enjoyed a 45 minute stint between two yellows, going out on warm tires that had seen almost a full stint.  Pit out was still slick as an oiled eel, but my job was to prevent Jimmie Johnson and pros like that who have maybe a tenth or so on me from making any passes for free.  Managed to have some fun for a few laps, using the occasional GT as a defensive mobile blocking device, but of course had to cede positions to these guys turning 43s and 44s to my 45s.  The only guy I couldn't fathom making a pass on me was another Pro-Am driver from Kansas, Scott Tucker in the 55 car. That shouldn't happen.  Turns out it didn't...their helmet beacon had failed for 3 hours to beam the correct driver ID from the car, causing their drivers during those 3 hours to forfeit any and all driver points, though the car continues to score points.  The fellow passing me was one of their pro drivers, allowing me to tuck my ego back into the same size box as before.

Wonderful professional spotting from pro driver Kenny Wilden high above the Daytona stands where he can see the entire track, helping me with spinning GT cars that could take us out in a nano-second, conveying the other Pro-Am drivers' times to prevent an emotional breakdown in the 6 car cockpit, and generally giving me good advice on approaching DPs or my gap to Tracy Krohn, which developed into a hippo's yawn.  AJ hopped into the 6 car when I came into the pits around 9:45 PM.

Pedro Lamy selected the white cement wall on the right side of pit exit to demolish the SunTrust 10 car's nose perhaps only 30 mph on cold slick tires, forcing them into the garage for repairs, a big No-No in endurance racing.  Carbon fiber or cement?  No contest.

This restart kicked off on Lap 170 with fewer than 18 hours to go, AJ in P4 behind Ryan Dalziel in the Porsche # 9 car.  Juan Pablo from Colombia leading in Ganassi's 02 (after the 01 had a lengthy pit stop to investigate a front left brake problem) and in P2 Lucas Luhr peddling the 95 SuperLife BMW.  All quickly down in the 1:43 range without GT traffic for the first 5 laps.  A mere 3 laps later the bright yellow-green 90 Menard DP 90 lost an entire nose on the infield, bringing out yet another double yellow (8th so far in 6 hours).  AJ pressured the 9 car and within 5 laps of the restart took control of P2 with the 60 car down in P8, Ozz pushing his way back up through the field.

Based on the Frisselle family's endorsement of the Camp Boggy Creek effort to raise money for chronically ill children in Florida, we're sporting a sticker on the 6 car: "everylapcounts.com".  Please go to the website and if you would, pledge a few pennies a lap or a nickel or a dime a lap so we can support these terribly needy kids.

Long gap....

Well, it's closing in on 12:30 AM and I've spent the last hour or more on the couch in the MSR trailer, lulling myself almost to sleep with the roar of these mighty engines blasting away in the background.  Serenely peaceful.  Michael Valiante is back at the 6 peddles in P2 with Joao Barbosa leading in the V8 Porsche # 9 and Dave Donahue pushing up from third in the 59 Brumos Porsche - last year's overall winner.  The race and time have begun to take a toll: only six DPs remain on the lead lap (9, 6, 59, 95, 75 and the 01), Lap # 265.  John Pew owns P7 with Gainsco's Fogarty 26 seconds behind in P8, both 2 laps down.  Then the fall off begins in earnest, with Buddy Rice's # 90 down 8 laps, in P10 the leading GT # 57 of Stevenson Racing, then the Ganassi 02 having led a significant part of the race, down in P16 with a strained BMW motor running 3 seconds a lap off the pace.  Wayne Taylor's SunTrust is even further back in P19, 18 laps down and the 7 and 55 cars sit 27-30 laps down, the Doran 77 over 70 laps off.  Really, really devastating for these teams, all of whom put in the same massive effort to come prepared, to come to win.

As 1 AM approaches, Valiante has us in P1, only a quarter of a second ahead of Terry Borcheller in the 9 car.  On this happy note, we'll bring this report to a close.  Brian Frisselle up next, then me. Heart of darkness driving.