Good afternoon, Race Fans! Welcome back to Daytona International Speedway!
After a couple of days to enjoy walks on the beach, the action continues for CSM here at Daytona with slightly warmer weather and the skies that are half and half. The paddock bustles more as the day goes on and we get closer to activity on track at last. The VP Challenge rigs left last week, making space for the MX5 Cup joining the IMSA circus this week. The flow of fans through the paddock is increasing as well.
WEDNESDAY NOTES:
There are three practice sessions this afternoon with our group being in a Mazda sandwich. Morgan, Gordon, and Madeline take the track for an hour at 3:00. It’s a pretty lightweight day, especially since the crew did all the prep over the last 2 days. Everyone is ready for this to kick off today!
Ahead of the single track session today, Morgan, Gordon, and Madeline attended the driver and team briefings held by IMSA, had the requisite headshots in full race suit (minus helmet), and several CSM debriefs and planning discussions. It may be counterintuitive, but being a race car driver is probably more planning, evaluating, and talking than it is actually doing the driving. That's what it takes to move up the standings.
Earlier this week IMSA released their Balance Of Performance (BOP) adjustments for this event. They made changes to most manufacturers, attempting to give all of them a reasonable fighting chance to win. The Porsche had a couple changes that slow us down a touch. Some got a bigger slow down while others got a boost.
When the first practice is done for the upcoming BMW M Endurance Challenge at Daytona, Morgan still puts the #2 in 4th place. He seems well adjusted and quite comfortable. Madeline and Gordon both got laps as well and we can say that all is looking pretty solid for Practice 2 and Qualifying sessions tomorrow.
During the last track session of the day, we watch MX5 Cup Practice 2 from the pit lane. Their spotters, dressed all in black, perch like ravens atop the grandstands. They follow their cars with binoculars and give the drivers information about other cars close to them, especially on the banking. As the pack navigates the circuit clumped together, the spotter’s heads all turn in unison.
Here at the end of the day the CSM crew will go through the car and get it ready to go again tomorrow morning at 8:45. Today still feels a little relaxed, but that is sure to change. The whole team was able to sit down and enjoy lunch all together instead of the usual eat on the run with a wrench in hand. I expect the excitement and flow of spectators to really ramp up tomorrow.
Giddy up! Race weekend proper is underway!
THURSDAY NOTES:
As the first glimmers of dawn begin to streak the clouds, we join the quickly building queue of crew ninjas in head-to-toe black. We all await the arrival of the trams that will take us from the parking lot outside the track to the infield where all the good stuff happens. It has quadrupled in size in just a few minutes. Fortunately, it is a group that has learned from long practice to maintain patience and joviality.
By the time the tram drops us off in the paddock, the sky has brightened considerably. The other traffic stops for the herd as we make our way toward the garages; after all, we fill the road and outnumber the cars. Gradually, the stream thins as small groups trickle off in different directions to their respective garages.
I hadn’t noticed how low the humidity had been all week until this morning when it is no longer low. The dew is heavy and the air is thick. It’s still cool now, but this will be the warmest day so far, around 70, but still cloudy and breezy.
Today’s track sessions begin at 8:45 with a 60-minute practice. There is also driver change practice off and on all day both in the garage and on the pit lane. The goal is to get that time and the tire change time down below the time it takes to do fuel. The fuel flow rate is regulated and it will always be the longest component of a pit stop. All other things should be faster.
All the laps in Practice 2 are given over to Madeline and Gordon. All racers know there is no substitute for seat time. The more you time in the driver's seat you can get, the better. Both of them set better times in this session than in the first yesterday. By the same token, you can practice pit stops and driver changes in the garage, but they feel different when you do them in the pit lane in the real battleground environment. That’s what Practice 2 is for.
What's in a pit stop, you might ask? In each stop, the driver hits pit lane, slowing to the 60 kph speed limit (there's a button on the steering wheel to maintain that speed). Our pit box is at pit center, making it easy to find, and John with the lollipop makes it even easier, waving it to attract the driver's eyes. The car stops, hopefully right on the marks and puts the car in park. The car has to be the right distance from the pit wall and centered in the box so that tools and people are aligned with their jobs on the car and no extra movements are needed. The crew leaps over the wall, tools in hand, to do their jobs. Put the air hose on to activate the jack stands. Two guys grab the right side wheels and air wrenches and run around the front and back to change those tires. At the same time the fireman has the extinguisher at the ready while the fueler leaps onto the hood and plugs in the fuel nozzle. Behind the pit wall, others stand ready to retract the hose for the front air wrench, collect the right side tires, and stage the left side tires. All the while, the driver unplugs cool suit and radio, and releases belts to leap out of the car taking the seat insert along. The incoming driver helps by opening the door, dropping the window net and placing the left shoulder belt where it can be grabbed easily. Changing places, the new seat insert goes in, followed quickly by the new driver. The drivers work together to get everything plugged back in, reattached, and tightened. Left side tires get changed, the car drops back to the ground. There's a radio check done as the last of the crew, hoses, tires, fire extinguisher and fuel retreat to the relative safety of the pit wall. Upon a traffic check and release, the car leaps back into the transit lanes, getting up to pit limiter speed as quickly as possible and diving back into the battle at the pit exit. All of action in the stop happens in well under a minute. There's a choreography of who moves where and when, carrying what so that everything gets done correctly and completely, missing nothing. We work together aiming for no trips, no stumbles, no errors.
This afternoon, the GS qualifying session leaves pit lane at 1:35. We go up earlier and hang out while the TCR class does its job. As usual, there’s only 15 minutes to set your best lap time. Madeline has the wheel and she did turn some of her quicker times. Unlucky for us, a whole lot of other drivers went pretty fast too. We will be starting the 4-hour race today in 24th. We are hoping the racing gods smile upon us today as we will need a good amount of luck to advance.
If you need to watch something more than numbers, you can catch the MX5 Cup Race 1 this evening at 5:15 pm and MX5 Cup Race 2 at 10:00 am Friday on YouTube.
FRIDAY NOTES:
There is one last 30-minute practice to run this morning at 9:10. This time Morgan goes out to see what his race car can do in final race trim. Because Madeline qualified, she will start the race. Gordon will follow her, and Morgan will have the big anchor stint. He figures out what the car wants today and he will provide what it needs to be fast in the race. the end of the practice, they run a few more practices for the pit stops. It's a long race, with most teams planning between four and five stops. A lot of time can be lost if the stop goes poorly, even more so if an error causes a penalty. It's important to keep them clean and smooth.
Fan walk at 12:45 - This is always intense, especially so here at Daytona. The fans have been pouring in for days and are on the grid in huge numbers today. The Michelin Pilot Challenge entry list is longer than it has ever been - with 35 GS cars and 16 TCR cars for a total grid of 51. That makes for a very busy race track! Even with so many cars lined up on the pit lane, they were still hard to see with so many people inundating the lane. It is very cool to see some of the same people first met in previous years back again for the excitement this year. The fans take lots of pictures and collect autographs. Some take a peek inside the car and ask some questions about the Porsche. Our car is conveniently located quite close to our pit box at pit center where the fans flow in and the opening ceremonies are held. If you look closely at the broadcast, you can see the CSM on the raised boot lid of our car center screen.
We qualified 24th, but we start in one spot higher in 23rd when a competitor has the bad luck to start at the back. As we stand in line formation, we have a front row view of everything. It is a moment to take a deep breath, savor the anticipation, and offer a fervent prayer for a safe race for all participants.
The green flag flies on the BMW M Endurance Challenge Race at 1:45 pm (watch on Peacock or YouTube) and then we have four long hours to wait for the checker. So much can happen in that time, and while it seems a long time, it will fly by so very fast.
The cars get two laps before they approach the green flag for a split start - GS first then TCR following a short distance back. This gives a bit of a gap to spread out the classes and give them each their own space to start. Even so, in the early laps, the cars are packed very close together. It can be a good opportunity to make advances, but it also carries risk when they are all trying to do the same thing, sometimes 3-4 wide across the road. Madeline does well, getting a clean start and gaining a couple spots in the first couple of laps.
At three laps in, Madeline has contact with another Porsche at Turn 2. She takes a short run through the grass to the right and rejoins at the exit of Turn 3. Thankfully, there's no damage to the car, and no penalties are assessed, but we slip back a few spots. When debris on the front straight brings out the first yellow flag on Lap 19, 37 minutes into the race, we are in 29th. By the time the pits open for GS cars a few minutes later, more than the minimum drive time of 40 minutes has passed. We come in for a pit stop, Gordon hops in to take over on Lap 22. He heads back out, still under yellow, with four fresh tires and a full load of fuel.
Just before this yellow ends, Gordon comes in again to top up the tank. We know this will put us last in class, but we will be there anyway when we have to come in under green flag to serve a drive through penalty for wheel rotation while elevated during our first stop. At least we will be in the best position for Gordon to put his focus forward without worrying about having to save fuel. We get a little luck when another yellow comes out right away and we can close up the gap to the pack again.
When green flag laps really get going again on Lap 33, Gordon has a good run for fourteen laps. During that time, he makes steady progress, moving the #2 Porsche up from last in class at the start of his stint all the way up to 20th in class. Lap 47 brings another opportunely timed yellow flag. Gordon has run a little over an hour. He's kept it clean and moved up - exactly what's needed at this stage of the race. Now, it's time to hand it over to Morgan who, from this point forward, will have the wheel for the remaining two and a bit hours. The crew tops up the fuel and puts two tires on the right side of the car where the load and degradation are highest, especially through the banked turns on the speedway. That quick stop gets Morgan out of the pits in 12th.
Morgan in the driver's seat is motivated, thoughtful, and quick reacting. This, with critical and forward looking input from his spotter, Trevor, is what helps him advance his position. Driver's always use their mirrors when moving through traffic, but having a spotter helps the driver predict when to move and how much without having to move his eyes away from what's in front of him as often. It is especially helpful when the cars are three or more wide and you really can't see cars on the other side of the one right next to you. That's a common condition on restarts like this one.
During his stint, Morgan managed four restarts. He pitted twice for fuel and tires - four on the first stop and right sides only on the second - breaking his run up into three pieces. During that time, he accomplished 32 overtakes, the third most by any driver in the field. As you get closer to the front of the pack, passing your competitors gets progressively more difficult. You get a little help in the earlier stages when teams are on different pit, fuel, and tire strategies, but by the last stop, everyone is done with that and all are making the run to the checkered flag.
At Morgan's first stop from 12th on Lap 67 under yellow, he'd made it up to 8th in 18 laps. A stop often drops the car back a bit, depending on what others are doing, so in his second stage of 16 laps, he moved from where he rejoined in 17th up to 7th by Lap 82. The final stop of the race was done under green flag on Lap 84, with the #2 getting back into the fray in 19th. The last 23 laps were all under green flag and Morgan took only four laps to move up to 10th. On Lap 100, he was scored in 9th, which he maintained until checkered flag fell on Lap 106 after four hours of racing.
It was a roller coaster race indeed. Madeline and Gordon did their jobs well in the first two stints, handing over the car to Morgan for the long anchor stint. The crew executed good, clean stops. All the hard work and preparation in the off-season shone through in the performance during both weeks in Daytona. Team Burkhard and the whole of CSM is thrilled to start the 2026 racing season with a very strong top 10 finish. It's good points for the drivers and the team and the car is in great shape moving forward to Round 2 at Sebring International Raceway on March 21.
Bonus time: We stayed around to take in the big show for the weekend, the Rolex 24 Hours of Daytona. This is a monster of a race starting at 1:40 on Saturday afternoon and running non-stop through the night to 1:40 on Sunday afternoon. The Turn 1 grandstands are packed and the infield space is teeming with spectators and their campsites. Food and merch vendors, along with manufacturer pavilions cram the midway, complete with a gigantic ferris wheel.
We wander around, watching the racing, immersed in the sound and spectacle of this event. Despite there being around 250 thousand people here, we keep coming across people we know. It's such a marvelous experience! Eventually, we head back to the house after a long and quite warm day to wash up, get some dinner, and change clothes.
When we head back to the track, it's dark and windy. The temperature has fallen and the fog is rolling in. It feels like the lights and sounds of Daytona are separated from the surrounding city and enclosed in a big misty bubble. Even so, the random meetings with friends keep coming. A pack of eight of us decides that a ride on the 125 foot tall ferris wheel would be fun. Let me just say... That ride (slightly terrifying but completely amazing) is totally worth the $10 to rise high above the track at night. We can see the entire track from up here, but not a single thing beyond it, all else lost in fog.
We walk more and talk more, visiting with friends and touring the pit lane. These WeatherTech teams have some serious lighting, banks of data and video screens, and stacks and stacks of tires and spares in their spaces. It's all ready to go at a moment's notice. Most teams across the four classes in this race will make between 25 and 35 stops in the 24 hours. That doesn't give the crews much time to rest or eat between them. It's exhausting!
Suddenly, we realize it's 10:00! That weird popping noise is not coming from the race track - it's time for the fireworks show! Those are beautiful, but rather odd. We can see the ones that pop low fairly clearly, but anything going up high just tinges the fog in bright colors, adding to the surreal feel. (If you want to see the sparks, they are better viewed on TV.) More walking. More talking. More watching. Eventually, after midnight with the fog thickening, we pack it in and head home again. We keep watching for a while on TV, but when a full course yellow comes out, we know it will stay until the fog clears in the morning. It's bed time, but the adrenaline and excitement of the day take a while to subside and let sleep come.
Sunday is pack up and clean up day, so we watch on TV instead of in person. If you've made it through the night, dawn is when the race really starts to run. The fog clears and the green running returns. It's a really great race to watch today. There is a whole lot of great stuff to come yet this year, but we always look forward to coming back to Daytona every January for this most incredible experience.
WHAT'S NEXT?
February is filled with activities, both at and away from race tracks. We head back to Florida in a few weeks for Round 2 of IMSA's Michelin Pilot Challenge. If you need a place to go for spring break, Sebring is a great choice. See you there?
