BAM! a Porsche GT team, was announced in 2003 for the 2004 season; Tim Munday and Peter Baron were identified in the release as owners. “The BAM! team owners are Tim Munday and Peter Baron (right) – Munday as technical director, Baron as business director.” – DSC 3 November 2003. Leo Hindery was listed as a sponsor/driver with his YES Network. We all know that Leo was a significant investor/supporter, which is why Murphy specified “managing” partners.

2. At what events did Lola’s B06/10 start on the ALMS pole?

Three; Houston, Portland, Mosport, all in its inaugural 2006 season by Dyson Racing. The grid at Mosport was set from practice times after qualifying was rained out. The other poles were won in qualifying by James Weaver.

3. What was the North American branding of the IES-built JI V6?

Willman 6, after ALMS driver Bryan Willman, who contributed funding to the design and development of the engine, and drove for the Bucknum Racing team that used it in the Pilbeam M91 in the 2003 season. The engine and the chassis were equally successful.

4. What two famous driving stars were signed by Tom Milner for the ALMS 2002 season but did not race when BMW’s M3 GTR was withdrawn?

This could be tricky, since drivers like Stuck and Auberlen are “famous,” at least in Murphy’s sports car world. But they were holdovers, and this refers to an announced signing of new drivers Patrick Long and Danica Patrick. Their contracts were voided when BMW cancelled its M3 GTR program rather than race with restrictions imposed by the ACO and followed by IMSA.

5. What car did Jeff Giagrande’s company enter in the 2003 ALMS season?

Ferrari 360 Modena.This one was easy to track down, if you know that Jeff Giagrande was CEO of auto parts company ACEMCO. Just check the 2003 race results at IMSA’s website.

6. Sebring 2003 was a gathering of famous names. Of the car companies represented by entries,  which was the first to build a motorcar?

Spyker in 1899. At least one submission named Mercedes because a Merc engine powered the Pagani Zonda. But since Mercedes was not named as an entrant, Murphy has to rule it out.

7. From whom did Donald Panoz purchase Professional Sports Car Racing and the rights to the IMSA name and logos?

Michael Gue, Tom Milner, Doug Robinson, and Ray Smith. This was a “trap question.” The Bear tried to make this quiz easier – most questions about the ALMS, and most easily found online – but he needed a question that would reduce the likelihood of ties at the top. This one fit the bill, since the Wikipedia article, which identifies the seller as Andy Evans, is wrong. Murphy made it a bit  more difficult by giving it just “1 point”, not “1 point each.”

8. Who said, “Everyone knows that shepherds and poodles aren’t especially smart. They’re responders and reactors, not independent thinkers…” ?

Enzo, the canine narrator of “The Art of Racing in the Rain.” If you think this is obscure, you aren’t a regular Paddock Poop reader. One entry knew the quote was from “The Art of Racing in the Rain,” but identified the speaker as “Enzo Ferrari.” He needs to read the book.

9. Why was laundering the team uniforms the most popular job for White Lightning Racing?

“Hollywood Madam” Heidi Fleiss opened “Dirty Laundry” in Pahrump, Nevada, where the team’s shops were located. Another question meant to reward the Bear’s regular readers. Odd as it seems, this is a true story. The Bear doesn’t know if Heidi is still in the laundry business in Pahrump. Dale?

10. What Grand Am entry was piloted in a single season by famous names Petty, Newman, Minter and McQueen?

Gunnar Racing’s G-99 – Kyle Petty, Paul Newman, Milt Minter, Chad McQueen – 2003. Kevin Jeanette, even beyond what might be expected from someone who restores historic race cars, has a wonderful appreciation for the history of the sport and the people who have contributed, so the chance to add an ailing Milt Minter to the 2003 G-99 Grand Am race team for a single event was irresistible. Who can forget Jeannette’s tribute to the WWII United State Army Air Forces and the B-17 crews that trained at Sebring for the track’s 50th Anniversary?

All About Watches

Watches have to be the most reliable cash cow for motorsports of all kinds. Rolex sponsors every concours and historic race it can lay its hands on, and keeps the 24 Hours of Daytona more or less on the map. Interestingly, its famous “Daytona” model predates its sponsorship of that race by over two decades. The “Daytona Paul Newman” is thought by some to be the most valuable of the many collector Rolexes.

Sebring has a new watch sponsor, Alpina Genéve. At Bahrain we heard that Dutch watchmaker TW Steel is sponsoring Renault F1, has signed Emerson Fittipaldi and will produce a special TW Steel Emerson Fittipaldi watch. Hublot, part of the Louis Vuitton Moet Hennessey group, is the new Official Watchmaker of Formula 1. Hublot’s first F1 watch will retail at $23,000.

Tag Heuer funded Porsche’s Formula 1 motor, its “Tag Turbo” name displacing Porsche entirely. The most iconic Tag Heuer, by far, however, is the “Monaco” worn by Michael Delaney in “Le Mans.”

Breitling bankrolled Bentley. LP Italy sponsored Risi Competizione, and launched its Stratosphere Competizione model in 2006.

Girard Perregaux’s is one of Switzerland’s “Cadillac” watchmakers; its “Chebby” Jean Richard subsidiary was fittingly an ALMS (since then Autocon) sponsor. Tissot is the official watch of NASCAR (which has an “Official Pain Reliever” – no, not Goody’s Headache Powders – amongst its 50 “official” partners). Then there’s the tasteless Debaufre… 

Murphy’s trying to decide whether he’ll get a Rolex Daytona Paul Newman, or a Tag Heuer Monaco Steve McQueen. The Bear needs your advice.

Where’s the Rocket Part?

According to an unnamed alms official after Wednesday’s test, Rocketsports would sit this one out if it couldn’t get the Cat around Sebring in a reasonably competitive time – something it hadn’t yet done, struggling to a 2:29.5 in just two laps. Murphy expects the Cat has now “qualified,” managing a sub-2:05 today, running 22 laps over the course of 2 sessions, the best showing to date.

Late note: The Cat missed night practice. Will they get a free pass? The drivers haven’t all previously night-driven at Sebring, the basis for previous waivers.

In Murphy’s Mail

My name is Albert Wong, am a Singaporean citizen and a seasoned Banker in (Berhad office), A deceased client of mine died. He lost all the members of his family in the incident. He secured a contract of (10,000,000.00 million dollars) left behind in the bank. I contacted you in distributing the amount before it is confiscated by then bank. Please get back immediately to proceed.

If the Bear wants to go racing, he should call Albert, right?

Dead Horse Department (added)

The Bear’s heard that Zoran Stefanovic is headed to a meeting tonight with Hurley, Anderson, Windsor, et. al, and expects to walk out with a purchase agreement for USF1 that will put him on the grid at Melbourne with USF1′s entry.  But Todt says, “no, the entry is forfeited, and be ready to pay a fine for missing the first races.” He can’t really have it both ways, if you don’t have an entry, you really can’t be fined. The FIA (Jean Todt) says you have to attend all races, while the Concorde (Bernie) says you can miss; so we still don’t know who is in control here, and probably don’t until it all ends up in a French court – which is exactly where Zoran intends to take it. Getting the smoking hulk left by Ken Anderson at USF1 is the first step toward that.

There seems to be some belief (Anderson, the Bear supposes) that USF1 would then build its own cars for 2011 after running whatever Toyota had left over for this season. Murphy thinks that’s dilusional, and in any case is about 5 steps removed from where this thing is now.

Lost

Andy W. apologized for being “quiet” in a Feb 27 “Hi Folks…” then went on about getting “things finalized for the ALMS,” and the C10 “rocketship.” Probably got lost somewhere in South Carolina. It’s good the Bear doesn’t easily get excited.

The Stars

Michael Schumacher returned; the German average audience during the Bahrain F1 race was 10.5 million. Last season it was 5.4 million. Fernando Alonso drew 5 million in Spain. Sports car racing claims drivers aren’t important. “The cars are the stars.” Right.

The Racing Disease

Murphy’s crack staff has connected Scott Tucker to electronic funds processing services at a buck a pop, 600K pops a day. It seems he went for the Challenge LMPs to bolster a Le Mans dream, but then found he could just buy his way in – not just as a driver (perhaps $300K), but footing the whole enchilada for an Audi, more like $2 million.

Driving Mister Fehan

With Emmanuel Collard and Antonio Garcia on board at Sebring you might think future Chebby pilots are ‘set.” Yes, the Bear’s heard there will be significant change in the team for 2011, but it’s not quite that simple. Corvette Racing will stick around Sebring after the 12 Hours to test possible future drivers. Butch Leitzinger, Paul Edwards and Graham Rahal are testing.

Lotus

Lotus will launch a sports car program with Kevin Kalkhoven’s KV Racing Technology and Cosworth, another Kalkhoven company. We’ve been here before, haven’t we? Murphy says, “slim and none.”

The Perloined Part

There’s been a little mistake. A differential for a reptilian Porsche ended up with a raptor Porsche. The latter immediately jumped up the performance chart. They like the part a lot better than the one they had and have so far refused to return it.

Murphy’s Sebring Punter’s Guide

Murphy’s Le Mans Punter’s Guide is again a “simulpub” with Last Turn Clubhouse, here. Honestly, that site’s software handles tables much better than the Bear’s little blog.

The top two at the Rolex once again came from Murphy’s top 5. After putting both Ganassi cars on the list (a bit of a no-brainer, even if your head is stuffed like a mattress), plus Brumos and two-time Grand Am Champion GAINSCO, the Bear mused in Paddock Poop 152 about the fifth, finally settling on the No. 9 Action Express because it fit all three Bear rools. Including the one about established teams, since in crew, staff, and owner, it was largely the “other” Brumos entry, the one vacated by the accused Daytona Beach druggie.

One Ganassi car blew an engine, a rarity in recent years; it had 8 hours on it at race’s start. Is it a measure of the economy that Ganassi’s ran a well-used motor? Even if his race engine was replaced because of an oil leak, no fresh engine was available?

Readers wondered about the Bear’s bullishness on the BMW M6 entries, but they’re thinking like ALMS fans, where ‘new cars’ are new cars. In Grand Am, tubers shed their skins like snakes, yesterday’s Pontiac becoming today’s Chebby, and tomorrow’s Bimmer. Finishing 8th and 11th, they didn’t have any more trouble than any other make in the field – less, in fact.

Two of Murphy’s five favorites finished in the top five, one on the podium; among the 30 GT entries, the Bear’s Five were 2nd, 5th, 8th, 9th, and 12th.

Saab-Spyker Saga

So Spyker’s ‘buying Saab?’ Everyone knows that the one-time Dutch F1 team masquerading as an automaker doesn’t have a guilder to its name, so how does this happen? The devil’s in the details. The Dutch want their pet car company, as do the Swedes, so the Dutch arrange a $562 million loan for Spyker and get the Swedes to guarantee it. GM will ‘sell’ Saab to Spyker for $74 million in cash and $326 million in Spyker-Saab preferred stock (what’s that worth, given neither has made a guilder or krona in living memory?).  Spyker pockets $488 million in cash (perhaps some of that will buy out the 30% Spyker holdings of Vladimir Antonov, suspected (by Swedish Intelligence) of money laundering and links to organized crime.

Rolex Rumor

Northeastern Florida isn’t exactly populated by ALMS well-wishers at this time of the year, so Murphy has learned to anticipate one or more pretty nasty rumors. Some have a kernel of truth, some are just off-the-wall. The 2010 annual ‘Daytona ALMS Rumor?’ Widely circulated in the paddock on International Speedway Boulevard was the story that ALMS has not yet paid 2009 prize money, so teams, in a kind of “strike,” are sending in their 2010 entries with no money. Of course the Bear is more than a little suspicious of the whole thing, but the “fact of the rumor” is surprise – just a measure of the ‘bad blood’ between these two competing sports car racing series.

Murphy’s sources indicated that at least the ‘strike’ part of that is untrue. If any team was withholding entry funds it wasn’t in concert with any other teams, and likely wasn’t in any ‘retaliation’ for nonpayment. Prize payments have dragged in a bit late – sometimes in installments – in recent seasons, and apparently this one is no different. The Series has suggested that prize money be credited against the new season’s entry fee, which seems perfectly reasonable to the Bear.

Defecting

Expect more than one Grand-Am team to “defect to LMPC” after Daytona. Alex Job is said to be one of them (interest by AJR was expressed early) along with Level 5, and at least one other. The LMPC count for Sebring will be 4 or 5, with 2 or 3 to join the series after that – consistent with ALMS Supremo Scott Atherton’s recent pronouncements.

From one quarter Murphy is told, “the Grand-Am fields will be horrific after Daytona,” and that “NASCAR upper management is fed up with Grand-Am.” If that’s true it didn’t keep Jim-Bob from winning the Rolex with his own entry. Close connections to Action Express’ owner Bob Johnson – along with other information – would suggest so. Mr. Johnson is Jim-Bob’s personal CPA; the company funding Action Express is something called High Rev Racing. Entering your own race series isn’t exactly revolutionary (Don Panoz being another example); the Bear takes it as a vote of confidence rather than something nefarious.

GAINSCO Gone?

The Bear’s been told that the Rolex was GAINSCO’s last race. Miami hotel reservations have been cancelled.

Audi In, Peugeot Overboard?

The Bear hears that Braselburg is considering allowing Audi to enter Sebring, pending the outcome of the new car’s testing, now underway. If the entry accepted is the “transitional” car, and not the “new rules” R15, then there’s little doubt the effect will be to toss Peugeot overboard. Peugeot may jump anyway, of course. The new Audi just might be ready for Sebring, anyway, since Audi Sport Joest has turned up as a “full season” LMS entry. That would mean the car is now believed to be ready by April…March 20th isn’t all that much earlier, is it?

There’s Cars and…

…then there’s cars. Ferrari can’t be happy about the two street-car based (barely more than that) Ferrari 430 Challenge cars entered at Daytona. One was turned away (‘not ready to race’ is a kind description) the Bear hears. The other muddled around, thoroughly uncompetitive. Look for entries from Tony Dowe later in the Grand Am season to be much more representative of the iconic marque.

Inlimbo Racing League

Izod is the IRL’s new title sponsor; you’ve probably seen the ads. Other noises from the surviving – for now – North American open wheel series aren’t so good. Ganassi is just the latest to join the ‘new car’ discussion, having produced a mock-up – a sign, according to one source, that the series is “just blundering around.”

The addition of Lanigan to Newman Haas was the work of the late Paul Newman; Carl’s family’s not on speaking terms with the new partner. Are we seeing the unraveling of Newman-Haas-Lanigan? That’s one opinion Murphy’s heard.

Unemployment Line

Here’s a measure of the weakness of the racing industry world-wide: Butch Leitzinger, Lucas Luhr, Mike Rockenfeller, Sascha Maassen, Emanuele Collard, Alex Gurney, Jon Fogarty, all ‘available and looking.’ And that’s just a few.

USF1

What the Bear is hearing is pretty grim. The chassis hasn’t been ‘crunch tested’ yet. There’s no motor on hand, payments to Cosworth reportedly now in arrears. The team has applied to the World Motorsports Council for dispensation to miss the first three races without penalty – more a courtesy than a rule, since guaranteed participation is not a part of the new concorde, as it was in the old.

It’s  not over yet. USF1 owner Chad Hurley (one of Youtube’s three original founders) could rescue the operation – with new management – if he so chooses. Meanwhile, Bernie is in his element, the eminance gris trying to arrange an interim chassis, but that’s wrapped up in a ride for Bruno Senna. If Bernie can’t get USF1 onto the grid, he might be stuck with the Russians, who’ve grabbed the rights to the ex-Toyota chassis (someone will have to check the accelerator pedal).

Lou News

Murphy’s friend Lou Gigliotti is running for Congress – here’s his web site. Meanwhile, he’s charging ahead with his Grand Am Corvette entries. 

Unlike others in Grand Am GT, Lou tells the Bear that, “Our Corvettes are ‘Prep 1’ using stock frames like ALMS cars. We learned a lot from that car and we are moving the technology over to Grand Am.” It makes particular sense for Lou to stick with ‘the real thing’ because Lou’s business is selling Corvette performance parts. Lou says a result of the new program will be   ‘really nice Corvette parts’ that will one day make their way into LG Motorsports’ catalog.
 
Eric Lux and Kelly Collins are set for the season in the first Corvette, with a hoped-for second car possible as early as Birmingham, depending on finding a good driving partner for the Boss.

Pssssssst…anyone interested in a nice ALMS Corvette? Murphy knows where to find one.

Follow the Bear on Twitter at http://twitter.com/Murphythebear

You whined you cried, “It’s toooo hard!” Actually it wasn’t that difficult at all, as you’ll see in the following.

Here is each question, with the correct answer, and with the Bear’s comments. Less than half an hour of time and some willingness to exercise the brain was a sure winner.

1. Name PTG’s drivers in the 2001 American Le Mans Series season. (1 point for each)
Bill Auberlen, Hans Stuck, Boris Said, Niclas Jönsson, Peter Cunningham, Joe Foster, David Murry, Brian Cunningham (Joey Hand was on the Sebring entry, but did not drive.) The maximum number of points is 8 (the number who actually drove in a race) but any of the nine can count toword that total. The information needed to answer this question is readily available on IMSA’s web site. The average score on this question was 6.

2. What is the significance of Portola Road in sports car racing history? (5 points)
Location of the start-finish of the Pebble Beach Road Race. If you didn’t know this, a web search on “Portola Road” would have turned up numerous California locations – and none elsewhere. There would logically be a reason for that. A search on just “Portola” would have found Gaspar de Portolà i Rovira (1716–1784) founder of San Diego and Monterey. The spelling of Monterey (one “r”) ID’s it as the California city. Now a bit of knowledge helps: Laguna Seca was built after a death ended its predecessor, the Pebble Beach Road Race. Web searching that quickly turns up a wiki entry.

3. Who is Mel Hawkins? (5 points)
Driving partner and co-owner with Steven Knight in Knighthawk Racing, 2002 ALMS P675 team champion. This isn’t supposed to be very difficult, given that it’s about a former ALMS class champion team, and it wasn’t. Almost every entry got this one right.

4. What progenitor of a famous racing family was proud to be on Richard Nixon’s ‘Enemies List’? (5 points)
Charles Dyson, Rob Dyson’s father. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nixon%27s_Enemies_List Paul Newman was also on the list but isn’t the “progenitor of a famous racing family.” This is one of the questions on which Reading is Fundamental. First, if you don’t know it, look up “progenitor.” Then consider the clause the word refers to “of a famous racing family.” That should immediately rule out Paul Newman.  The easily found wiki entry reproduces Charles Colson’s original list of 20; number 5 is Charles Dyson. If you want to confirm, you can look up Dyson-Kissner; that will locate Dyson-Kissner-Moran Corporation, where you’ll find Rob.

5. Who was the winner of the first Pebble Beach Road Race in 1950? (5 points)
Phil Hill. A not-too-difficult web search will find this one. A cut and paste of the last six words finds philhill.com

6. When and where did seven time World Driving Champion Michael Schumacher last race in North America? (5 points)
Las Vegas, Nevada, November 22, 2009. Right smack in the middle of Schumacher’s Official web site is this headline/link: 20/11/09 Michael at Michael at the SuperNational in Las Vegas.

7. Who was the last driver to qualify and race a front engine car in the Indianapolis 500? What year was it? (5 points)
Jim Hurtubise, 1968. You might actually have to know this one, but most of those who entered did. If not, “‘front engine’ Indy” yields a site with a list of all drivers who drove both front and rear engine cars at the 500. Hurtubese is listed with the latest year for a front-engine car.

8. Identify the driver and the car. (3 points for each)
Consalvo Sanesi, Alfa Romeo Type 159. Murphy made this one more difficult by first misspelling “Alfa,” didn’t he? Sorry. The key to this question and the following one is to identify the car in the photo. Having done that, you’ll find its wiki page includes a box titled “Competition History.” In that are listed (under “GP”) “Notable Drivers.” Each is a “live link.” Those who wanted to do the drudgery were rewarded; the entry on Consalvo Sanesi includes the description of the incident at the 12 Hours of Sebring in 1964, so the driver in the photograph must be Sanesi. The lesson? If two questions are “linked,” as these two are, take all the information from both. That cat can be skinned from either end.

9. What North American racing incident involved the driver in the photograph? (5 points)
Sanesi had a near fatal accident at Sebring in 1964 when his Alfa Giulia TZ burst into flames and he was rescued by a mechanic and driver from Poughkeepsie, New York, named Jocko Maggiocommo.

10. Name the ‘Odd Couple,’ a Silicon Valley CEO and a former college tennis player who combined to launch a sports car racing team, then drove to a podium finish at Le Mans. (5 points)
Leo Hindery and Peter Baron. Baron started playing tennis at age four and was going to be a tennis pro, “But then I figured out I’m not one of the lucky seven or eight naturally blessed people. I was not going to make a career of tennis, but I was able to go through college playing tennis. Once I got out, I didn’t want to see a tennis racket again.” You can find that information in an Orbit Racing press release published on motorsport.com. Before he ran the YES Network for the New York Yankees, Leo Hindery was CEO of Global Crossing.

11. The werks John Wyer and Porsche Salzburg (1970) and Martini (1971) teams won all but four races in which they entered the 917 in the FIA Group 5 World Championship of Makes. Name the four races in which the werks 917’s were beaten, whether points-paying or not, and the car that won in each instance. (8 points, 1 for venue, 1 for car in each instance)
1 – Sebring, 1970, Ferrari 512S; 2 – Kyalami, 1970, Ferrari 512M; 3 – Brands Hatch, 1971, Alfa Romeo T33/3, 4 – Watkins Glen, 1971, Alfa Romeo T33/3. Here’s another case where it’s important to read the question carefully in its entirety. Murphy didn’t put the phrase “whether points-paying or not” in there for the hell of it. It’s a big clue. Also, pay attention to the phrase “in which they entered the 917.” It means what it says. If those teams entered a different car in some of those races, they would not then be defeats for the 917. In fact, that’s what happened. Wyer, Porsche Salzburg and Martini parked the 917’s and started 908’s exclusively at Nurburgring and in the Targa Florio in both years.  Bill Oursler writes in his “History of the 917” for the web site 962.com, “As for the 917’s record, it was near perfect for the two seasons that it ran (in the World Championship of Makes), the only loss in 1970 coming at the hands of Ferrari, whose 512S won at Sebring after the 917 brigade suffered a series of mechanical woes. (A Ferrari 512M likewise defeated Porsche in the non-championship Nine Hour event at Kyalami at the end of the year as well.) In 1971, the 917 was defeated twice, once at Brands Hatch, and again at Watkins Glen, both times by Alfa Romeo.” Reference to Janos Wimpffen’s “Time and Two Seats confirm’s Oursler. About the 1971 Targa Florio (aka Palermo) Wimpffen writes, “As was the case in 1970, the Porsche entry consisted only of 908/3’s…”  Some might be confused by the appearance of a 917 in practice sessions at Palermo in 1970, but Wimpffen covers that, too: “Besides the spare 908, drivers also played around in practice with the original 909 Bergspyder and an out-of-place 917.

 A Ferrari source contributes this: “At the end of the 1970 season, Ferrari had won the 12 hours of Sebring, while Porsche 917 and 908 took all other nine wins of the championship season. The modified 512M had proven to be fast at the end of the season, and Ickx/Giunti also won the Kyalami non-championship Springbok 9 hours race. As the loophole for the five litre sports cars would become obsolete after 1971, Ferrari decided to abandon factory entries of the 512 in favor of developing a new three litre prototype.”

12. What Le Mans winner won a race in a Scarab?  (5 points)
Carroll Shelby, 1960 USAC Road Racing Championship race at Continental Divide Raceway in Denver, CO. Google “scarab” and there it is.

13. What driver finished second overall in NASCAR points in his rookie season, then third overall at Le Mans and third in points in the following NASCAR season? (5 points)
Dick Hutcherson. The key here is Ford; what else would cause Le Mans and NASCAR to intersect? Chevy, perhaps, but that’s recent history, and it doesn’t take much to reject that possibility. Any Google or Bing that can find the Ford 1-2-3 at Le Mans in 1966 will find the 3rd place Holman-Moody (yes, that Holman-Moody) entry and Dick Hutcherson. You’re on your way. (Murphy found an autoblog.com article on the 40th Anniversary of the sweep at the 2006 Le Mans Classic.)

14. Who celebrated a milestone birthday at Sonoma, California in July, 2000. (5 points)
Lucas Luhr turned 21. Maybe you had to know that, or be a real Porsche fan. None of those around here, are there?

15. What do TWR USA/Jaguar, Nissan Performance Technology, Risi Competizione, and Tafel Racing have in common? (5 points)
Each team employed Peter Kaczmar (aka PK) as the No. 1 mechanic on its “lead” car. Is that a little arcane? If so, too bad, sports car fakers. It can be argued that the most important position for a winner in motor racing is the car’s “Number 1,” at least as important in sports car endurance racing as your drivers. To have been that on the lead cars of each of those programs is really one hell of an achievement. If Peter isn’t the best in the sport, he’s obviously damn close.

16. Which team won the biggest ever sports car purse, what was the race and year? (5 points)
TWR USA/Jaguar, Del Mar 1989. $193,000 ($310,000 if today) paid for winning RJ Reynolds’ “Camel Pyramid.” Sports car and GT endurance racing has always been known for its lousy winner’s purses, so you were looking for something out of the ordinary. The Camel Pyramid was a scheme that allowed the purse to accrue over the season into a “winner take all.” One of our entrants got this one right.

17. What driver called a GT1 a “real race car” when asked to contrast it to the car he usually raced. (5 points).
Dale Earnhardt, Jr. when asked to compare the Corvette C5-R at Infineon Raceway in 2004 to his Cup car. You wouldn’t have read that quote in any of the many NASCAR rags (or any publication that wanted to suck up to the gorilla). Dailysportscar.com reported it, though.

18. What driver competed in six ALMS seasons with an artificial heart valve? (5 points)
Tom Weikardt, 2001 – 2006. Another tough one you’d just have to know. It’s a ‘condition’ shared by a long-time ALMS scribe, and by PMG’s CEO.

19. Murphy the Bear’s office is located in what institution on Monterey’s Wave Street? (5 points)
A stool in the lounge of The Sardine Factory. Regular readers of murphythebear.com (that’s where you are now) should have gotten this one. The Wave Street address of the Sardine Factory is on the Bear’s business cards, too.

20. Who completed a cross county motorcycle ride between ALMS races at Lime Rock and Infineon. (5 points)
JJ Lehto and Frank Biela. The 8-day cross country ride was covered by the Series’ own web site, among others, in 2005. Still lots of ways to find it.