Fairly Calm Friday

You've heard the phrase, calm before the storm? Well, if that's true, today's calm must be leading to one heck of a storm tomorrow!

With only one hour of practice, the day went by fairly easily for most teams. The #48 of Paul Miller Racing regained its pole position in the GTD class after a successful protest by the team. As it turns out, the wing plates which were allegedly moved to an illegal position were not and proof came in the form of emails between the team and Audi engineers, dating back several weeks. Thus, an Audi will start on pole.

The most excitement of the day came long after most sensible people had left the track. The winner of the Continental Tire SportsCar Challenge race was stripped of its win after failing tech. The Bill Auberlen/Paul Dalla Lana driven BMW of Turner Motorsports was disqualified due to a technical infraction. This means that the #48, driven by Ashley Freiberg and Shelby Blackstock get the win!

Other excitement today can be drawn from the familiar faces who were seen wandering the paddock. Nissan's very own Darren Cox was on hand to watch the CTSCC race today as well as to cheer for the prototype teams running Nissan engines in tomorrow's big show. John Gaw was spotted in the pits. The Managing Director for Aston Martin Racing, Mr. Gaw was undoubtedly cheering on the many Aston Martins in both today's race and tomorrow's big show. One of Corvette's living legend drivers was very covertly hanging around in the back of the pits today. Ron Fellows, as polite and kind as ever, is here to watch the C7.R race for the first time. Although he no longer drives for Corvette Racing, Mr. Fellows still goes to many of the races to support the family. Another person spotted at the track today who's supporting family (although in this case literally) was Cookie Monster's father, the famous Martin Brundle. While Martin shared a car with his son as recently as the 2012 24 Hours of Le Mans, he's simply an advisor and father this weekend. Cookie Monster Alex Brundle will be driving the #6 Muscle Milk Pickett Racing Oreca Nissan in the P2 category.

After all of this excitement, we've finally reached the point for which we've all been waiting. One last decent sleep (cause real race fans don't sleep during a 24 hour race; at least not much), it'll be time to go green. For the crews, drivers, and teams, enjoy the calm because it's almost time for the 24 hour sprint...er, race!