Live Search Racing

2008 Season begins for the Live Search car

Sat, 07 Jun 2008 01:26:32 GMT

by Jim Walsh

I haven't been able to blog after each every event this year, I'll give a brief summary of the first three race weekends here, then slightly more in-depth posts on the last two weekends in followup posts.

My first race weekend was the Oregon SCCA Regional at Portland International at the end of March. Weather was miserable - it was the first time I've ever gone out on a dry track with racing slicks, and had to come in because I couldn't get any traction because of hail. It had rain, sleet, hail, and wind. The qualifying session was wet, I qualified second overall and first in GT2.

Finally we had dry weather for the race, and I got a good launch and into the lead at the first corner, with Nick Fluge, Matt Crandall, and Andrew Foley behind me. A couple of laps in I was getting a decent gap on the field, a couple of seconds a lap, when my window net fell down on the back straight! I was fumbling around trying to grab it on the straights (while driving with one hand) to reconnect it, but I dropped it and it got tangled. It was only a matter of time until I got the dreaded 'meatball' flag to pit for mechanical problems. I pulled into pit lane, my new crewman Chris Brown buckled the window net back up, and off I went for the SLOOOOOOWWW drive down pit lane (35mph speed limit) while the other cars were zooming by at 140mph! I was on a tear, I repassed Foley and Fluge and was chasing after Crandall, but I never saw him on track, so I kept pedalling harder, thinking he must be further up the rode. After the race, I found out that he'd broken a few laps after I got on course and didn't finish the race, so I won both overall and in class.

The next event was the California Festival of Speed at California Speedway in Fontana, CA. This is a Porsche Club of America event I've been to a couple of times before, it's always a great time, with plenty of basically identical GT3 Cup cars to race against. I also entered the Yokohama Driver's Cup event going on in conjunction, which made for a pretty crazy 3-day weekend, with 17 sessions on track over the three days!

I did well in both groups, on pole for class (GTC3) in PCA, and coming second and first in the first two races. I was actually black flagged in the third and final PCA race as a corner worker thought he saw contact between me and another driver (the PCA, unlike most organizations, doesn't wait until after the race to address race incidents, but calls people in on the spot). Both of us were stuck in the tech garage for the rest of the race. Afterwards, the steward didn't see any body damage on either car and released us with no penalties, but unfortunately we both lost the time on track.

I also did the Yokohama Driver's Cup series event, which is a stepping-stone series to the pros - most of the drivers are also running in the Michelin Cup pro series, lots of big transporters with big race teams and multiple cars, I looked a little out of place with my single-car trailer and one crewman with me. There were eight drivers in the 'A' class (996 Cup cars) and it was definitely a darn good class of driver in this series. I had to pedal like mad to finish third in both of the races, I've never been happier to be on the podium! I was sliding around like mad in the second race, and had to work super hard to keep a couple of cars behind me. After the race I found I had a severely corded left rear tire, I'm very glad it held up as it would have been ugly if it had lost pressure on the high banking at the speedway!

The third event of the year was my first National SCCA event, a combined Regional/National at Portland International the first weekend in May. I did well in qualifying, on pole for both races, but Matt Crandall was super close behind me in the dry (I had a bigger gap in the wet National qualifying). Unfortunately it was dry on race day so I wasn't able to take advantage of my years growing up on snow and ice covered roads, and I knew I'd be battling Crandall who'd been close many times but had never beaten me. Yet.

For the National race, I was ahead for the first lap or two, but Crandall got a great launch onto the front straight, stayed in my draft, and was able to tuck inside of me into the chicane and get past. I chased him back down, and was on his butt for most of the race, putting pressure on him, and he was finally starting to lose a little grip, and I was able to get a good launch onto the front straight and repay the move with a draft pass into the chicane. It didn't take long before we were being held up by an ex-Busch car that was wicked fast on the straights, but whose tires were going away bigtime so he was getting very loose in the corners. I was trying to figure out a way by, with Crandall on my tail trying to get by me. The Busch car eventually got full-on sideways in front of me exiting turn 7, and I had to nail my brakes to not broadside him, and Crandall had to do the same behind me. I was able to get back on the power for the back straight before Crandall, and that gave me a bit of a gap, that I was able to keep for the rest of the race. Wow, awesome race, I had to work for that one! Especially since I miscalculated my fuel requirements and was on fumes for the last couple of laps.

For the Regional race, I was caught napping at the green flag - I was looking in my mirror when the flag was thrown, Crandall got a good start, and his horsepower and torque let him get to the first corner ahead of me. I was on his tail the rest of the race, waiting for him to make a mistake, and though I was a little bit quicker in the corners, but he did a great job of not leaving any openings, and his speed on the straights and his equally-good brakes didn't let me use the awesome Porsche brakes to get him into any of the braking zones. Great job Matt, looks like it'll be an interesting year!

You can see some great pictures of the National race here, and of the Regional race here, thanks to Doug Berger of PhotoSport Northwest Digital Sports Photography.

Thanks for a great 2007

Tue, 13 May 2008 01:15:41 GMT

As I begin the 2008 season, I want to start off with a shout out to everyone that helped me have such a great 2007 season with the Live Search Racing Porsche GT3 Cup.

I’d particularly like to thank my supporters and sponsors, starting of course with my fabulous wife Penny, who is as big a fan and supporter as I could possibly hope for, and is a huge help in logistics and even stepping in to help crew. Of course everyone in Live Search, but I need to single out Sebastian Gard, both for overall support and for putting together an incredible design for the car with the help of Eddie Yip. It’s stunning, it’s a crowd favorite, and I’m proud to drive it. I also need to give a shout out to MSN Autos, AdCenter, and of course Microsoft as a whole.

I need to thank Rich at Bel-Red Auto Body for the fabulous job in keeping the car looking so good, particularly on the incredibly tight timelines needed to make the race schedule, as well getting it ready for display events like the Microsoft Company Meeting (where they did some very fabulous work on super short notice after I was so ungracious as to bang up the car the weekend before).

From a performance perspective, I can’t possibly have had a better sponsor or relationship than with Yokohama Tire, and the fabulous Advan race tires I’ve been running all year. There’s no way I could have gotten sixteen poles and fifteen wins without awesome tires under me. Never a single tire problem all year, incredible grip and handling, and super long life to boot – the entire Laguna Seca four-hour enduro was run on the same set of tires I used to finish second at the SCCA Runoffs. My only regret is that Mother Nature didn’t cooperate in giving me an opportunity to try the Advan rain tires, particularly at the Runoffs.

Of course, Greg Fordahl and Dave Welch and the rest of the gang at Fordahl Motorsports have been absolutely key in giving me the car and setup to be competitive for every single session all year, with zero mechanical problems. Greg is of course the top Porsche race engineer in the country, and it’s an honor to have him as both a friend and key part of the team. Dave and Greg have also helped hugely with making me a better driver, thanks for all the coaching and continuing to push me, I couldn’t have done it without you.

I’d like to thank Saul Katz and the folks at Solo GI for inventing the Solo GI bar, which is not only the best tasting nutrition bar out there, but keeps my blood sugar stable and my energy high. I literally ate cases of them through the year, fabulous product, and I’m glad for Amazon one-click ordering to keep them on my shelf at all times. I'm totally addicted to these.

A huge thanks to all the race officials and volunteers that give their time and energy and passion to make the events possible, in particular the SCCA Oregon and San Francisco regions, the huge SCCA community involved in the Runoffs, and the Porsche Club of America. No I didn't forget you, I'm saving a very special thanks for the SCCA Northwest Region for not only being my home region since I first joined the SCCA as an autocrosser back in 1988, but for honoring me with the 2007 SCCA Driver of the Year award.

And of course, all my family and supporters, within Live Search and across Microsoft and elsewhere, including the faithful readers of this blog, thanks for being there all season, especially when things weren’t looking so great early in Runoffs week. And to all my fellow racers, and especially to the volunteers, it not only wouldn’t be possible without you, but it wouldn’t be worth doing without all the camaraderie and selflessness that makes the racing community so fabulous, and keeps me coming back. It was great to hear how many people watched the coverage of the GT2 Runoffs race on Speed Channel, thanks for the comments, I'm glad you enjoyed the race, and got the opportunity to get a peek into the level of competition and intensity that make this such a great sport.

Jim Walsh

Race Reap From Ross

Tue, 29 Jan 2008 18:46:06 GMT

Monday, United flight 1473 – Robin, Michelle and I are flying home now. I had hoped to write a recap last night after the race, but since I hadn’t slept since 7AM Saturday morning – for about 36 hours, and having driven for about 6 hours – that wasn’t happening. Okay, I did lay down for about 3 hours, from midnight to 3 AM Sunday morning, but trying to sleep in a motorhome with the sound of race cars in my ears doesn’t put me to sleep. It makes me want to drive more. And what a blast I had driving this year’s race! Every one of the Team Seattle drivers remarked on feeling the same way.

Because the competition was more closely matched than ever before, there were always lots of cars to race. And I don’t know exactly why, but it seems that everyone was a little racier than ever before – no driver would give you an inch, you had to fight for every position, everyone was driving flat out, and it felt like a sprint race the whole time. There was never a moment when anyone was just cruising. I loved it!

So, how did the race go? At the start, I got a good run into Turn 1 where two cars made contact with each other fighting over the same piece of track. No matter how many times drivers are reminded that this is a 24 hour race, and you’re not going to win it in the first turn… well, let’s just say drivers are drivers and they cannot stop themselves from racing. Fortunately for me, I was able to avoid the spinning cars and gain a few positions. Unfortunately for me, about 40 minutes later, on a re-start after a full-course caution, I began to out-brake another driver into Turn 5, only to have him start to spin directly in front of me. I was faced with two options: drive into the side of his car, or avoid by moving to the right. Avoiding always seems like the best option, but in my case it meant trying to brake while having my right side tires on wet grass. Of course, the inevitable happened: I spun, falling all the way to the back of the pack. Oh well, better than hitting or being hit by the other car. The good thing about it was the fun I had catching and re-passing many cars.

Chris Bingham started the 84 car, and apparently had a very quick and trouble-free first stint. From there, both teams rotated our driver line-up through the cars, each driver doing a single stint (just over one hour, the length of time we could run on one tank of fuel). In the 85 car, Don Kitch followed me, then Steve Miller, and finally Chris Pallis. After Chris Bingham in the 84 car came Chris Pennington, Don Pickering and Bill Cotter. From the second rotation through the driver line-up, we all ran double stints, and sometimes even a little more if a full-course caution meant an early splash of fuel.

The 84 car had some contact with a Daytona Prototype fairly early in the race which resulted in some minor repairs in pit lane. Early Sunday morning it also needed some work on the rear suspension, but this was also handled in pit lane without losing much time. Our 85 car was not quite so fortunate. We broke rule #1 of endurance racing, which says, “Stay out of the garage.”

From early in the race we fought some braking problems with the 85 car – the left front wheel would lock up very easily. As drivers, we had to be very careful to not brake too hard (which made passing other cars more difficult), otherwise we would flat-spot the left front tire. We tried adjusting the brake bias to compensate, putting more braking on the rear wheels, but it took us some time to realize that the information we’d been given was incorrect. We use a round knob on the dash to adjust the bias front to rear, and we were told to turn it counter-clockwise to put more brake bias to the rear. After Don had a big lock-up, causing a run-in with one of the cones marking the outside of Turn 1, and Steve had another major lock-up in his stint which caused a tire blow out, a Porsche engineer was consulted and we were then told to turn the knob in the other direction. Instead of helping the problem, we had been making it worse.

Both Don’s and Steve’s incidents resulted in damage to the radiators, which meant a trip to the garage for repairs. In total, these repairs added up to us losing about 80 laps. Meanwhile, the 84 car kept circulating, driven flawlessly by Chris, Chris, Don and Bill.

Between driving stints we would each go back to the motorhome, change clothes, rest, eat, and sometimes get a massage to loosen up sore muscles. Despite all the physical training we all did leading up to the race, the stresses and strains on the body make for many aches and pains. My guess is there were somewhere around 15 massage therapists at Daytona, working with more than half the field, since no serious effort is without one now.

After our brief rest, walking back into the pit area for each driving stint we would be faced with some extra bit of motivation: the Live Search reader board showing the dollar amount we had raised for Children’s Hospital to that moment in time, updated each hour or so. Getting into the car in the pouring rain at 4:30 in the morning when you’re sore and tired is nothing compared to what some kids face in that hospital. To be honest, there are times driving this race when your car has had some problems and you’re many laps down (and you really don’t have a chance of winning anymore) when you can feel de-motivated – you don’t feel like driving as fast as possible. But each time we saw that board it made us want to get in the car and drive like the biggest race in the world was within grasp of winning. You can bet that every one of us drove every lap as hard and fast as we could, knowing that even one more lap meant so much.

Did I mention the rain? While it threatened to rain from the beginning of the race, and we even had a few drops fall during the first hour, it held off until about 6 hours in. Our team engineer and data guy tracked the weather on a computer in the pit lane, and because it appeared the rain would not last long, they decided not to change to rain tires. That meant that Don Pickering and Chris Pallis drove most of their first stints on slicks on a wet track. While these were very tricky conditions for both drivers, the strategy paid off. Most of our competitors who pitted to put rain tires on had to pit again to put slicks back on. This saved us at least one pit stop.

During the wee hours of Sunday morning the rain came down again, this time lasting long enough that we had to switch to rain tires. When it stopped raining around 6 AM, it took quite some time for the track to completely dry, since it was also so cold. Around 10 AM the clouds moved out and the remainder of the race was run in bright sunshine.

I know all the drivers faced a variety of challenges – that’s the nature of a 24 hour race. I had rather amusing challenges, both occurring in my second stint when I drove from 8:00 to 10:40 on Saturday night. As I drove out of pit lane I knew something was wrong: I could not hear the familiar voice of Rick, our engineer, or one of our spotters. Oh, oh… no radio contact! Okay, I knew what I needed to do. We had discussed this before the race, and I knew that I would drive until the car began to sputter from lack of fuel, push the reserve fuel button (giving me about a lap’s worth of extra fuel), and bring the car in. The crew would be ready in the pits since they would have calculated that I would be coming in within a few laps.

After a couple of laps, I remembered a race I did in Texas in 1996 when just my earplug connector pulled out of its jack on the side of helmet. I reached up and felt for it on the side of my helmet (not an easy thing to feel with driving gloves on), and knew then I had the same problem. Well, at least I could talk to the crew in the pits – I just couldn’t hear anything they would say back to me. So, I radioed to Rick and told him what the problem was and that I was going to try to plug the jack in while driving. There are only two places on the track where I could even begin to have enough time to attempt this - the front and back straights, after I shifted into 6^th gear. What I realized after a few attempts is that even the time on the back straight was not enough – at least not when having to feel around for the end of a small wire, grab it with my gloved left hand and then feel for the jack receptacle attached to the side of helmet and plug it in. Imagine trying to plug the headset wire for your MP3 player into its hole (which is moving), with one hand wearing a thick glove, without being able to see it, while accelerating from 160 to 170 MPH. Oh, and knowing that if you just had another second or two you might be able to get it, but if you take even a fraction of a second too long you might miss you braking point for the upcoming corner and crash. I found that I had more time on the front straight, but the downside of that was that the front straight at Daytona is not straight – the tri-oval requires more steering to keep the car tracking where I need it. So, the idea of trying to steer the car with my knees and use two hands to work the plug didn’t work too well either. Lucky for me, after about a dozen laps of attempting this crazy maneuver, a car crashed and we went to a full-course caution, meaning that I could work this at a more reasonable speed while following the pace car. When I got it plugged in, it felt good to be able to have a two-way communication with the crew and spotters.

The second challenge during that stint was not a long one, but not something race drivers face that often. A few years ago, Daytona began setting off fireworks in the infield on Saturday night, and it’s become a tradition. The spectators love it - it looks spectacular with its setting of the high-speed headlights circulating around them – and this year’s crowd was bigger than I’ve ever seen it. The problem this year was that all the smoke from setting the fireworks off drifted into the Bus Stop chicane on the back straight, making it very difficult to see the track for us coming into the turn for a couple of laps. We approach that turn at 170 MPH, brake hard, downshift from 6^th to 3^rd gear and turn in at around 130 MPH. So, even though I could appreciate the view of the fireworks from the car while driving down the back straight, on one lap I came into the Bus Stop turn and I was completely blind as to where the turn was. I actually started to turn in where I thought the track was, and then just before driving off the track realized that would have put me and the car into the infield grass and then a wall, I quickly jerked the car back and found the track again. Whew!

I mentioned in an earlier post how valuable our spotters would be in the race, and I have to re-emphasize that again. For 24 hours straight they never missed a beat, providing us with warning of a DP (Daytona Prototype) coming up from behind and passing us on one side or the other. As Chris Pennington said after thanking them on Sunday evening, “They were invaluable, but I really don’t want to hear ‘4 DPs behind’ ever again!” Entering the Bus Stop chicane around 6 AM Sunday in the dark, I heard “Two packs of 2 DPs behind; 2 inside… clear – take the line; 2 behind; 2 outside – clear,” all in a very calm and reassuring voice. The spotter talked me through letting the first two DPs pass me under braking into the chicane, then me slotting in between the two packs through the turns, letting me know the second pack was just behind and then them passing me on the outside accelerating out of the chicane. It was perfect. All five of us got through the Bus Stop without losing a fraction of a second, which is something that would have been difficult without a great spotter. Without a great spotter, or with no spotter at all, I would have looked in the mirror and seen a set of headlights approaching from behind, and I would have had to make a judgment – I definitely would have let the first car pass me in the braking zone, and if I was lucky and really paying attention to the side mirror (and the second car was in the exact right position) I would have noticed him and let him go. If I hadn’t seen him, I might turned in… Our spotters were awesome!

As we approached 1:30 on Sunday afternoon and the finish of the race, something special happened: Don Kitch got in the 85 car for the last 20 minutes of the race. See, after 12 years of this program, Don had never been in the car for the finish – he had always given that privilege to one of the other drivers on the team. Having driven the finish a number of times myself, I know that it’s a special feeling to be in the car and see that checkered flag from the cockpit.

The 84 car, driven by Bill Cotter at the time was not quite so fortunate. As luck would have it, Bill felt a problem with a tire with just a few laps from the end. Since he was not close enough to catch the next car in front of him, and he was laps ahead of the next car behind, the crew decided the safe thing to do was bring him into the pits and change the tire. The problem was the car was in limp-mode with the clutch, and upon trying to leave pit lane, it gave up – the clutch gave up in the clutch - and Bill rolled to a stop on the last lap at the end of pit road. Fortunately, it didn’t have any effect on the results since the car was so far ahead of the car behind it, but Bill did not get to actually see the checkered flag wave. And the plan to have both cars line up and cross the finish line together for a photo didn’t pan out.

In the end, the 84 car finished 24^th overall and 13^th in the GT class, and the 85 car finished 35^th overall and 21^st in class. While the most important thing is that both cars completed the race, as a racer I can’t help but think: at 10:30 Saturday night we were in 11^th, and moving up quickly. If only we hadn’t had the braking problems…

Sunday evening, back at the hotel, all of the team and supporters got together for a wrap-up dinner, and many people took the opportunity to say a few words, and share their thoughts. Rightfully so, many people thanked Don and Donna for all the hard work they’ve put in through the years to create and run the Team Seattle program. People shared some very heartfelt and emotional stories – through exhaustion and true emotions, there were more than a few tears in the room. Kami Sutton received a standing ovation for being such an inspiration for us all over the past 12 years.

One thing I wished I’d been able to say last evening was a big thanks to all of our sponsors. It goes without saying that without them, we would not have been able to do this race, nor create a platform to raise funds for Children’s Hospital. By supporting the costs of running our Team Seattle cars, they are really giving that financial support to the kids in the hospital. So, in no particular order, thank you to Darigold, Microsoft Live Search, Park Place Ltd., Kid’s Country Learning Centers, Jackson Dean Construction, HomeStreet Bank, MyoVision, Wayne’s Roofing, Peltram Plumbing, Barrier Motors, Geo Resources, United Health Care, and Oakwerth Arabians.

As a driver for Team Seattle, it’s an honor to be a part of such a special team… no, family of people, who have such commitment to helping support Children’s Hospital. I had more fun driving at this year’s race than I have had for quite some time (probably because I was able to race wheel-to-wheel and dice with so many other cars). I loved co-driving with Steve Miller because our styles are so very similar, and I appreciate his humor and intelligence. I was so happy for Chris Pallis because he finally got some dry track during his last stint (he seemed to spend most of the race catching all the rain storms while driving on slicks!) and drove so well – fast and smart. I was so proud of the way Don Kitch drove – he went faster than he has in years, and pushed himself harder than he has in a long time. When given the opportunity to focus just on driving, that guy can drive. I was very proud of the way Chris Bingham, Chris Pennington, Don Pickering, and Bill Cotter drove the 84 car – like clockwork (a very fast clock!). And I love the fact that I’ve gotten to spend time with old friends, and meet and become friends with so many fantastic people.

But most of all I was so proud of the fact that we will be presenting a check to Children’s Hospital for somewhere around half a million dollars, and that support came from people like you. So, thank you!

If you have enjoyed this blog, and/or if you have any questions, post them to the comments. If we have enough, who knows… maybe I’ll get to write more. Or if you have any stories about your involvement with Team Seattle, send them our way. Oh, and you can always hit the Donate button again!

Quick Results Post

Mon, 28 Jan 2008 03:25:54 GMT

There are plenty of articles online about who won, etc… (couple good ones here and here)…and we hear from Mike that MSN Autos has coverage coming this week. Having been up 23 of the 24 hours (had to nap and dry out 4am-5am after the back stretch shenanigans - see Doc and Crew video below for details there) your author doesn’t have much left in the tank to write a full recap from the fan’s perspective (Ross is promising a driver’s recap soon too)…but promise more pictures and summaries this coming week for all of you following along (and thanks for joining us!!).

Officially (according to the Daytona press release):

The Live Search Car #85 started 30th in class (54^th overall) and finished 21st (35^th in class) having completed 572 total laps.

Drivers: Ross Bentley, Don Kitch Jr., Steve Miller, Chris Pallis

The Kid's Country Learning Centers Car #84 started 33rd in class (61^st overall) and finished 13th (24^th over all) having completed 619 total laps.

Drivers: Chris Bingham, Bill Cotter, Chris Pennington, Don Pickering

This was Team Seattle’s 12^th and final year at Daytona for the Rolex 24 Hour and raised in excess of $440,000 for Children’s Hospital this weekend,well over $3,000,000 in 12 years...so while we didn't finish in first place, one could argue we truly won it for the kids and that is why we were here.

ALSO NOTE: The check presentation isn't for a few weeks so there is still time to donate...click the link in the upper left of the page here...every penny helps.

More posts coming this week...good night.

Ross at the end of the Daytona race

Sun, 27 Jan 2008 20:47:33 GMT

No, that's not Johhny Rotten, that's Ross in some seriously bright sunshine on pit row moments before the end of the race.

Video: Ross at the end of the Daytona race

Overnight Photos Posted

Sun, 27 Jan 2008 16:21:33 GMT

Justin took tons of pictures overnight, and we added ten of them to the album to your right. He got a nice shot of Doc being interviewed by the SPEED channel about Team Seattle and Children's Hospital. We also heard that there were folks watching the race back in Washington last night and that the per-lap total made it over $600.

The end of the race is just over two hours away, and lot's of people look really tired, but everyone's in great spirits.

Note from a Fan

Sun, 27 Jan 2008 13:33:09 GMT

Editor's note: there is no wi-fi at the track so this was written at 2:00AM, but posted much later.

It's 2:03am...just past half way. Both cars are still in it...#84 is running 28th overall and the #85 is running 37th overall. More impressively, after 12hrs of racing the top four DP cars are only seperated by 40sec!!

Don experienced some brake problems w/the #85 just after 11pm...this caused him to flat spot the left front tire...in his drive back around to the pits the tire started to come apart which tore up the fender and then one of the radiators...so into the garage he went...some replacement parts, creative duct tape work and about 20min and he was back on track...but did lose some time.

Only the hard core (or stupid) are still up and awake...the frat party otherwise known as the in field is even slowing down...but Seattle time it is only 11pm!

We've had off and on rain/sprinkles through the night but have been dry for 4hrs or so...

The sunrise/twilight will be here before we know it.

Ross Bentley Race Post 1

Sat, 26 Jan 2008 23:32:19 GMT

Ross talks about his fist shift in car 85 and how the team is faring overall in the first few hours of the race. It's not too late to get your pledge in, so please consider using the donation module to the left to give your support to Team Seattle and Children's Hospital.

Video: Ross Bentley Race Post 1

Update from the Daytona Infield

Sat, 26 Jan 2008 23:26:47 GMT

by Sebastian Gard

We're here in Daytona, the race has been running for four hours, and the cars are running well. We'll have some video blog posts from Ross during the race, including his assessment of how car 85 started the race. Stay tuned for that and more photos throughout the race. Here are a couple photos Justin took at the beginning of the race. Ross is driving in these photos.

On Track… But Still Preparing

Sat, 26 Jan 2008 14:55:54 GMT

by Ross Bentley - Team Seattle Driver

Editor's Note: Just another reminder that we're pushing hard for per-lap donations for Children's Hospital this week. Use the Donate Now button to the left to get started - it will just take a few minutes.

Friday, 10:00 PM, Daytona – Other than the actual race days, Thursday at Daytona is always the busiest. We had two practice sessions, one in the morning and one in the early afternoon, and all of our Team Seattle drivers got some time in the car. There are two approaches to these sessions: One is to go all out to work on finding the ultimate setup on the car for the fastest qualifying lap, and the other is to work on finding the ultimate setup for the race. With the first approach, only the driver that is going to qualify the car, and possibly one other, drives the car in the first two sessions – the singular goal is to put in the fastest qualifying time. With the second approach, you’re really preparing for the race, not qualifying, and all of the drivers get some time to find their speed and rhythm in the car.

Team Seattle took the second approach, which to me is the only smart approach to this race. Sure, if your car has a slight speed edge over the rest of the field, you might want to take advantage of that and make a statement and try to demoralize your competition. But the Porsches here don’t have an advantage, so that was not a factor. If we had set up the cars to go after the fastest qualifying time, we’d have run different gear ratios, used more engine RPM, changed the aerodynamic settings of the car (less rear wing), run stiffer suspension springs, started with a little less tire pressure, and installed different brake pads. Then for the race, the team would have to change everything back, guessing at what is the best race setup. With our approach, we run the race setup, and know exactly what we have for the race.

Is that an excuse for not qualifying on the pole? Absolutely not, although I will admit to using that one in the past! No, both Chris Bingham and I (Chris qualified the number 84 car in 33^rd, and I qualified the 85 car in 30^th) are more than happy with our starting positions. Why? Because we both got out of the car after qualifying and said, “I feel like I can drive that pace all day long, not just for one fast lap like a lot of these other cars,” we know that the race is going to come to us. We’re confident that during the first few laps, we’ll move up a few positions, and then a few hours into the race we’ll take more positions. Because each car in the race is driven by at least 4 drivers, there can be a significant difference in speed between the drivers. We know, because our line-up of drivers are very consistent, that when some of the slower drivers get into our competitors’ cars, our team will begin to move up. Last year, the car that won the GT class started the race in 25^th position, so where you start a 24 hour race does not have much to do with where you finish (I’ve started on the pole for this race twice, and both times we finished way down the order).

So, the 15-minute qualifying session went exactly as planned – much like the rest of our testing. After qualifying, the plan was for a couple of the drivers who had not had as many practice laps as the rest to drive the night practice. Daytona at night is not very dark. The speedway has so many lights around the track and grandstands, that the track is fairly well lit. But still, it’s good to get a few laps in the night just to know what you’ve got to work with.

Unfortunately, just about half and hour before the night practice session was due to start, the rains came. With so little to gain by running in this session, and so much to lose, we decided not to run at all. The risk level in the rain and the dark is much higher, so there was no good reason to do it. Plus, not running that practice session allowed the mechanics to begin preparing the cars sooner. Prior to the race, they would install new brake pads and rotors (which we would then have to go on track and “bed” in), new axles, and a new clutch. This is just normal pre-race preparation, and by giving the crew a little extra time, there would be less chance of something going wrong.

Thursday evening is a fun one for Team Seattle. The majority of our guests and sponsors arrive at the hotel and we have a reception, giving everyone an update on how things have been going on track, what they will get to do over the weekend, and how our pledges are going. By the time everyone left the reception we were at $541 per lap. While this sounds great - and it is – we want to see more. Between now and the start of the race, we’re really hoping that more people join the team and help us support Children’s Hospital.

The reception is also a great time to see old friends, and many of them have been supporting Team Seattle and coming to the race for a number of years.

Friday is always a long, long day. The only driving we get to do, now that we’ve qualified and are solidly in the field, is a few laps to bed in brake pads. This process takes about 3 or 4 laps of slowly bringing the brakes up to temperature, and then using them really hard and getting them very hot. So, for the 1 PM final practice session, the two Team Seattle cars went out to bed in brakes (along with many other cars).

Before this last practice session, all 8 Team Seattle drivers met with Team Manager, Michael Gue, and Engineer, Rick Mayer, to discuss race strategy, go over “what if” scenarios, what type of communications are expected over the radio, how we would handle mechanical problems with the car, and as many other scenarios as we can plan for.

Friday is also a busy day at the track seeing old racing friends. It seems you can’t walk more than a hundred feet without having to stop to say hello to someone. And with Team Seattle having so many supporters, our garage always seems to have more people crowded around it than anyone else’s. And that’s even compared to the garages of drivers like Helio Castroneves, Dario Franchitti, Jimmie Johnson, Kurt Busch, and even Patrick Dempsey (yes, the actor who also races).

Friday night is the team’s dinner at the North Turn Grill, right on the beach. After a great meal, some words from Don Kitch (and a well-deserved standing ovation for him and Donna), an incredible “play” put on by the Team Seattle Not Ready For Prime Time actors (written primarily by Andy Collins), Doc Dolittle and Dr. Gordon Cohen would get on stage to play with the band. I understand that they are very good – I wouldn’t know because I (and the other drivers) headed back to the hotel to get a good night’s rest. It will be the last proper rest until Sunday night.

I was very fortunate to spend more time talking with Gordon Cohen. What an amazing guy! He’s one of – if not THE – best in the world at what he does, pediatric cardiac surgery. Not only does he play the drums once a year when in Daytona with Team Seattle, not only has he “flown” Tony Blair and the Queen’s jet, not only has he… well, he performs two surgeries a day, Monday to Friday, plus other emergency surgeries. When he told me that, I was not only was blown away by how fortunate Seattle is to have him at Children’s Hospital, but also by the fact that so many children need his services. Of course, he’s not the only doctor at Children’s Hospital doing great work, but it hit me just how many children need the type of care the hospital provides. It also hit me just how important what we’re doing is. It hit home even more about how important it is that we give one last push to ask ourselves, our families, our friends, our acquaintances, and just about anyone else we talk with to consider supporting our efforts to raise funding for Children’s Hospital. If you’re reading this, and/or if you’re watching the race on TV, please ask yourself who you know who might give to our cause. Tell them to come to this site and click on the Donate button to go to the Team Seattle website. All of Team Seattle, and more importantly, the staff and children at Children’s Hospital thank you for doing so.

Speaking of TV, tune into Speed channel at various times over the weekend. They’re providing 17 hours of coverage, and you can bet they will be talking a lot about Team Seattle.

The next time you hear from me will be sometime during the race. I plan to give you an update at some point (although I don’t have a clue as to when). I will also give you a wrap-up after the race – maybe more than one, if you’d like.

A Lap at Daytona

Sat, 26 Jan 2008 14:52:59 GMT

by Ross Bentley - Team Seattle Driver

Front straight – tri-oval… pass Start/Finish… set up for Turn 1… check mirrors… looking for brake markers – the 100 board…

That’s what you’d hear if my subconscious – my mental programming – could be heard as I’m beginning a flying lap of Daytona in the Team Seattle Porsche 997. That is, if you could listen that fast – my subconscious (and yours, too) processes 4 billion bits of information per second, so things are happening WAY fast inside my helmet. And that’s the state I use when driving in the zone – trusting my mental programming, my subconscious, to drive the car, allowing my conscious mind to be aware of what’s going on, and adapting my programming to suit, on the fly. At over 170 MPH on the front straight, there’s a lot going on in a big hurry. Back to my subconscious…

Keep the car about 3/4 of the way up the banking… slight bend of the steering to the left – angle towards Turn 1… stay on the throttle – flat on it… wait, wait, wait… 200 marker goes by… wait, wait – full throttle… mirror check… 150, 125… full throttle… wait… 100 – now, brake. Hard initial spike on brakes… look way into turn – end-of-braking point way in there…

For qualifying I aim to stay flat on the throttle and not begin braking until we get near the 100 brake marker – although it might be more like where the 125 marker would be (during the race we’ll probably brake at about the 150 to 175 to be a little easier on the brakes). Stay on the throttle, I tell myself… flat, flat, flat, brake. I have to give the brakes a very hard initial pressure on the pedal – there’s no time to slowly squeeze the brakes here. No, it’s spike the pedal hard, and then immediately begin releasing the pressure ever so gently and progressively the farther I get into the brake zone – I can feel the aerodynamic downforce reduce as the speed decreases, and therefore I can’t brake as hard later in the brake zone as I can at the beginning. I know this is one of the things that separate the fastest drivers from the rest – how I release the brake pedal. Sure, braking late is important, but there is more to be gained by getting the exact point where I finally and completely release the brake pedal, and the rate I’ve released the pedal. Get it just right and the tires are at their limit all the way through the brake zone, and I’ve been able to use the weight balance of the car as I turn into the corner to my advantage – to make the car rotate into the turn.

Braking hard… car dancing around – begin releasing the pedal. Angle across where the banking meets the road course pavement, blip the throttle - 5^th gear, clip past the white line on the inside, blip - 4^th gear… aware of mirrors, let car move towards outside of the track – but not all the way. Blip - 3^rd gear… releasing brakes… look inside, around barrier, for apex, releasing the brakes, blip - 2^nd gear. Now, turn-in, arc steering towards apex. Look around barrier, towards exit curb. Trail off brakes… end-of-braking point – fully released brakes. Car is dancing… sliding from momentum… slight understeer. Patience. Wait fraction of a second… let car rotate, understeer to oversteer… sliding, dancing – pointing past apex. Got it. Now, fast squeeze – commit to full throttle. Trust the car – slide, but hook up and stick just when I need it. Oversteer… that’s it, unwind the wheel – let the car run free. Dance with the car - unwind steering… mirror check… oversteer… steering correction – smooth… use track – exit… Full throttle to Turn 3 - look through the right-left kink… point the car for the curb on the right. 3^rd gear, flat on the throttle. Over the right-hand curb. Catch 4^th- nibble curbing on left. Look into Turn 3 - angle car to set up for braking…

That was fast. Let’s go back to Turn 1 for a minute. As the car rotates (looking down on the car from above, it’s rotated and changed direction) and begins to point towards the apex, I finish releasing the brake pedal in a way that the car can’t even tell that I’ve completed my braking. Throughout the braking I’ve felt all the weight transfer onto the front tires, and then begin to gradually settle back as I’ve released the brakes, then the weight transfer to the outside front tire as I turned in, and now balanced front to rear – only transferred over on the right side as I keep the car at its cornering limit. I hesitate for just that fraction of a second before giving the car any throttle. It’s important in this car to be patient before getting back on the throttle. Too soon and quick on the throttle and the car will not have rotated and pointed where I want it to go, and then I’ll have to ease back off the throttle before getting to the exit, killing my exit speed. It’s difficult to stay disciplined here – the racer in me says get on the throttle and begin accelerating as early as possible, but if I do I know I’ll be slower. That’s why I tell myself, consciously, each time to have “Patience.” I wait just that fraction of a second to let the car rotate and get pointed where I want and then when I get back on the throttle and begin accelerating, I can commit to it fully and not have to breathe off the throttle. Not that the car is on rails here – not if I’m fast. No, the car is dancing. First, a little understeer from all the speed that I was carrying as I turned in, and then I let the car rotate as I finish trail braking. Then, just as the car points past the apex and for the exit, I commit to the throttle and the rear tires are right on that edge. You know, the edge where they are sliding, but just the right amount. Slightly too much throttle too soon and we’ll have too much oversteer, the rear tires just a little too far over that edge.

Turn 3 has lots of room on the entry now – you can move the car into the pit exit lane if there are no cars there. I find there is no advantage to going too wide here – maybe just a car’s width to the left of the white line at the very most. The trick in Turn 3 is to get the car tucked into the inside line and curbing as soon as possible – the track just has more grip in here, so even though it’s not the classic, by-the-book line, it’s faster. After railing around the inside until I can see the yellow curb near the exit road on the outside of Turn 3, I work to release the steering by unwinding it as soon as possible. The sooner I can begin to straighten the steering, the sooner I can get to full throttle. But Turn 3 is no different than any other turn at Daytona in a 997 – I’ve got to be patient with the throttle, just for a fraction of a second.

Revs gaining in 4^th gear heading for 3… mirror check… past the 100 marker… there – a slight bump of the rev limiter in 4^th. Good run out of Turn 1 to do that. Initial brake pressure, then begin the release… look into the inside of the turn… blip - 3^rd gear, then blip - 2^nd… aware of mirrors… turn in and complete the brake release – seamless brake release. Get to the grippy pavement towards the curbing. Balanced car… carry momentum… wait, wait… now – unwind the steering, squeeze the throttle… aimed for the exit road and over the white line, standing on the throttle – feels like I’m going to run out of room at exit… okay, that’s okay – stick with it, trust it will hook up… dancing with the car. Over white line and in exit road, straighten wheel, aim to clip a bit of dirt at edge of track… mirror check… catch 3^rd gear. Look for Turn 4, check mirrors, begin to angle over to the right side of track, 4^th gear, breathe, check mirrors, looking through the Kink now… getting ready to turn in…

I know there’s so much time to be gained and lost in Turn 4 (the Kink). I feel that with new tires and good track conditions I could take it at full throttle, but every time I get there my foot – seeming like it has a mind of its own – lifts off the throttle a bit. Okay, I can work with that. I plan to catch 5^th gear just as I turn in, at full throttle, and then ease off the throttle about half way just to settle the car and give confidence we’re not going to run out of road at the exit – going off the track there gets ugly. Part of the challenge through the Kink is staying supported in the seat. If I were the only one driving the car, I’d have a tighter-fitting seat – one that would support my body better through the high g-force corners like the Kink and the Bus Stop. But everything about doing an endurance race with co-drivers is a compromise, and a seat that fits all four drivers doesn’t quite give me the support I need to be able feel the car the way I need through here. It’s like having about 90 percent connection with the car – it moves and I’m only getting 90 percent of the message. But that’s where blind faith and trust comes in – I know the car will do it, so I turn in and trust that it will stick and not do anything evil while we’re in the middle of the corner. If it did, I might just be a hundredths of a second behind it with my limited feel, meaning I’ll have to make a correction to catch it, rather than knowing what it’s going to do as it’s doing it. It’s the difference between being reactive to the car instead of being proactive with – I prefer to be proactive, but if this is what it takes, that’s okay for the few seconds it takes to get through here. And I trust my abilities to catch the car, no matter what happens. Turn 4 is all about looking through the turn, turning in early to use a tight line that provides more traction, making the breathe of the throttle as gentle, smooth and as short as possible, turning the steering as little as possible, and committing back to full throttle as soon as possible – about two-thirds of the way through the turn.

Lined up on right edge of track… look into and through the Kink – over and past the apex curbing… aware of mirrors… at the same time pull 5^th gear and arc steering in… aim for curbing… breathe throttle – short, smooth ease to half throttle… straight-line past the apex – momentum makes car slide just wider than where I aimed… release steering… commit back to full throttle, letting car run free and balanced towards exit. Look into Turn 5… very gently line car up for approach and braking… mirror check…

Minimum speed through Turn 4 – the slowest point in the Kink – is about 127 MPH. At least is should be. It’s so easy to lift off the throttle just a little too much, and if you do, that little too much really eats up a lot of speed. It’s so easy to lose 5 MPH through here, and that will cost a good half a second of lap time. It seems unfair: One turn that you spend no more than 4 or 5 seconds in, and yet it can so easily cost you more than half a second in lap time. That’s what a fast turn will do. And that’s why it’s so important to have the mental programming down to take the Kink with just a small breathe of the throttle. That’s why the Kink takes so much commitment – every single lap. Once you’ve done it right once, it’s easy to get relaxed and not push it fully the next – I need to stay focused.

Look into Turn 5, notice the dark tire marks – brake reference point… line car up – it’s not perfect, but okay… never seems to be perfect… wait, wait – full throttle… look around turn for end-of-braking point… now, brake… blip – 4^th gear… arc steering slightly to right… blip – 3^rd… releasing brakes… blip – 2^nd gear… aware of mirrors… turn in, trailing brakes off – slow release… car is rotating towards apex… patience, let car rotate, releasing brakes… car is dancing – bit of understeer… now rear end coming around, sliding… end trail braking… look through apex for exit curbing… patience… okay, squeeze throttle – smooth… car is sliding… see exit curbing – stand on throttle… unwind steering… let rear tires get grip… let car run right to curbing – over it… catch 3^rd gear… check mirrors… look for the brake zone for Turn 6… angle car from left to right side of track… check mirrors… 4^th gear…

Turn 5 is a long turn that I trail brake way into, carrying lots of speed in and letting the balance of the car – more weight on the front from the trail braking – help me turn the car. Once I get it rotated and pointed towards the apex – on the right angle past the apex – I hesitate just slightly before getting back on the throttle. When I do get on the throttle, there is a little bit of squeezing down, and then I just commit fully to full throttle. The car really dances off this corner if I commit just that fraction of a second earlier than it looks like I can. But if I’ve trail braked way into the turn, got the car rotated and angled just right, stayed patient before beginning to accelerate, when I do get back to full throttle the car slides right out to the curb on the left and I catch 3^rd gear right there. Turn 5 has more variations on the line than any other corner on the track, but when you get it just right, it’s magic – the car has danced on the ragged edge into the turn, through the very short mid-corner, and all the way right out to the exit point at full throttle.

The run between Turns 5 and 6 can be challenging in traffic. I’m on the left side of the track exiting Turn 5, and in a short distance I need to get over to the right, while shifting up to 3^rd and then 4^th. If a Prototype car is trying to pass I have to decide if I can get over to the right before he gets to me, or if I should hesitate slightly before moving over there to let him go there first. It’s one of those places where you give the mirrors a very quick glance and then need to make a decision in about a tenth of a second – and there is no time to second guess that decision. Once you make the decision, you go.

Looking for brake reference – just past beginning of road off to right… now look to turn-in… wait for brake point… now, brake hard... then begin releasing… blip – 3^rd gear… aware of mirrors… look for apex and through corner… blip – 2^nd gear… quick release of brakes and turn in – no trail brake… carry momentum… more speed than feels it can take – that’s okay… understeer, then oversteer… settle with some throttle – maintenance throttle… hold steering angle past apex… let car go where it wants… hold steering… feed throttle… look up the banking and start unwinding the steering… squeeze – and then stand on throttle… unwind steering now – give rear tires traction… momentum… look ahead – way up there… full throttle… aware of mirrors… catch 3^rd gear… start the climb up banking – drive straight for wall… banking there – more grip… tighten steering just slightly… check mirrors… use 3/4 of banking – keep lane above me… 4^th gear… c’mon, c’mon car – accelerate… go, go, go… on banking… check mirrors… 5^th gear… check RPM passing “a” of Daytona on wall – measure of run out of Turn 6… yeah, that’s a good one… 6^th gear… look through banking towards back straight… aware of mirrors…

What matters most in Turn 6 is carrying momentum through it, and getting on the throttle early. Some drivers follow the philosophy that whoever gets on the throttle and begins accelerating earliest will be the fastest. But that’s only half true. If I can start accelerating at the same place as another driver, but if I’m starting to accelerate at 3 or 4 MPH faster than he’s going, I’m going to be faster. So, it’s whoever can carry the highest minimum corner speed AND begin accelerating the earliest who is going to be the fastest. Of course, if I carry too much speed through the corner that it delays when I can begin accelerating, then I’m not going to be fast. So, Turn 6 is all about finding that magic balance or compromise between entry speed and exit speed. And there are few different lines through here, as well as it being a popular place for Prototype cars to pass GT cars. It’s a busy place. And I know by the time I reach the word “Daytona” painted on the wall how I did – each lap I make note of what RPM I’m at when I get beside it, and where in relationship to it that I shift into 6^th gear. It’s my report card, each and every lap.

Good run out of 6 and down back straight… heading for Bus Stop… breathe… relax hands, arms… look way ahead – all the way into Bus Stop brake zone… check mirrors…

The Bus Stop may be the most challenging turn on the track, for two reasons. First, you need to be fast into it, and out of it. About the first thing any race driver learns is that it is better to be fast exiting a turn than fast into it. The “rule” we all hear is “slow in, fast out.” And while that works most of the time, and especially when a driver is still gaining experience, to be fast in top level racing a driver needs to learn to be fast in and faster out. At Daytona, to run anywhere near quick times we need to be fast into the Bus Stop, and even faster out of it. Because of that, it’s a very fine line between carrying too much speed in and not carrying enough in. Knowing exactly where to begin braking, how to release the brakes, and where to finish braking dictates the speed one carries into the Bus Stop. Then getting the car to switch from turning to the left to turning to the right, keeping the car balanced, and then trusting that when you commit back to full throttle the car can take it, is where all the speed is.

The second reason the Bus Stop is so challenging is that we actually have a little time to think about it. Rarely in racing does a driver have time to think much about an upcoming corner. We usually just react, getting into a rhythm or flow moving from one turn to another. The Bus Stop is a bit like playing golf: you have a lot of time to think about the shot you’re about to hit, and it’s easy for your mind to think more about where you don’t want your shot to go (in a water or sand trap, for example). Approaching the Bus Stop, your mind actually has enough time to think about what could go wrong if you brake too late, miss your turn-in point, begin accelerating too soon, or all the other things that one could mess up. So, part of the challenge of the Bus Stop is focusing on what you want to do, and not on what you don’t want to do.

Entering the Bus Stop, I want to brake at or just inside the 250 marker – 250 feet from the corner. Immediately after beginning to brake I arc the car to the left, aiming for the curbing on the left-hand side entering the Bus Stop, and begin to release – very slowly – a little bit of brake pedal pressure. I downshift from 6^th to 5^th, then to 4^th and finally into 3^rd gear just before I get to the curbing on the left. As I’m passing this curbing, I fully release the brakes, move my foot to the throttle, and wait. As I turn back to the right, I might give the car the tiniest bit of throttle, just to balance it, but immediately get off it again. If I’m on the throttle here, that means that I might have over-slowed the car entering the turn, because the car can take it. It also makes it more difficult getting the car to change direction back to the right, so I have to be patient and stay off the throttle for a fraction of a second longer than I think I should. But when I do, I can then commit to the throttle hard – stand on it – and know that I’ve got the car pointed where I need it. And where I need it is clipping the edge of the track over the curb on the right, and then the curb on the left heading out of the Bus Stop.

Breathe… momentum, momentum, momentum… look ahead – through the brake zone and into the first part of the Bus Stop… brake markers… check mirrors… 300 marker, wait, wait… 250, pause, brake - hard… angle towards the left curbing… blip – 5^th gear… release some brake pressure… blip – 4^th gear… slow brake release… blip – 3^rd gear… clip left curbing… off the brakes… balance car – little throttle, then off… turn back to right… patience… understeer – wait… look through and out of Bus Stop… aim for right-side curbing… c’mon car – change direction… wait, wait, now – full throttle… clip curbing on right… curbing on left… catch 4^th gear… check mirrors… go, go, go… straighten steering… up the banking, leaving one lane above… aware of mirrors… 5^th gear… check upshift point – good exit speed! Good lap coming up… look ahead… settle into the banking on low line… note where 6^th gear shift is… catch 6^th just before light pole on wall – great speed… check mirrors… look through NASCAR 4 – minimize steering… get to start line… aware of mirrors…

Coming off NASCAR 4 of the oval into the tri-oval front straight again to complete the lap, I know when I’ve put down a fast lap before I even get back to the timing line. Noting how early I’ve made my upshifts coming off the corners, knowing how late I braked into turns 1, 3, 5, 6 and the Bus Stop, and feeling the car dance and slide through the turns (but not too much) tells me that I’ve driven the car on the limit. And I’ve put it all together this lap, with no major errors – that’s how I know I’ve turned a great lap. Now, I just need to do that 179 more times, with traffic all around me. And my co-drivers need to do the same. When we do that, and if we don’t have any mechanical problems, we’re going to have a great result.

Again… front straight – tri-oval… pass Start/Finish… set up for Turn 1… check mirrors… looking for brake markers – the 100 board…

We’re Here… But Still Preparing

Wed, 23 Jan 2008 15:48:08 GMT

by Ross Bentley - Team Seattle Driver

Wednesday, 10:00 AM, Daytona - All of the drivers (except Chris Pennington, who will be arriving later today) are now here in Daytona, and the Farnbacher Loles team unloaded the cars in the garage this morning to start the at-track preparations. That includes getting the garage, equipment, tools, spares, transporters and pit lane equipment (fueling rig, timing stand, lighting, and places to store spares) ready. Of course, all the crew members are arriving – most are here now, but a few (the ones that have race-only duties) will show up on Friday. In total, there are about 10 crew members per car, plus the team manager, engineer and data acquisition guy dedicated solely to the Team Seattle cars.

And those are just the people looking after the cars and equipment. There’s another entire crew of people looking after Team Seattle guests, supporters and sponsors. Included in this group are Doc Doolittle, and his wife Gloria. Doc and Gloria act as team managers for the behind-the-scene activities. And believe me, there are a lot of behind-the-scene activities: hospitality (run by Marianne, who has been doing this for race teams for decades; she and her staff will serve meals practically non-stop from Thursday morning through to the end of the race on Sunday afternoon for well over 150 people), 40 or so golf carts for our guests, radios scanners for everyone so they can listen to the driver-crew communications, track tours, a reception and a dinner (Thursday and Friday nights, respectively), an after-race informal gathering/dinner back at the hotel Sunday evening (for those who can keep their eyes open!)… Oh, and Team Seattle and our guests completely take over the ferris wheel in the infield of the track on Saturday night (imagine being able to watch the race from the top of a ferris wheel!). Of course, Doc and Gloria have a staff of helpers, but without the energy and commitment from these two, we’d all be lost!

During the race we will have a team of spotters. These are people who will sit up on the roof of the grandstands – yes, way up there – with a radio and tell us drivers when a faster car is approaching from behind, when a car is passing us, and when we are clear of the car(s) that we are passing or are being passed by. They also try to look ahead of us for any problems on track and give us a heads-up warning. For 24 hours, if you were listening to the car radio, you would hear the spotters saying things like, “One behind, one high, one high, one high, clear” (if a car came up from behind and passed on the high side of the banking); or, “Outside, outside, outside, clear” (if we passed a car on the inside – “clear” means we’re completely past the other car).

The spotter team is coordinated by Fred Wright, and each car will have 3 designated spotters doing 4-hour shifts each, taking turns throughout the 24 hours. The spotters for the 84 car are Wes Hill, Lance Richert, Dave Kingstone, and Mike Olsen; the #85 spotters are Ian Alexander, Bill Spornitz, and Gord Bentley (yes, my brother; he will also act as driver coach for both cars throughout the practice sessions leading up to the race). And because we, the drivers, rely so much on these spotters, there is an “assistant” sitting between the two cars’ spotters. When I say “assistant,” I don’t want you to get the idea that the are only there if a spotter needs a you-know-what break. No, these guys – Scott Leder, Chris Mason and Fred – are scanning race control for any problems on track, and if they see or hear about a problem, immediately notifying the spotters so they can pass that info to us in the car. It used to be that spotters were only used in oval track racing, such as NASCAR and Indy car racing, but any serious team now has them for the entire 24 hours of this race.

One of the very cool things about being here at Daytona is seeing so many people wearing Team Seattle clothing. It seems that everywhere you look, there are team supporters. I can’t tell you the great feeling it gives you to know that there are so many people pulling for you. And yes, I know that for every supporter here at the track, there are many times that many back at home who could not come to the race.

Speaking of Team Seattle clothing, Patti Jackson coordinates all of the clothing orders and ensures that everyone who ordered a blue t-shirt and black fleece jacket, for example, gets it. In fact, when I asked her for some idea of what it takes to put all the orders together, I was shocked. Actually, I would have been shocked if I’d completely understood it, but I could not fathom how much work she and her helpers (Dee Dee, Kami, Cassie, and others) put in. Do you know that there are 445 separate pieces of clothing that Patti organized into duffel bags and made sure they were at the team’s send-off dinner a week ago so everyone would have their own? I tried to figure out just how many hours they put into doing this, but at somewhere around 40 hours or so, I lost track – I bet there are hundreds of hours in total. Let’s just say that this is a huge job, and an extremely important one.

Did I mention that all of the people helping Team Seattle are volunteers? What a special group of people. As I mentioned in my first blog, the reason they volunteer is varied, but ultimately it comes down to helping Children’s Hospital. Ironically, after many years of helping Team Seattle, Patti and Bob Jackson’s family needed to use Children’s Hospital recently. Cassie, their daughter (and a long-time supporter of Team Seattle, herself) had to have some medical help. If the team can soldier on the way she has over the past few months, we’re going to have a great result in the race.

I also meant to tell you about my evening with the Puget Sound BMW club this past Saturday. What a great event! As the guest speaker for the dinner, I gave them a bit of background on my racing, told some stories, and then gave them an overview of Team Seattle’s drive for support for Children’s Hospital. What a cool feeling it was to have people come up afterwards and hand me a pledge form. There is certainly a lot of support from within the car enthusiast community – and everywhere else.

When Steve Miller, Chris Pallis and I were coming home from the test here in Daytona a couple of weeks ago, we walked up to the security woman at the airport – you know, the one that checks your ID? She looked at my address, and then asked if I was with “that race team from Seattle.” I said yes, and that Steve and Chris were as well. She then said that she always followed us during the 24 hour race, and even pledged money towards the effort. Imagine that! A person living in Florida who was moved enough by what we’re all doing that she made a commitment to the program. I can’t wait to see her at the security line when we go home on Monday!

What’s really amazing, though, is that all of us made it here. You see, traveling with some of the members of this team can be challenge. At one time when Don Kitch and I traveled to a lot of races together, it seemed as though our luggage was cursed. In fact, if anything could go wrong with a flight, it would when traveling with Don – lost luggage, delayed flights, canceled flights, mechanical problems with the plane, etc. And then there’s Pallis and Miller. I understand that they threatened to quarantine an entire section of the plane on the way here, since the last time they flew together they had so many coughing passengers around them that they ran off the plane screaming for vitamin C and Airborne! This time they tried wearing masks to keep the germs out, but instead they looked like terrorists and nearly got arrested!

I guess flying from Seattle to Daytona is nothing compared to what Chris Pennington had to go through. I promised you his final few words on driving a kart to prepare for Daytona, so here they are: “I had my final session on Saturday at the Hong Kong Kart Club. Winter in Hong Kong is not quite the same as it is in Seattle. Cold for these guys is a gray 60 degrees! But this Saturday, I was greeted with clear blue skies and 75 degrees! To make the day almost perfect, it was also pretty quiet at the track, so it was easy to put in nearly 100 laps and being able to finish the day with a good 30 lap blast. That may not sound like a lot of laps when we are faced with a 24 hour race, but believe me, this little machine really concentrates the experience!

“Sunday is flight day. First to Seattle for a couple of days and then off to Florida on Wednesday. Bring on the Jet Lag!!!”

At some point, this race and the entire Team Seattle effort and support of Children’s Hospital comes down to teamwork – from the race team and drivers to the at-track supporters and volunteers and every single one of you who has made a pledge. So, I’ll leave you this time with a quote I just came across from a guy that knows how to win races, Mario Andretti: "You can't win championships without teamwork. This is something that I have always, always stressed... how important it is to have a very cohesive, full, 100% motivated individuals to think exactly the way you do. I will tell you what, that is the only way you can win; you can not win otherwise."

We finally get on track tomorrow! Practice begins at 10 AM, we qualify at 3:45 and then night practice from 6:30 until 8 PM. After all the build up and preparation, it’ll feel good to get back to where we belong - behind the wheel. Until then we’re heading for the track to get our driving equipment in place, discuss race strategy with the team manager and engineer, Michael Gue and Rick Mayer, and to practice a few driver changes. Race day is getting closer…

Still Waiting… To Drive

Tue, 22 Jan 2008 05:48:16 GMT

by Ross Bentley - Team Seattle Driver

Editor's Note: Just a reminder that we're pushing hard for per-lap donations for Children's Hospital this week. Use the Donate Now button to the left to get started - it will just take a few minutes.

Hard on the brakes into the turn, then hard acceleration. On a straight now… and off the gas pedal… then on the gas pedal… then off the gas pedal… and on again.

No, that’s not one of us warming up the tires in the first practice session at Daytona. That was my taxi ride to Sea-Tac to catch the plane to Orlando. Oh, the joys of travel! Between death-defying cabs and shuttle rides, delayed flights, delayed or lost luggage (our bags missed the connection that we made in Denver on the way here to Florida, but they did make the next flight – I hope they had a good time doing whatever it is that bags do when sitting around an airport), long security lines… Three years ago I spent 234 nights on the road, mostly traveling from track to track to coach race drivers (and a couple of races that I drove), so when I say the glamour of travel is not all that it’s cracked up to be, you know why.

But we’re here in beautiful Florida. Actually, freezing Florida – wow, it’s cold here. But it is supposed to warm up as the week goes along, so we’ll see what we get for the race. If you can count on the weather reports, we may just have some rain to deal with… Oh, darn (that’s sarcasm – I love racing in the rain; they don’t call me Rain Main for nothing).

It seems you can divide race drivers into two categories: those whacked-out few who absolutely love racing in the rain, and then there are all the rest. Fortunately, coming from the Northwest, we have more whacked-out drivers on our team than “the rest.”

I was talking with Steve Miller about the similarities between racing and flying float planes – one of the cool things that he and his wife, Libby, do. I was thinking that the use of vision, the dexterity of being smooth with the controls, and the sense of balance might be very similar. The first thing Steve said was, “They’re really not that close. The engine technology of piston airplanes is very old (you still have to manually lean the engine for altitude changes in a plane), when you get in crowded airspace you have to ask for permission before cutting in front of another vehicle (doesn’t happen often in racing!), and you push the fuel limits of a race car as far as possible and running close to empty is desirable, whereas in a plane the only time you can have too much fuel is if you are on fire.” Okay, so the technology and strategy of flying is not the same. But from watching Steve drive, I know some of the balance and smooth use of controls apply to both.

What Steve thinks is closest to racing is skiing: “I think driving a race car is very similar to snow skiing gates, or just free skiing a series of linked turns. The apex is the same, the need to carry speed and momentum is the same, as is keeping eyes looking well ahead of you. They both require good physical condition. The best part about driving a race car is, it’s kind of like skiing non-stop down a steep hill with about 500,000 feet of vertical, and your legs don’t get tired! You just wear out your tires eventually.”

Are you beginning to get a feel for Steve and his subtle sense of humor? While I haven’t seen Steve race in the rain, from what I’ve seen of his smooth driving style, and his experience on snow and with float planes, he’s got to be good.

Chris Pennington will be racing for the third year in a row for Team Seattle, despite having moved to Hong Kong this past year. But having grown up and raced in England, we know he can drive in the rain! Time for a report from the East: Daytona, Hong Kong Style…

“I was not going to be able to participate in the Daytona 24 hour with Team Seattle this year. A career opportunity with my employer (and sponsor) Microsoft to run our Enterprise Division for the Hong Kong and Macau subsidiary meant leaving the Seattle area after 3 fun years there. But that Don Kitch can be a persuasive chap!

“The desire to be in Florida was immense but how could it all be done from the other side of the world? I immediately need to thank Live Search for continuing their support of Team Seattle, Children’s Hospital and of course me. But I also need to give a HUGE thank you to the other drivers. Not only did they welcome me back to the team even though I was not going to be able to contribute to the normal level but they also rallied to my help. Working with Live Search, appearing at the events and helping me coordinate everything from afar. Thank you guys. I literally could not have done this without you.

“Now the other big problem is how does one prepare for an important race like the Rolex Daytona 24 Hour while living in a city like Hong Kong? Space is at a massive premium here and there certainly aren’t any race tracks. Well, not big ones anyway. A small amount of time on my Live Search engine and I have found the Diamond Coast Kart Circuit (http://www.dckart.com/index.php?lang=en). A full CIK approved circuit and only 40 minutes from my apartment. A visit found an extremely friendly club, teams who can provide storage and preparation and a fun track. One week later a chassis and engine had been secured and my preparation was set.”

Chris has promised to send more in a day or two (probably while flying to Daytona), so stay tuned.

Speaking of staying tuned, I’ve been writing what I believe is the most detailed description of a lap of Daytona in a Porsche you’ll ever read, and I’m going to post it here in the next few days (it’ll be a long one, so be prepared). As part of my mental preparation for qualifying and the race, I sometimes write out what I want to visualize. It helps “cement” it into my brain. Because I’ve driven thousands of laps at Daytona, I have more details than from most tracks. So if you want to get a feel for not just how to drive a lap of Daytona, but what’s going on inside my mind (oh, that’ll be scary! Or maybe not – if there’s nothing going on…) while doing it, check back soon.

Until then, Robin, Michelle and I are off to Sea World (I hope the water has not turned to ice!). We might just bump into Don Kitch and family, and Jim, Dee Dee and Kami Sutton (one of the main reasons we’re all here), as they, too, are taking a day or two to relax before hitting Daytona. Don shouldn’t be hard to find – he’ll be the one wearing Mickey Mouse ears.

Daytona - It’s All In the Preparation

Sat, 19 Jan 2008 18:45:55 GMT

by Ross Bentley - Team Seattle Driver

Six hours of driving doesn’t seem like all that much time, especially if it’s driving down I-5, right? But a total of six hours of driving a race car over a 24 hour period is very demanding – more so than most people can imagine (until you do it). The thing about Daytona is that you never know what kind of conditions you’re going to face driving the car, either. It could be hot and humid, which means keeping your body hydrated is a major challenge. It could be cold and humid, which means keeping your body from getting cramps, and keeping it hydrated (since you don’t feel like drinking as much water) is a challenge. It could be raining, putting extra strain on your vision. For sure, there will be high g-forces on your body for the entire time you’re driving. So much g-force that simply holding your head up straight later in the race is a challenge. Five times per lap we push on the brake pedal with about 600 psi (my guess is that is like lifting about 100 pounds on a leg press weight machine, using mostly just your calf muscle), which works out to around 875 applications per driver (imagine going to the gym and doing 875 calf raises over the course of 24 hours – now you see why leg cramps can be a challenge). We change gears 28 times per lap, meaning each driver will make about 4900 shifts (blisters can sometimes be a problem). I can’t count the number of times we turn the steering, nor can I relate the amount of effort it takes to turn the wheel, but with its large sticky tires and the aerodynamic downforce on the car, the steering is very heavy.

Needless to say, it takes a lot of physical strength and stamina to drive the 24 hour race. That is why we’re all training as much as we are. That is why preparation is so critical.

In addition to weight training, Chris Pallis works a lot on his cardio conditioning. As he says, “For the past couple months I have been focusing on increasing my cardio workouts. I have been working out at a high heart rate zone for 60 minutes, 6 days per week. Being in great shape really helps maintain focus during the race. It’s common for heart rates to surpass 140 beats per minute and even 160 per minute - during the entire stint. When you’re in the car for over an hour and sometimes almost 3 hours, if you don’t have a good conditioning base, your focus can really drop, affecting lap times, but worse still, putting the car and driver at risk.”

Chris Pennington has been using a kart to do much of his training. No, not one of the amusement park karts, and not even one of those indoor karting machines. No, he’s been driving a 125 cc Rotax racing kart in Hong Kong. As Chris describes it, “It is a 125 Rotax. About 30 horsepower. Unbelievably quick! I could hardly do 10 laps in it to start with. My neck muscles and arms were giving up to the point where I just had to come in. It is an amazing machine.”

You will hear a lot about how our neck muscles tire, even though that is an area that we all work on. While every driver has their own approach to building strength and stamina in the neck muscles, personally I use something that I’ve been using since the days when I drove Indy cars (which generate extremely high g-forces – over 4 gs at some tracks). I have an old helmet that I’ve taped a 5-pound ankle weight to. I put this on (I look like something from Star Wars in it), lie on my side, and then raise and lower my head 100 times; flip to the other side and do the same; then on my back and lift forward; then on my stomach and lift backwards. Three sets of those. Now, kids, don’t try this at home, because the first time you do it, it seems relatively easy. But when the next morning comes around and you realize you can’t turn your head, you begin to understand just how sensitive the neck is. I’m speaking from experience here. But in doing these exercises 3 or 4 times per week, I hope that my neck muscles are up for the job of the 24 hour race. Just before sitting down to write this I was doing my neck exercises, and using some free weights.

Once a driver has built his physical strength and stamina to a certain level, it is what it is. Physical fitness is almost the price of admission. What really makes the difference is the mental side of driving. While there is all this physical strain on the driver’s body, you can’t let your mind drift for even a second. That’s where the comparison to driving 6 hours on an interstate makes some sense. Could you drive down I-5 for 6 hours, spread over a 24 hour period, where you got little to no sleep in between each driving stint, and never once had your mind drift onto something other than driving? Oh, and throw in the fact that, on average, about every 10 seconds or so you’re having to either pass a car or be passed by a car. And I’m not talking a leisurely pass by on the freeway. I’m talking out-braking another car into a corner, or getting better acceleration off a corner so you pass the car on the straightaway before the next corner. For the entire time you’re behind the wheel you cannot lose track of the other cars around you, not even for a second. Of course, you also need to communicate over the radio to the crew, telling them information about the car, and getting information back from them – and having to process what that information means to you at that very moment on the track. But, oh, that pain in my left leg from helping support my body for so long is really beginning to hurt… I can feel it all the way up into my lower back. Ouch! That hurts… wait, too late on the brakes into Turn 5… See, if just for a second your body begins to distract your mind, you can make a mistake – and that mistake could be big!

But mistakes are a part of endurance racing. While every driver and team tries to run the perfect race, with no mistakes, it’s almost impossible to do that. In fact, one of the ways to look at a race like this is: everyone is going to make mistakes. It’s the drivers and team that best minimize the effects of these mistakes that will win.

One of the things that Chris Pallis, Don Kitch, Steve and I have been doing over the past few weeks is practicing driving Daytona on my Virtual GT simulator (www.virtualgt.com). While we’ve worked on driving technique and consistency, a big part of what we’ve been doing is practicing recovering from mistakes – minimizing their impact on the lap we’re on. I know that in the race, when (and I say “when” only because it is inevitable) one of us makes a mistake, the goal is to minimize the effect of it so well that others don’t even realize that we’ve made the mistake. For a long time I’ve looked at mistakes as “learning-takes.” That is, they are something to minimize the effects of, and learn from. So, the goal is this: when we make a small mistake, we can alter the way we drive that part of the track so that the mistake doesn’t cost a lot – and when we come by the timing line, the lap time has changed so little that no one but the driver knows that we even made the mistake. And if you’re lucky – or good – you learn something that can actually help you in the future.

Hey, just writing about some practice in the VGT simulator has got me thinking… I’ll be back in about an hour – I’m going to go drive it.

Okay, I’m back and now I’m really ready for Daytona. I just spent an hour driving the simulator. I first did a session in the rain (I took a look at the weather report and there is a chance of rain next week in Daytona), practicing being smooth with my acceleration off the corners, and turning the steering wheel as little as possible. Then I prepared for problems with the car. I did half a dozen laps braking about 100 feet earlier, and working on still carrying momentum into the turns by braking lightly – as if I had to conserve the brakes. The goal was to get back to within half a second of my best time, and I did 4 laps in row to prove to myself I could do that. Then I did a session where I pretended that 4^th gear was broken, and I had to skip from 3^rd directly to 5^th (and vice versa on downshifts). Again, 4 laps in a row within half a second of my best, then I pretended that I had 4^th gear back, but 3^rd was gone, and finally a session where 2^nd gear was gone. At the end I did a simulated qualifying session, using every last ounce of the car. As usual, after practicing being adaptable to dealing with problems (broken gears or worn-out brakes), I always go faster. If this had been next Thursday’s qualifying session at Daytona, we’d already be on the pole! And do I ever feel better prepared. There is nothing like using a simulation to mentally prepare. If we lose a gear during the race, I won’t have to think about how to deal with it – I’ll just do it, since I’ve already been through it on the VGT.

In 2005, I co-drove at Daytona with three 16-year-old race drivers in a program called Team 16. Because none of these young drivers had ever driven a car in which they had to do right-foot braking, had never driven a car with a H-pattern shift, nor had driven anything longer than a 30 minute sprint race (they all came from karting and a season of junior formula racing), I had to prepare and coach them for all the things that could go wrong in an endurance race. We spent an entire day at Texas World Speedway practicing the things that I just did on the simulator in the past hour (we could have saved a lot of money with the simulator!). And guess what? About 13 hours into the 24-hour race, we lost 4^th gear and had to drive the last 11 hours without it. Despite the fact that most “experts” figured these kids would make mistakes and never see the end of the race, they not only didn’t make a single error, they drove in a way that no one but the crew knew that we had a gearbox problem. And without a small mechanical problem, we would have finished on the podium. Instead, we finished 7^th. That certainly shows the value of simulation and preparing.

Speaking of preparing, I need to go. I’m the guest speaker at Saturday night’s Puget Sound BMW Club annual dinner… and I haven’t prepared. Since I’m hoping to motivate a few of their club members to support the Team Seattle effort, I better get prepared and make this speech a great one! Having said that, the local BMW club (as well as the Porsche, Ferrari, Alfa, and a few other clubs) really get behind this effort and generate a lot of pledges per lap for Children’s Hospital. So, I’ll take this opportunity to thank all the car club people out there who do that – thanks a lot!

Stay tuned for the next installment, which will probably be sent from Florida. My family and I are heading there on Sunday to spend a day or two relaxing – and preparing – before things get hectic at the track. Part of preparing for a 24 hour race is ensuring the body is well-rested, too. Speaking of that, I’ll leave you with a comment that Chris Pallis sent me today about is preparation: “For the past 30 days, my most focused effort has been trying hard not to get sick! About 45 days ago, my wife Vicki got really sick, then a couple weeks later my son, Themio, got really sick and missed a week of school. Then as soon as Themio got better, his twin brother, George got sick and he missed several days of school. Now Vicki’s getting sick again! Yikes. So far I’m holding strong. My day consists of washing my hands every 37 seconds, taking prodigious amounts of vitamin C, trying to get at least 8 hours of sleep each night, trying to not get too stressed out at work (yeah, right!), and lastly, wrapping myself in cellophane wrap!”