Rolex 24 Photo & Quote Quest
Quick Quest Story and photos by Dwight Drum
© 2008 Dwight Drum Web work by Larsen & Drum
To finish first a team must first finish.
No where does the time-honored reality of finishing the race play out to the fullest than during the 24 grueling hours or the approximately 2500 long miles of road circuit sports car racing than at the Rolex 24 at Daytona International Speedway.
The 2008 Daytona Prototype Garnd Am Rolex Sports Car Series resulted in 695 laps on the 3.56 mile DIS road course drew a list of star drivers from all forms of motorsports: Jimmie Johnson, Juan Pablo Montoyo, Kurt Busch, Dario Franchetti, Helio Castroneves and other notables like Boris Said and Ryan Briscoe. The Grnad Am Koni Challenge Series has long been a favorite among celebrities and this year Patrick Dempsey star of "Grey's Anatomy" headed that distinguished list.
The Prototype class teams finshing one-two-three included stellar groups of drivers for Ganassi TELMEX, Gainsco Lowes, and Penske Toshiba.
Our image and quote journey will take up far less of your 24 hour day but to finish that you must first start.
Questions by reporter Dwight Drum
Chip Ganassi
Do you believe there is anything special about year-to-year momentum?
"Team work. It's all about the team."
Kurt Busch
About racing in rain:
"There was a level of comfort when it started to feel a little bit more like a stock car when it started moving around a little bit. The rain tires have a bit more movement in them as far as the squish and the sidewall deflection. It had more movement and it gave me a feel of more of what I'm used to. I was driving blind not knowing anything about rain driving at night. I just live a sheltered life in NASCAR. We don't drive in the rain. It was a blast. I was smiling from ear to ear. I'm driving at night going 200 mph. I'm in a sports car around Daytona. It was a blast.
"To finish third right out of the box, it gets you excited for next year. I think I'm going to ask my wife if I can come play again. Because we race 38 times a year."
Jimmie JohnsonAre there any parts of racing in the Rolex 24 do you think you will take with you throughout the NASCAR season all the way to Homestead?
"Well, especially in the ovals there is nothing that will cross over. I think that testing in the off-season and coming down here and getting around the track in a car and describing what the car is doing kind of knocks the rust off. Plus the physical aspect - these cars are much more physical than our Cup cars. I think we are probably better prepared, the Cup guys that run this race, when we go into the Cup season. Mentally and physically you are a little further along, but when we get to the road course races I feel that it does help some. The more time you have running road course car, road courses in general the better. But these things are so different than our big taxi cabs that we drive. It's really hard to say that anything will cross over."
Ryan Briscoe
Fans don't sit in race cars during a race so they can't experience driving at the limit. Driving at the edge all the time - can you talk about that?
"There are different times. The perfect car is when you got a really fast car that is predictable and it's comfortable to drive at the limit where you can know exactly where it is. You can sort of slide it to that point. And you know if I'm going to go any harder it's going to spin. But it's easy to drive to the limit. I have had that many times where I can do a whole thing in the race sort of driving it really close to the limit but still safe. That's when it's good. But you're not always going to have a perfect car. There are times where it's scary even if you get close to the limit when the car is unpredictable. There is no better feeling when you can drive a car consistently on the limit. That's the top. It puts a smile on your face every lap."
Helio Castroneves
Is there any routine that helps you maintain your focus during the 24 hour race and how does that relate to dancing in front of millions?
"Well the dancing obviously in front of all those people - trust me - I had no idea what I was doing. I'm just following my partner and she was just right. It seemed to work and it was just right. And that's what I'm going to be doing as well here with everyone at Penske Racing. What I'm going to try to do is to keep focused doing the same things on every lap - that's the key to this race. I know in traffic it's just speed and control. That's what happened last year. Facing a new challenge, I think it will be great. Find out good spots and make sure you take a chance but in a good way. Right now it's just a matter of checking out the car and that's what everybody is doing and get comfortable and continue working hard."
Castrol Syntec SpeedSource Team {Raphael Matos, David Haskell, Sylvain Tremblay, Nick Ham}
Winners by seven laps in the GT class, the No. 70 Mazda (ninth overall) 664 laps on 3.56 miles. Grand Am Koni Challenge Series got off to an enduring start. Sylvain Tremblay
You share a sponsor with John Force Racing. Did Force's winning edge rub off on your team during the Rolex 24?
"Obviously to be associated with a Castrol - Castrol is a real legend in motorpsorts. John Force is probably the most entertaining motorsports guy that there is. His interviews are unbelievable. Obviously the standards that his group set is what is expected by Castrol and by Mazda which is why we've joined the group. All these little things pushing us is what put us on our "A" game. So we're just really proud to be associated with people like John Force, Castrol and Mazda."
Nick Ham"It's a great product. Personally I have fond memories of Castrol. I grew up in England and my father used to take me to a lot of motorsports events. One of my fondest memories that has always stuck with me is that smell of the Castrol oil wafting through the air, whether it's a motorcycle event, go-kart race or race car event. I'm really glad that we have Castrol on board. My mom will be really pleased about it back home. It's going to be a good partnership and we're looking forward to giving them more success this year."
David Haskell"I feel the same. It's great to have them on board. If some of John's success has rubbed off on us, we'll take it. Anything you can do to get through the cost with this sport makes it a lot easier for us."
Chip Ganassi
About Winning:
"You can't put into words what winning does to you or what it feels like. You just know that it feels good. You can't touch it. You can't see it, but boy you sure can feel it. You just want to do it more."
About top drivers and Dario Franchetti:
"That (a win) is what you get when you have professional drivers in your car. These guys have won big races and they have won everything there is to win. Dario gets in the car and says, 'Give me three to four laps to get this rain thing.' That's a guy that just won a championship, an Indy 500. He's not afraid to say give me five laps to figure this out and in five laps he was right there. That kind of level of maturity, that's what you get when you pay the big bucks."
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