Racing action in the east horseshoe.

 

More racing action in the east horseshoe. Here's two Pontiac GTO.R cars flanking a DP car.

The #24 Matt Connolly BMW M3 GT entry. This car expired early after 101 laps and a little more than 4 hours of racing. The Rolex can be brutal - 24 straight hours of racing can test the endurance of any person and any machine.

The #55 Arnold Machine Inc/Rubbn' Repair/ ASC Motorsports entry. This pic was taken early in the race after the nose was changed during practice. It seems that one of the drivers put the car in a tire-wall early Thursday during practice, demolishing the nose and the radiator. A spare radiator was on the transporter, a spare nose was not. An urgent call was made to Advanced Composites in Harrisburg, PA (http://www.advancedcompositeproducts.com/) and a new nose was ordered. It was not on the shelf so a new carbon-fiber nose was laid-up and cured. Done late Thursday night, the new nose started the trip south and arrived Friday noon in Daytona. Lights and other attachements were put on the bare nose, mounted on the car and was ready to go Friday night. On lap 27 of the race, the car was in the tire-wall again and the new nose was bashed up pretty badly. Repairs were made and the car resumed the race. The car returned to the race but after 103 laps, 6 1/2 hours, the engine just gave up. The finished 60th overall, 31st in class. See the pic below.

On lap 27, into a tire-wall on turn five. After repairs, the car made it another 75 laps or so and the already stressed motor gave up.

The #48 Dubler Mohrenkopf/Notter/Huber/CorvetteTotal.ch car in the pits. They have some sort of a motor problem that eventually finished the race for them. They finished 53rd, 27th in class after 7 1/2 hours.

Team Member of the #11 BMW Riley DP Car - Obviously into the team thing. Check the color of the car above.

The #11 BMW Riley DP Car. The car was driven by Brian Tuttle, Kyle Petty, and Boris Said. In spite of an obviously dedicated team (see the pic below) and a great driver lineup, they finished 42nd overall, 21st in class after 413 laps and 15 1/2 hours of racing after the car gave up on 'em. See the car above.