Thursday, June 30, 2005
Vic Mackey Racing @ Daytona RC
Vic Mackey Racing Press Release
Friday night, Vic Mackey Racing - along with driver Jabroni - finished a solid 6th place in the Group A category in the TPTCC Summer Season opener at the road course version of the Daytona International Speedway. TPTCC switched to GTP cars for the short summer season, and Vic Mackey Racing chose to run a Sauber Mercedes, feeling that it would be best for their driver Jabroni, as he also runs a Sauber in the WOSEC Endurance racing series for WR Racing. They chose number 47 because that Hitman: Codename 47 is a pretty cool game. Rain-X came aboard as a sponsor after a meeting with team boss Vic Mackey. Rumors of Mackey threatening various Rain-X higher-ups with arrests if they didn't comply are completely unfounded. Second in command Shane Vandrell did, however, kick a guy.
The night got off to a rough start in qualifying, as Jabroni stuffed it in the fence coming out of the pits, and didn't even make a lap. The chilly 45 degree temperature surely had something to do with it, but driver Jabroni has his own theory. "I'm pretty sure there was a rabbit on the race track. I didn't really want to hit it, because I'm a pretty nice guy, so I swerved to avoid it and caught the wall." When shown a replay of the accident in which no rabbit was visible, Jabroni said, "Well, I mean, it's tough out there. I got the air taken off of me and hit the wall." We didn't press Jabroni about it being single-car qualifying and there being no one out there to mess up his air, since Mackey was nearby and had already beaten up two fans looking for autographs.
The race - a 40 lapper - was an incredibly cold 34 degrees, with overcast conditions. Jabroni started 23rd, and recalled the first few laps. "It was tough - lots of traffic, everyone being careful and slow. Easy to rear-end guys, but we got through it. Cold temperatures made it very slippery... The low frame rates didn't help matters either. And the rabbits, by God the rabbits were everywhere." The Rain-X Sauber moved up to 14th after a lap, and to 10th by lap two. For a while, Jabroni just made steady progress, moving past a couple cars, and having very few offs.
Up to position 8th on lap 16, Jabroni was closing on 6th and 7th who were battling a lap car as well as each other. There was a big crash in T1 between the two, and the lap car slowed dramatically on the racing line, causing the Rain-X Sauber to pile into him. "Yeah, I don't really know what happened there... I looked up for my braking marker for just a second, and when I looked back this guy was almost stopped in the track. So I ran into him. Nowhere to go by then," Jabroni said. Team boss Mackey was seen rushing to the pits of the lap car, to talk things over peacefully, gun drawn only as a joke. Yeah, it was a joke, so enough with the lawyers.
Jabroni pitted that lap to fix damage and take the fuel needed to finish the race. With the aforementioned accident, Jabroni was up to 7th as one of the cars in the accident was forced to cut the track and track officials disqualified him. Shane Vandrell told us, "Yeah, that flagger threw the black flag... didn't seem fair to totally kick the guy out of the race since he didn't cut on purpore. It's almost as if someone told the guy if he didn't DQ that car that I wouldn't tell him where I stashed the heroin in his hotel room before the cops got wind--" A well timed smack from Mackey cut Vandrell off, and kept Mackey's second in command in line.
Meanwhile Jabroni was back a few spots after the stop, and found himself racing a Group B car for 9th. "I got by him going into one - I guess they had left the qualifying transmission in there, so he was kinda slow at the end of the straight there. But I spun on some rabbit blood coming onto the banking and he got back by. I caught back up and accidently rear-ended him coming into the chicaine... I hate it for him, but at least he still won his class, I guess... I didn't think I was going to get into him, but he slowed quciker than I thought he would at the last second and I got him. He plowed through some 50 or 60 rabbits spinning into the grass, too. Shame there."
As the race neared an end, Jabroni was up into 6th after pit stops cycled all the way through. He would hold station, turning mid 1:34's with the damage from the earlier crash. The leaders were doing 1:31's and 32's with the cold temps.
Vic Mackey Racing would finish 6th, picking up the 2 points for the "hard charger" award for gaining the most positions. Jabroni also had the 3rd fastest lap of the race at a 1:31.7.
"Overall, I'm satisfied with our race," Jabroni said. "This is only my second race with the series, and I'm pretty pleased. I'm especially pleased with the 3rd fastest lap, as it shows that we have the speed - we just have to get a little more consistent on track."
"What do you mean 'we'?" Mackey chimed in.
Friday night, Vic Mackey Racing - along with driver Jabroni - finished a solid 6th place in the Group A category in the TPTCC Summer Season opener at the road course version of the Daytona International Speedway. TPTCC switched to GTP cars for the short summer season, and Vic Mackey Racing chose to run a Sauber Mercedes, feeling that it would be best for their driver Jabroni, as he also runs a Sauber in the WOSEC Endurance racing series for WR Racing. They chose number 47 because that Hitman: Codename 47 is a pretty cool game. Rain-X came aboard as a sponsor after a meeting with team boss Vic Mackey. Rumors of Mackey threatening various Rain-X higher-ups with arrests if they didn't comply are completely unfounded. Second in command Shane Vandrell did, however, kick a guy.
The night got off to a rough start in qualifying, as Jabroni stuffed it in the fence coming out of the pits, and didn't even make a lap. The chilly 45 degree temperature surely had something to do with it, but driver Jabroni has his own theory. "I'm pretty sure there was a rabbit on the race track. I didn't really want to hit it, because I'm a pretty nice guy, so I swerved to avoid it and caught the wall." When shown a replay of the accident in which no rabbit was visible, Jabroni said, "Well, I mean, it's tough out there. I got the air taken off of me and hit the wall." We didn't press Jabroni about it being single-car qualifying and there being no one out there to mess up his air, since Mackey was nearby and had already beaten up two fans looking for autographs.
The race - a 40 lapper - was an incredibly cold 34 degrees, with overcast conditions. Jabroni started 23rd, and recalled the first few laps. "It was tough - lots of traffic, everyone being careful and slow. Easy to rear-end guys, but we got through it. Cold temperatures made it very slippery... The low frame rates didn't help matters either. And the rabbits, by God the rabbits were everywhere." The Rain-X Sauber moved up to 14th after a lap, and to 10th by lap two. For a while, Jabroni just made steady progress, moving past a couple cars, and having very few offs.
Up to position 8th on lap 16, Jabroni was closing on 6th and 7th who were battling a lap car as well as each other. There was a big crash in T1 between the two, and the lap car slowed dramatically on the racing line, causing the Rain-X Sauber to pile into him. "Yeah, I don't really know what happened there... I looked up for my braking marker for just a second, and when I looked back this guy was almost stopped in the track. So I ran into him. Nowhere to go by then," Jabroni said. Team boss Mackey was seen rushing to the pits of the lap car, to talk things over peacefully, gun drawn only as a joke. Yeah, it was a joke, so enough with the lawyers.
Jabroni pitted that lap to fix damage and take the fuel needed to finish the race. With the aforementioned accident, Jabroni was up to 7th as one of the cars in the accident was forced to cut the track and track officials disqualified him. Shane Vandrell told us, "Yeah, that flagger threw the black flag... didn't seem fair to totally kick the guy out of the race since he didn't cut on purpore. It's almost as if someone told the guy if he didn't DQ that car that I wouldn't tell him where I stashed the heroin in his hotel room before the cops got wind--" A well timed smack from Mackey cut Vandrell off, and kept Mackey's second in command in line.
Meanwhile Jabroni was back a few spots after the stop, and found himself racing a Group B car for 9th. "I got by him going into one - I guess they had left the qualifying transmission in there, so he was kinda slow at the end of the straight there. But I spun on some rabbit blood coming onto the banking and he got back by. I caught back up and accidently rear-ended him coming into the chicaine... I hate it for him, but at least he still won his class, I guess... I didn't think I was going to get into him, but he slowed quciker than I thought he would at the last second and I got him. He plowed through some 50 or 60 rabbits spinning into the grass, too. Shame there."
As the race neared an end, Jabroni was up into 6th after pit stops cycled all the way through. He would hold station, turning mid 1:34's with the damage from the earlier crash. The leaders were doing 1:31's and 32's with the cold temps.
Vic Mackey Racing would finish 6th, picking up the 2 points for the "hard charger" award for gaining the most positions. Jabroni also had the 3rd fastest lap of the race at a 1:31.7.
"Overall, I'm satisfied with our race," Jabroni said. "This is only my second race with the series, and I'm pretty pleased. I'm especially pleased with the 3rd fastest lap, as it shows that we have the speed - we just have to get a little more consistent on track."
"What do you mean 'we'?" Mackey chimed in.
# posted by class of 89 : 3:58 PM
