PR: Sheehan Again Pilots Audi In Watkins Glen Grand-Am Cup

[GarySheehan]

Hey everyone!

This all just came together over the weekend. I'm going to The Glen! It's hard for me to sit still because I'm so excited to be racing in another Grand-Am Cup race and because I've never been to Watkins Glen before. I'll be paired with Anders Hainer this race. It's his first time at The Glen as well. If we can get the track figured out we should be able to run at the front. We were both pretty quick in the Audis at Mont Tremblant (qualified first and second), so together we should make a formidable combination.

Here's the press release that went out today...

Gary
Sheehan Motor Racing
www.teamSMR.com

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CUP NEWCOMER TIPPED FOR SECOND CONSECUTIVE START IN AUDI S4 WITH ISTOOK-AINES

Martinez, Calif. – Following up on his stellar debut performance in last month’s Mont-Tremblant 250, former U.S. Touring Car Championship driver Gary Sheehan will again pilot the Audi S4 of Istook-Aines Motorsports in the Grand-Am Cup The Glen 250, June 19, 2004. Sheehan will be looking to build upon his highly successful debut, which saw him qualify the No. 4 Audi S4 on the front row, set a new GS lap record at Le Circuit de Mont Tremblant and lead the first 14 laps of the race; this also places him among the top 10 drivers in laps led for the season.

The Audi S4 Quattro prepared by Istook-Aines Motorsports is a racecar that Sheehan particularly likes to drive, given his considerable experience racing turbocharged, all-wheel drive touring cars: He previously campaigned an all-wheel drive Subaru WRX, achieving multiple race-wins in the U.S. Touring Car Championship during the 2001-2003 seasons. Adding to the degree of familiarity, the Audi is set up with StopTech’s Balanced Brake System™, which Sheehan has used exclusively in recent years.

For The Glen 250 event, Gary will be teamed with Istook-Aines standout Anders Hainer. Although Sheehan is very experienced at many tracks throughout the US and Canada, this will be his first outing at the venerable Watkins Glen, and he looks forward to learning the track and its subtleties.

“I am very happy to be back in the Istook-Aines Audi again for my second Grand-Am Cup race”, Sheehan said. “Mont-Tremblant was a dream come true, and I want to take that momentum with me to The Glen. The team and I work very well together, and I think we have a good shot at a podium finish. Anders (Hainer) is a very quick driver, and I’m looking forward to sharing the car with him.”

The Grand-Am Cup is the premier production car-based endurance racing series in North America. The field is made up of two classes: Sport Touring (ST) and Grand Sport (GS). GS is the more powerful class of the two and is filled with high-performance cars such as the BMW M3, Cadillac CTS-V, Nissan 350Z, Ford Mustang Cobra, Porsche 996 and Acura NSX.

The Glen 250 is scheduled to start at 2:00 pm eastern time on Saturday June 19, 2004. The Grand-Am Cup action kicks off with a first practice session on Friday June 18 at 1:00 pm, followed by a second Friday session at 3:35 pm. Qualifying for the 250-mile, 74-lap race commences at 11:30 am Saturday, prior to the race. Spectators will be treated to a full weekend of Grand-Am Cup and Rolex Series action during the weekend. The race will be broadcast by Speed Channel on Sunday, June 27th at 2:00pm (ET).

To follow live event timing, (practice, qualifying, and race), or for more information regarding the race schedule and Grand-Am, visit the Grand American Road Racing website at www.grand-am.com

[MattR]

Congrats again Gary! I really enjoyed the last race. I think Watkins Glen will be a blast.,..what a cool track. Which configuration does grand-am run? I imagine its the longer course. Good Luck.

[AtomicLabMonkey]

Nice work Gary! I hope this Grand-Am deal keeps working out for you. Are you still going to run the WRX in USTCC events? If you do, hopefully USTCC and AI will share a race weekend sometime and we can shoot the shit.

[sperry]

Awesome! You looked great out there at M.T. in the Audi, very quick! I'm sure if you keep driving like that, they'll keep putting you in the car!

Have fun at the Glen, we'll all be watching on TV!

[tysonK]

We are all cheering you on man!

[Dean]

Great news. As both an Audi and Subaru owner, I get extra credit rooting for you...

Hope you all keep the cars mostly pointed the right way and are in front at the end.

[dknv]

Yes, Yes! In front at the end of the race.
Exciting stuff - we'll watch you on TV. Lots of go-fast thoughts flowing your way....

[Kostamojen]

Go go gary go!!!

[GarySheehan]

Hey guys,

I'm sitting here in LaGuardia Airport in NYC waiting for my return flight. I had a pretty big crash yesterday. I started in 27th place due to a qualifying goof that's actually a pretty funny story, but will wait for another day. I worked my way up from 27th to 1st place in 11 laps. The Automatic Racing 09 BMW M3 was battling me for the lead. Coming into the heel of the boot he got up along inside of my. I gave him lots of room on the inside and we went through the corner side-by-side. But at the exit, I tracked all the way out and he tracked out into me, not leaving me any racing room. We both went off drivers left into the barrier.

It was a pretty hard hit. Yesterday I felt absolutely fine, but today the right side of my neck and my back is a bit sore and I've got a bruise on the back of my right arm. Nothing that's really bad, but as I move my luggage around the airport it's a constant reminder that I had more than an moment yesterday.

The car is in bad shape. Worse than Ander's car at Mont Tremblant. The team was disappointed, but very cool and very concerned about me.

Later in the day Bob Aines was told by the Grand Am Race Director Mark Raffauf that he and the chief steward of the race reviewed the in-car video from my car several times and said that I did everything right and Jeb did it wrong. That's somewhat comforting to know that the officials are on my side.

I spoke with Calvin Fish this morning and asked him what Dorsey's and Lee's take on the situation was. I was pretty surprised to hear that Calvin thought Dorsey put most of the blame on me. I really hope not, because even though the race officials are holding me blameless, the majority of the people out there may be persuaded to think I was to blame.

All I can say is watch the video, look at the room I gave Jeb on the inside, and watch as he comes across and takes all my racing room away from me. That's what really pisses me off, because I gave him lots of room on the inside. Anyway, it's done.

Hopefully there will be some good coverage coming from the back to the front.

More later...

Gary
Sheehan Motor Racing
www.teamSMR.com

[dknv]

Gary,
so sorry to hear about how things turned out! Such a strong start, then Bam. No fair!
Definately will watch the video when it is shown. Know that we are grateful to hear you were ok coming away from the crash, and hopefully any physical damage to your body will heal quickly.

[GarySheehan]

Originally Posted by dknv

Gary,
so sorry to hear about how things turned out! Such a strong start, then Bam. No fair!
Definately will watch the video when it is shown. Know that we are grateful to hear you were ok coming away from the crash, and hopefully any physical damage to your body will heal quickly.

Yeah, me too. Now my left lung hurts! Dammit!

Gary
Sheehan Motor Racing
www.teamSMR.com

[Nick Koan]

get well soon Gary

[Kevin M]

I wonder if that was his racing line all day and he never realized he had to alter it with you outside? Or maybe he's been watching too much F1 lately...

Either way, patch it up and get back out there Gary. We're waiting for that next victory!

[dknv]

If there's anything you or your wife needs, we're here for you.

[sperry]

What a shame to have a back to front run ruined by an over-agressive pass attempt! Sounds like someone's been taking lessons from Schumacher's pass on Montoya a few races back.

Hope you feel better soon!

[MikeSTI]

even thought you had a crash it sounds like you made a quick advance in position. hope your next time out the BMW will just stay behind you, as you pull further away from him

[GarySheehan]

[dknv]

Wow, the photographer got quite an action shot there.
That HAD to hurt! Poor car, too.

[AtomicLabMonkey]

Ouch... glad to hear you're ok, Gary. :shock:

[sperry]

Originally Posted by GarySheehan

Looks like the foam helped a little... poor cars! :shock:

[MikeSTI]

Originally Posted by sperry

Looks like the foam helped a little... poor cars! :shock:

yah to shower them . Thats one crazy picture :shock: Real glad no one got badly hurt other than the cars

[sperry]

Originally Posted by MikeSTI

yah to shower them . Thats one crazy picture :shock: Real glad no one got badly hurt other than the cars

Actually, those foam blocks are pretty dense... to toss them in the air like that, or explode them all over the place, takes quite a bit of energy... and that's energy that's coming out of the wreck, making it safer for the drivers. So, not only does it look impressive, it's a good thing for everyone involved... except the cleanup crew.

There's some great footage of Jimmy Johnson going off turn 1 at the Glen w/ a brake failure (NASCAR Busch series, 2000). He skims right over the gravel and into the foam blocks at like 120mph! The foam probably saved his life, and provided the rest of us with a great SportsCenter highlight... I'm trying to find video of it right now, I'll post it if I can find it.

[MikeSTI]

o.k.

I feel like a n00b! Thanks Scott for telling me something I already know. I couldn't say the foam helped from that pic but rather what Gary said about his condition. I'm sure the foam wall helped the drivers but for say not the cars from the picture.

[sperry]

Originally Posted by MikeSTI

o.k.

I feel like a n00b! Thanks Scott for telling me something I already know. I couldn't say the foam helped from that pic but rather what Gary said about his condition. I'm sure the foam wall helped the drivers but for say not the cars from the picture.

You're right, the foam doesn't exactly protect the cars... They get beat to hell pretty much just as bad as they would if they went straight into a wall. Bending everything vs. bending everything *a lot*, still means the car's done.

But at least it happens over a longer amount of time (say 1/3 of a second vs. instantly) which protects the driver from the type of shock that tends to cause serious injury, as Gary can testify to, since he walked away from what's been describes as a pretty big hit.