From Way Out There...
Watkins Glen Preview
By Tommy Brolsma
With 2 more DP's in field on Watkins Glen's Bully Hill Vineyards 250, there is already a lot of anticipation of this race. The return of the Multimatic (in yellow paint!), and the debut of the Toyota powered Doran Lista JE4 has Grand Am fans in a buzz. Then you add guest appearances by Bill Auberlin in the DP's, Geoffrey Bodine back in the Picchio on his home track, 2001 GT class winner Kyle Petty in GTS, and the rumor of Forest Barber trying to get Jeff Gordon in his DP. With all of that, what you have is one of the biggest, most important Grand Am races of the season.
There will be many eyes looking at Grand Am this weekend, not only by the NASCAR crowd, but also both anti- and pro- Grand Am sports car fans. If this race goes the way I'm anticipating, I think it could be one of the cornerstones in Grand Am's execution of their vision that started with the fruition of the Daytona Prototype. So what am I expecting?
A tight battle for the lead. Maybe even a 4 car battle for the lead. Maybe a first time winner, even. Maybe some door banging, side by side action through the esses. Wild passes down into turn one and into the inner loop. Some of the fastest average lap times that a DP has run. An all out dog fight for the win. So why is this so important for Grand Am?
Easy, it will go further to prove a point that both Grand Am and the Cognoscenti has been saying…that DP racing is here to stay. That it is a viable racing formula. The DP's have had some tight battles already this year, but with the 2 new cars, the Cegwa team making another appearance, and the improvements that may have made their way onto the G&W Picchio, this could be a preview of what it will be like in 2004. This could be the thing that eases the detractor's voices a little. This could be the future.
In 2004 there will be the 3-5 car Chase brigade, the Essex DP or DP's, another Fabcar, the Crawford, the Riley and Scott, among others to join this battle, so consider this weekend the trailer to the movie. This can help prove if 2004 and the DP's will be a box office smash or just another thing to pass the time. I'm thinking it's going to be a smash.
So who's going to win? In the DP's, your guess is as good as mine. I like the new Toyota Doran, but is the car sorted out enough to topple the Brumos and Bell bunches? Will the Picchio finally have the trouble free race it deserves? If it does, I expect the BMW powered car to contend for the podium. The Cegwa boys have had time to catch up from the Mid-Ohio/Daytona rush, so I'm hoping they will run well with their knowledge of Watkins Glen. I'm not sure what to think about the SpeedSource Multimatic, as I know it's fast and will is in the hands of a good team, but it's their first run with a prototype.
So I've babbled on about DP's, so who's my picks for the rest of the classes? GTS should be a decent race, but Heritage has been so fast this year that I can't see them losing unless they have problems. The Gunnar should be quick, too. As for the GT cars, Ferrari of Washington and Marcus should be the top two again, continuing their title fight. We'll see if the Stevenson Motorsports / Auto Assets Porsche GT3 RS #39 can join these two at the top, too.
All in all, it should be a good weekend of racing, even on the NASCAR side for a change!
About "From Way Out There." This will be a sporadic column on this site as it grows, as I'm the "WebGeek" and will be concentrating on getting everyone else's stuff onto the site. So why do I call it "From Way Out There?" Because I haven't been to a live sports car racing since the 80's, and come from sprint car and dirt late model racing. A bit out there for a sports car column, but I'm hoping to change that!
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