ROLEX 24 AT DAYTONA: FRUSTRATING START FOR FORD

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The 2010 racing season got off to a frustrating start for Ford fans in the first weekend of Grand-Am competition at Daytona International Speedway. Ford racing afficionados were buoyed by a Ford-powered Daytona Prototype on the pole for the 48th Rolex 24 at Daytona.

Ford’s 2009 success in the supporting “Challenge Series” (Formerly Koni, now Continental Tire Challenge) fueled ebullient hopes for a strong start to 2010 in the “Fresh From Florida 200.”

Ford racing fans, of course, are not unlike fans of the Chicago Cubs – always waiting for “next year” while fondly recalling glory in times past. After all, Shelby’s Cobras and Ford’s mighty GT once boomed at Daytona during the “Total Performance” era. More recently, Ford-powered cars prepared by Jack Roush once held a mighty ten-in-a-row streak in the Rolex 24 (sadly in the days before it was nationally televised). And with the retrenchment of Lexus and euthanasia of Pontiac, a fairly respectable number of Roush-Yates Ford powerplants were competitively in the Rolex 24 starting field. Surely this would be a breakout year for Ford at Daytona.

Yet when the last shard of carbon fiber from Grand-Am’s season kick-off had finally been deposited on track and Speed Channel’s part-time cameras turned their attention to NASCAR, Ford’s sports car racing fans were left with lots of dust, but little glory.

The results of the Rolex 24 at Daytona and the supporting Fresh from Florida 200 are fully reported elsewhere. But from a Ford-centric perspective, it was a weekend of frustration and missed opportunities.

Ford left Daytona behind BMW and Porsche in the “Grand Sport” division of the Continental Tire Challenge standings. The mighty Ford Racing Mustangs came up short. But since most of America won’t have a chance to see the Florida 200 until it is televised on February 13, most Ford racing fans probably aren’t even aware of how the Mustangs lost.

In the lesser “Street Tuner” division for Sport Compact cars, Ford has ceded the field to Honda, BMW and its corporate partner Mazda, among others. Given Ford's new emphasis on smaller cars, this omission seems short-sighted.

Similarly, in the Grand Touring division of Rolex-series competition, Ford fans could only root for a phalanx of Mazdas. Meanwhile, a couple of silhouette Chevrolet Camaro GT-Rs, along with a few stray Corvettes and Pontiacs soaked up seemingly hours of television time. More than a few Ford racing supporters undoubtedly wondered where the Mustangs were at the so-called “Superbowl of Sports Car Racing.”

At least a SpeedSource Mazda took the win in the GT class, albeit one that may have been marred by Speed Channel’s reporting about Nick Ham’s apparent release from the team and forced retirement.

But the big show was in the Daytona Prototype class. Despite the pole and an extraordinary number of entrants “Powered by Ford,” Prototype glory went to the unheralded Action Express team, running a non-factory authorized Porsche Cayenne V8 and a host of Dinan BMW-powered prototypes that gave chase. The Fords all managed to take themselves out of competition, mostly with a number of bizarre, non-engine-related failures and avoidable mistakes.

Even then, Ford-powered cars were often the fastest cars on track. A.J Allmendinger, in one of Michael Shank Racing’s Ford-powered prototypes, led as late as early afternoon until he collided with a GT car off-camera, starting a downward spiral that eventually resulted in a fiery D.N.F.

So what can Ford fans take from the frustration of the Rolex 24 weekend?

1. Ford stands a decent chance of winning races in Daytona Prototype. Clearly the Fords D.P.s are fast. And in the sprint races that make up most of the Grand-Am schedule, the numbers and quality of the Ford teams suggests that Ford will take some races in 2010.

2. Mazda is serious about winning the GT manufacturers’ title in 2010. While the Camaros will probably snag a disproportionate share of the publicity and fan affections, Mazda seems poised to make a serious challenge to Porsche’s GT hegemony.

3. Ford is missing out by not seriously contesting the GT Class. Because Grand-Am events are generally televised live, more potential sports car buyers will see the Camaros run than Ford’s brilliant Continental Tire Challenge racers. Even though the Challenge cars are more relevant to what Ford sells on Monday, continuing to opt out of GT is an obvious mistake.

4. Speed Channel’s coverage of the Rolex 24 needs improvement. Speed Channel should be celebrated for showing at least part of the Rolex 24 live. But the event (and the 24 Hours of Le Mans) merits flag-to-flag coverage. Nothing is more frustrating than waiting through stupid infomercials just to learn at 7:00 a.m. EST that most of the Fords took themselves out of D.P. competition during the hours when Speed was airing forgettable, non-time sensitive programming. And Speed Channel seemed to miss many of the pivotal crashes and other moments that affected Ford’s chances. While the Speed Channel announce crew is solid and entertaining, Speed simply doesn’t employ enough cameras to adequately cover the event. And Speed Channel sometimes forced commercial breaks when they should have stayed with developing on-track action.

5. At least Ford beat Chevrolet . . . sort of. When Ford’s partner Mazda is factored in, Ford did much better in the final Daytona results than GM. But Ford shouldn’t underestimate the appeal of the GT Camaros. Along with Team Corvette in the ALMS series, GM probably still has more sports car racing presence than Ford.

6. Where’s Roush? The Rolex 24 used to belong to Roush Fords. Surely the Roush organization is large enough to return to endurance racing. If Chip Ganassi can do it, why not Jack Roush?

7. Isn't it time to outlaw or restrict carbon fiber? Grand-Am has a number of rules to limit costs and ensure close racing. But one of the biggest problems for side-by-side racing is tire-popping shards of expensive carbon fiber. A casual fan might think that the cars are built out of "shards" as much as that phrase was uttered during the telecast. Surely a return to older, cheaper materials would both reduce costs and eliminate another source of groove-narrowing "clagg" on track.

While the 2010 Rolex 24 weekend temporarily dampened the spirits of Ford fans, hope still springs eternal that 2010 will be a banner year for the Blue Oval.