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GRAND-AM
IN THE COCKPIT: Andy Lally, Watkins Glen
I’ve been very fortunate to have many podiums in GRAND-AM, but I always want more...
Andy Lally and John Potter recorded a fourth place finish in the Continental 200 at Watkins Glen. (Photo: Magnus Racing)
I would never be as spoiled to complain about a fourth place, I know I’m very lucky. I’m lucky that I’ve made a living in this sport as long as I have, and I’m lucky that I’m joined up with one of the best teams in GRAND-AM. The moment I start whining about decent finishes, I’m no longer the guy that teams want to work with.
But let’s face it, fourth stinks.
I’ve been very fortunate to have many podiums in GRAND-AM, but I always want more. When you have a team and the strategy capable of putting you on the podium, it’s really irritating when it doesn’t happen. Sometimes, that’s just the way it goes.
Headed in to last weekend’s Continental Tire 200, I was super pumped. We came in having just taken that epic win at Indy, and Watkins Glen is my favorite (and home) track. I’ve had more wins at Watkins Glen than anywhere, and the “short course” was where I made my NASCAR Sprint Cup debut in 2010.
The short course is super fast. Long straights and high speed corners are usually good for the Porsches, and we were optimistic that our momentum could continue. Unfortunately, running on a NASCAR weekend also means you have very limited track time, so when something goes wrong in practice, you come out way behind.
When we got to the track on Friday morning, the rain had hit pretty hard, so our entire morning practice was literally a wash. Every team was at the same deficit, but it meant we’d have virtually no time to try any new ideas with setup or gearing. My teammate John Potter did a great job getting the car on the fifth row during qualifying, the first dry session, and with a little over an hour to work on setup in final practice, we had to run with what we had during the race.
This race is always nuts. It’s one of the shortest at two hours, and the “short course” means there’s a lot more traffic, and the track is so fast that passing is always a little hairy.
It also means that strategy can be really important. John did a great job keeping his nose clean during a crazy first 20 minutes, and when an early yellow came out for Joe Foster and Darren Law crashing, our engineer Lars Giersing had to earn his money.
In GRAND-AM, a driver must run a minimum of 30 minutes (crossing start finish line) in order to be eligible for points. Unfortunately, when the yellow came out, we were a few minutes short of that. We could pit for fuel and tires with everyone else, but it would have been too early to change drivers, so Lars had to make a tough call.
We could have stopped with everyone else and held track position, OR we could wait a few more laps until we passed the 30 minute mark, and lose track position by pitting the car off sequence, however gaining the advantage of not having to do any more driver changes.
We had figured that the yellow would be out long enough that we’d lose track position by waiting two laps, but we’d be able to catch up to the field without having to do another driver change. Unfortunately, that all went to crap when John came in to the pits just as they waived the green flag. We luckily didn’t lose a lap, but we weren’t able to catch up to the field like we’d hoped. Frustrating, but Lars made the right call.
As the race wore on, our strategy began to take shape. Bill Auberlen was on the same strategy and definitely the class of the field. He and I had a good battle during the middle portion of the race, but to be honest we just didn’t have anything against the BMW. They deserved the win on Saturday.
We knew we couldn’t beat Bill and the Turner guys, but we definitely thought we were poised for second. That would have been great points and my 102nd podium. Unfortunately, our final pit stop changed all that.
As the guys went to change tires, a completely freak deal happened where one of the lug nuts got completely jammed in the air gun. It was super frustrating, because no one did anything wrong, it just happened. Luckily the guys were on top of it and only lost a couple seconds as they switched guns, but those couple of seconds dropped us to fourth.
After a late race yellow, I was glued to the back of Leh Keen in the Brumos Porsche to try and take back third. If you can’t win, you at least always want to be the top Porsche, so I was eager to get around that No. 59. Unfortunately, I just couldn’t do it safely.
The Magnus guys definitely had a faster car, but I just couldn’t get a good enough run on Leh to make a pass that could stick. I give Leh a lot of credit, he drove very clean to keep me behind, I just couldn’t get him. I’m actually very frustrated with myself over it, as this was a tough one to swallow.
Overall, it’s over now and on to Montreal. Hopefully you’ll hear from me next week with much better things to say!
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.
But let’s face it, fourth stinks.
I’ve been very fortunate to have many podiums in GRAND-AM, but I always want more. When you have a team and the strategy capable of putting you on the podium, it’s really irritating when it doesn’t happen. Sometimes, that’s just the way it goes.
Headed in to last weekend’s Continental Tire 200, I was super pumped. We came in having just taken that epic win at Indy, and Watkins Glen is my favorite (and home) track. I’ve had more wins at Watkins Glen than anywhere, and the “short course” was where I made my NASCAR Sprint Cup debut in 2010.
The short course is super fast. Long straights and high speed corners are usually good for the Porsches, and we were optimistic that our momentum could continue. Unfortunately, running on a NASCAR weekend also means you have very limited track time, so when something goes wrong in practice, you come out way behind.
When we got to the track on Friday morning, the rain had hit pretty hard, so our entire morning practice was literally a wash. Every team was at the same deficit, but it meant we’d have virtually no time to try any new ideas with setup or gearing. My teammate John Potter did a great job getting the car on the fifth row during qualifying, the first dry session, and with a little over an hour to work on setup in final practice, we had to run with what we had during the race.
This race is always nuts. It’s one of the shortest at two hours, and the “short course” means there’s a lot more traffic, and the track is so fast that passing is always a little hairy.
It also means that strategy can be really important. John did a great job keeping his nose clean during a crazy first 20 minutes, and when an early yellow came out for Joe Foster and Darren Law crashing, our engineer Lars Giersing had to earn his money.
In GRAND-AM, a driver must run a minimum of 30 minutes (crossing start finish line) in order to be eligible for points. Unfortunately, when the yellow came out, we were a few minutes short of that. We could pit for fuel and tires with everyone else, but it would have been too early to change drivers, so Lars had to make a tough call.
We could have stopped with everyone else and held track position, OR we could wait a few more laps until we passed the 30 minute mark, and lose track position by pitting the car off sequence, however gaining the advantage of not having to do any more driver changes.
We had figured that the yellow would be out long enough that we’d lose track position by waiting two laps, but we’d be able to catch up to the field without having to do another driver change. Unfortunately, that all went to crap when John came in to the pits just as they waived the green flag. We luckily didn’t lose a lap, but we weren’t able to catch up to the field like we’d hoped. Frustrating, but Lars made the right call.
As the race wore on, our strategy began to take shape. Bill Auberlen was on the same strategy and definitely the class of the field. He and I had a good battle during the middle portion of the race, but to be honest we just didn’t have anything against the BMW. They deserved the win on Saturday.
We knew we couldn’t beat Bill and the Turner guys, but we definitely thought we were poised for second. That would have been great points and my 102nd podium. Unfortunately, our final pit stop changed all that.
As the guys went to change tires, a completely freak deal happened where one of the lug nuts got completely jammed in the air gun. It was super frustrating, because no one did anything wrong, it just happened. Luckily the guys were on top of it and only lost a couple seconds as they switched guns, but those couple of seconds dropped us to fourth.
After a late race yellow, I was glued to the back of Leh Keen in the Brumos Porsche to try and take back third. If you can’t win, you at least always want to be the top Porsche, so I was eager to get around that No. 59. Unfortunately, I just couldn’t do it safely.
The Magnus guys definitely had a faster car, but I just couldn’t get a good enough run on Leh to make a pass that could stick. I give Leh a lot of credit, he drove very clean to keep me behind, I just couldn’t get him. I’m actually very frustrated with myself over it, as this was a tough one to swallow.
Overall, it’s over now and on to Montreal. Hopefully you’ll hear from me next week with much better things to say!
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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