From: Tom Sheehan Sent: Wednesday, January 13, 2010 1:17 PM
Toby's Render for the 48th Rolex24 @ Daytona
To: ‘M****, K A.’
Subject: RE: Hugginz
K,
It was all surreal. I walked in to the Grand Am credentials office in Daytona Beach. I handed them my paperwork. I walked out in 35 min with a Grand am License, and FIA card. Being used to complicated SCCA licensing and registration processes with lots of lines, I walked back in to the credentials office seeking my next task to get me into the” Roar Before The 24“. The registration worker pulled down her glasses and peered over at me with a pleasant but puzzled expression. Her next words floored me. “Honey, you are all set, done, you don’t have to register for or stand in this or any other line again until this time next year. ” I shook her hand and knew I had reached into an entirely different world than the one I knew.
I drove to the track, in through the tunnel, parked the rental rig, and walked into the Garage area with Montoya and one of his buddies. I found the TRG garage. Got a trailer assignment and started to drop off my Continue reading ‘Hugginz….(don’t ask)’
Last week was movie night in the Ledoux household and Linda wanted to watch the movie Julie & Julia. I mean heck, sometimes, as a guy - you have to take a hit for the team…. For those of you that haven’t seen it, it’s fun story about a Brooklyn, NY woman that is drifting in life until she decides to cook every recipe in Julia Child’s book over the course of 1 year…..and blog about it.
What was fascinating to me about the movie was how much momentum and notoriety her efforts gain from the blog. The blog led to interviews with the New York Times, dinners with famous writers, chefs and even some communication via third party to Julia Childs herself. Segue to reality.
GodStone Ranch with the 'Angels
Yesterday morning we were sitting at breakfast when GodStone Ranch racer John McCutchen came over to introduce himself. (He’s running a Pratt & Miller Corvette this year…a formidibly competitive car). He said that he had watched our efforts as a team last year and was inspired by us to mount his own effort for Texas Heart Institute.
The introduction caught me completely off guard as I was fairly certain only a handful of people had dialed into what we had undertaken last year. In fact, as we’ve battled so hard this year to muster an entry, I was beginning to believe that the number of people was smaller than I had expected. It’s been beyond trying and everyone around me has been wondering why I can’t put this down…..and then something like this happens.
I find I’m taken by the humanity of the participants in this event. It’s like little else I’ve been involved in so far. Certainly at the other events, people are friendly, many very genuine but here, for some reason, the vibe is so so different. Particularly this year.
Cold, Rainy & CLOSED paddock
Apparently we are feeling the effects of global warming as the loss of the polar ice cap. I have a friend that tells me they are the ‘batteries’ to our global weather and help keep things evenly balanced. Probably not a great topic considering our undertaking.
So moving right along, as we sit in the trailer…waiting for the weather to change, we contemplate the ways we can use the time to prepare for our undertaking in just 21 days.
We did 90 minutes of video replay discussions with multi-champion Andy Lally. This was a great learning experience and I took a great deal from the discussion. Next we suited up and heading across the arctic howl from the trailer to the garage to practice our driver
Ledoux Driver Change
change proceedure. This was great as we all got to learn the nuances and idiosyncracies of buckling into the car fast. This is an important part of our race as it is a place where we can better control our outcome and have a BIG impact on our overall laps completed. We lose roughly 1/2 lap on our way in and then another 1/2 lap on our way back out of a pit stop. 2 minutes in the pit would cost another lap meaning the car loses 2 laps per pit. If we’re inefficient in the pit and have to return, it may take 10-12hours to drive back a 2 lap (4 minute) deficit.
Currently, I sit in the trailer trying to get some feeling back in my feet and listening to the Flying Lizard guys talk thru their testing session with Patrick Long, Seth Neiman & Jorg Bergmeister…..I think I’ll stroll down the stairs to hang for a few moment with 2001 Winston Cup Champion Bobby Labonte……..such a ho - hum day.
60 minutes of open track and we’re sitting in the trailer.
Not so much. It’s been a fun morning with fairly easy issues to tackle. The car’s wiring harness that identifies it’s drivers was acting up and the officials couldn’t determine who was in the car. So they parked us for 40 minutes while we chased wires with their special tools. In the end $250 solved with issue with a shiney new blue wiring harness.
Now we wait for the mist to stop so that we can drive on either rain tires or slick tires. It’s what we call a ‘tweener - not here, not there.
Frustrating. Our excitement for the day was in getting help from the Grand Am tech officials to mount my former partner Matt Greer’s license plate on the car in his memory. Matt has passed away at the tender
David Quinlan - Roar Before the 24 1.8.10
age of 35 back in April of 2008. He left his business partners Jon & I, his brother Rob, parents Bob & Barbara. The worst was leaving his wife ‘Tasha & 3 year old son James. One of Matt’s many interests was NASCAR. He was an enormous Dale Earnhardt fan and took 3 days off when Dale passed away. He was such a fan that he had a vanity plate made for his ‘59 fuelie Corvette which reads (as you can see) RCR 3. RCR - stands for Richard Childress Racing, the #3 is for Dale Earnhardt’s infamous car #3.
His family has created a foundation in his memory. The Matthew L. Greer Children’s Foundation has been created to unilaterally help fund charities that exclusively benefit children.
We that got to spend time with Matt know that to have his plate flying the high banks of Daytona has him smiling today. If we could just get him to help us with the rain…..
“…Matt? It’s Gump, Are you up there? Buddy - I need some sunshine, can you hook me up???”
…with a dream to get in my car again
Welcome to the land of fame, excess, whoa am I gotta fit in?
Jumped in the cab, here I am for the 2nd time
Look to my right, and I see the Speedway sign
This is all so crazy, everybody seems so famous
My tummy’s turnin’ and I’m feelin’ kinda homesick
Too much pressure and I’m nervous
That’s when the taxi man rolled down the window
And the DP song was on
And the GT song was on
And the Rolex song was on
So I put my hands up, they’re playin’ my song
The butterflies fly away
I’m noddin’ my head like “Yeah!”
3 Amigos at hotel
Movin’ my shifts like “Yeah!”
Got my hands up, they’re playin’ my song
And now I’m gonna be okay
Yeah! It’s a party in FLA!
Yeah! It’s a party in FLA!
I’ve been asking myself this a great deal lately. Here we are just 19 days away from the Roar Before the 24 test on 1.8.10 and we’re still one seat shy of a complete team. The race is a mere 41 days away and the car is functional but not prepared for the race and we’re playing chicken with parts & supplier deadlines as well as $100,000 in funds required to operate the car … “Why Bother?” seems like a logical question.
As I was traveling this past Thursday I watched Michael Moore’s movie “Sicko“. In his usual satirical, bombastic manner, Moore shines a spotlight on the disaster that the American health care system has become.
Right or Left, socialist or capitalist, no matter what your political orientation there is no denying that there are in fact some pretty disturbing issues around our health care system today. Stratospheric bills, irresponsible care or no care at all. Even ‘winners’ become losers, stripped of their life savings.
THIS is why we bother.
It will take much more than our meager efforts to change the current scenario, but we can immediately work to impact the lives of others. Of our family, friends and fellow citizens.
Just like George did.
In just a few more days, we’ll celebrate the 233rd anniversary of General George Washington’s crossing of the Delaware River. Not being much of a history buff, I recently learned the real story behind the significance of the crossing. Yup, GW did navigate the ice filled river, at night, in a blizzard to surprise and defeat the elite Hessian guards and their German leader Johann Rall. What’s the real story?
Washington Crossing the Delaware
The real story is that GW’s army of 20,000 had dwindled down to just 2,500 troops … the American revolution was rapidly losing steam and the support of what is now the American public. Washington was focused and determined. He took his remaining, courageous supporters, THIRTY PERCENT of which had NO SHOES but bare, bloody feet wrapped in burlap and marched them NINE miles thru the blizzard to the river. In small boats they crossed the river, surprised the Hessians and rejuvenated the conviction of the American people in the Revolutionary War.
So much so that just two weeks after the Hessian defeat, Washington’s ranks grew back up to over 15,000 fighters.
Fast forward to today, 233 years later, and we’re helping to fight a different kind of “War of Independence” - for the children. For their freedom, for their liberty, for their right to feel safe and secure.
A picture is worth 1,000 words right?
How about humanity at it’s lowest, most disturbing level:
Did you know that Boston, MA is one of the largest trafficking hubs in the United States? Makes you feel sick to your stomach doesn’t it?
Let’s take Mahatma Ghandi at his word and realize that maybe the way these children are being treated isn’t right. It doesn’t reflect our best effort, we are better than this, we can make a difference in the world we live in, just one child at a time.
So my plan?
I can’t change the situation quickly. I can’t turn the Titanic around myself. I can only use my First Amendment Right to speak. I can vote with my feet and work to make a difference. To try to make things better than how I found them. My plan is to take a page from GW’s Christmas march and put my money and effort where my mouth is.
And to make a difference, with your help, by supporting these two organizations: FAAN, the Food Allergy and Anaphylaxis Network, working tirelessly to free children with severe allergies through education, awareness and research. And Love146, devoted to abolishing child sex slavery and exploitation, nothing less.
Help me use the power and panache of professional motorsports and its 78 million-person US fan base to affect that change. Spread the word. Help us engage sponsors who can support our racing as the racing, in turn, helps us enable Love146 and FAAN as they wage the war to treat our weakest with the dignity and the respect you and I know, that the greatest society in the history of mankind is capable of.
An opportunity of a lifetime. An opportunity for a life.
Will you join me in that fight? I need your help…..badly.
It seems so easy and uneventful … even whimsical … but that’s the last thing that it is. Actually, the 24 hours of piloting the car on race day is easy in comparison to the 4 months of stress, anguish and financial calisthenics that precede it. Driver searches are based as much on financial where-with-all as they are on skill or intensity. Critical part availability is an investment in faith as much as anything.
No matter how you look at it, the math is just brutal.
Our 2009 effort at Daytona had math that looked like this:
Catastrophic Wreck Insurance: $25,000
22 sets of tires: $46,000
600 gallons of fuel: $3,600
Entry Fee: $8,500
New motor: $25,000
Trans R&R: $25,000
Trackside Support: $125,000
Brakes: $4,200
Livery: $5,400 Uniforms: $5,140
Subtotal: $277,980
Race Damage: $56,000
Total: $333,980 spent to raise $75,000 for charity.
Obviously the math only starts working when the funds raised get into the millions…per event. Yet the potential, when considering the international draw and multi million person fan base keeps eating at me. It feels like raising a few million dollars should be EASY.
Wow…big day. First day ‘at speed’ in #18 since our frustrating incident at Watkins Glen on June 1st where we
Guardian Angel Motorsports #18 Entry
met the barrier for some pin striping and general rebuild of the ride hand side of the car. The great news is that Toby (car #18) is back together again in doing just fine.
Day 1 of the Pirelli 2010 Tire Test had the team feeling their way around the track. The day’s momentum built as we started with a wet track that only heightened sensitivity to the car’s traction and going fast in a limited traction situation (read - freaking out behind the wheel). I’ve never driven 170 mph in the rain and have to say, it’s a very unique feeling when the drops hit the windshield like bullets and you’re wondering if you’re going to be able to work off that momentum in Continue reading ‘Sophomore Year - Rolex24hr at Daytona’
The team is in Charlotte (Home Base!) tonight and after many rain delays throughout the day, and only ONE
Charlotte or Bust
practice session—
“The Little Team that Could” (as we have now sometimes been called!) with the help of our driver for this weekend, Mike Bliss, put the #71 car solidly in the show, and Qualified 7th!!!!!!
This is HUGE!!!! Rather than telling you the names of the teams and drivers that we out-qualified, its easier to tell you who we didn’t beat (Jimmie Johnson, Mark Martin, Kasey Kahne, Matt Kenseth, Tony Stewart & Ryan Newman).
TRG CMO Torrey Galida with Bobby Labonte & VIDA wealth partner Rich Schuette
Mama, take this badge off of me
I can’t use it anymore
It’s gettin’ dark, too dark for me to see
I feel like I’m knockin’ on heaven’s door
- Bob Dylan -
These were the words, as my traveling companions loaded me into the car,…that I was senselessly babbling from the 8 hours of sensation overload. You see, we’d just spent the day at the TRG Motorsports open house in New Jersey Motorsports Park where Continue reading ‘Knock, Knock, Knockin’ on Heaven’s Door…’
(Jimmie Johnson, Mark Martin, Kasey Kahne, Matt Kenseth, Tony Stewart & Ryan Newman).
Sun, Oct 4, 2009 at 4:50 PM
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