Have a FaceBook, Twitter, or other social networking account?

Link them to your fanatic account!

Add An Account

TAKE ME TO...
Grand Am
25HR: Thunderhill Preview
Over 70 cars set to take part world’s longest endurance race. John Dagys previews the event.
John Dagys  |  Posted December 04, 2009   Willows, CA
The 25 Hours of Thunderhill gets the green flag Saturday at 11:00 a.m. PST (John Dagys)
When one thinks of endurance, the iconic sportscar races at Le Mans and Daytona immediately come to mind. After all, these twice-around-the-clock marathons have become yearly classics, with the best of the best vying for ultimate glory. Other 24-hour races at Dubai, Silverstone and even the Nurburgring have tried to emulate the long-standing endurance formula, each succeeding to some degree. But nobody dared to think outside of the box.

That was, until the National Auto Sport Association (NASA) stepped up to the plate. After a successful ten-year stint running six and 12-hour enduros at Thunderhill Raceway, the California-based club took it one step further with the inaugural running of the 25 Hours of Thunderhill in 2003. Yes, you read that correctly, 25 hours.

“When we did the last 12-hour endurance race in December of 2002, it dawned on me,” said NASA Executive Director Jerry Kunzman. “The race went so smoothly, the officials weren’t tired and everyone wanted more. So I thought, ‘Next year, we’ll do 24 hours. It has to be a piece of cake!’ Then on the drive from Thunderhill to the awards banquet in town that year, I was thinking, ‘Why the heck would I do a 24-hour, why not a 25?’ It was kind of a neat idea. If you’re going to go 24 hours, you may as well go 25 hours.”

It was as simple as that. Kunzman’s ingenious idea led to the creation of the world’s longest endurance race. And seven years later, the 25 Hours of Thunderhill is still going strong. This weekend’s event at the three-mile, 15-turn Northern California circuit is shaping up to be another thriller, with a diverse field of 70-plus cars set to take the green flag on Saturday morning.

As in any endurance race, multiple classes compete on the track simultaneously. The 25 Hours of Thunderhill is divided into six groups, the stock-based E0, E1, E2 and E3 divisions and highly modified ES and ESR categories. The latter two classes essentially have no restrictions, allowing purpose-built prototypes such as the Panoz DP-02 IMSA Lites car and Norma M20F to compete. Daytona Prototypes are even eligible, as Team Cytosport ran its Pontiac-Riley here last year. ES is designated for sedans/GT cars while ESR are for prototypes.
The 25 Hours of Thunderhill features a wide variety of cars and teams. (John Dagys)

Unlike the ES and ESR categories, which have no pit restrictions, cars in E0, E1, E2 and E3 can only add 10 gallons of fuel and change one tire per stop, in efforts to keep the production classes more cost-effective.

Last year, the ES-class machines proved to be the cars to beat, instead of the quicker, and more nimble ESR prototypes. A Mazda MX-5 Miata driven by Charles Espenlaub, Jason Saini and Charlie Putman took overall honors in the fog-shortened race, which ran just short of 18 hours. The trio are back to defend their title but will face stiff competition from a flurry of other Mazdas, BMWs and Porsches, just to name a few.

In fact, Mazdas and BMWs make up over half of the field, including a unique 25-driver lineup in a single MX-5 Miata. With star drivers such as Lyn St. James and John Edwards teaming with movie and TV stars turned racers Patrick Dempsey and Frankie Muniz, plus a host of other past and present Mazda drivers and employees, the “25 in 25” squad will certainly be one to watch all weekend.

In addition to the impressive roster of drivers in the Mazda camp, a number of ALMS and Grand-Am drivers will also be competing. Newly crowned Rolex Series DP co-champion Jon Fogarty teams with Flying Lizard Motorsports ace Johannes van Overbeek and the Lizard’s crew chief, Tommy Sadler, in a Mercer Motorsports-run Porsche 911 GT3 Cup car. Team Falken Tire driver Dominic Cicero is also listed to co-drive a BMW M3, while Pierre Ehret and Vic Rice will share the wheel of another Porsche Cup car. Other notables include Atlantic star Tonis Kasemets and veteran road racer Randy Pobst.

Adding to the excitement is that there’s two races effectively in one. The first six hours of the 25 Hours is also being counted as NASA’s Northern California Region’s season-ending round. In fact, a half-dozen cars on the entry list will only compete to the six-hour mark before parking their cars. The majority of the competitors are here for the main show, though, so it won’t dampen the flow of the race.

Each year, Kunzman and his staff come back better equipped to tackle such a enormous event. With over 1,000 people directly involved in the running of the race, it can prove to be a logistical nightmare, especially for a club that runs numerous other races each year.

“Certainly the first event was memorable from the standpoint of being chaotic,” Kunzman said of the 2003 running of the 25 Hours of Thunderhill. “Many of the drivers had never been here before. Everybody thought they were going to win a seat in the next Formula One race. They were just bashing and crashing and dicing through each other. It rained and there was mud all over the track. It was World War III out there.”
Fall-Line Motorsports has two BMW M3s entered for the 25 Hour. (John Dagys)

NASA has since made steps with enforcing strict contact rules, with teams facing hefty penalties for avoidable on-track incidents. Rookies are no longer allowed, and there’s been key additions to the officiating staff to help make things run more smoothly.

This all adds up to a more defined, professional event, that is now one of the annual stops on many teams and drivers’ calendars. While they all come out for the spirit of endurance, only the strongest walk away as winners. It’s the same for any 24-hour race in the world, this one just happens to be one hour longer. Could Thunderhill be the toughest of them all? We’ll ask the drivers and crew after 25 hours of racing.

SPEEDtv.com will have continuing coverage from Thunderhill all weekend, with daily trackside reports, blogs, live race updates and photo galleries.

Thunderhill Thursday Gallery
john_dagys's avatar

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

John Dagys

MORE BY THIS AUTHOR
Advertising | Jobs | Feedback | FAQ | Terms of Use | NEW Privacy Policy | Ad Choices | Site Map
Fox Sports | FUEL TV | FX Network | National Geographic | IGN | AskMen
The Motor Sports Authority, SPEED and associated logos are registered trademarks of Speed Channel Inc.
All Rights Reserved © Speed Channel, Inc. 2012

All external links will open in a new browser window. SPEED.com does not endorse external sites.