murphythebear.com

The Bear wrote a quick Paddock Poop 89 before he left for Connecticut. There wasn’t a lot of news, but, well, it was, like, done, right? Wrong.

Murphy turned on his phone in Detroit between planes and it rang immediately. It was Connor the Beaver. “Have you talked to Myron?” he asked. (Referring to the Moose.) “No, should I?” answered the Bear. “Yup,” said Conner. The Bear was on a tight connect, so he had to wait until La Guardia to get the story. (more…)

What many scribes and snappers heard in the Le Mans paddock led them to conclude that the American LM-P1 will get its approval after all. What’s behind that upbeat attitude in the Corvette contingent? Murphy’s been told that one GM NASCAR groupie blocked the prototype project. He’s gone – to Europe – so when it’s submitted again the answer has a better chance to be “yes.” That’s assuming that the General’s dire financial straits don’t now torpedo that – and more.

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Debutants

The ex-Oreca Saleen S7Rs have been testing at Willow Springs with – in the words of their namesake owner – “the goal of running a number of races towards the end of the season.” A Road America debut? (more…)

They – just about everybody – say the EVO rules are “dead.” Since we haven’t yet seen an EVO rule, it’s hard to know what needs a burial. Do the current open and closed top prototypes remain legal after 2009? Probably. The devil is in the details, of course, so how competitive they will be is far less certain. (more…)

Rolex Favorites 

The two things Murphy likes most about the 24 Hours of Daytona (aside from the fact it’s 24 hours) are, one, it’s just when the Bear’s itching to get out of his cave for more racin’, and, two, he’s got no idea who’s going to win the blasted thing. The Bear’s first 24? Al’s last win. Next? Tony’s Jag-you-ares beat Poor-she. Who saw that coming? In most things, Murphy only knows what someone tells him, and nobody’s told him much of use about Daytona yet. Still, the Bear does have his favorites. He looked at the 25 Daytona Prototype entries and found five he thinks are most likely to be on the podium come Sunday.

01 Ganassi  Franchitti, Montoya, Pruett, Rojas - Lexus / Riley
02 Ganassi  Dixon, Duran, Lloyd, Wheldon - Lexus / Riley
2 SAMAX  Luhr, McNish, Rockenfeller, Zogaib Pontiac / Riley
9 Penske-Taylor Briscoe, Busch, Castroneves - Pontiac / Riley
99 GAINSCO   Fogarty, Gurney, Johnson, Vasser - Pontiac / Riley (more…)