PRACTICE AND QUALIFYING

Our entire practice and qualifying schedule took place on Thursday. We started with a morning practice in wet conditions, although the track began to dry out toward the end. I was in at the beginning of the session so I just took a few laps to feel the car in the wet before handing it off to Jay and Joe.

We went out again at 2:00pm. We had an hour and forty-five minutes and once again the course was wet when we began. I drove until a dry line appeared and we switched to slicks and Jay took over. Jay did a great job and at one point was the quickest car in GT. Joe drove next and then I got in at the end since I hadn't driven the car in the dry yet. I managed a 1:16.5 after a few laps, which put us third quickest in the session. We were encouraged by this because we were on some fairly used tires.

Grand Am officials decided that qualifying would be cancelled if the track was wet and that grid positions would be awarded based on points. Sure enough it was wet and our position in the championship put us third on the grid.

We skipped the evening session because we had a leak in our reserve fuel tank that needed to be repaired and the patch job needed a day to cure, so we decided to do it that night so it could sit all day Friday.

THE RACE

There was a lot of standing around on Friday. The race had a scheduled start time of approximately 6:30pm. The approximation was a result of Nextel Cup qualifying. We would start our race whenever they finished qualifying, but irrespective of the start time the race would end at 8:30pm, so we wouldn't know the length of the race until pretty close to race time.

As it turned out Nextel Cup qualifying was cancelled due to the conditions. As far as I could tell the track was dry, but someone must have spotted a puddle some where because they called it off. This was great for us because it meant we got to start on time.

Jay got us off to a great start running a strong third for nearly the entire stint. Only the #21 and #22 BMWs were able to outpace him, and not by a substantial amount. Jay had opened up a good gap on the rest of the GT field as the end of his stint approached.

It had been dry for the first forty minutes of Jay's run, but when he was only five or six laps short of the fuel window the sky opened up and it started to pour. Since part of my role on the Orbit team is to help with race strategy, I suggested that we leave Jay out in the pouring rain on slick tires and then bring him in under the inevitable full course yellow, which I was certain would arrive in short order. Trying to maintain a decent pace in the wet on slicks is a tall order, but Jay's driving this season has warranted that kind of confidence. Of course, it was easy for me to suggest, since I wasn't the one having to do it!

As expected, there was a huge crash in the last turn on to the front straight involving as many as nine cars. There were a number of banged up cars in the aftermath, but Kevin Buckler may have gotten the worst of it in his #67 Racer's Group Porsche. He was one of the first to arrive at the corner after the grip conditions deteriorated suddenly and he slid wide into the wall. Another car followed him in and the impact completely destroyed the Porsche. The reports I got from the hospital are that Kevin is going to be okay, but they were keeping him for x-rays and tests.

We pitted under the yellow and I took over for Jay while the crew switched to rain tires. Normally, Joe would drive the second stint, but since this was a short race we decided to throw me in and see where we were as the end of the race approached. When I lined up back on course I was in third position behind the two PTG BMWs. It was nice to be in the car on the same lap with them for a change.

The restart was crazy as I couldn't see as far as the hood of the Porsche, but it went well and a few laps in I could see the #22 BMW just up the road from me. Unfortunately, just a few laps after the green flag dropped the engine note on the Porsche changed dramatically and we lost power. I drove down the pit straight on the inside of the road and asked the crew to listen to it. The distinctive high revving sound of the Porsche motor was replaced by something that sounded like an old truck.

At this point I was just thinking about trying to finish the race. We were two or three laps ahead of the fourth place car, so a podium finish was assured if we could make it to the checkered flag. With almost an hour remaining I doubted that that was possible. Team boss Rodger Hawley advised me to shift at 7000, which is 1000 rpm lower than where we normally run the motor. I decided that if 7000 was a good idea, 6500 would be even better. I used taller gears where I could and did a lot more shifting, but I mostly just prayed that it would hang on.

There was a full course caution late in the race that I was hoping would last for the duration, but it was about five laps long. Since a dry line had formed I came in and took slicks. Although fast laps were out of the question given the condition of the motor, I just thought the track was too dry for rain tires. I was surprised when a lot of teams chose to stay out on the rains.

The course went green again with about six laps to go. I continued to nurse the Porsche around until only a couple minutes remained. We still had a two or three lap lead over the fourth place Porsche, so I pitted and we were able to get Joe in the car to assure that he also got points. Amazingly, the Porsche motor soldiered on to take the checkered flag. I probably won't find out what was wrong with it until later in the week, but it is definitely very sick.

In spite of all the difficulties, it was nice to get our third podium finish of the season and our second third place finish at Watkins Glen. We have four races remaining on the schedule so maybe we can move up a spot or two from here.