By Brian Bielanski, Editor
10:30am: The race pace has picked up as we reach the closing hours. This has led to problems for some of the front runners. Tom Long was leading GT in his #40 Dempsey Racing Mazda when he spun himself out of the lead. To make matters worse his Mazda wouldn't restart after he stopped on pit lane for repairs. He went from first to fourth, four laps down. Defending Rolex 24 champ David Donohue spun his Action Express Porsche in the bus stop. His #9 car was having clutch problems so we couldn't get rolling again forcing him to wait for a tow. This put him three laps down. Otherwise it's been boring... NOT!
9am - Race went back to green just after 8am after a 2:47 caution for fog. There are six cars on the lead lap, the two Ganassi's, two Action Express', Michael Shank's #6, and the #76 Krohn. In GT, the Dempsey Racing #40 (yes, that's Patrick's car) is trying to hold on to a one lap lead over the #67 TRG Porsche. The wild card right now is how the Continental tire will hold up as the temps heat up.
6am -Not much to say other than we've been under caution for 16 laps due to fog. Might be 6:40am-6:50am before we go green again. By the way, sunrise is 7:15am5:30 Video Update
The TRG team strings the badly abused #53 Porsche for an alignment. Yes folks, those are Zebco fishing reels they are using!
5am - In DP Ganassi P1/P4 vs. Action Express P2/P3.. the Rolex 24 version of Ali vs. Foreman. The Rumble at the Rolex! A simlar battle is going on in GT between Dempsey Racing #40, Miller Racing #48, and TRG #54. I had thought we might be on pace to break the race record but I was reminded of those wicked fast GTP cars of the 80's and 90's. Weather continues to be spectacular. Temps were in the upper 40's tonight. Might be a slight issue of fog as the sun comes up. We also need to keep an eye on tire wear as the temperature rises this morning. The high today is forecasted for 68F.
2:00am - More problems for the #02 Ganassi car. Juan Pablo Montoya had an off-course excursion and the team took three laps in the garage to make repairs. DP top 3 is P1 - #5 Law, P2 - #6 McDowell, P3 - #01 Rahal. In GT, Patrick Dempsey leads by a lap in his Mazda RX-8 while the TRG #67 (P2) and #66 (P3) hunt him down.1:00am - As the night wears on here's the latest... The Ganassi teams have recovered nicely from early race woes and are atop the leaderboard again. The Michael Shank Racing teams have all been strong so far. In GT, The #59 (Hurley Haywood's team) has been in the hunt all night, as has the Dempsey Racing #40. The TRG #67, after started last after being DQ'd from the pole, is one lap down in P3.
6:00pm - The early storylines are.... 1.) Tire wear. The new Continental tire hasn't been tested in temps as hot as we've had this afternoon. It looks like some teams missed the setup. Will they hold on until dark and then make big changes when it gets warm again tomorrow? We'll have to wait and see. 2.) DP pole-sitter Flying Lizzard is in the garage replacing the radiator after an off-track excursion. It will be interesting to see how many laps they lose making the repair. 3.) Both Ganassi cars had a rough start. Each went a lap down after tire issues.1:58pm - Hour and a half until green. The pace is starting to pick up. Heading back out to check on the MSR crew.
9:15am - Good morning from the media center. I'll be updating this story throughout the day with the latest from the Rolex 24. Don't forget I'll be hangin' with the Michael Shank Racing team during the race. Should get some great stuff.
