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Daytona Chumpcar

2K views 4 replies 4 participants last post by  Gunpilot 
#1 ·
Anyone even drive this circuit at Daytona?

Care to shed any insight on the line?

Will be racing this coarse for Chumpcar later this month in a BMW E30.

 
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#3 ·
Looks like a variant of one of the many permutations tried for motorcycle racing. I haven't driven it but would expect you to have lots of action/surprises at the left-hander after the infield kink. The chumpcars are likely to be very on edge thru the kink and need to get hard on the brakes for what looks to be a 90* left that may be a bit off-camber.

Pay lots of attention to your brakes. You will need to have lots of braking capability in the car and drivers as well as good modulation. I assume chumpcar racers are used to dirt on the track -- likely to be a lot kicked up at the bus stop on the backstretch. Best of luck!
 
#4 ·
Did they change the course? I'm used to the map shown in the 2nd post. The key for me is coming out of turn 6 onto the banking well. A good exit from there gets you momentum to the bus stop which will make a lot of time if you get it right. Second getting the bus stop right is critical because the rest of the course to turn 1 is flat out as well. If you come out of the bus stop slowly you will lose a lot of time. Focus on those two things first. Then you can tweet some time our of the infield.

I'd also suggest that you take it easy for the first 5-10 laps and learn the track and who the idiots are. I started at Daytona last year and lead for my stint. That said there was a wreck every lap I was out in the first 2 hours. People think it's a sprint, they overcook turn 1 and take out some cars, they out brake themselves in the bus stop and end up hitting someone, going off, or spinning in the bus stop. I'm sure you know this but the key to endurance racing is staying out there. :)

Good luck and have fun. I LOVE, LOVE, LOVE that track!
 
#5 ·
That's what Chumpcar Emailed me for final briefing. Should be interesting. Hopefully it wont be a crash fest like Road Atlanta. There are plenty of idiots in all of Chumpcars races, you just have to be cautious, competitive, and wait for attrition to weed them out.

Still I love Racing in it. Im on a team with two BMW E30's. Not what im used to in the Exige. Managing momentum plays a big part. I feel like Im driving a tractor at times but fun. Its a fairly even playing field, everyone does pit duty, just a group of guys and gals racing at the grassroots level. It sort of reminds me of the "run what you brung racing" my Dad used to take me to at the county track in the early 70's. The crazy 8's were my favorite!
 
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