[CincyKen]

I am a part of the Doran team on occasion. I have been in Daytona and watched it all unfold from the start to end. On Wednesday Kody went out to practice. He had "0" laps in the GT. Unfortunately Brad was in California and could not get to the track until Thursday. Kody went out anyway..... no experience, no coach. He did fine stayed out of the way of faster cars etc. He was frustrated but determined to do better. He went out in the second session and turned in some average times..... nothing earth shattering.
Thursday morning Brad arrived and immediately took the data from the GT to go over it with Kody.... Then Brad went out and turned some lighting fast practice times. The engineer pulled the data from Brads run and began comparing with Kody's on the computer. The data shows top speed, braking, apex speed etc etc on every corner and the mph on the straightaway. A driver cannot bull$hit about his run...... the computer knows everything. There are also cameras front and rear and in the cockpit that don't lie. After these are compared with the data you can easily figure out why and sped up of slowed down. Thursdays night practice was cancelled because of rain...... no track time.
Friday morning the track was still damp so Brad ran the car in a heat race and won it. Friday was still wet so no practice for Kody. Brad ran a heat race and won it later in the day.
Kody only got a few practice laps. Saturday they had a special race for group F cars. Kevin decided that Kody will race it for the experience. He came from the back and won his class GT2A. Now the field is set for the big one. Kody is feeling pretty good and smiling. It's go time. Brad ran the first session of the race. The track was damp and Brad stayed out of trouble and kept the GT in the top 10. It's 12:00 am and Kody's turn to take over the car. He immediately fell back to around 14th. Remember now that he had "0" practice at night, the track was damp because of mist coming in off the ocean and your out there with extremely fast LMP2 rocket ships ( LeMan's Prototype with 900hp ) cars. He ran very consistent laps and dodged the wrecks and spins. His last 2 laps were very quick. 6:00AM Brad takes over and drives the $hit out of the GT to 6th overall the only cars in front of him are 5 LMP2
rockets. It's Kody time for the last leg. He started 6th on the restart and let a few LMP2's get by and 2 GT Porsche's. On the second lap there was a 2 car crash. Keven called him in for a mandatory pit stop. Kody got out of the pits and joined the rear of the field of 36 cars. He did not loose a lap. Brilliant move by Kevin Doran. Kevin radios Kody that it is time to go... and go he did. He was picking of cars like they were standing still and it was fun as hell watching him do it. He had some blistering laps. Now all of a sudden he is back in front of the GT cars and several LMP rockets. With time winding down he made his first and only mistake of the week...... he spun the GT in the horseshoe. I watched it happen. I felt bad for him. But just like he has done before he got the GT pointed in the right direction and took off. Now he is turning laps as fast as Brad and Memo Gidley (former Indy car driver) who drove the car 2 years ago. Now Kody is on fire. It was just like watching him run down the leaders in the Little 500. He was back within striking distance of the Porsches and would have passed them but the checkered flag flew and the race was over. He still won the class and was 3rd over all in GT our of 35+ cars. I will check tomorrow but I am pretty sure he turned in a lap as fast as Brad's best. All this on old tires. He took the GT to victory lane and we had a blast. Kody's interview was cool. He explained that he has never been in a road race car until he got here 5 days. All the people in victory lane were left looking at each ..... "is that for real ??" He thanked everyone then accepted his trophy and Champaign..... and in Kody's style thanked everyone except the construction works across the street. There is no one and I mean no one that could have accomplished what he did over the weekend.
Cody plans on racing for Kevin Doran a few times in 2020 when his schedule allows. The Ford GT will most likely be retired. We will have a newer Ford GT for 2020 and yes, Kody had agreed to drive it. Keep in mind that Kody just got done racing against professional drivers, 15 teams from 15 different country's, 200 plus entries and Ford factory drivers who recently won the IMSA championship including LeMans.
Kody and his wife Jordan are amazing people. Kody is true ambassador for all of you sprint car drivers and fans. I'm looking forward to the next race with Kody and Jordan.
Sorry for all mistakes in this. I have had very little sleep the past 6 days.... Cincy Ken

[Charles Nungester]

Thanks for that Ken, When you mentioned Kody to me almost a year ago, I said "I could think of nobody better. He finds the edge and can hit it every lap.

Now go watch Ford Vs. Ferrari. Darn good movie, even if it's a little long.

[chrisamon]

Originally Posted by B99 IndyCar and NACAR have missed the boat in a big way by not giving this guy a chance.

Just a minor correction. I'm reading this thread as a result of a post on another board ('haven't read the rules in fullest so shan't post it).
I have become a Swanson fan, and hope he finds himself a ride somewhere up the ladder. However, having been down this road myself, and not succeeding (lack of $$$, not knowledge and skill), it must be noted that it is not incumbent on a sanctioning body to secure drivers seats.

[chrisamon]

Originally Posted by interpreter66 Come on Indy car WAKE UP!!!

Again, 'same.

[CincyKen]

Hi Chris. You are 100% correct. Its not Indy Car or NASCAR that hires the drivers, it is the teams. Teams need financial backing to race. If a driver comes to a team owner with a million bucks he is going to get serious consideration before another driver who may be much better but has no $$ to bring to the table. That sucks but it is reality. Kody needs to keep winning, selling himself to potential sponsors. On a rare occasion there might be a team that has the funding but only middle of the pack drivers that might consider giving him a test. Lets hope that owner, sponsor or team steps up.

[chrisamon]

Originally Posted by CincyKen Kody needs to keep winning, selling himself to potential sponsors. On a rare occasion there might be a team that has the funding but only middle of the pack drivers that might consider giving him a test. Lets hope that owner, sponsor or team steps up.

Absolutely. I earned (by working in their shop) a ride (small family team, GTU 911) in two 24 of Daytonas ('broke both years, half way'ish through) 40ish years ago. That lucked me into a chance to warm up (literally just a warmup, 5 laps, 5G rev limit requested.....I jumped on it) a March 83G/Chevy when the driver was running late for the practice session and they wanted it warmed and leak checked when he got there.

As in any racing situation, "How fast 'you want to go? How much you got?", 'pretty much applies to getting noticed and signed with some team...."How much do you have to get you there....?".

[CincyKen]

Hey Chris..... was your Dad the Formula 1 driver that won a ton of races back in the late 60's and 70's? He was a hell of a great driver!

[interpreter66]

Originally Posted by chrisamon Again, 'same.

That’s meant to be taken in a general term as in all the teams wake up not indy car totally understand a sanctioning body does not put drivers in cars , I think most people definitely understood what I meant 🙄

[chrisamon]

Aiy yi-yi. No. 'Just a screename.
I did have the opportunity to see Chris drive his Ferrari 612P in a Can Am race at Bridgehampton, NY, 1969 (2 other slot car racers and one's dad that drove us out there from NYC). Boy that 6 litre V12 sounded great! Having qualified 3rd to the Bruce and Denny Show, sorrowfully, his bad luck kicked in, and he broke only three laps in.


More importantly, poor Chris ('passed a couple or three years ago) is widely known as one of, if not THE, best F1 drivers to never have won a World Championship race.
He did, in 1969, win a Tasman Series Championship (a series for mostly Formula One chassis with 2.5 litre engines as opposed to 3.0 litres in F1, run in Australia and New Zealand during the F1 off-season).

Chris


You might enjoy:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tasman_Series

The driver photo in this one is Bruce McLaren
https://www.mclaren.com/racing/blog/...-championship/

[chrisamon]

Originally Posted by interpreter66 That’s meant to be taken in a general term as in all the teams wake up not indy car totally understand a sanctioning body does not put drivers in cars , I think most people definitely understood what I meant 🙄

Okay....no need for defensiveness....there are ignorants online that do need guidance, that's all.
('Notice how CincyKen took it? No insecurity there. )