Acura Team Penske No. 6 ARX-05 DPi car

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(Photos from Sebring 2019)

With two race wins in the IMSA Weathertech United Sportscar Championship DPi class in the 2019 season, it would seem Acura Team Penske is on par with the Cadillac DPi cars of Wayne Taylor Racing and Action Express Racing. With the 6 Hours of Watkins Glen next on the 2019 IMSA season schedule, and only round three of the four-race Michelin Endurance Cup, finishing with high honors in this championship battle is likely to be Acura and Cadillac as the favorites to contend for the North American Sports Car Endurance crown. In a motor sport where the majority of race wins are won by automotive performance, only one manufacturer will triumph on the weekends and sell on the weekdays.

 

Michelin Tire Factory Kiosk at Sebring 2019

It takes a perfectly well-built combustion engine for the automobile to perform. It takes a well-funded and organized racing team, to put forth one of the world’s best drivers and engineers to bring out the best in the automobile.

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For such results to finish in the winner’s circle, or somewhere high in the money, traction, durability, and reliability shape the balance of the automobile’s load.

At the Michelin tire facility during the 2019 IMSA Sebring 12 Hours of Endurance, precision and perfection of rubber meeting the road is a life-long mission that goes nowhere but forward — as skilled technicians craft and assemble Michelin tires of all compounds on the spot while distributing them to each IMSA race team.  In a motor sport that races at road circuits across the United States, clocking in roughly 71 hours of green-flag track time a year, even tire manufacturing has its share of competition.

For tire companies like Michelin supplying race teams, competition is their business.

Feature Image of the Day: Corvette L88 Show Race Car

#Racecar #Chevrolet #FabulousRestorations #Cars #Corvette #CarShows #VintageRaceCars

 

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Race Car Pics: Chevrolet Monte Carlo Stock Car

In this content post, I Motor Man Dan present throwback photos of March 2017 at the Winter Wonder Car & Truck Show at the Sun’ n Fun airstrip in Lakeland, Florida.

Featured in this post is this Chevrolet Monte Carlo stock racing car, driven professionally by Ted Head.

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Feel free to check out the February 2017 feature story about the Winter Wonder Car & Truck Show at MotorManDan.WordPress.com.

Motor Lens: Let knowledge drive you!

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Blast From The Past: Swamp Rat 17

 

Waiting patiently for the Don Garlits Museum of Drag Racing Private Tour session February 2016 while scouring at Big Daddy’s collection of dragsters, this “Swamp Rat” dragster stood out from the rest.

Built with a streamliner body, according to the official Don Garlits Museum website Garlits.com, the Swamp Rat 17 was forged with a purpose: to reach blistering straight-line speeds. Garlits documents the birth of Swamp Rat 17 in his online photo gallery.

Swamp Rat 17: When Robert “Jocko” Johnson saw that I was having success with the RE Car, SR 14, he called me and asked if I would like for him to build a streamliner body for one of my RE chassis. I said yes and the project was underway. Jocko built a very nice fiberglass body and Swingle built the frame and by the end of 1972 we were ready to test. I debuted the car at the AHRA Grand American at OCIR and Butch Mass drove the beast to 180 MPH, far off the highly touted 275 MPH!

— Don Garlits

Sit back and pull out your smartphone or laptop, and check out the rest of the story of Swamp Rat 17 on garlits.com. A story of innovation ascending to greater heights while exceeding expectations.

2019 IMSA Predictions: Acura Team Penske Will Be Top-Five Contenders

The 2018 IMSA Weathertech United Sportscar Championship season proved to be a rocky start for the two Acura Team Penske ARX-05 entries.

With the No. 7 entry of Ricky Taylor and Helio Castroneves capturing a race win at Mid Ohio, and the No. 6 Acura DPi of Dane Cameron and Juan Pablo Montoya averaging fifth place in the Prototype Championship battle — MotorMan Dan predicts that the Acura Team Penske organization will be among the top five contenders racing for the win throughout the 2019 schedule.

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For Acura Team Penske Lead Engineer, Jonathan Diuguid, he said on IMSA.com Wednesday, automotive reliability was among the team’s strengths heading into the 2018 IMSA season.

“We did significant mileage prior to the season and none of those issues arose during any of that. So, from a car-preparation standpoint, I think we relied a lot on the experience of the guys that worked here and have done this before to try to make sure we don’t repeat some of the mistakes that other teams have. I think we did a good job on that. That being said, everything can always get better.”

— Diuguid, IMSA.com

In the quest for improvement, Diuguid said Team Penske must minimize mistakes.

“As a group, everybody has a long list of notes on what we can improve,” Diuguid said. “By no means are we going to sit on our hands and look back and think we did everything correctly, because I think we still have a lot to learn.

“Just tying up loose ends from a team standpoint and a strategy standpoint and making sure we minimize mistakes. Even in the endurance races, you make one mistake and you’re out of the race. The (No.) 7 car this year at Daytona, they got into an accident when we were running in the top three and then that was their race and they couldn’t recover from that. So, I think just minimizing mistakes on all fronts, car preparation, drivers and engineering is the main goal.”

— Diuguid, IMSA.com

The initiation of a full-time motor racing team in any racing series, especially a team with a history of success like Team Penske making a return to sports car endurance racing, can be a rough mountain to conquer. Success in IMSA’s premier series, regardless of class, takes engineers who designs and fine tunes race cars that suit each co-driver’s style of driving while the drivers themselves, are trained mentally and physically in piloting their aerodynamic machines (of course money and sponsorship are vital in a team’s ability to perform). Engineers work day and night to produce hundreds of race cars every season for their drivers to hit the ground running from Daytona to Road Atlanta.

With the off season already in full swing, IMSA teams such as Team Penske, will be eager for on-track, left and right turning action at the Roar Before the Rolex 24 and beyond. Until then, a family Turkey dinner and spreading Christmas cheer is next on the agenda.

 

Mister Right To The Limit

On the verge of graduating from college, Matt Sprague had trouble finishing his late 1988 Toyota Supra 1UZFE Turbo Swap project car on time.

Continue story through accessing the following link:

file:///C:/Users/dan-f/Desktop/MotorManDan_MR2Review_May2018.pdf

 

#EngineerFreely #Cars #AutoCustoms #AUTOFocus

Saddle Up, Ford Mustang To NASCAR Cup Series in 2019

Aric Almirola Ford Fusion car on display at Sebring International Raceway in 2017. (Photo by Dan Fisher)

For every journey, there is an end.

As for Ford in the NASCAR Cup Series, replacing the Fusion with the Mustang in 2019 is the beginning of an era for the Blue Oval.

Though expectations are high in the Ford camp, the pre-production script for the Mustang’s full-scale assembly comes first, said NASCAR.com on Tuesday, April 17.

According to Ford officials, the Mustang is still going through initial testing and will be formally submitted to NASCAR for approval this summer.

“NASCAR has a really good process that continues to get better every year,” Ford Performance Global Director Mark Rushbrook said during a Tuesday teleconference. “It’s a very well-defined process for timing. The submission will happen through June of this year, and then depending on how things go on that initial test, that will lay out the rest of our timeline.”

— NASCAR.com Press Release

With the Chevrolet Camaro in its first year competing full time in the Cup Series while fielding entries to teams in the NASCAR Ixfinity Series, it would seem that Pony car competition is beginning to grow in NASCAR’s top level series.

As Ford Performance Global Director, Mark Rushbrook, said in the NASCAR.com Press Release, NASCAR Cup teams with Ford entries look forward to the Mustang’s 2019 debut with great interest.

“We tried to leverage the skill across all of our teams,” Rushbrook said. “We’ve had active engagements from Roush Fenway Racing, Team Penske and Stewart-Haas Racing. They’ve been the main contributors to this, but (all of the teams) are anxious to get the best car on the track in 2019, so they’ve been very active with us.”

— NASCAR.com Press Release

Once the Mustang makes its debut in the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series at Daytona, expect Ford teams to saddle up and rub shoulders with the Camaro and Toyota Camry.

MotorMan Dan: Action Express Mustang Sampling Prototype Car Review

Specs: * Source –> media.cadillac.com

Engine 6.2L/376 cu in, Naturally aspirated V-8

Horsepower: 600 @ 6,800 RPM (approx.)

Transmission: Transverse sequential

Weight: 2,050 lbs. (930 kg.)

Brakes: Brembo 4-wheel disc

 

 

 

Favorite Feature(s):

 

• Track Performance

Although its exterior design is impressive, which makes the Cadillac DPi.-V.R look like the pinnacle of all Cadillac models, its track performance during the 56th Rolex 24 At Daytona proved to be a record-breaking run in terms of the number of miles it ran.

According to Racer Magazine, after winning Daytona, the Mustang Sampling Cadillac DPi.V.R averaged “808 laps/2,876.48 miles on the 3.56-mile circuit, shattering both the 1992 mark for laps completed (762) and the 1982 record for miles completed (2,760.96),” thanks to the efforts of co-drivers Joao Barbosa, Filipe Albuquerque and Christian Fittipaldi. Talk about team work and long-run consistency. Not to mention: Managing the car’s engine from experience potential oil and water overheating issues.

With Daytona and Sebring already in the record books, and only 10 more races until the curtain on the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship season draws to a close, it would seem that Action Express Racing and its Mustang Sampling’s Cadillac will be on their feet all season long, defending their title in the North American Endurance Cup while contending for the WeatherTech Championship. For now, Long Beach will be the primary focus for all IMSA teams to show their grit on the race track.