Sixth Gear

Guardian Angel Motorsports new race car at November Test

In response to many inquiries, here is the schedule we are pursuing for the January practice & subsequent race.   I’ve also included details on tickets, hotels, etc.

In working with TRG we’ve locked in car, entry, full support, ONE team golf cart and a coach for driver sleeping/wild table dancing parties at 3a.m.   This means most critical roles are filled with TRG employees.  Kevin Buckler has told us that they could use a handful of miscellaneous pit hands and our drivers feel we could use 6-8 people for spotting.

The Offer:

Pit Crew & Spotters - All access pass, Grand Am membership, schwag and meals (10-12 to be exact)…the rest of the expenses involved are just not something we can shoulder…the event is just too expensive in and of itself.

• Pit Crew count - 10-12
• Spotter count - three teams of two (it is 24hrs and we need seamless coverage).  Given the critical team nature of this role, we’ll need to have the same spotters at BOTH the practice and race.

The Hotel:

Hilton

We’ve chosen to stay at the Hilton Daytona Beach Ocean Walk Village  Phone is 386.254.8200.  It’s about 7 miles from the track and is RIGHT on the beach.  Nice facility, clean & neat just a heads up though, the Datyona Beach strip is 2-3 stars…at best.

The Dates:

Practice: 

Begins 1.3.09 and ends on 1.5.09   Official Grand Am practice schedule here   We’re planning to fly into Orlando and drive to Daytona as there are no direct flights from Boston Logan to Daytona International Airport.

The Race:

Begins 1.23.09 and ends on 1.25.09 with the following sub-dichotomy:

• Practice & Qualifying is on 1.23.09
• Race begins 3:30 p.m. on 1.24.09
• Race concludes 3:30 p.m. on 1.25.09

Offical Grand Am race schedule here

General Spectator ticket information here.  I’d suggest an infield/garage pass if you want to see anything up close.

Our general travel plans are to fly in the night before and fly out that night….exception being on 1.25.09 with the race ending so late, it makes catching a 7p.m. flight out of Orlando difficult.  I’m still working on my options there.

We’d LOVE to have friends and family involved in anyway they would like.  Generally, it will be hard for any of us drivers to be much for conversation given the intensity of the undertaking.  To put it in perspective, consider this:

• Each driving shift is approx. 64 minutes long.
• In each driving shift, we’ll physically endure the equivalent of running a 10k road race.
• With each tank of gas, our crew will replace the tires, replenish 110 liters of fuel, change drink can, wash the windshield, clean the lights, fix any damage and change the driver, sending the car back out on the track in less than 35 seconds.
• Each driver will repeat their 10k road race every 192 minutes (3 hours) for SIX sessions.  In other words, the drivers will run a 10k road race every three hours….or six 10k road races in 24 hours.

Hopefully, this will help appropriately set everyone’s expectations so you can guage your level of interest and commitment.  We’re excited and looking forward to sharing the experience with any and all that are willing.

Finally - you know what I’m about to say.    ALL OF THE MONEY is handled directly by Children’s Hospital of Boston and is 100% tax deductible.  You’ll get a receipt from them. 

Our effort here is to use the sizzle and broad appeal of motorsports to raise money for Children’s Hospital.  As I’ve mentioned, they’ve been my son Colin’s pit crew, recently my daughter Emily’s and in times like these, they need help like ours to keep delivering the stellar care they deliver.   People travel from ALL OVER THE WORLD to benefit from something we have in our own back yard….and perhaps….take for granted.  Have you pledged yet?   If not - would you please consider supporting our fund raising effort?

Direct Mailing Address (for checks in lieu of credit cards on link)

Children’s Hospital Boston
c/o Christopher Troyanos
1 Autumn Street, #371
Boston, MA 02215-5301

Colin (left) and brother Ryan