Maynard Fueling Up

to bond as only a trailer haul can create. The team took two 40′trailers. That’s what it takes to haul all the gear and the car to a Grand Am race . The preparation and equipment needed to support a single car team can make you do a double take.

The two trailer’s required two trucks and the team split up to fill the seats in each. Interestingly, the trucks divvied up by age and musical taste. The Young truck with speed metal spilling out of the windows. The Senior Race team members (40 plus) old men in this game. I am proud to be a member of the old guys in racing. I am 41 and I do feel it. Dan Maynard is the glue on the team. This guy is incredible. I was having trouble diagnosing a trailer break problem and had spent the early part of Thursday pulling fuses and relay’s attempting to fix the lack of trailer breaks. I had driven back from Ohio in this state.

Hauling a race car can be and in most cases is the most dangerous activity of a race weekend. Dan had Londonderry Ford on the phone and arraigned for a service tech to take a look at the mystery. Twenty five minutes latter we have trailer breaks. Dan shakes a few hands. Londonderry Ford thanks us for stopping by and sends us down the road with trailer breaks.

See it pays to have experience. The young bulls run/ the old bulls walk. Young gets maybe one. Old get them all.(reference the movie colors)

Back to the bonding. Both Trucks and trailers arrive at Lime Rock ready to be unloaded and the race weekend is set to commence. Being a new team is great it’s all raw it’s all fresh. I can sense the anticipation. The team sets up camp the car is unloaded and teched. A few items don’t pass scrutiny minor stuff, some roll bar padding and a new trunk latch and we are the proud 3D racing/ Guardian Angel Motor Sports BMW #82  ST race car. Ready for battle

Time for Bed, the team all settles in to the sleeping quarters. Both trailer are equipped with bathrooms and showers and bunk areas. Its close quarters, camping on asphalt.  This is where the personalities and the ticks start to rear there heads. Our Data Guy  Is ready willing and excited about sleeping on the top of the trailer, on the observation deck. We all wish him luck. Dan is a veteran and claims the rear quarter of the F450. I have my forward goose neck birth set up. The rest of the crew take up the cots and the air mattresses arraigned haphazardly through out the rear floor spaces of the two trailers.

3D Old Guy Breakfast - Note Metamucil ;)

Being in the senior group (over Forty) I have a set of ear plugs and insert them before I take up my nights rest. Back to the old bull / Young bull thing. One old bull( who shall remain nameless to protect the sanctity of the team) kept all the young bulls at bay denying them a nights rest. Only the data guy got some rest on the roof of the observation deck. The rest succumb to an old bull cutting wood with a two stroke  HuskVarna. I was saved by the ear plugs, unscathed I slept, resting up for the busy day pending.

Day two Old bulls 2. Young bulls tired. Stay tuned…………

Regards

Tom

You could ride thru Boston in this car!

All proceeds go to Davids-House.org

Here is why

Top 3 Bidders as left in comment section below for all to see at 12pm 5.20.10

Starting bid is $100 per person

- By Tommy Sheehan
Guardian Angel Emptor
Co-Driver Continential Challenge ST #82

Texting last minute details and delegating tasks that I am incapable of delivering ( that list is quit long) Preparing for the May 20th Guardian Angel Motorsports presents “Liberty for Lime rock “ I am walking a fine line between doing the good work and being a road hazard that will result in more good work needing to be done. I am managing but at moments I may have been a road Hazard texting while driving a F-350  with a 40’ goose neck half way across American in search of Mid Ohio.

I heard it on the radio in a song “Misery loves company but she will never foot the bill” I had a day that will flip that lyric

This all feels good there is no doubt, I am on the right side of this. I am traveling to mid Ohio. I needing to familiarize myself with the race track. This is my first trip to Mid Ohio. I will be returning latter this season to Race the BMW flying the Guardian Angel wings. I want to be ready I want to be worthy.

O crap I have to be honest. I am really escaping. I am escaping the madness of life. I am living the dream traversing the county in search of track time. Did I say that out loud?

Horse has left the barn, Deflect redirect. Back to the thesis.

I made it. I pulled in to the gates of Mid Ohio race circuit. Well almost, I got up to the gates but they were locked. One lone staff member was in sight hoisting a Honda banner on a light pole in a 40 foot boom lift. I pulled my truck and trailer up and shut it down happy to have made it. Happy to have replied to all the e-Mail with out incident. I introduced myself as he was lowering the boom to the asphalt. Hi, my name is Tom I am a Day early.  Is this a good place to drop a trailer for the night? I was tired and had really not made a great first impression. I wanted to hit the rewind button buy life does not have the feature so I was stuck. I am inspired to write this blog based on the next chain of events.

Welcome to Mid Ohio! Is this your first time out here? No problem you can park any where in this area. My Name is Brian. Welcome you are going to love this track.  I had done nothing to deserve this. I was alone for 10 hours texting with my thumbs. I had a hero’s welcome and I never saw it coming. Savor , It feels great what a day. Not knowing when a good run can end I did what all racers do. I pushed for more. “Brian” I asked “any chance I could walk the track?”

The reply was as cordial as the greeting. I can’t let you walk the track it’s closed. 10 minutes latter Brian pulled up in the track F-350 Hey Tom I have to check out the track before I leave do you want to ride around in the Truck, I can show you around?

I jumped in and we took a ride around the track. I got great prospective history and information in 15 minutes time I had a familiarity with the lay out. I will need more time for the actual race line . But I am stellar for my first 30 minutes

Circle back to our role in supporting David’s House. They perform the service that Brian provided to me. Like Brian , David’s House reaches out and welcomes strangers far away from home. Strangers with no idea of what is behind “the gate.” At the end of the day strangers are friends. That’s all that is left, the connections.

Back again to the lyric” misery loves company but she will never foot the bill” I think its phrased wrong. “ A great story has lots of characters, Every one contributes something.” What is your role?

Regards

Tom

ROLEX 24: This Is Personal

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Daytona, FL - At 6:03 a.m. Guardian Angel Motorsports was forced to withdraw from the 48th running of the Rolex24hr at Daytona.   The car suffered a catastrophic gearbox failure resulting of the loss of gears; 1; 2; 3; 4; 5 & 6…yes, that’s ALL of them.   The 3rd gear cog had suffered some difficult shifts earlier in the race which led to it’s split into three pieces which then navigated around the gearbox taking everything with it.

Driver Bruce Ledoux was completing his double stint which had begun at 3:53am.   Ledoux was quoted as saying, “…the car was handling superbly, the crew & team had done an excellent job…”   Ledoux was able to set fast lap of the day at 4:47a.m. on the 93rd lap for the tires.    When asked about his feelings on the team’s defeat, he replied, “…it’s so sad……We coulda’ been a contenda’s…”   The team was in 14th position at the time they withdrew.

When the team was asked what they wanted people to recall about their valiant effort to complete Laps for Love146, they’re reply was one of solidarity and unanimity, they drew upon their iconic idol, Theodore Roosevelt and his speech from Sorbonne, Paris that they had all recently attended…;)

“It is not the critic who counts; not the man who points out how the strong man stumbles, or where the doer of deeds could have done them better. The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena, whose face is marred by dust and sweat and blood; who strives valiantly; who errs, who comes short again and again, because there is no effort without error and shortcoming; but who does actually strive to do the deeds; who knows great enthusiasms, the great devotions; who spends himself in a worthy cause; who at the best knows in the end the triumph of high achievement, and who at the worst, if he fails, at least fails while daring greatly, so that his place shall never be with those cold and timid souls who neither know victory nor defeat.”

As dusty, sweaty, bloody men, we humbly admit the tie score: Daytona 1 (’10) - Guardian Angel Motorsports 1 (’09).   See you all in June at the 6 hours of Watkins Glen.   In the meantime, please consider helping us win this battle in the paddock by supporting our Laps for Love146 and contributing to our charitable effort.

Donate Here

Bruce Ledoux
Rolex GT #18
Guardian Angel Motorsports
Twitter : Blog : Fanpage

2010 Rolex24hr GT Field

I find I’m feeling SUPER guilty about the expense vs. the family and find myself asking lots of questions, like, Is this over indulgent?  Am I being selfish?  Is this fair to Linda, Emily, Colin & Ryan?  and most importantly, Is this worth it?  I mean, who really cares? Then yesterday, amid all of the fury of packing and getting ready, Linda hands me this note that Colin’s aid at school sent home with him. “Mr. Ledoux & Team GAM”   (btw - I’m 41, Mr. Ledoux is my dad). I want to wish you luck on your race this weekend.  I think it’s truly amazing that you get behind the wheel not to win a race but for the purpose that goes beyond getting a trophy at the end.  In your blog on the web, you said that you were a ‘nobody’, (basically comparing yourself to the professional drivers out there) and I disagree.  I think there are a substantial amount of people that would agree with me on this.  You truly ARE a hero in the eyes of not only your own children and family members but to everyone who knows what it actually is that your driving for. Christopher Reeve once said, “A hero is an ordinary individual who finds the strength to persevere and endure in spite of overwhelming obstacles.”  This is exactly what you and your team stand for! Congratulations already on everything you have accomplished and I wish you the best of luck in all of your races to come. Good Luck this weekend, Go Get ‘em!!! “Miss A*****” PS - I hope that my small donation to FAAN will somehow make a difference.

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….and then I could sleep…..for a few hours anyway…
Thank you Miss A*** for letting me know that we are in some how, some way making a difference. Bruce Ledoux Rolex GT #18

GuardianAngelMotorsports : Twitter : Fanpage : Donate

- Bruce Ledoux

from Tom Sheehan to Bruce Ledoux date Tue, Jan 26, 2010 at 10:49 PM subject Vacation thoughts

Driving in the Rolex 24hr race was not the plan. The entire experience has been organic and grown from talking about it to driving in the test and now to run the race. This is the kind of event that makes one look deep into the innards of your commitment to the passion of driving race cars. How bad do you have it?

I always dreamed ,”What would it be like to drive a 997 cup at speed.” I am ready, I am but how different is it going to be? How will I do? How do I stack up?

It was Humbling to get into an unfamiliar car as an amateur racer. The years of familiarity with my own equipment its subtle and not so subtle nuances, they all strip away. It’s a car but it’s a relevant machine surrounded by other relevant machines with relevant drivers. My test experience was just that some experience but as the 30^th gets closer I realize this is real, this race, me in it. The Rolex 24hr is all so real. I digress.

My wife Rhonda who along with four other wives I know will be moved up the list. I will not say what list it is because I don’t know but my mention of it conjured up the appropriate list in your mind. You know the one I mean. Rhonda and I boarded the flight to Orlando Open seating we had The late check in middle seat choices as we peered down the isle boarding in Manchester New Hampshire. My wife eyed a coat taking the first row middle seat, clear leg room for her husbands 5′ 17″ frame. I had a fix on it to. With my seat secured my wife headed back into the depth of the aircraft cabin. Rhonda secured an open row in the rear of the aircraft, no leg room but some elbow room. I stuck with my commitment to the center seat in the front row.

Secretly I was delighted. Now was an opportunity. I was free of my wife’s attention, free to start my mental preparation. My laps for the day would be simulated out of my mind. I closed my eyes pictured the drivers view out of the car from the recent test braced my feet against the crease between the airplane floor and the bulkhead wall. I was doing laps, gas, shift up, clutch out, leaving pit road. Turn off the pit lane rev limit. Do it when the car is straight. I am in second gear and the car launches forward now free of a limited RPM. Now careful, get out of the pit exit, its tight the tires are cold. Out on the track I go up and down through the paces of each corner I see my marks I am breaking blipping shifting. I think the guy seated to my left was in horror but as most people do when they see something strange they pretend it is not happening and they ignore you. I was ok with it. To my right is a nice woman traveling alone fast asleep just after the plane leaves the ground. I think the flight attendants thought I was dreaming. I was. I did not care. I was out of sight of my wife.

You see this is our vacation. We had this planned long before the Rolex bid came to fruition. I have a week off with my wife in Florida. We are golfing. Golf is my wife’s passion. I enjoy it as well. It is a sport we share. Rhonda loves Tom. Tom Loves to race cars. Rhonda does not even like to drive let alone be interested in going fast. Rhonda loves Golf. Tom loves Rhonda. Golf is a solid bond. Some reading this have an idea of where I am going. Most of you have already lived it so I won’t bore you. It’s the week before the highlight of my racing life. The euphoric Zen I have coursing through my veins feeding the core of my being, must and I underscore must, It must be kept in check for our vacation. This is my dream. I have put my wife through enough. I can keep a lid on this for a week, cant I?

Four-thirty AM Monday January 24^th. I am up. Rhonda is sleeping. I close my eyes. Pit lane, I fix the rear view grab first gear……… I do laps in bed while Rhoda sleeps a few feet away. I am now just doing them in my head. I see it all. It is fresh. It is close. This is my world. I am getting ready. I am living the dream. A few feet away my wife is Dreaming of the day of golf ahead. I am only using it as a respite between my next driving sessions. It is building. The race is getting closer it is on. This is real.

Regards

Tom

We need your help fund raising we’re at $18,500 and trying to get to $50,000 by the start of the race on this Saturday, 1.30.10.    Would you please consider donating to help the kids?

DONATE NOW

TRG TO BROADCAST LIVE FROM THE PITS AT ROLEX 24

Daytona Beach, Fl (January 26, 2010)- Known for their innovative ways to engage their fans and sponsors, TRG will be launching an all out multimedia assault for this weekend’s Rolex 24 at Daytona.

Broadcasting over the internet LIVE during all 24 hours of the race, the team is undertaking a groundbreaking step in getting the fans behind the scenes. Hosted by Team Polizei’s Liz Mozes, the team invites everyone to take part in chat room discussions, featuring live video interaction with drivers, team members, as well as intimately bringing you in to team strategy discussions and pit calls.

TRG’s live “PitPass” can be found at:
www.theracersgroup.com/PitPass

Colin behind the wheel

How far do i have to go to get to you
Many the miles
Many the miles

Jamie, Colin & Emily are grade-school students with severe food allergies.  If someone accidentally spills milk on Jamie or gets peanuts or sesame near Colin and
Emily during school lunch, the resulting anaphylactic

Jamie in headband, Emily facing on right

shock would be life threatening.

• More than 12 million Americans have food allergies.  That’s 4% of the population.
• The incidence of food allergy is highest in young children, 1 in 17 among those under age 3.
• Anaphylactic reactions requiring hospital treatment appear to be increasing.
• Authorities in England report a threefold increase between 1994 and 2004.
• Peanut allergies doubled in children over a five-year period, 1997 to 2002.

How far do i have to go to get to you
Many the miles
Many the miles

Little girl #146 is missing.  If you have a daughter, her story will sicken you.  That someone would rob a girl of her childhood innocence erodes our humanity.  The recent stats released by the U.S. Department of Justice paint a bleak picture for young women and girls.

• More than 1,200 incidents of human trafficking were reported in the U.S. over the 21-month period from January 2007 to September 2008.
• Over 90% of the victims, overall, are female.  Hispanics are particularly hard hit, constituting 37% of all sex trafficking victims and 56% of labor trafficking victims.
• 83% of reported incidents involve sex trafficking, and one-third of the total involve sex trafficking of children.  71% of sex trafficking victims are under age 25.
• U.S. citizens account for 63% — a clear majority - of sex trafficking victims.

How far do i have to go to get to you
Many the miles
Many the miles
But send me the miles and i’ll be happy to follow you…

Many Miles - Sara Bareilles (click to listen)

2009 Rolex24hr 18th in Class Finish

Guardian Angel Motorsports’ founders Bruce Ledoux, David Quinlan & Dan Watkins triumphantly return for their sophomore effort at the 2010 Rolex 24 Hours at Daytona with co-drivers Bob Doyle and Tom Sheehan. Their mission - as a team of amateurs - is not to win on the track, but to win in the paddock & in race fans’ hearts.  The goal is simple:  Raise over $100k for children’s charities by driving 1750 laps at four events in 2010.

It’s deeply personal.

“Thru our own experiences as fathers of children with disabilities and allergies, we want to help as many children as possible by simply giving them the luxury of a chance to win.  Right now, so many don’t have the luxury of even a chance.” (Bruce Ledoux, father of Colin & Emily)

In 2009, Guardian Angel Motorsports raised over $75,000 for Children’s Hospital of Boston. This year they race for two charities:  www.LOVE146.org, working toward nothing less than the abolition of child sex slavery and child exploitation, and FAAN, the Food Allergy and Anaphylaxis Network (www.foodallergy.org), raising public awareness, providing advocacy and education, and advancing research on behalf of millions affected by food allergies.

The Rolex 24 at Daytona is a chance of a lifetime for Guardian Angel Motorsports

…and a chance of a life for the kids we support.

Would you please help us to defend the defenseless?

DONATE HERE

Thank you,

Bruce, David, Dan, Bob and Tom
Guardian Angel Motorsports
Rolex GT #18

Toby Gearbox Replacement

From: Shannon

Sent: Thursday, January 14, 2010 7:44 PM

To: Bruce Ledoux

Cc: David Quinlan; Travis Hill; Bob Doyle; Tom Sheehan; Kevin Buckler; Debra Buckler

Subject: Data Report

Hello all.  This is your friendly neighborhood data guy.

At several people’s request I have gone through all of the data from the weekend and found a few problems.  The main thing is shifting needs to be cleaned up.  There are many instances of poor shifting.  These will land you in the garage with a broken gearbox or out of the race completely with a blown motor.  For some of you I know we discussed specific issues, but I wanted to bring these to everyone’s attention.  Below are some specifics that I have found.

Here is an example of rushed downshifts.  The shifts occurred too early and put the motor above 9000 RPM for two of the shifts.  The worst of which was 9786 RPM.  It can be seen that this shift also caused the rears to start to lock up.  This shift was bad on two fronts.  The high RPM will kill the motor and the drive train stresses in the magnitude strong enough to initiate lock up will kill the gear box.

These next two are consecutive laps.  This again is a rushed downshift that could kill a motor on its own.  These are severe over revs (10008 RPM and 9930 RPM).  In a 24 hour race this will most definitely end a race early with a damaged motor.

This incident was a fatal incident that ended the gear box.  In this incident the throttle is not really blipped but held at least partially open while down shifting which results in the motor banging off of the rev limit while downshifts are occurring.  You can see this in the gears changing and the RPM staying at redline the entire time.

Here is an example of a bad downshift that will kill a gear box if repeatedly done.  The blip is done just fine with the gear shift, but the clutch pedal is released too slowly.  The blip and the downshift need to be done together.  There should be very little time between the blip and the clutch pedal release.  If it takes too long to release the clutch pedal, the RPM drop and when the pedal is released the deceleration forces are sent through the drivetrain as seen in the elevation of the RPM from below 3000 RPM to almost 7000 RPM.

Here is another extreme example.  In this one the car is allowed to go back down to idle. When the clutch pedal is released, the clutch engages and the engine shoots up to over 7000 RPM.  This is a big change in engine speed and the forces hit the gearbox the hardest.  This will break a gearbox in no time.

Be sure to get the blips done.  Do not down shift without the blip as it will land you in the garage.  Also be sure to make the blip and clutch engagement a seamless act.  Where I see problems in this case is when the blip is done and too much time passes until the clutch pedal is released engaging the clutch and putting stresses into the drivetrain as if no blip was done.

Slow down your thought processes.  Do a few laps at slower laptimes, but perfect on all shifts.  Downshift later so as to not over rev the motor.  This seems to occur as the laps start adding up.  Get the car stopped and slow the motor then downshift.  The brakes should be carrying the load here.  Also, don’t go down too many gears.  Know the gears for the turns and concentrate on going into the right gear.

Be sure to hit the blips perfectly.  Concentrate on getting the blip and clutch pedal release as close as possible.  This will help build the muscle memory or help you get the feel of it, which pays dividends when you are deeper into your stint and may not be as clear of thought.

If you have an incident like any one of the above, be sure to let your car chief know about it.  It will show up in the data, but the quickest way to know about it is to let the car chief know.  The sooner he knows about it, the quicker it can be dealt with, and the less damage it will do by not compounding the problem.  This race is won by staying out of the pits and garage.  If you have to sacrifice a few tenths to do this, it’s worth it.  If the car is driven as it was during the test, it will not finish the race.  As always, if anyone has any questions for me, please don’t hesitate to contact me.

Shannon Davis
Data Acquisition
The Racer’s Group (TRG)

www.theracersgroup.com

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On Jan 14, 2010, at 4:59 PM, Bruce Ledoux wrote:

Hi Shannon - this is great.  thank you so much.  are any of these charts mine?  how’s my data looking?  i’ve thought I have it whipped but would like to make sure.  please let me know. - b

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Shannon,

Thanks for the data tutorial. Can you put a data segment of A+ blips and  down shifts up for a comparison to the damaging blip and clutch release examples we see here. I would like to get a fix on when the good shifting starts in relation to brake input & correct time duration between down shifts. This is really good stuff. Thank you for these.

Regards - Tom Sheehan

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Guys,

pay REALLY close attention to what is going on here.  We are trying to be super pre-emptive to any issues & really manage your D24 experience as professionally as we can.

This is SUPER SUPER SUPER important.  You guys MUST fix this or I promise you 100%—you will NOT finish the race.

Whatever you have to do to go practice, learn, study–go get a stick shift from a buddy—whatever—you need to do it

Thx—we only want to help

—————————————————–

Kevin Buckler

Chief Executive Officer

The Racers Group/TRG

TRG Motorsports, LLC

Adobe Road Winery

www.theracersgroup.com

www.trgmotorsports.com

www.adoberoadwines.com

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Hi Team,

Let’s reframe this in a manner that “Stubby” really understands well.

1.  We’ve seen SOME of the teeth that the transaxle has to share with one’s bank account.

2. Check out the teeth that the motor has to share….it makes the trans seem like a mosquito bite.

3. None of this compares, however, to the team blanket party that happens to the driver if we lose the motor.  We can’t replace and continue the race as per the rule book.

Capiche?

Loose Bruce
(a.k.a “Stubby” to Kevin Buckler…..and “Yoda” to others)
Rolex GT #18
Guardian Angel Motorsports
Blog : Twitter : Donate : Fanpage

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