Page 66 - KCRPCA MayJune 2021

DAYTONA
ROLEX 24 HOURS
WHERE’S THE PARTY?
4000 MILES TO WATCH A 24 HOUR RACE. WHERE IS EVERYONE?
FEATURE CONTRIBUTOR JIM RAND
RV, COVID-19, and for garnish, a 24 hour race. What it boils down to is a 4,000 mile road trip that circumnavigated Florida. What could go wrong?
14
YEARS
Fortunately, nothing went wrong. We departed KC on the 25th of January. Except for blustery winds and rain that accompanied us to Montgomery, Alabama, all went well. M,m,m, maybe not ALL things. One of the excuses to do the journey was to check out the annual IMSA Rolex 24 Hour race at Daytona, usually held on the last weekend of January. Many of you have probably viewed televised portions of this race, and I have found myself waking at 2 AM to see who had the lead. Porsche, being one of the more successful
Where’s the Party, or the Race?
manufacturers to conquer the 24, increased the desire to observe this race first hand.
Planning began in November, luckily. As a consequence of COVID, admission tickets were severely limited, and pit passes didn’t exist. Fortunately, Der Sportwagen Editor and Zone
10 Representative Stan Thorne, introduced me to Florida’s Zone 12 Representative, Lisa Lewis. Lisa knew a long-time club member who could not attend, but had a ticket. The problem was solved.
After a 20-year absence, I arrived January 28th at our RV site, just 5 minutes west of the track. First, the track is huge, perhaps just a little larger than the Indianapolis Motor Speedway. Across from the eight lane highway that parallels the track’s north side, what once was a restaurant or two with a gas station thrown in, is now about every fast-
Mix together a 74 year old, a three year old puppy, an
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Der Sportwagen