Wrap on Day 1

One tweet pretty much sums up the day: "AND THE DELTAWING IS FASTEST." Yeah, it was that kind of a day. Every norm was turned upside down. The quickest P2 car in qualifying was good enough only for 11th. That's right, a team which won the P1 championship two years in a row will start on the sixth row of the grid. Only one Corvette was healthy enough to qualify, and it wasn't the championship winning car of 2013. The Ferraris in the GTLM category were 9th and 10th. In GTD, the Audi which took the pole and the one that claimed third place were disqualified and will start from the back of the grid.
At least PC was predictable, with Colin Braun taking pole for the 5th time in under a calendar year for the class. Renger van der Zande, in the Starworks Motorsport 8, at least gave Braun a run for his money. But yes, this was a scene familiar to ALMS fans circa 2013.
On a brighter note, congratulations are due to the team who took the GTLM pole. SRT Motorsports, with only a year and a half of work, have brought the Viper's name back to its original glory. They've shown, with a win and now 4 poles, that the Snake is back to play. Quite frankly, the pole sitting 91 is a dark horse for this race. I've got my eye on that car for the win.
A few teams deserve some special accolades after their efforts today. First up is the #23 Team Seattle/AJR for rebuilding the car after a morning incident. They worked tirelessly today, including battling a sick car even into night practice. When I saw the car post accident, the front end was shattered and the car looked like it was done. By the time the ferris wheel was fully lit, the car was still being adjusted for balance. The crew guys, working with a sense of urgency, had the car fueled and back on four wheels. They turned laps during the night practice and will have a long way to go to survive the race. Honestly, if there's an award for still smiling while the world is kicking you while you're down, they deserve it.
The other team very deserving of a keep-on-trudging award is the BWM Team RLL #55. Their car caused 2 red flags. It needed to be towed back on a flat bed one on occasion and limped back to the pits during another. Yet the team, which was worried about having the car out in time for qualifying, is starting 8th. Not too shabby for a car which has already been through the ringer this weekend.
Qualifying is over. So what comes tomorrow, you might be asking? Well, it's a calm before the storm...but it isn't really calm. The CTSCC race goes green tomorrow afternoon, and look for that race to be wild and crazy! The real fun starts Saturday at 2:10pm but until then, there's plenty of action in the paddock to share with everyone!