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Purcell
Race Engineering Assists AIM Autosport with
Daytona 24 Hour
Effort
A famous Olympic runner was once quoted as saying; “If you want to win
races, run the 100 meters, but if you want an experience, run the
marathon”. The Rolex 24 at Daytona is the auto racing equivalent of the
marathon – and then some. This grueling round-the-clock race features many
of the sports top teams and drivers – from Indy Car and ChampCar
champions, NASCAR champions (including current champ Jimmie Johnson) to
veteran sports car drivers with several 24 hour race wins to their
credits.
 Click here for a photo gallery of the AIM Autosport team at the race.
I was contacted in December by AIM Autosport to help with their attack on
the Rolex 24. AIM is the team that fielded the Star Mazda Pro Series
effort I had engineered for this past season, and they needed “all hands
on deck” for Daytona. My primary duties would be that of “spotter”,
staying in constant radio contact with the drivers informing them of
upcoming traffic and other hazards to be wary of. Spotters are a crucial
component for success at the Rolex 24 Hour race, as nearly 70 cars would
be starting the event, and staying out of trouble is a real key for
victory there. As it turned out, the team was able to use me in several
different capacities, from building spares to assisting the team engineers
and drivers to find the optimum setup for the enduring event.
After flying to Orlando and driving northeast to Daytona, my wife Robyn
and I joined the team for a pre-event dinner. Robyn would be acting as the
liaison between the team and the catering staff, making sure all the team
members and drivers were properly fed – and got to where they needed to be
when they needed to be there. The logistics of this event are overwhelming
– and every detail has to be attended to. At dinner I reunited with Brad
Frisselle, who I had competed against in the late 70’s when he was driving
Datsun Z cars and I was a crew chief on a competing team. Brad’s son,
Brian was one of AIM’s regular drivers and a promising star in the sport
of road racing. AIM’s other regular driver, Mark Wilkins, was also at the
dinner, so it was a great opportunity for me to get to know the guys that
I’d be working so hard to keep safe over the next few days. A few glasses
of wine and some great old “war stories” later, and the team had really
made Robyn and I feel at home.
The driver line-up for the team also included former ChampCar star Andrew
Ranger and young NASCAR Truck Series driver Colin Braun. The talent behind
the wheel for AIM’s sophomore attempt at the 24 was outstanding, to say
the least. I can’t overstate how impressed I was with each of the drivers,
their great attitudes and incredible talent. It wasn’t until well after
the event was over that I’d discover we had the youngest driver lineup in
the field – by a big margin.
Thursday was a busy day, with two practice sessions in the day, followed
by qualifying in the afternoon, then night practice later in the evening.
More than four hours of track time in one day is rather unusual, but
nothing compared to the non-stop activity of the coming weekend. Ian
Willis, the team principal at AIM, had laid out an exacting plan of attack
for every session of the weekend which included practice driver changes,
practice brake pad changes, track time for each of the four drivers and
more. During the hectic day, the team stuck rigidly to the premeditated
attack, and overall things went very smoothly. After each session, I
debriefed with each of the drivers to fine tune our communications, and
spoke with the engineers about my observations regarding the handling of
the car and what I thought our strengths and weaknesses were. We stayed in
the top ten during each of the sessions, and Mark qualified the car a
strong 5th place, just a few tenths of a second off the fastest cars in
the field.
Nighttime at Daytona is something every racer and fan needs to experience
at least once in their lifetime – it is simply breathtaking. From my perch
high atop the tallest suite boxes (on top of the tallest grandstands at
Daytona), the spectacle of light and speed was simply incredible – making
my job of concentrating on where the car is, what traffic lies ahead, and
scouting for obstacles that much more complex (and that much more
rewarding). The AIM crew was certainly prepared for the night, and the car
ran absolutely flawlessly. Our fourth driver, Colin Braun arrived late in
the afternoon, as he had to be at a NASCAR test elsewhere in the country
during the day. Following a strong stint by Mark Wilkins, which put the
AIM team at the top of the charts for the first time in the week, Colin
got behind the wheel and demolished the competition by more than half a
second. This was an amazing effort for a driver that had never sat in this
particular car – and didn’t actually fit in the seat very well!
Immediately following the night practice session, the crack AIM crew went
to work preparing the car for the all day and night race. The gearbox was
removed and completely rebuilt with all new components, the Ford engine
removed and replaced with a fresh Roush/Yates unit, and all the brakes,
uprights and driveshafts exchanged for new as well. The rules for the
Grand Am series, which the Rolex 24 is simply a part of, require that the
garages all close by 9 p.m., so the team completed what they could and
aimed to finish the task the next day, planning to skip the morning
practice sessions on Friday. As we packed up and left the circuit, we all
looked up with pride at our car number, 61, still lit up on the top of the
scoring tower. Perhaps an image I will not forget – ever…
Friday was a day all about preparation – completing the rebuild of the
car, building up spare brake assemblies, constructing spare bodywork, test
fitting all the possible components that the team could conceive would be
utilized, and practicing driver and brake assembly changes during the
final afternoon practice session. After a small hiccup with the exhaust
system that delayed the start of the practice, all went according to plan
and the team focused on final preparations for the 24 hours to come. The
garages closed earlier at 8 p.m., and the team went to the hotel to get as
much rest as possible – after all, the plan was to stay awake for
approximately 36 hours the following day(s).
Race day awoke with the threat of rain and cooler temperatures than we had
experienced all week. This was going to be a bit brutal. The race starts
at Daytona at 1:30 in the afternoon, but teams arrive to the circuit at 7
a.m. to begin preparations and go through all the pre-race ceremonies.
Thousands of people pack the front straight as the cars are rolled out
through the kaleidoscope of colors, wedging the pristine machines into one
of the 66 starting spots this year. I headed up to my spotters perch to
get out of the chaos and relax for a few precious moments before the
start. The entire team seemed cautiously optimistic, hoping to improve on
last years’ stunning fifth place finish in the small teams’ inaugural
attempt.
The start of the race went well, with Mark slotting into his position
neatly and staying out of some early trouble that others were unable to
avoid. Slowly but surely, the strength of the AIM car began to show.
Suddenly we were third. Then Mark passed for second. Mark was the quickest
car on the track pretty consistently, and commented to Ian over the radio
that the car was nearly effortless to drive at that pace.
Then we took the overall lead of the Rolex 24 Hours at Daytona – unbelievably
cool!
Calm down, now, there is still a HUGE amount of time to go, and anything
can happen. Just keep a steady pace, and stay out of trouble. An early
full course yellow comes out, and Ian calls Mark to the pits – fuel only.
We had planned on “double stinting” the tires at some point during the
race, simply to see if they would last in such a scenario, but this early
yellow provided an opportunity to test the waters. Mark rejoined the race
still solidly near the top of the charts, and we set about simply putting
miles behind us. Once again, as more cars pitted and our pace outran many
of the competitors, we found ourselves back in the lead. It was starting
to look pretty comfortable seeing that number 61 at the top of the tower.
After a relatively uneventful second stint, Mark brought the car (with
VERY worn tires that were becoming an issue) into the pits. Driver change,
full fuel load and new tires. Brian took his first turn behind the wheel,
and immediately began to tell the competition that AIM’s early success was
not a fluke. Gradually we moved back up the tower – eighth, then seventh,
and a few laps later suddenly back in the top five. Brian drove a nice,
steady pace, carving through slower GT cars with ease. Fourth place –
third place – then when the leaders pit, back into the lead! Three hours
into the event, and the AIM crew was back on top and putting mile after
mile behind them. Brian’s fuel load was low, and on Ian’s order, he
brought the car in for another driver change, fuel and tires. It was time
for a break for me, as Colin’s uncle, Cole, would take over spotter duties
for his nephew and Andrew Ranger. This allowed Cole and me to keep sharp
(and make the event more tolerable). Cole is a very experienced spotter,
and had done several Daytona 24s prior to this year. I stayed up top for a
few minutes to listen to Cole and learn what I could, then headed
“downstairs” for a quick bite to eat, a radio recharge and a visit with
the gang in the pits.
As I rested a bit and got my “chores” taken care of, I’d glance up at the
scoring tower to see the number 61 slowly marching its way back to the top
of the tower. Andrew drove a brilliantly smooth stint, and handed the car
over to Colin once again in the lead. Colin was flying out there, telling
Ian that this was the best car he ever had driven in the 24. Not long into
his stint, and the lead was ours again, and building. I tried to get away
from the action for a bit, resting my eyes and just listening to the world
around me before donning my heavy coat over the already several layers I
was wearing. Back to the top of the world, this time plunged into
darkness. And starting to rain…
Not long into Mark’s stint, the skies open up and we have to pit for rain
tires. Mark rejoins still in the top ten pretty solidly and right on the
pace of the leaders. Once again, things cycle around to us and Mark is in
the lead near the end of his stint. Six hours - just past one fourth of
the way through the grueling event and we are back in front. Then disaster
happens…
A failing GT car dumped a copious amount of fluid in the back straight
chicane (known as the “bus stop”) when it lost a radiator. Mark threw the
car into the corner at his normal rocket pace, and abruptly found himself
plowing a huge wall of mud up over the car and 50 feet into the air. The
front “splitter”, the aerodynamic shelf that provides much of the
downforce and grip for the front of the car was nearly broken in half.
Mark brought the car into the pits and the crew poured over the front of
the car, bandaging the nose for a makeshift repair so that Mark could
rejoin the field as it followed the pace car around during the ensuing
full course caution. As Mark left the pits, the team sprinted to the
garage to prepare the spare splitter for a quick change. It was also
decided in the interest of losing the least amount of time, the front
brake assemblies and rear brake pads would be changed out at this time,
preventing the necessity for another stop later in the night. While
performing all of these actions, it was discovered that in the off course
excursion, a key component of the front sway bar had broken. A replacement
appeared out of nowhere, and in less than 12 minutes, the AIM crew had the
car back on the track with Brian behind the wheel, now five laps down to
the leader, but still not out of it yet.
Brian pressed on, and drove his heart out to try to work back up through
the field. Even in the on again, off again rain slickened conditions, he
was consistently the quickest car on the track, and had worked his way
past most of the leaders in his attempt to regain one of the five laps we
had lost. At 10 p.m., as is tradition at the 24, a fireworks show lit up
the night in the infield of the circuit. Brian radioed in to the crew that
“Hey, I’m going really fast under the fireworks – this is cool!” He
brought the car in for a routine fuel and tire stop, but lightning struck
again as Brian exited the pits, making a very uncharacteristic error.
Forgetting about the slick, cold tires that had just been installed on the
car during the pit stop, Brian left his braking too late for turn 3, and
lazily slid through the wet grass into the tire barrier. Brian was
heartbroken. I could hear in his voice just how much he felt he had let
the team down as he languished in the tires waiting for the safety crew to
extricate his stuck race car. Once free from the tires, and two more laps
down to the leaders, Brian brought the car back into the pits for
inspection. Again, the splitter had been damaged, but it was decided to
let Brian give it a go with the damage as the team prepared to once again
make repairs to the embattled nose of the car. During another full course
caution, the fumes in the car began to take their toll on Brian, and he
called to the pits that he might not be able to continue much further. In
addition, the splitter had started to come apart, causing a massive high
speed vibration in the car. With a dedicated second effort, Brian stayed
behind the wheel for the second half of his double stint (once the car was
moving at speed again Brian found the air in the cockpit much better).
Andrew was next in the car, and the team performed temporary surgery on
the splitter in an attempt to delay the inevitable change of components
(which were running scarce). Andrew was able to soldier on with the
wounded car on the damp track, and it was time for me to take my overnight
break while Cole took over spotter duties for the next four hours. It was
after 11 p.m., 43 degrees and raining. I was pretty glad to get out of
there and get some food and rest for a bit.
I visited with the guys in the pits for a few minutes, got a kiss from my
wife, and headed to the rental car to crank up the heater, eat my sandwich
and warm my frozen bones. It was hard for me to sleep – I’ve never left a
race that I was involved with while it was still going on. I never did
really sleep, just kind of rested a bit while peeking at the scoring tower
from time to time to see how things were going for Andrew and Colin.
Things held together reasonably well over the next four hours, and we were
starting to creep back towards the top ten, as high as 11th before Andrew
handed the car over to Colin after a strong double stint. The hours and
the miles poured through the night, and before I knew it the time for me
to get back to my station and relieve Cole had arrived. As I appeared
“upstairs” and put on my freezing cold headset, the first thing I heard
was “Is it getting worse?” from Ian. Just prior to my arrival, the car had
developed a fuel pressure issue, where the main pump was gradually losing
pressure. The Roush/Yates guys were insistent that at the levels the
pressure had dropped would eventually result in likely catastrophic
failure of the engine. It was clear that another lengthy stop was mandated
to fix the fuel pressure issue. Colin brought the car to the garage, where
the team feverishly worked to install several different solutions to the
issue. It finally came down to a simple solution – the fuel filter had
become clogged for no apparent reason. Colin was sent back onto the
circuit so that he could tell the team if the engine felt better, and the
team watched the telemetry in the pits with nervous anticipation. The
engine was fixed…
Not long after Colin rejoined the race, a full course caution came out,
and the team pitted for routine service – driver change, tires and fuel.
Mark got back into the cockpit after a couple hours of fitful sleep, and
began the task of dragging the car back up into the top ten, now sitting
in 14th position, two laps down to the next car. Conditions by this time
were miserable, with the heaviest rain and strongest winds of the night
making his job and mine relatively miserable. The vision through the
windshield of the AIM car was atrocious, and Mark was force to pit a
couple of times to clear the fog forming on both the inside and outside of
the window. As the rain subsided a bit, things got sort of “back on track”
with Mark consistently on the pace of the leaders, regaining the
occasional lap back on cars that were well up the order from us. We got
one lap back on the GT cars that had passed us, and I began to think “Hey,
we might salvage a top ten out of this yet”, when suddenly, inexplicably,
Mark slid off into the tires in turn 5. Another lengthy delay while the
emergency crews pulled the stranded car from the tire barrier dropped us
yet two more laps down, but even this did not lose us a single position.
It just made the task of coming back through the ranks that much more
difficult. Mark caught back up to back of the field, now cautiously slowed
by the pace car during the full course caution for Mark’s off track
adventure.
The damage to the splitter had gotten much worse with Mark’s excursion
through the grass, and Mark was forced to pit for yet another splitter.
While in the garage, the front sway bar was found to have broken again as
well. The tired AIM crew quickly changed the damaged components, now just
hoping to finish out the 24 hour race. Ian called for the vastly
experienced Andrew Ranger to drive the car now, with the hope to take the
car through the rest of the night into the dawn.
The racing gods had other plans for Andrew and the AIM car, though. A
scant few minutes before sunrise, just past 6:30 a.m. the worst case
scenario happened. While traveling at 180 mph through NASCAR turn 4, the
right rear tire on Andrews ride exploded, and shot the car into the
outside retaining wall of the oval. Andrew fought the steering wheel, and
miraculously regained control of what essentially was now a three wheeled,
150 mph sled. With Ian and I guiding him, Andrew limped around the
circuit, exiting at turn 3 in the infield and taking the back roads into
the garage area.
The team examined the damage, but with 6 hours left in the race, and
perhaps six hours of grueling work ahead to repair the car, it was decided
to “pull the plug”. After such a promising start, Daytona 2008 was over
for us.
Walking back to the hotel across the street from the famed speedway as the
cloud covered dawn began to brighten the sky, all I could think about was
how good it felt to see that number 61 at the top of the scoring tower –
several times. And that just makes me hunger to go back again next year…
Eric Purcell
EFM Racing/Purcell Race Engineering
www.efmracing.com
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