Sebring Grid Revisions
As soon as the Bear posted his expectations for the Sebring grid, a chorus of “wait-a-minutes” came in.
As a result, he’s going to downgrade the Salt Lake City prototype from “probable” to “possible,” and upgrade the “No Name Team” Ferrari from “possible” to “possible plus.” (Ok, that’s a new rating – live with it.)
Regardless of his reduced confidence, he hopes that the Zytek makes it to the grid, since he’ll win a Jameson (and his assistant will treated to some fine Dutch brew) at Chicanes if it does. For now, those changes will cut his likely P1 starters to seven. Murphy’s going to keep his expected GT starters at 17, making Sebring’s total grid 29.
Murphy’s Rolex Punting Rools
Last year, the Bear picked five favorites for the Daytona win, and went 1-2-3. Suddenly all the punters are clamoring to know how Murphy does it. Well here’s the Poop, five rules for picking the Rolex (the other two are Bear secrets):
1. Riley only. Are you kidding? The first non-Riley was 15th, eight in class. Domination, baby.
2. Teams you’ve heard of, even if you’ve been in a cave. Ganassi (that’s three in a row), Penske, GAINSCO, Brumos. They have guys who know how to screw down lug nuts.
3. No oil billionaire drivers, no scrawny girls. No drivers with the same name as the team.
Rolex Favorites
Here are Murphy’s by-the-rools five favorites for the 2009 Rolex. Look familiar?
01 Ganassi Dixon, Montoya, Pruett, Rojas – Lexus / Riley
02 Ganassi Dixon, Franchitti, Lloyd, Pruett – Lexus / Riley
16 Penske Racing Bernhard,Brisco, Dumas – Porsche / Riley
58 Brumos Racing Donohue, Garcia, Law, Rice – Porsche / Riley
99 GAINSCO Fogarty, Gurney, Johnson, Vasser – Pontiac / Riley
Murphy’s Predictions
The Bear enjoyed AC’s and Katrina’s so much he made some of his own.
Baring unfixable practice disasters (or rubber checks) four classes will take the green flag: Riley Class – 13; ODP Class – 6; TF Class – 13; Porsche GT3 Cup Class – 17. (ODP = Other Daytona Prototypes; TF = Tube Frame)
With great fanfare, the infield will be closed on race morning after the 5,000 fans and 500 cars for which there is still room have been waved through the tunnel.
The NASCAR-driver storylines will disappear with the near-disappearance of NASCAR drivers. No longer singing “NASCAR über alles,” Grand Am will tout the “international flavor” of the driver field.
No entry with a “gentleman driver” will win overall.
Matt Connolly will win a close contest for the “Most Annoying Team Owner Award.”
The hot paddock rumor will be about JCF’s missing $12 million.
The only mentions of ALMS will be in Boris Said interviews.
Tags: Ferrari, GAINSCO, Ganassi, Penske, Riley, Rolex, Zytek
Apparently the bear was right. I scratched my head as to why the 59 Brumos wasn’t on the list. As long as there are 25 yellows, you just have to stay within 1 lap of the lead until the ringer (Barbosa, Borchellor) gets in the final stint.
Was the bear a little nervous seeing the Suntrust Dallara in 3rd with 40 minutes to go?
It may be a bit contrived racing, but the finish was pretty exciting.
Murphy had to limit himself to five, and on that basis, he considered drivers along with other factors. None of his five had anyone who wasn’t a pro driver…plus a few other differences. But the real reason is that the Bear imposes a hard limit on himself of picking the five he thinks are best overall and have created for themselves the best change to win.
SunTrust? He was a little nervous until he realized a Dallara isn’t a Riley.
Murphy liked the race, and after last season’s 1, 2, 3 all being all from his five, he’s satisfied that this year 1 and 2 were also. He can’t be to unhappy that his five were all in the first seven, even after two of them had serious delays during the race.
Murphy must have known that the 58 Riley car had a long winter, and awoke 12 pounds lighter after hibernation.
The bear knows how to pick them.
I am interested to see if the bear will stick the the Riley rule at next years Daytona 24.
wrestlerrob wrote: “I am interested to see if the bear will stick the the Riley rule at next years Daytona 24.”
So is Murphy! Seriously, there’s no challenge in sight to Riley’s dominance. Certainly not Lola, in a partnership of which they are not enamored…or so the Bear hears.
Very interesting news bear!!!!
My thoughts were Lola and Dallara will have competitive teams running their chassis next year, but the bear knows best.