V-Pack Motorsport Daytona Race Report
[01.30.08 Daytona Beach, FL] -V-Pack Motorsport’s team owner John Vincent was satisfied with the start to the 2008 season. Despite a few minor setbacks, the team was still able to finish 8th and set themselves up for a championship run.
The weekend started off with the team looking for a set up that would work during the three hour race. “We came down here for the test days and the car had a push in it. For the race week, the car was suddenly loose. We knew that there was going to be a limited amount of track time due to the sheer number of cars on the track, so we had to make every session count,” commented John Vincent.
During each session the car improved and, by the morning warm-up, the car was at the top of the charts. “I was quite surprised to see the car go that fast, as Daytona is just not our track because of the lack of straight line speed. Jason was able to get 110% out of that car.”
The race started with the car in 20th position. On the restart, Sam jumped the start and had to serve a drive through penalty and was sent to the rear of the field. At that point, he was a man on a mission and drove from 50th to 15th during his stint. After a flawless pit stop, the team was able to make up another two positions. “I was concerned because three different teams had to share one pit stall. It was a cramped place, but we were all able to work together.”
Jason was able to pilot the car up to 5th place before it started running out of fuel. “I knew we were going go gamble on the fuel. Every time there was a yellow, we were getting closer to making it a one-stop race. When Jason called in that the car was cutting out shortly before the end of the race, I calculated that we would fall back to 12th if we came in. On the last two laps of green we gave up three positions which was better than seven.”
“The weekend was a success for us. Everyone kept a cool head all weekend, which allowed us to confront these challenges and make the best of the situation. It’s a dream to work with two dedicated professionals like Sam and Jason, knowing that they can give 100% all of the time. As for the crew, they are always thinking two steps ahead. Too bad Lime Rock is four months away.”
For information on V-Pack, please go to: www.v-pack.com
