Today is the very first race of the Grand Am season. 1:45pm to 3:15pm, EST. Although TV coverage on Speed TV is delayed until February 13th, live timing will be available at Grand-Am.com, and I'm sure APR and other teams will be updating their various Twitter and Facebook pages accordingly. Taking place as a support race for the Rolex 24 at the world-famous Daytona International Speedway, APR Motorsport will be doing battle in the GS and ST classes of the Continental Tire Sports Car Challenge. (Formerly known as the Koni Challenge) Honestly I am far from a fan of the Rolex series itself...the Daytona (D-U-M-B) Prototypes are possibly the ugliest racing cars this side of Death Race 2000 and they are far from interesting to watch.
Seriously...talk about a face only a mother could love. The best description I've ever heard of these cars is 'elephantine turtles.' Pretty accurate, no?
That said, the Continental Sports Car Challenge (also sanctioned by Grand Am) is everything that good racing is. Somewhat ironically, the success of the series is thanks to a sliding scale of weight, displacement, turbo boost and other factors which keep the diverse field close to the same times on the track. This is just like IMSA of days gone by, and is exactly the opposite of the approach with the DPs, which are the same car with very little to change in way of set up, horsepower, or anything else.
The ST and GS classes feature close, exciting, and cars that are not all that far removed from the ones which you and I drive on the street. More accurately cars that you and probably other people drive on the street, since my newest car is 15 years old, but you know what I mean. Anyways, when the Continental Sports Car Challenge comes to a track near you I highly recommend going to see it in person. It's great fun, the teams are fantastic, and the racing is absolutely some of the best you will see anywhere in the world. Better than F1, better than NASCAR, and better than half of the other series out there. I guarantee.
_WRS
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