Crane Cams V8StockCar at Daytona presented by Race

Just about every club racer I have met, at some point has dreamed about competing in the Rolex 24 Hours of Daytona. The twice around the clock endurance race that traces its' origin back to the Daytona Continental first held in 1962, where Dan Gurney won in a Lotus 19 B. The quick thinking Gurney, who lost the motor with just minutes to go, parked the car high on the banking right in front of the flagstand and just let it roll down hill and across the finish line when the checker waved. For most, competing in the Rolex, where some of racings greatest names like Andretti, Foyt, Rodriquez, Donahue, Miles, Ruby, Redman, Gregg, Haywood, Ickx shined, will remain just that, a dream. But for a few, namely the Crane Cams V8 StockCar racers, they will get to live out their dream, flying around the banking on the 3.56 mile road course, and in some cases, even reaching speeds faster than their hero's.

The Crane Cams V8 StockCar racers will be competing with the Central Florida Region SCCA at their annual Daytona Classic on May 5&6. Nearly forty points chasing GT and StockCar racers are expected, including PorterField Enterprises V8 GT-1 points leader Simon Gregg in his Derhaag Motorsports Corvette., two time 2011 winner Charles Wicht in his Rocketsports chassis Corvette, four time class champion, Dave Machavern in his Riggins Engineering Falcon, Bill Riddell in the sister Riggins Falcon, former champ Jeff Emery in his fast winged Monte Carlo, Tom Keleher in his strong running Camaro, and former IMSA Camel GT winner Bob Borders in his Corvette, to name just a few in the V8 GT-1 class. The V8 GT-1 cars are basically the same as the SCCA Trans Am Series cars and at Daytona, the fastest can top 200 mph and cut laps around 1:47.

The Crane Cams V8 Series has three other classes of fast, high horsepower racers. In the LG Motorsports V8 GT2 class, Points leader Keith Goldin will be on hand in his Riggins Engineering built ex Grand Am Rolex GT Mazda RX8. Goldin is one of the lucky ones that has competed in the Rolex 24, driving the same car with brother Steve. Squeak Kennedy, driving the BEMCO Fabrication C6 Corvette will give Goldin a test. The V8 GT-2 cars are ex World Challenge, Rolex GT, SCCA GT-2 types and similar. The class is a mix of custom tube frame chassis and those built from factory cars. They are capable of hitting 180 mph at Daytona and running lap times under 2:00.

The PitBoxes.com V8 SPO class is comprised of ex Nascar Sprint Cup, Nationwide, ARCA, Hooters cars as well as the late model stock cars. The big ex Nascar and ARCA cars weigh 3400 pounds with driver and are allowed full cup motors making more than 800 horsepower. The much lighter late model types weigh in at about 2800 pounds and are limited to motors making about 650 horsepower. The formula works well and the two types are very, very close in performance. These car can hit 190 mph at Daytona and can cut lap times in the 1:53-1:56 range. Race winners in this class include former three time Nascar Goody's Dash Champ Larry Hoopaugh, ARCA & Grand Am competitor Bob Mitten, 2012 Crane Cams V8 Series class champ Paul Breehne and former champ Lee Arnold.

Just maybe the "best bang for the buck" or more aptly put, "the most speed for the buck" in road racing is found in the V8 GTA class. These are high performing, perimeter, tube frame stock cars weighing about 2800# with 500 horsepower. They utilize common and affordable short track stock car parts, and are riding on sticky but cheap ten inch wide stock car tires. These cars can be bought used in good condition for about twenty thousand dollars, yet they are capable of topping 180 mph at Daytona and running lap times in the 1:58-2:00 range. They feature safe, well designed and constructed chassis by some of the best car builers in the business. Look for 2011 champ Randy Walker, young Cameron Lawrence, Butch Kummer, Randy Gay, Hall Robertson and others to put on a show at Daytona.

The Crane Cams V8 StockCar Series wishes to thank the Central Florida Region SCCA and its staff for the great job they do hosting these events. CFR SCCA holds three race events at D.I.S. each year plus the April driver school and PDX.

The Crane Cams V8 StockCar Series wishes to thank its' partners for their support, and they are:
Crane Cams, SCCA, RaceCar Engineering,Porterfield Enterprises, LG Motorsports, Howe Racing, PitBoxes.com, GoPro, RaceTalkRadio.com, Sunoco, Hoosier, Goodyear, FiveStar, RacingJunk.com, Roehrig-Enders, GrassRoots Motorsports Magazine