see him get injured so badly, but it sounds like he will recover. Chances are you and might have bumbed into each other there and never even knew it.

I'm definitly glad to have made it through the week with everything in one piece. I know lots weren't so lucky.

 

Congrats, National Champion! Were you in yellow garages?

 

Congrats, Michael Varacins! Last lap, too!

 

Thank you. I was parked out by the lake closer to the infield entry point. What car and class were you running?

 

Thank you. I was hoping i was fast enough through the infield to get a big enough gap so they couldn't catch me by the line, but coming to the white flag the whole train went by. Had to force my way by some people at the end.

We hijacked this thread, but it's nice to hear who from this forum was there. We should have started a thread earlier. Maybe next year all the fchatters can meet up at midohio.

 

#3 car in P2. This was my second Runoffs and first podium after DNF last year. See you at Mid-O next year, champ!
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We probably did bump into each other. Yup he was actually running GT2 and has multiple orthopedic issues but will recover. I hear things like out of the hospital in 2 weeks then rehab facility before he can fly home to California. His car however is going to the dumpster. His son was a contender for GT1 both same last name so its confusing. Kyle won GT1 at laguna 2014.

Congrats on being the 2015 FV National Champ. That is a huge achievement. I too am glad to leave Daytona with all my fingers and toes and a clean racecar. My Majors traveling buddy (my car lives in his transporter) won the GT1 championship. He ran a second class FF. There we both won the "hard charger awards" in our respective classes. He calls that the "silver lining" for when you suck really bad in qualifying.

 

I wonder whether anyone in SCCA thought about tires before Daytona. In DOT-R world Hoosier says, the Hoosier A7/R7 is not to be used on Rovals. That is written right in their own documentation. Hoosier has had past bad history on rovals including forbidding the use of some tire sizes on tail heavy 911 Porsches. When I gave Hoosier my calculations showing the A7/R7 was not up to the rated hoosier load specs at full inflation pressure I got no confirmation of my math or physics or an even "we'll take a look at it". One of the Hoosier tire guys servicing us trackside a few races ago, quietly admitted that he thought I was right and to talk to so and so who had a plan to safely run the dot-R's for Daytona. That guy's plan was to instruct me to add 5psi to the recommenced Hoosier hot pressure to meet the load requirements. I said to him, "you do know that no one races Hoosier tires at even the recommended hot pressures and that we are all substantially below the recs by over 10lbs." He did not answer at first only to say Hoosier can only recommend the listed hot pressures. Hoosier has been hassling us over the pressures we run since the old pre-class consolidation days in T1. The max speed rating is 168mph and the T1 cars were running 180mph at daytona. This was never a problem before because you can only get these speeds at Daytona. We also got a prerace SCCA club racing alert telling use we were going to have 2 warmup laps before the green flag for "safety" to make sure tires were up to temperature. I can only take all this to mean Hoosier knows their tire was marginal as used and there was some worry there. 14 laps and my RF sticker tire is delaminating but I am guilty of under inflation. So did we get 2 warmup laps because the tire at full inflation +5psi is marginal or Hoosier knows we are underinflating and recommended 2 warmup laps to give the tire a fighting chance?

Of course this all goes back to the 24hr. What do you use for tires and how much testing will you need to figure it all out? I think that is going to be expensive unless someone like Benji from Goodyear has data that will get you 90% of the way there.

 

I did not realize there was so much tire drama at the runoffs this year. I was very curious as to why the larger cars were getting two pace laps, but I didn't worry enough about it to inquire. That explains it. I'm glad no one suffered a major tire failure that caused an injury or that could have gotten ugly. SCCA racing depends on Hoosier these days.

 

At Petit this past weekend, one of the guys in my series (Lites) jumped into a seat in PC. I was talking to him about the costs. He said it depends on several factors: number of pro drivers compared to amateur, and timing. Basically, the amateur drivers are also paying the pro driver's seat, which may double the cost. Also, buying in early is more expensive than agreeing to pay for a seat at the 11th hour. He said costs range from 50-120k for a race. And I don't think you get a refund if the car is damaged and you never even get to climb in...

GTE or PC are the classes to look at. I believe even the amateurs in GTD and LMP/DP are "seasoned". Many say the PC cars are not particularly easy to drive, but I admit I would love a go...