The world they shattered is collapsing around them, yet regardless of who prevailed at the Daytona 24, everyone involved got what they wanted.
If Sundance kicks off the film industry every year, then the 24 Hours of Daytona kicks off the motorsports industry every year. Alternatively, the 23 Hours and 58 Minutes of Daytona, as it concluded this year. The GTP leaders were informed that they were on their final lap when the checkered flag was waved to them with just under two minutes remaining on the clock, either due to a close call or a mistake on the part of race control. Nobody knew it was over, and nobody was cheering. In the top class of the nearly 60-car lineup, Brazilian Felipe Nasr managed to hold off British-Swedish driver Tom Blomqvist till the finish line, capping one of the shortest racing days in history. But in reality, it was a conflict between two Americans : Roger Penske and zim France .
When the longest night racing session of 2024 began, most of the front-runners in the elite class of prototype sportscars slipped out of realistic contention. However, the race was initially anybody's to win. A little over halfway through the race, the #01 Cadillac—which had qualified P2 behind four-time CART champion and 2014 Daytona winner Sébastien Bourdais—as well as the #40 Acura—which was fast enough for a podium—fell far behind the leaders. The all-star driver rotation included three-time Daytona winner Renger van der Zande, six-time IndyCar champion Scott Dixon, and reigning IndyCar champion Álex Palou.
During the last several hours, the #31 Action Express Cadillac V-Series and the #7 Porsche Penske in a customer 4.6 L Twin-Turbo V8 powered 963 were the center of attention.R has a powerful 5.5L naturally aspirated V8 engine. Two powerful motor racing magnates engaged in a proxy war, using both raw American strength and cunning European engineering to defeat the other .
The American automobile is experiencing a protracted period of twilight, which began with Detroit's downfall and ended with the electric motor attempting to run on its own. The stuffy industry that destroyed every city in the nation for a group of fascists in the suburbs (with the magnificent American highway system just serving as a byproduct) is fading, and the only people taking its place are some foolish people with iPads rather than anything better.
The old industrialists, those old-school conservatives who stopped making huge contributions to the Republican Party after 2016 when they realized the beast they created no longer paid them the respect they thought they deserved, are now left battling it out on the infield of a Florida triangular stadium for the remaining scraps of their dwindling viewership. Americans are becoming less and less of a force in the world.
2019 saw the purchase of the Indianapolis Motor Speedway—home of the Indy 500, America's jewel on motorsport's Triple Crown—by Roger Penske, the transportation tycoon whose son and heir has used his wealth to buy up every Hollywood trade publication. Along with it, Penske acquired the entirety of IndyCar, the premier open-wheel racing series in North America.
He had always been a racer, and last year, after purchasing the speedway, Team Penske won their first 500 race when Josef Newgarden passed the current leader Marcus Ericsson on the final lap following an exciting (if somewhat theatrical) race restart. Along with all three of his co-pilots in the #7 Porsche (Felipe Nasr, Dane Cameron, and Matt Campbell), Newgarden finished first for Penske at Daytona on Sunday. This marked their first-ever overall victory at the Daytona 24.
The #31 Action Express, driven by Blomqvist, Jack Aitkin, and Pipo Derani, was just behind them in line. Jim France, the son and heir of NASCAR founder "Big Bill" France, Sr., owned the race. Big Bill was a founding member of the International Motorsports Association in the 1960s. This sanctioning body had a long history of supporting sports car racing, and in 2012 it was acquired by NASCAR, which Jim France led as CEO. The Daytona 24 inaugurated the newly combined Grand-Am and Rolex Racing series as the IMSA SportsCar Championship in 2014. Everything is owned by France and Penske.
Similar to Ferrari's 58-year absence from the top spot at Le Mans that ended last year, Penske has been the overall winner of the Daytona 24 for 55 years. The brands' enduring power is incomparable: while Enzo is no longer with us, Ferrari endures. The demography of NASCAR fans is aging, whereas European motor racing has expanded its appeal to new markets with the help of smarmy technologies and Netflix programs. In contrast, the American car is outdated and caught in a rut. Whether Penske or France crossed the line first on Sunday didn't really matter because they both got what they wanted and were left driving in circles while the world they damaged fell apart around them.
Comments
Post a Comment