Daytona 24 ~2010

Dempsey Racing’s third campaign in the Rolex 24 at Daytona started under a downpour that had started an hour before, leaving puddle on the track and the green flag along with a yellow, the entire field running behind the Mazda pace car until the track could dry off some. It was the team’s first race with two entries; the usual #40 with Joe Foster at the wheel started in 15^th and the brand new Dempsey Racing/Team Seattle #41 started in 9^th.

After a few laps (and a quick on board interview with Joe in which he said the team was ready for two cars) the rain let up and soon after racing went to green. Soon after the green flag waved Leh Keen moved up in class all the way to 3^rd, while Foster steadily climbed to 13^th by the first commercial break. Foster slipped back to 17^th as the TRG car made contact with something and another full course caution was called. Most cars took the opportunity to pit but stayed on their rain tires due to numerous wet spots still on the track, despite the fact the rain had stopped.

Team Seattle soon switched to James Gue driving and DR stuck with Foster, who managed to avoid a spinning #2 DP car. The cars drew close together and for some time the Team Seattle car led the Dempsey Racing car by one spot, moving from 13^th and 14^th, to 8^th and 9^th before Team Seattle pitted again and Dave Lacey took over, while Joe Foster slipped back to 13^th.

Two hours into the race the Dempsey Racing car finally pitted and Patrick Dempsey took over driving responsibilities. The car fell in lap position to 22^nd during the stop but Patrick slowly climbed to 20^th. However, during the 2^nd lap of his shift the radio went out and he lost all communication with the pit. During a Speed interview after he got out his frustration was noticeable; he said he didn’t feel as confident taking the turns and everything just felt off without the communication from the team but the car was still on the track and still going and that it was that mattered.

Scott Maxwell got into the car at that point, and with the radio back working he managed to work the car back up to 17^th, while the #41 held steady around 10^th. Another pit stop for both cars and another driver change as Charles Espenlaub took over the #40 and Don Kitch Jr took over the #41 and the two cars got back in the pattern of running close, until eventually Espenlaub passed the Team Seattle car.

The Team Seattle car pitted and Keen took over driving, and a while later Dempsey Racing pitted and Joe took over. Speed interviewed Charles, who was feeling good about how the team was doing and then spoke about being the most hated man in racing (which simply isn’t true).

The two cars pulled in 6^th (4o) and 7^th (41) just a TV coverage came to an end for the night.

Unfortunately soon after the television coverage start, while the #40 and Joe Foster stayed steady in 6^th place, the number #41 began falling back in standings. It had to be taken to the garage for repairs, which were later explained as a broken radiator thanks to debris on the track. It took quite some time to fix and while Team Seattle was out Dempsey Racing did a pit stop and Dempsey climbed into the car for his night time stint around 11 pm. Team Seattle did eventually pull back onto the track, only to run into some additional problems and have to pull off again, while Dempsey was running in 9^th place.

Around midnight the Team Seattle car got back onto the track, while Dempsey was running in 7^th. About an hour later Dempsey climbed out of the car in 8^th place while #41 was running in 20^th.

At this point, I called it a night so I missed the next few hours of the race. However, from what I gathered from other fans that stayed up (mainly in Europe and Australia) neither car ran into any major problems in the time between 1 am and 7 am and both continued to run steady. The Dempsey Racing car did pit at one for about ten minutes, unsure of the reason but it maintained track position while Team Seattle steadily moved up.

I woke up in the morning to find Dempsey in the car again in 8^th place again while Keen was running in 15^th. The DR car moved up to 7^th, while the #57 car was out for repairs. Dempsey brought it in soon after to do a pit changed that ended up being a lengthy one due to some vibrating he was feeling in the car. Once it was taken care of, Maxwell took over the car and while we lost two positions during the pit stop he quickly regained them.

The day continued much of the same for both cars, #40 stayed steady within the 9^th to 7^th range, while the #41 stayed at about 15^th, and eventually within 18^th. Within the last few hours, the #71 had to pull off because of car problems allowing the Dempsey Racing car to nearly get to 5^th place before it fell back to 7^th. The entire day was a battle between those few positions, usually a lap keeping apart the 4^th place to 9^th place team.

In the last bit of the race, Dempsey Racing held a stead 7^th position while Team Seattle stayed in 14^th. In the last rather exciting about fifteen minutes, the Dempsey Racing car’s lap times picked up and they managed to close in on the 6^th place car, giving the team a 6^th place finish, by far the best in team history for the Daytona 24 Hour.

All in all it was a great race for both cars. The #40 ran an excellent race both mechanically and performance wise, and had a good clean race with an excellent outcome which is a great way to start the season. And the #41 kept persevering despite some problems and managed to raise four hundred thousand dollars which was their goal. So overall, job well done.