Race Report: Homestead
Monday, March 31, 2008

Brumos Racing:  Race Report:  March 29, 2008

Gainsco Grand Prix of Miami

Brumos Racing traveled south last weekend to Homestead-Miami Raceway for the second race of the fifteen race season.  Our team was optimistic about our chances, and anxious to get back to racing after a two month break.  The main issues factoring into race strategy were the weather, the track conditions, and new Grand-Am rules affecting driver changes and pit stops. 

The track proved very challenging, and was very slippery despite the total lack of rain and very warm temperatures.  The course has some challenging turns and several gravel traps that bring a lot of sand and dirt onto the track, typically a combination that contributes to a larger than normal number of full course cautions, especially when combined with the new Pirelli tires.  As this held true for the practice sessions, strategy was based on that expectation. 

Also new for this season, Grand-Am instituted a rule that each driver must complete at least 30 minutes in the car to be eligible for points from that race, which affects the timing of driver changes and is especially significant in the sprint races. Team Manager Mike Colucci held team meetings with both crews prior to the race to review individual roles for our crew members, review new rules, and to outline strategy and options.

It appeared that everything was in line for Brumos to capitalize on the preparation and efforts.  The #58 car placed consistently in the top five for all the practice sessions, and the payoff came as David Donohue captured first place in qualifying to place Brumos on the pole position for the first time since 2004.  While the #59 car showed mixed results in practice, and qualified in 13th place, our crew worked hard to make adjustments based on the drivers’ feedback.  It appeared to have paid off, as Joao Barbosa noted, “We had a difficult start for the weekend, but we are always looking for the right solution to get the best car we can.  The crew did a great job in giving us a good car for the race - it was the best it had been during the whole weekend, so we were quite pleased with it.”

As every race fan knows, racing is certainly never predictable, and this event was no exception.  A new track record was set, in fact, with nine full course cautions for a total of 40 laps under the yellow flag, making formulation of strategy virtually impossible.  While the #58 car started strong and the #59 car faced challenges, the final results placed them once again on opposite ends, but in a reversal of fortune, #59 had a strong finish while #58 was taken out of contention.

David Donohue had a strong run after starting from the pole position, and held on to lead the race for the first 11 laps. He continued to run within reach of the lead when his brakes locked in a turn on lap 44, causing the car to spin out of control.  During the spin, the #58 car made unavoidable contact with the race leading #10 SunTrust car before coming to a stop in the gravel. As our crew got set up in the garage awaiting the wrecker, it was feared the axle might be broken. Even thought it was determined that was not the case, it presented an almost impossible challenge.  There was significant damage to the axle and rear toe link, as well as the left side and engine cover.  The #59 crew pitched in between their pit stops to assist the #58 group, and although the car was out of contention, in keeping with Brumos tradition, it re-entered to finish the race.  Its re-entry on track drew a round of applause from the #59’s pit crew.  As Hurley Haywood noted, “I think there was immediately a concern that the car was badly damaged, and Darren Law really needed to get points, which meant he had to drive at least 30 minutes.  Our crew did an absolutely stellar job getting the car back on track just in time for Darren to get in his 30 minutes before the end of the race.  In fact, he turned in the 2nd fastest lap of the race, so the car was not just put together - it was put together correctly - hats off to our crew.”

Problems for the #59 started early, as JC France also experienced a spin on lap 3 which put him in the gravel.  JC was able to recover and continued racing despite some tire damage. He concentrated on working his way back, staying on track during the first yellow flag while most of the other DPs pitted, which helped him regain position.  Joao Barbosa continued the strategy, working hard to move up in the pack through the numerous cautions while avoiding additional problems.  Strong performance by our #59 crew in pit stops contributed to getting the car back on track without losing position.  When the checkered flag dropped on Barbosa, he had moved up in the field to a 7th place finish.

While the results were not as had been hoped, we came back from Homestead with many positives - as Hurley Haywood noted, “We’ve got all the ingredients to win races - a good competitive team, great people, a good car and a good motor.” Darren Law agreed. “I am both upset and happy.  Upset that we didn’t finish better but happy about our performance.  I really think we had a shot at winning this race but it just didn’t work out.  We were one of the fastest cars out there this past weekend and the team is really working well together so all we can do is move on to the next event and work on keeping the same car performance and go for some wins.”

The team will be heading to Mexico City next for the third race of the Grand-Am Rolex Series.  The race will be held on April 19th at the Autodromo Hermanos Rodriguez.

Posted on 03/31 at 07:43 AM