Okay, so the season’s not really over yet. But since we won’t be heading to Mexico City, I figured I could get a head start on the rest of the media.

There is no substitute for the access I have had to GARRA this year. The team badge I was able to purchase through Howard-Boss Motorsports was tremendous. Jan and Max picked up the tab for Jacob’s pass. This year I was able to attend the Daytona Test Days, the 24 Hours at Daytona, Mazda Laguna Seca (courtesy of Bill Riley), the Six Hours at The Glen, the Paul Revere at Daytona (I still call it that), Barber Motorsports Park, and V.I.R. Jacob made it to four of those events.

Attending race weekends without Jacob is neat in a couple ways, having freedom to check out some people and places he’s not interested in, but nowhere near as much fun as when he’s around. We have almost as much fun in the car corrals and parking lots sometimes, checking out the passenger cars people drive. I don’t even want to get into how little I know about automobiles compared to him. Witness my recent need to recant a post about Infiniti and Honda (“Infiniti is Nissan, you dummy”).

The Rolex 24 Hours of Daytona is such a great weekend; it will be a required visit for as long as we can go together. It’s been heartbreaking the past two years with the late race problems encountered by Howard-Boss Motorsports. For as hectic and crazy as that weekend is, we always felt welcome around the team.

And when Kenneth Swan & Bill Riley came up to us and asked, “Would you like to attend the Laguna Seca race?” Wow. I wrote a pretty good story about that trip, but there are a couple items that stick out, and have been part of Jacob & me ever since; running through LAX airport across the parking lots and the roads, unable to keep up with Jacob, making the Monterey flight with zero time to spare. The dinner with Bill and team members in Monterey on Saturday night, Jacob with the lollipop, and the respect I developed for Max Angelelli. If you remember, this was when there were concerns about over-aggressive driving and so on. If there was any question about the teamwork, or the relationship between Max and Wayne Taylor, and their drive to win the 2005 Championship, those concerns should be erased for sure.

As we prepared for the trip, weeks in advance, Jacob was asked if he would be willing to crew for the team, and perform the lollipop duties for the weekend. What a great treat for the kid to be part of the team in action on pit road. Unfortunately the team finished fourth that weekend after some contact with other cars and some turf. A special thank you to the team and especially Tony Kenter for taking Jacob under his wing.

For the first time since the 1970’s, I attended a road race with my older brother. Six years older than me, Joe introduced me to Watkins Glen in 1972. At 15, I had no idea what the world was about, but boy did I see some things that year! Now, at the 2005 Six Hours at The Glen, it was my turn to show Joe around. Like Jacob, Joe’s not a people person. There was no interest in meeting the people, but the cars were why he was there. We spent a good amount of time together walking the entire track that afternoon. For anyone who enjoys road racing, the Six Hours is a great walk around a great race track. Joe was rooting for the #77 Crown Royal Doran with it’s drivers from Italy (Fabrizio Gollin ) and Monaco (Matteo Bobbi). The international flavor of the drivers brought him back to the old days of The Glen.

Attending the Brumos 250 (formerly the Paul Revere) gave me another chance to see some of the NASCAR drivers up close, and their machines as well. The television does not to justice to the appearance of any racecars and their colors & designs. But some of the NASCAR cars are really wild. Again Bobby & Terry Labonte are a couple of the nicest gentlemen out there. And Tony Stewart is just too much fun!

I want to publicly thank a few other people for a few other very special moments that took place this year. First, are the administration at Barber Motorsports Park and Virginia International Raceway. These were the tracks where Jacob was able to obtain paddock vehicle passes and drive his Nissan up close to the autograph sessions. Without the passes and the assistance of track workers and Grand American workers, those would not have been possible. I acknowledge there were a few moments when Jake’s car probably was in the way and a bit of a hindrance, but everyone was very accommodating to his effort. At Barber, his car was actually hit by the #8 Rx.com Doran. Okay, so they guys were pushing it, and it maybe really didn’t quite hit Jacob’s car, but it did touch it, the guys had to maneuver around us a bit, but when they saw the dashboard, they understood. And to the security at VIR, who gave us a little extra time in the paddock to get Wayne Taylor’s autograph, thank you for your firm but patient efforts to get us out of the way.

And to the drivers who took the time to sit in Jacob’s car and talk with him as you signed the dashboard, Jacob remembers every one of you. If there’s any driver out there we missed that wants to sign it too, wait till next year! (Assuming the Nissan doesn’t meet the same fate as his S-10 did).

Thank you to Rick Goolsby at Grand American. This year Jacob was treated to pace car laps at Daytona, Laguna Seca and V.I.R. Since Jacob insisted I go along, I was allowed to sit in the back seat each time. Thanks Rick for taking the time to take that extra lap with Jacob. And watch the downshifts when entering the roller coaster at VIR. Which reminds me, thank you also for the tower suite at Daytona. Letting us relax, rest, and have some hot food late at night and early morning made the event possible for Jake. Even then he was delegated to watching the last couple hours from the Crawford’s RV, that’s just too long a day for him.

Thank to the SunTrust team for letting me do the lollipop duties at Watkins Glen 3. When the points leading team offers a chance to crew, you almost have too. I say almost because they offered the position to Jacob & I again at VIR, but we had our plans set on walking the infield that day and enjoying the race together. It is great honor to be asked to help crew for a Daytona Prototype team. As a result of the tremendous finish by Max ‘The Ax’, I am able to boast to Jacob that “we” finished first at The Glen, while he didn’t even get on the podium at Laguna Seca. At least I have one thing over him this year!

Some new people we met or got to know more this year;

The COGS. What a crazy bunch. I’ll just leave it at that.

Kimberly, Michelle, Trudy, Kenneth, Travis, the ladies at Finlay, Doran, Synergy – thanks for all the hospitality, drinks & food, shirts and hats. You are all such gracious people. (Hey ladies – note no pictures here, just as promised!)

I can’t begin to list all the drivers, crew, owners, and manufacturers who have spent time with Jacob and me. I will say there was not a single moment, the entire year, when any of these individuals would not be willing to take the extra moment to say hi, shake hands, give a hug, or say a kind word. I could go down the entire list of everyone at Grand American Road Racing Association, from Roger Edmundson at Daytona to Brian Tuttle on the way out of VIR, and say something good about everyone, and not a negative word about anyone.

As for the cars; will somebody please bring a Dodge into either series, Rolex or Cup? Then I could really get some appropriate swag to wear for a team! The Ford Mustangs in GA Cup were tremendous this year, as much as I rooted against them. Just never quite been a blue oval fan I guess. The GS and ST racecs were great enjoyment every time out. A special note to Karl Thompson and the Compass 360 team; get Jacob to sit in the car before you race and see what happens?! And best wishes to Shawn Greene, let’s all pray he gets to race in GA Cup in 2006. The ST cars are some of the best entertainment out there. At the risk of further inflating an ego, who else could take a BMW from eBay and turn it into a race car as well as jjvincent and team? And congratulations to Sylvain and the Mazda teams. Another welcome team to hang around.

The GT cars are a worthwhile race unto themselves, I would love a chance to watch them race without the Daytona Prototypes. There were several times this year a strong GT car was taken out of contention for a race win because a caution came out at just the wrong moment. With one race to go our good friend Craig Stanton has fallen a point behind the GTO-R guys. Go get ‘em in Mexico Craig, make it two driver’s championships in a row!

As I have told several of the Daytona Prototype owners, manufacturers and drivers, I believe that starting with the 2004 Rolex 24 Hours at Daytona, we have been allowed to be and the ground level of what is going to become a very special road racing series in America. I consider a special honor to think Jacob & I are witnessing the start of all this.

When Jacob and I attended this year’s 24 Hours, after it was over, Craig Stanton asked Jake a question that has stuck with me. “What were your three favorite moments of the weekend”. Although Jacob may not have had an answer right away, we did talk about the answer to that question for a long time on the ride home that Sunday night. So with that question in mind, here are some of my most memorable moments of the 2005 Grand American Road Racing Association season;

• Sitting in the Tower Suite at Daytona, looking down over the track at night, watching the race. Wow, what a great place to be.
• The transmission failure on the #20 car and standing right next to the team and car as they replaced the transmission, and the applause from the crowd when Jan Lammers fired the car back up.
• Watching the drivers autograph Jacob’s dashboard, and the comments they would make as they did so. How cool.
• Running across LAX airport and flying into Monterrey at sunset.
• Watching Jacob suit up, then work with the pit crew at Laguna Seca.
• Taking Jacob to the 18th green at Pebble Beach where they hold the Concourse d’Elegance. That is another event on his ‘to do’ list.
• Sitting in the Pontiac hospitality tent at Watkins Glen during the Six Hours weekend, and as it rained some more, commenting to Jan Lammers that after Mont Tremblant, they should just put Milka in the car for the whole day.
• Seeing Max Angelelli get his driver suit on and gear ready. Never mind, that was more of a forgettable moment.
• Having Max Crawford smile that big smile of his the first time we saw each other at the track. I love you Jan, Max, Katie & Trudie. God bless you.
• Hearing Bob Riley saying it was a “Tum’s moment, a whole roll” as the last few laps of WG3 wound down.
• Sir Wood Charles and his untimely accident.
• Jacob & I turning down the SunTrust offer to crew again at VIR, because for five years in a row we have spent that Sunday afternoon together, back to the Motorola Cup days, walking the track during the race.
• Standing on the podium with The Boss Snowplow team at the Brumos 250 and the SunTrust team at Watkins Glen. It was so neat to be considered actually part of the team those days.
• Taking pictures. Hundreds of them. For all those good pictures I have, there are ten times as many you’ll never see. Jacob says I’m really good at getting pictures of the asphalt and concrete under our feet.

My top three people moments of this season

• Craig Stanton and the Burger King hats. A great lesson in life – if we can’t laugh at ourselves, what can we laugh at. Thanks Craig for all you do for Jacob.
• Jan Crawford and the welcome cuddle. Every visit to a track starts with tracking down Jan and getting that hug.
• SunTrust Racing. Max & Wayne, two genuinely good people I would give for. Bill, Kenneth, Tony, Barbara & the team. For taking two fans and turning them into crew, while in the middle of a Championship season. Why?

My personal top three photos I took this year;

Here’s looking forward to watching a great race at Mexico City and 2006.

Dan “Sput’ Dodge
www.garra-fans.com
http://photobucket.com/albums/v246/GARRA20/

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