| GarySheehan | 06-16-2004 03:19 PM |
PR: Sheehan Again Pilots Audi In Watkins Glen Grand-Am Cup
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Hey everyone!
This all just came together over the weekend. I'm going to The Glen! It's hard for me to sit still because I'm so excited to be racing in another Grand-Am Cup race and because I've never been to Watkins Glen before. I'll be paired with Anders Hainer this race. It's his first time at The Glen as well. If we can get the track figured out we should be able to run at the front. We were both pretty quick in the Audis at Mont Tremblant (qualified first and second), so together we should make a formidable combination.
Here's the press release that went out today...
Gary
Sheehan Motor Racing
[URL=http://www.teamSMR.com]www.teamSMR.com[/URL]
------------------------------------------------
CUP NEWCOMER TIPPED FOR SECOND CONSECUTIVE START IN AUDI S4 WITH ISTOOK-AINES
Martinez, Calif. � Following up on his stellar debut performance in last month�s Mont-Tremblant 250, former U.S. Touring Car Championship driver Gary Sheehan will again pilot the Audi S4 of Istook-Aines Motorsports in the Grand-Am Cup The Glen 250, June 19, 2004. Sheehan will be looking to build upon his highly successful debut, which saw him qualify the No. 4 Audi S4 on the front row, set a new GS lap record at Le Circuit de Mont Tremblant and lead the first 14 laps of the race; this also places him among the top 10 drivers in laps led for the season.
The Audi S4 Quattro prepared by Istook-Aines Motorsports is a racecar that Sheehan particularly likes to drive, given his considerable experience racing turbocharged, all-wheel drive touring cars: He previously campaigned an all-wheel drive Subaru WRX, achieving multiple race-wins in the U.S. Touring Car Championship during the 2001-2003 seasons. Adding to the degree of familiarity, the Audi is set up with StopTech�s Balanced Brake System�, which Sheehan has used exclusively in recent years.
For The Glen 250 event, Gary will be teamed with Istook-Aines standout Anders Hainer. Although Sheehan is very experienced at many tracks throughout the US and Canada, this will be his first outing at the venerable Watkins Glen, and he looks forward to learning the track and its subtleties.
�I am very happy to be back in the Istook-Aines Audi again for my second Grand-Am Cup race�, Sheehan said. �Mont-Tremblant was a dream come true, and I want to take that momentum with me to The Glen. The team and I work very well together, and I think we have a good shot at a podium finish. Anders (Hainer) is a very quick driver, and I�m looking forward to sharing the car with him.�
The Grand-Am Cup is the premier production car-based endurance racing series in North America. The field is made up of two classes: Sport Touring (ST) and Grand Sport (GS). GS is the more powerful class of the two and is filled with high-performance cars such as the BMW M3, Cadillac CTS-V, Nissan 350Z, Ford Mustang Cobra, Porsche 996 and Acura NSX.
The Glen 250 is scheduled to start at 2:00 pm eastern time on Saturday June 19, 2004. The Grand-Am Cup action kicks off with a first practice session on Friday June 18 at 1:00 pm, followed by a second Friday session at 3:35 pm. Qualifying for the 250-mile, 74-lap race commences at 11:30 am Saturday, prior to the race. Spectators will be treated to a full weekend of Grand-Am Cup and Rolex Series action during the weekend. The race will be broadcast by Speed Channel on Sunday, June 27th at 2:00pm (ET).
To follow live event timing, (practice, qualifying, and race), or for more information regarding the race schedule and Grand-Am, visit the Grand American Road Racing website at [URL=http://www.grand-am.com]www.grand-am.com[/URL]
This all just came together over the weekend. I'm going to The Glen! It's hard for me to sit still because I'm so excited to be racing in another Grand-Am Cup race and because I've never been to Watkins Glen before. I'll be paired with Anders Hainer this race. It's his first time at The Glen as well. If we can get the track figured out we should be able to run at the front. We were both pretty quick in the Audis at Mont Tremblant (qualified first and second), so together we should make a formidable combination.
Here's the press release that went out today...
Gary
Sheehan Motor Racing
[URL=http://www.teamSMR.com]www.teamSMR.com[/URL]
------------------------------------------------
CUP NEWCOMER TIPPED FOR SECOND CONSECUTIVE START IN AUDI S4 WITH ISTOOK-AINES
Martinez, Calif. � Following up on his stellar debut performance in last month�s Mont-Tremblant 250, former U.S. Touring Car Championship driver Gary Sheehan will again pilot the Audi S4 of Istook-Aines Motorsports in the Grand-Am Cup The Glen 250, June 19, 2004. Sheehan will be looking to build upon his highly successful debut, which saw him qualify the No. 4 Audi S4 on the front row, set a new GS lap record at Le Circuit de Mont Tremblant and lead the first 14 laps of the race; this also places him among the top 10 drivers in laps led for the season.
The Audi S4 Quattro prepared by Istook-Aines Motorsports is a racecar that Sheehan particularly likes to drive, given his considerable experience racing turbocharged, all-wheel drive touring cars: He previously campaigned an all-wheel drive Subaru WRX, achieving multiple race-wins in the U.S. Touring Car Championship during the 2001-2003 seasons. Adding to the degree of familiarity, the Audi is set up with StopTech�s Balanced Brake System�, which Sheehan has used exclusively in recent years.
For The Glen 250 event, Gary will be teamed with Istook-Aines standout Anders Hainer. Although Sheehan is very experienced at many tracks throughout the US and Canada, this will be his first outing at the venerable Watkins Glen, and he looks forward to learning the track and its subtleties.
�I am very happy to be back in the Istook-Aines Audi again for my second Grand-Am Cup race�, Sheehan said. �Mont-Tremblant was a dream come true, and I want to take that momentum with me to The Glen. The team and I work very well together, and I think we have a good shot at a podium finish. Anders (Hainer) is a very quick driver, and I�m looking forward to sharing the car with him.�
The Grand-Am Cup is the premier production car-based endurance racing series in North America. The field is made up of two classes: Sport Touring (ST) and Grand Sport (GS). GS is the more powerful class of the two and is filled with high-performance cars such as the BMW M3, Cadillac CTS-V, Nissan 350Z, Ford Mustang Cobra, Porsche 996 and Acura NSX.
The Glen 250 is scheduled to start at 2:00 pm eastern time on Saturday June 19, 2004. The Grand-Am Cup action kicks off with a first practice session on Friday June 18 at 1:00 pm, followed by a second Friday session at 3:35 pm. Qualifying for the 250-mile, 74-lap race commences at 11:30 am Saturday, prior to the race. Spectators will be treated to a full weekend of Grand-Am Cup and Rolex Series action during the weekend. The race will be broadcast by Speed Channel on Sunday, June 27th at 2:00pm (ET).
To follow live event timing, (practice, qualifying, and race), or for more information regarding the race schedule and Grand-Am, visit the Grand American Road Racing website at [URL=http://www.grand-am.com]www.grand-am.com[/URL]
| 360GT | 06-16-2004 04:48 PM |
Gary,
BriDrive beat you to your own announcement:
[url]http://forums.nasioc.com/forums/showthread.php?s=&threadid=577525[/url]
Good Luck! If you and Hainer can keep it on track and running, just think....a Grand Am win on your second outing! That would be magnificent!
BriDrive beat you to your own announcement:
[url]http://forums.nasioc.com/forums/showthread.php?s=&threadid=577525[/url]
Good Luck! If you and Hainer can keep it on track and running, just think....a Grand Am win on your second outing! That would be magnificent!
| AndyRoo | 06-16-2004 09:50 PM |
Awesome...good job in Canada, too.
Good Luck Gary!
Good Luck Gary!
| Mushashi | 06-16-2004 10:57 PM |
Alright Gary keep them dice roll'n :banana: :banana:
| pio!pio! | 06-17-2004 02:57 AM |
Great job Gary!!!! So did you [i]really[/i] say that or did a PR person come up with it and you approved it? :P
| trojan9x | 06-17-2004 07:49 AM |
Excellent job. I'm glad that your career is going further. It's too bad the USTCC didn't take off.
BTW, a little OT, but what are you doing with the USTCC car?
BTW, a little OT, but what are you doing with the USTCC car?
| 04RedWRX | 06-17-2004 10:04 AM |
Great news Gary, good luck. I only raced at the Glen once, but it was blast. Of course we didn't have the bus stop back then.
:lol:
:lol:
| Craig W | 06-17-2004 01:20 PM |
I'm not surprised w/ that great first showing at your last race, and your strong history in USTCC. Congratulations Gary!
| TV3WRX | 06-17-2004 03:58 PM |
Yesterday I saw that all the major motorsports news sites are now running Gary's press in their Grand-Am Cup areas. Speedarena, motorsport.com, theracesite, whowon, all have it up. Pretty cool to see "our" Gary in amongst all the big driver names.
| mav1c | 06-18-2004 07:20 AM |
Congrats Gary! I did an HPDE at the Glen once and it was a blast! The close proximity of the barriers was a little intimidating at first, but that went away pretty quickly. Definitely a fast, smooth track. Have fun, and good luck!!
| MattDell | 06-18-2004 10:10 AM |
[QUOTE][i]Originally posted by trojan9x[/i]
[B] BTW, a little OT, but what are you doing with the USTCC car? [/B][/QUOTE]
[B] BTW, a little OT, but what are you doing with the USTCC car? [/B][/QUOTE]
| pio!pio! | 06-18-2004 05:33 PM |
Practice 1
[url]http://www.grand-am.com/Events/SessionResults.asp?SessionID=358[/url]
Practice 2
[url]http://www.grand-am.com/Events/SessionResults.asp?SessionID=359[/url]
[url]http://www.grand-am.com/Events/SessionResults.asp?SessionID=358[/url]
Practice 2
[url]http://www.grand-am.com/Events/SessionResults.asp?SessionID=359[/url]
| TV3WRX | 06-18-2004 05:50 PM |
14th out of 29, they didn't quite get into the top 10 in today's practice sessions. (They were sixth at one point.) I hope to speak to him later to get details, but I'm pretty sure their plan was just working on setup, learning the track, using old tires all day. Also there were many cautions in both sessions; not that many laps were run under green, and traffic was an issue. They have another session early tomorrow morning before qualifying.
| TV3WRX | 06-18-2004 07:54 PM |
I just spoke to him. In addition to the above they were considerably down on power today due to an overheating issue, possibly intercooler related. The team is trying to sort it out tonight. The good news is they got the suspension setup pretty close to what it needs to be, despite the power issue.
Let's hope for better tomorrow.
Let's hope for better tomorrow.
| TV3WRX | 06-19-2004 11:54 AM |
Not looking good. Live timing says they only turned one very slow lap in qualifying this morning, so something major must be wrong with the car. Details later.
| TV3WRX | 06-20-2004 12:40 AM |
OK here are the details:
They basically got the car fixed before race time, with exception of slight misfire. Started the race in 27th position, got to 18th after 1 lap, to 7th by lap 7, to 3rd by lap 10, to 1st by lap 11! Caution came out, sat in the lead for three laps. On restart, overanxious and squirrely M3 driver Jep Thornton tries to overtake Gary for the lead, does not get it done, punts them both off at high speed. Both cars mashed up badly, Gary taken to medical center to get checked out but released without issue, no problems.
Obviously he is very dissapointed, and upset about wadding the car up. On the other hand he is totally pumped to have come from back of the grid, to first, in 11 laps.:)
Speed TV had in-car cameras in his car, so the broadcast footage of the charge thru the field and crash should be good.
They basically got the car fixed before race time, with exception of slight misfire. Started the race in 27th position, got to 18th after 1 lap, to 7th by lap 7, to 3rd by lap 10, to 1st by lap 11! Caution came out, sat in the lead for three laps. On restart, overanxious and squirrely M3 driver Jep Thornton tries to overtake Gary for the lead, does not get it done, punts them both off at high speed. Both cars mashed up badly, Gary taken to medical center to get checked out but released without issue, no problems.
Obviously he is very dissapointed, and upset about wadding the car up. On the other hand he is totally pumped to have come from back of the grid, to first, in 11 laps.:)
Speed TV had in-car cameras in his car, so the broadcast footage of the charge thru the field and crash should be good.
| pio!pio! | 06-20-2004 03:20 AM |
27th to 1st in 11 laps should peak a lot of team's interest. Hopefully a full season ride can result from this exposure!
| trhoppe | 06-20-2004 10:20 AM |
Damn :furious:
Good driving though gary, 27th to 1st is one helluva run.
-Tom
Good driving though gary, 27th to 1st is one helluva run.
-Tom
| AndyRoo | 06-20-2004 01:25 PM |
bah that stinks
good to hear hes okay, and thats a great run!
good to hear hes okay, and thats a great run!
| GarySheehan | 06-20-2004 02:59 PM |
Hey guys,
I'm sitting here in LaGuardia Airport in NYC waiting for my return flight. The crash sucked. It was a pretty hard hit. Yesterday I felt absolutely fine, but today the right side of my neck and my back is a bit sore and I've got a bruise on the back of my right arm. Nothing that's really bad, but as I move my luggage around the airport it's a constant reminder that I had more than an moment yesterday.
The car is in bad shape. Worse than Ander's car at Mont Tremblant. The team was disappointed, but very cool and very concerned about me.
Later in the day Bob Aines was told by the Grand Am Race Director Mark Raffauf that he and the chief steward of the race reviewed the in-car video from my car several times and said that I did everything right and Jeb did it wrong. That's somewhat comforting to know that the officials are on my side.
I spoke with Calvin Fish this morning and asked him what Dorsey's and Lee's take on the situation was. I was pretty surprised to hear that Calvin thought Dorsey put most of the blame on me. I really hope not, because even though the race officials are holding me blameless, the majority of the people out there may be persuaded to think I was to blame.
All I can say is watch the video, look at the room I gave Jeb on the inside, and watch as he comes across and takes all my racing room away from me. That's what really pisses me off, because I gave him lots of room on the inside. Anyway, it's done.
Hopefully there will be some good coverage coming from the back to the front.
More later...
Gary
Sheehan Motor Racing
[url]www.teamSMR.com[/url]
I'm sitting here in LaGuardia Airport in NYC waiting for my return flight. The crash sucked. It was a pretty hard hit. Yesterday I felt absolutely fine, but today the right side of my neck and my back is a bit sore and I've got a bruise on the back of my right arm. Nothing that's really bad, but as I move my luggage around the airport it's a constant reminder that I had more than an moment yesterday.
The car is in bad shape. Worse than Ander's car at Mont Tremblant. The team was disappointed, but very cool and very concerned about me.
Later in the day Bob Aines was told by the Grand Am Race Director Mark Raffauf that he and the chief steward of the race reviewed the in-car video from my car several times and said that I did everything right and Jeb did it wrong. That's somewhat comforting to know that the officials are on my side.
I spoke with Calvin Fish this morning and asked him what Dorsey's and Lee's take on the situation was. I was pretty surprised to hear that Calvin thought Dorsey put most of the blame on me. I really hope not, because even though the race officials are holding me blameless, the majority of the people out there may be persuaded to think I was to blame.
All I can say is watch the video, look at the room I gave Jeb on the inside, and watch as he comes across and takes all my racing room away from me. That's what really pisses me off, because I gave him lots of room on the inside. Anyway, it's done.
Hopefully there will be some good coverage coming from the back to the front.
More later...
Gary
Sheehan Motor Racing
[url]www.teamSMR.com[/url]
| zzyzx | 06-20-2004 06:54 PM |
Sorry to hear that Gary. Such as it is there will always be "different versions" of the same facts. I'm sure the footage will help clear things up. Clearly, if you can go from 27th to 1st in that number of laps w/o incident just prior, a light bulb has to go off with these people at some point.
I'm sure it's hard but try to get some rest (mental rest, also) on the way home.
- Steve
I'm sure it's hard but try to get some rest (mental rest, also) on the way home.
- Steve
| TV3WRX | 06-20-2004 09:05 PM |
Gary, for what it's worth, I spoke with a buddy who crews for one of the Rolex GA teams, who was there. He saw the crash on race the monitor from his paddock, and also saw the replays several times from different cameras. He said that clearly you held the line "generously", and the M3 just ripped across your bow prematurely. Let's hope the announcers saw it the same way. He also said the guy made a total arsehole of himself on camera by throwing his helmet and having a tantrum before it was even clear that you were not injured. Shake it off, bud. You'll get 'em next time.
| Ride Operator | 06-20-2004 10:34 PM |
Bump for comments about the coverage on SPEED. I missed it.
| TV3WRX | 06-20-2004 10:58 PM |
Coverage hasn't aired yet. It'll be on Speed next Sunday.
| Patrick Olsen | 06-21-2004 12:46 AM |
Ahhhh, next Sunday. I had set up my digital cable to record this morning, but it turned out that was some of the Rolex GS stuff (just before the F1 race came on). I was worried I had missed the coverage of Gary. Definitely looking forward to watching you tear it up, Gary!
Pat Olsen
'97 Legacy 2.5GT sedan
Pat Olsen
'97 Legacy 2.5GT sedan
| stevesparts | 06-21-2004 08:19 AM |
:( :( :(
it figures some bmw brat<:rolleyes: get's wild and knock's you out
good new's :your OK:D bad new's: car is in bad shape:(
I was hope'in to here good new's of a top 3 finish cus you had the car from what i'd read, and you've got the skillzzz;)
just gett'um next time. then them bmw brat's will really wine:p
good luck.
Steve.
it figures some bmw brat<:rolleyes: get's wild and knock's you out
good new's :your OK:D bad new's: car is in bad shape:(
I was hope'in to here good new's of a top 3 finish cus you had the car from what i'd read, and you've got the skillzzz;)
just gett'um next time. then them bmw brat's will really wine:p
good luck.
Steve.
| enduroshark | 06-21-2004 09:33 AM |
Glad to hear that you are OK, Gary.
--
Ony
--
Ony
| GarySheehan | 06-21-2004 12:36 PM |
[img]http://www.teamsmr.com/images/294_19.jpg[/img]
Gary
Sheehan Motor Racing
[url]www.teamSMR.com[/url]
Gary
Sheehan Motor Racing
[url]www.teamSMR.com[/url]
| TV3WRX | 06-21-2004 12:39 PM |
:eek:
| Craig W | 06-21-2004 01:19 PM |
Thank goodness you're ok. Hopefully the aches will go away shortly. What a great showing up to that point though. We're rootin' for you.
| akuhner | 06-22-2004 09:27 AM |
when exactly will it be on Speed?
| GarySheehan | 06-22-2004 10:15 AM |
Latest info was Sunday, June 27th at 11:00am pacific.
I'm feeling much better today. I'm going to the doc to check out a couple of things anyway.
Gary
Sheehan Motor Racing
[url]www.teamSMR.com[/url]
I'm feeling much better today. I'm going to the doc to check out a couple of things anyway.
Gary
Sheehan Motor Racing
[url]www.teamSMR.com[/url]
| AndyRoo | 06-22-2004 10:25 AM |
:eek: wow quite the crash.
looks like those barriers did their job.
good to hear you're feelin better
looks like those barriers did their job.
good to hear you're feelin better
| grindMARC | 06-22-2004 01:43 PM |
[QUOTE][i]Originally posted by TV3WRX [/i]
[B] Pretty cool to see "our" Gary in amongst all the big driver names. [/B][/QUOTE]
Gary gets "big driver" status in MY book!
[B] Pretty cool to see "our" Gary in amongst all the big driver names. [/B][/QUOTE]
Gary gets "big driver" status in MY book!
| candyman | 06-22-2004 04:36 PM |
I second grindMARC's toast!
Excellent work, Gary! :D
I have a rather noobish question for you motorsport regulations guru's out there: I watch the Speed Series coverage as often as I can, and I don't understand why a WRX or STi isn't competing in the GS class sporting a turbo and AWD? What keeps them out of this catagory?
I'm aware of Mike Flynn's go at it in the GT division with an RS, but that's just not quite the same...IMHO. :)
C
Excellent work, Gary! :D
I have a rather noobish question for you motorsport regulations guru's out there: I watch the Speed Series coverage as often as I can, and I don't understand why a WRX or STi isn't competing in the GS class sporting a turbo and AWD? What keeps them out of this catagory?
I'm aware of Mike Flynn's go at it in the GT division with an RS, but that's just not quite the same...IMHO. :)
C
| SpinAll4 | 06-23-2004 07:39 PM |
Glad you are okay Gary, you were on a phenomenal tear.
You are getting some props over on audiworld.com as well. [url]http://www.audiworld.com/news/04/062004/[/url]
I hope you and your team get your car back in shape soon, i think everyone wants to see you continue to do well.
Maybe you have already done this, but could you tell us a bit about the S4 as it compares to the WRX? (i had a WRX, but now i am back owning an Audi again, so i got love for both)
Thanks
Rick
You are getting some props over on audiworld.com as well. [url]http://www.audiworld.com/news/04/062004/[/url]
I hope you and your team get your car back in shape soon, i think everyone wants to see you continue to do well.
Maybe you have already done this, but could you tell us a bit about the S4 as it compares to the WRX? (i had a WRX, but now i am back owning an Audi again, so i got love for both)
Thanks
Rick
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