Brumos Racing Planning to Build on Lime Rock Tradition
Following a break in action after VIR, the
GRAND-AM Rolex Sports Car
Series presented by Crown Royal Cask No. 16 is ready to get back to the
business of racing, heading to
Lime Rock Park for the fifth round of the 2010 season. This year marks the first time DP cars have raced at Lime Rock, so many teams and drivers will be competing there for their first time. With a racing heritage that spans decades and an unmatched level of experience, Brumos has seen their share of success at the historic Connecticut track through the years. The inaugural race of the fledgling SuperCar Series was held at Lime Rock in 1991, as Brumos Racing returned a familiar white, red and blue Porsche #59 to racing competition. With Hurley Haywood behind the wheel, Brumos went on to score several wins en route to the SuperCar championship that year.
Current Brumos drivers David Donohue and Darren Law also enjoyed success at Lime Rock in their earlier/ pre-Brumos years. David Donohue drove in the first North American Touring Car Championship race at Lime Rock and recalled his history there, saying, “The last time I raced at Lime Rock was back in 1996, and I won that race. It was my first race with Dodge after being with BMW, so it was a hard-fought and emotional win for me.” Darren Law also drove in that series’ 1996 debut race and credits his participation in other series as providing him a greater degree of experience at Lime Rock than the majority of today’s DP drivers.
“The biggest challenge is that this is a one day event,” Law said. “We have to roll off the truck with a competitive car. If we don’t, there isn’t much time to sort things out. It was really beneficial for Brumos to be able to test at Lime Rock last month because this is definitely going to be a tricky race. First, we have the 6 hour race at Watkins Glen the weekend immediately following this event. That is tough on the crew, but I’m afraid it will also be tough on the car.
Lime Rock will most likely be a difficult race to complete without having any damage. The track is short and very fast, so the drivers are going to have to be smart as well as careful. With the GTs and DPs combined, it will be crowded and frustrating for both classes. The smallest bit of traffic on such a short track can cost a lot of time, so I feel people will be pretty aggressive trying to avoid getting slowed by
traffic.
Also, given the short lap time, the pit stop is more critical than ever. It is very possible that during green flag stops we could go down a lap, so strategy will be crucial there. It is certainly going to be a very different and interesting race.” Donohue joined Law in acknowledging the challenges ahead. “It is one of those tracks where if you’re a tenth off, you’re miles out, so it’s going to require a lot of concentration,” he said. “But I really look forward to seeing the Rolex Series racing there on Memorial Day. It is one of the tracks I grew up around and one where my father saw a lot of success. We have a lot of friends in that area and hope to see them all out at the track. It would be great to be able to score another series debut victory at Lime Rock and keep the Brumos championship tradition alive.”
The Memorial Day Classic at Lime Rock Park will be held on Monday, May 31st beginning at 2:00 PM ET. The 2.75 hour race will take place on the new 1.5 miles uphill track, and is scheduled for live coverage on SPEED TV.
