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GRAND-AM
IN THE COCKPIT: Andy Lally, Indianapolis
After we’d crossed the yard of bricks to take the checkered flag, I kept saying 'We Won' to myself. A lot....
John Potter and Andy Lally celebrate victory at Indy and the North American Endurance Championship. (Photo: John Dagys)
We won Indy... We WON Indy... WE WON INDY.
After we’d crossed the yard of bricks to take the checkered flag, I kept saying this to myself. A lot. When you win at the most famous track in the world, as well as the inaugural North American Endurance Championship, you spend the next two hours going through interview after interview, visiting multiple media centers, and being escorted around quite a bit.
It was at this point that I started realizing it; we WON Indy. I couldn’t stop saying it.
The emotion from the win comes in two parts: living a childhood dream, and rewarding such a hard-working crew.
Like many young drivers, I spent many days at the go-kart track dreaming of winning at Indy. NASCAR was always my career dream, but driving at Indy was always the goal for any young driver. When NASCAR finally came to Indy in 1994, it only furthered my dream of someday making it there. I remember being at a go-kart track in 1994 when NASCAR raced there for the first time, and my hero Jeff Gordon had taken the inaugural win. I wanted that to be me; we all know that feeling as a kid, watching it on television, imagining what you would say in victory lane, etc.
I would love to tell a 12-year old Andy, I just kissed the bricks.
The real victory, however, was for the guys. I don’t think people realize just what they went through to get here.
June was brutal for them. We ran four races in five weeks, and the last one resulted in the car’s cockpit burning down. This meant the team not only had to do one, but two complete overhauls before Indy. After Watkins Glen, the guys had three days to pull off every piece of our primary car, and then clean it and switch it over to a backup car. Long days, long nights, and then the car was off to Indy for a test at the beginning of July.
While most other teams had a week or two off, our guys had none. After running the test in the backup, the team made some car upgrades to be perfect for Indy, so they had to tear it down and re-build it again. The guys were literally up late every night, even until 5 a.m. at the shop before the car loaded.
When we arrived, they were tired, but we were ready. The Indianapolis race was a one-day show for both series; literally practicing, qualifying, and racing in the same day. You had to be prepared or you’d miss extremely precious track time.
Our day in the Kia was OK. The team put a great car together and we had a shot if luck went our way. For a while we were up to third, but when the rain came out, we had a mechanical issue on the stop for rain tires, and we didn’t have enough time to recover. We’re second in points and still in the championship fight, but it’s going to be a real fight.
On to the Rolex race. Wow… what a crazy race. We knew the Porsche could win because it would be good down the long run on the straights. We weren’t sure how we’d hold up in the infield, especially against the Camaros and Mazdas who do well there.
As it turned out, none of that mattered, as it was all about rain strategy. My teammate John Potter had to start the race just as it completely poured rain. Luckily, the race at Homestead showed John is really good in the rain. He also made an early change to slicks as the track dried, and we learned some critical things from that.
When I was in the car, the rain came down again, and on came the rain tires. That’s when a critical decision was made. My engineer Lars Giersing brought me in early as the track began to dry. It meant driving slick tires on a drying track, but if I could build speed and not spin, it would mean we’d have an advantage when everyone else came in. A yellow flag followed that, and as pit stops cycled through, we were the leader.
Once we were up-front, we never really lost the lead. When Joerg Bergmeister was put in to a gravel trap with five minutes left, the race would end under yellow, and put a stop to a super-tight fight with myself, Leh Keen and Jonathan Bomarito.
This is going to sound crazy, but I never comprehended the gravity of winning Indy until I saw the white flag, and knew that all I had to do was make it to the end. With everything that happened over the last seven weeks, and with the craziness of the race, there was never a moment where winning at Indy ever came in to my head.
Then, next thing you know, checkered flag. We WON INDY. Over the next hour, we’d kiss the bricks, celebrate on the podium, and end the day with a special invitation from Mr. Jim France to join him at the top-floor suite of the IMS pagoda. WOW what a view. A big thank you to Mr. France for such a spectacular experience.
When John and I were on that top-suite of the pagoda, we both kept thinking the same thing; take this in, enjoy it. The view of the sun setting from the highest point at Indy was breathtaking, and a reminder of how lucky I am, and what a great group I’m with.
I also couldn’t help but think of my old friend from the F2000, Dan Wheldon. He owned this place and it was great to feel one last connection.
I’m extremely fortunate to do what I do for a living. This is was one of those days that never lets me forget that.
Andy Lally is one of the most successful drivers in GRAND-AM history, and one of the highest regarded American sports car drivers on the circuit. As GRAND-AM’s all-time mileage leader, Andy has won four different times at The Rolex 24 at Daytona, three GRAND-AM championships, and has had over 100 starts in the Rolex Series. Beyond road racing, he is also the 2011 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series Rookie-of-the-Year, and even a Classic Luge World Champion.
After we’d crossed the yard of bricks to take the checkered flag, I kept saying this to myself. A lot. When you win at the most famous track in the world, as well as the inaugural North American Endurance Championship, you spend the next two hours going through interview after interview, visiting multiple media centers, and being escorted around quite a bit.
It was at this point that I started realizing it; we WON Indy. I couldn’t stop saying it.
The emotion from the win comes in two parts: living a childhood dream, and rewarding such a hard-working crew.
Like many young drivers, I spent many days at the go-kart track dreaming of winning at Indy. NASCAR was always my career dream, but driving at Indy was always the goal for any young driver. When NASCAR finally came to Indy in 1994, it only furthered my dream of someday making it there. I remember being at a go-kart track in 1994 when NASCAR raced there for the first time, and my hero Jeff Gordon had taken the inaugural win. I wanted that to be me; we all know that feeling as a kid, watching it on television, imagining what you would say in victory lane, etc.
I would love to tell a 12-year old Andy, I just kissed the bricks.
The real victory, however, was for the guys. I don’t think people realize just what they went through to get here.
June was brutal for them. We ran four races in five weeks, and the last one resulted in the car’s cockpit burning down. This meant the team not only had to do one, but two complete overhauls before Indy. After Watkins Glen, the guys had three days to pull off every piece of our primary car, and then clean it and switch it over to a backup car. Long days, long nights, and then the car was off to Indy for a test at the beginning of July.
While most other teams had a week or two off, our guys had none. After running the test in the backup, the team made some car upgrades to be perfect for Indy, so they had to tear it down and re-build it again. The guys were literally up late every night, even until 5 a.m. at the shop before the car loaded.
When we arrived, they were tired, but we were ready. The Indianapolis race was a one-day show for both series; literally practicing, qualifying, and racing in the same day. You had to be prepared or you’d miss extremely precious track time.
Our day in the Kia was OK. The team put a great car together and we had a shot if luck went our way. For a while we were up to third, but when the rain came out, we had a mechanical issue on the stop for rain tires, and we didn’t have enough time to recover. We’re second in points and still in the championship fight, but it’s going to be a real fight.
On to the Rolex race. Wow… what a crazy race. We knew the Porsche could win because it would be good down the long run on the straights. We weren’t sure how we’d hold up in the infield, especially against the Camaros and Mazdas who do well there.
As it turned out, none of that mattered, as it was all about rain strategy. My teammate John Potter had to start the race just as it completely poured rain. Luckily, the race at Homestead showed John is really good in the rain. He also made an early change to slicks as the track dried, and we learned some critical things from that.
When I was in the car, the rain came down again, and on came the rain tires. That’s when a critical decision was made. My engineer Lars Giersing brought me in early as the track began to dry. It meant driving slick tires on a drying track, but if I could build speed and not spin, it would mean we’d have an advantage when everyone else came in. A yellow flag followed that, and as pit stops cycled through, we were the leader.
Once we were up-front, we never really lost the lead. When Joerg Bergmeister was put in to a gravel trap with five minutes left, the race would end under yellow, and put a stop to a super-tight fight with myself, Leh Keen and Jonathan Bomarito.
This is going to sound crazy, but I never comprehended the gravity of winning Indy until I saw the white flag, and knew that all I had to do was make it to the end. With everything that happened over the last seven weeks, and with the craziness of the race, there was never a moment where winning at Indy ever came in to my head.
Then, next thing you know, checkered flag. We WON INDY. Over the next hour, we’d kiss the bricks, celebrate on the podium, and end the day with a special invitation from Mr. Jim France to join him at the top-floor suite of the IMS pagoda. WOW what a view. A big thank you to Mr. France for such a spectacular experience.
When John and I were on that top-suite of the pagoda, we both kept thinking the same thing; take this in, enjoy it. The view of the sun setting from the highest point at Indy was breathtaking, and a reminder of how lucky I am, and what a great group I’m with.
I also couldn’t help but think of my old friend from the F2000, Dan Wheldon. He owned this place and it was great to feel one last connection.
I’m extremely fortunate to do what I do for a living. This is was one of those days that never lets me forget that.
Andy Lally is one of the most successful drivers in GRAND-AM history, and one of the highest regarded American sports car drivers on the circuit. As GRAND-AM’s all-time mileage leader, Andy has won four different times at The Rolex 24 at Daytona, three GRAND-AM championships, and has had over 100 starts in the Rolex Series. Beyond road racing, he is also the 2011 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series Rookie-of-the-Year, and even a Classic Luge World Champion.
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