Rolex 24 Hours of Daytona Couch Kit
I love settling in for these long distance races with all manner of televisions and computer screens at my disposal, like some all-knowing war commander. In reality I am just watching like the wide-eyed fan I am while Andrea rolls her eyes.
Here’s how I’ll manage the 24 Hours of Daytona race this weekend. (BTW, if you’re unfamiliar with the race, read this piece by Sam Posey. This year marks the 50th running of the event.)
Start time: Saturday, January 28, 3:30PM Eastern standard time
TV coverage explained: Speed (TV): 3:30PM - 11PM, then SpeedTV.com until 9AM, then Speed (TV) until 3:30 checkered flag. All times Eastern.
Live streams:
- SpeedTV stream (11PM Sat - 9AM Sun). MotorsTV (in French)
- Radio feed: Radio Le Mans (with John Hindhaugh, my favorite) MRN (timing and scoring on top, radio feed with controls at bottom)
- Team streams (mostly pit views, some cars): Turner motorsports, TRG, Magnus Racing
- Track views: Tower view looking at T1
Timing and scoring:
- Grand-Am live timing and scoring
Other useful stuff:
- Entry list
- Graphic spotter’s guide view of all the entries by Andy Blackmore
- Twitter searches: #rolex24, #daytona24, Metacool racers list
- New cars I’m eager to watch: Audi’s R8 making a semi-factory-backed debut (with two teams), the new “Corvette DP” prototypes (five cars, including the #90 seen above)
2011 info, just to keep in mind:
- Winner’s average speed: 106.877 mph
- Winner’s total laps: 721
- Winner’s best lap: 1:40:936
- Winners: Hand, Pruett, Rahal, Rojas (Ganassi BMW-powered Riley)
A prototype emerges from the lab: Carmagnum
Some people find time to stop and smell the roses, but I prefer the cars. With that, I am happy to announce we’re shipping the public beta version of Carmagnum. What is Carmagnum? See a car, take a photo. If you’ve ever taken a picture of a car on the street to share with a friend, you’ve already “used” Carmagnum. It’s as simple as that.
This bizarre pleasure used to be a solitary obsession of mine. Then came Facebook, where I started sharing photos of cars with my friends. But soon enough, Facebook wasn’t really comprised of my friends at all. One day my mom’s accountant friended me on Facebook and I realized it was all my fault. As Yogi Berra said, “Nobody goes there anymore…it’s too crowded.” Certainly for the automotive part of my life that became true. My ongoing obsession with second-generation Golfs and GTIs started to fade from Facebook.
Thus, Carmagnum. Right now our little project is web-based but you can upload your photos in a mobile way via email. We hope to have a full featured app for you to use down the road, when we can afford it. Until then I invite you to check it out. Carmagnum is the place to talk about the cars you see with people who actually care.
Carmagnum is a joint effort from Nate Luzod, Sean Lyons, Kevin English and yours truly. I hope you enjoy it. We built it in Michigan, California and Hawaii throughout 2011.
(Below, some of my favorite shots I’ve seen on Carmagnum from some of our users:)
Lance Henderstein, Daihatsu Hijet in Japan
Alex Nunez, GMC truck in NYC
James Morse, Chevrolet Chevette in Northern Michigan
Colin O’Donnell, Datsun 1600 in Los Angeles
Adam Morath, DMC-12 in Ypsilanti:
Nate Luzod, Ferrari paranoia in Toronto:
Seyth Miersma, frankenstein Nissan Z in Portland:
My own, the bed of a Chevrolet El Camino in San Francisco:
Steve Ewing, Honda CRX Si in Michigan:
My old pal Nate Luzod moved to Hawaii a few months ago and all he has to show for it is this incredibly infectious smile. Photo by his wife, the lovely thereafterish.
Stu Thomsen, Redline rider, going enormous over three 930s in 1983.
The Porsche were owned by Oakley founder Jim Janard (red), Redline founder Linn Kastan (white), and Wizard Productions (BMX Action, Freestylin magazines) founder Bob Osbourne (black). Kastan explains the fortunate position of his car on Redline’s site:
“If you look at the ‘high tech’ ramp, you’ll understand why my car was in the middle! Besides, I was the only ‘car owner’ present, so I got to ‘direct!’”
Ronnie Peterson in his 1974 Lotus 76, with the bizarre but interesting (and, sadly, ineffective) biplane rear wing. Peterson was in the odd position of racing with the #1 on his car despite not being the champion (Lotus had won the constructor’s championship in ‘73, but his teammate Emerson Fittipaldi left at the end of that season for MacLaren). In keeping with the F1 numbering system, Lotus had #1 and #2 for their drivers in 1974, giving the remaining Peterson the numero uno.
Although this photo isn’t labeled as such, I believe it was taken at Jarama for the Spanish Grand Prix.
