In Memoriam: Lee Driggers
News reached us yesterday that Lee Driggers, an ever present in the IMSA, and prior to that ALMS community during DSC’s era had passed away earlier this month.
Lee’s creation, IMSA Pit Notes, rapidly became a staple in unpicking some of the key details in any and all IMSA competition. Its value to both the media, and to the PR group, was huge.
We’ll defer to the excellent tribute paid by the IMSA media room in yesterday’s Pit Notes that are being prepared this weekend by Lee’s son Justin, who will carry on his father’s work.
“These pages for the weekend and those that follow will be in memory of Lee Driggers, the creator of IMSA Pit Notes. It was with sad hearts that we all learned of Lee’s passing earlier this month after a courageous but tragically brief battle with cancer. Those of us who were fortunate enough to know and work with Lee will remember his knowledge, dedication and passion for IMSA racing, which was only second to his beloved Indianapolis 500.
“Lee produced Pit Notes for media starting with the first American Le Mans Series race at Sebring in 1999 and continued to do so into this season. In that time, Lee missed only three ALMS/IMSA sanctioned events – all during the series early days and at rare European rounds. Pit stops, driver changes, lead changes, agate, driver quotes and other valuable information were among the regular updates to on-site and remote communications professionals around the world for more than 25 years.
“He also was an incredible software engineer and wrote the program that created the first scrolling ticker for Indy 500 television.
“To Lee: all of us as PR reps, journalists, broadcasters and other walks of racing life owe you our deepest thanks for everything you did to grow the ALMS and IMSA through your tireless work with our media and communications groups. You helped make our jobs – and our professional lives – easier with your extensive know-how and talent. For all of us who depended on the intricate details of a race or experienced your encyclopedic mind in topics ranging from racing to comedy to sports will miss the conversations.
“In the late hours of an endurance race, we will still anticipate hearing your laugh coming across the media center or the surprise shoulder rub just as the weight of an hourly report comes crashing down. To all of us, you will remain an indelible part of sports car racing history in North America. Your role, while less public, has been as intricate to the success of our sport as the drivers, the cars and the officials. IMSA owes you a debt of gratitude… we all do.
“To his son Justin, who is producing Detroit Pit Notes for this weekend: we all are deeply sorry for the loss of a father, husband, grandfather, colleague and friend. But there is no one more capable of carrying on the tradition and excellence of IMSA Pit Notes.”
From all of us at DSC, our profound condolences to Justin, and to the rest of the Driggers family, and to all of Lee’s friends in racing and beyond.
Rexy comes back fighting in Detroit
AO Racing’s ‘Rexy’ #77 Porsche 911 GT3 R has brought some new accessories to the streets of Detroit. Reigning Laguna Seca podium finishers Nick Tandy and Harry King will hit the track armed with bright red boxing gloves on Rexy’s dinosaur hands on both doors – very appropriate, in the home city of boxing legends Joe Louis and Thomas Hearns.
The dinosaur also dons a mouthguard on the car’s front bodywork panel, a nod to the team losing the nose panel at Daytona earlier in the season for the second year in a row.
On the team’s social pages, the tweaked livery promotion featured team principal Gunnar Jeannette, dressed as a trainer, encouraging the team’s inflatable mascot through strenuous physical training to come back stronger in downtown Detroit this weekend with some “big Rex energy.”
Spa/Watkins Glen clash relieves pressure from Heinrich in upcoming races
Following a newsworthy win at Laguna Seca with the #5 JDC-Miller MotorSports Porsche crew, Laurin Heinrich comes into the Detroit GP leading the overall drivers’ points standings single-handedly, 21 points to the good of Jack Aitken in second position, with his points total coming from two different teams.
However, due to a scheduling conflict with the 24 Hours of Spa, preventing the German driver from racing at Watkins Glen, Heinrich will be mathematically unable to win the driver’s championship. This happens to put the driver at ease, as he said in Friday’s media scrum:
“Everyone who knows the IMSA points system is aware that you cannot miss a race and win the championship. That’s just mathematically not possible. So I guess it relaxes me, because I can just take every race as it comes, start back from zero. This is the right approach.”
Heinrich is once again aboard the #5 JDC-Miller machine alongside Tijmen van der Helm for another sprint race, and looks to recapture the magic of Monterey.
Customer teams like JDC-Miller operate very differently from factory teams, lacking a lot of the resources and buttoned-up structure of, say, a Penske program, which provides the young driver with a much-needed variety of team feel. This variety and friction are an invaluable aspect of his development as a driver in this sport.
“These teams have different backgrounds and are organised very differently. […] and obviously the cars are also more complex, so I think adapting to the car is not easy, and adapting to this way of working is one of the biggest surprises.”
This will be a particular challenge given the condensed weekend format, as Heinrich pointed out.
“It’s not going to be easy. These cars around this track require a very specific way of driving. In terms of how you set up the car, these GTP cars have all these tools, so there’s so much to play with, and only so much track time. The experience in the car is quite limited because you cannot test, so you’re just relying on experiences from previous years.”
The #5 Porsche will line up at the rear of the GTP grid after a tricky qualifying effort, but the German driver has had a previous victory at this track in 2024 aboard the #77 AO Racing Porsche from which he can glean some winning wisdom.
New looks coming in the summer for Pfaff
Pfaff Motorsports looks unmistakable once again this weekend in its bright blue Lithia livery here at the Detroit GP. The team donned this livery for both sprint races in California, and opted to keep it wrapped on their Temerario in Motor City instead of reverting to its signature red and black buffalo plaid.
When speaking to team boss Steve Bortolotti this afternoon, DSC learned that this is one of many special liveries the Pfaff team will be bringing on the road this summer, with team sponsors Xpel, Canadian Tire, and Motul taking turns as the primary sponsors for the coming rounds at Watkins Glen, CTMP, and Road America.
Paul Miller Racing bounces back after practice crash
The #1 Paul Miller Racing BMW M4 GT3 EVO had a tough Friday morning in the streets of Detroit. Practice one on a very green track saw them finish eighth, and practice two, in particular, was a tough break for the #1 crew. A collision with the wall in turn nine brought out a red flag in the second half of the two-hour session, stripping them of their fastest lap in qualifying to come, and damaging the car, parking it for the 40 minutes left in the session.
The incident was caused by an inconsistent bout of understeer, which Neil Verhagen anticipated but never caught, leading him to turn in sooner than he expected and causing significant damage to the car.
“If we can end up fifth or sixth, that would be a win in qualifying,” De Phillippi said before Qualifying. And with the car fully repaired, Verhagen bounced back to put the car exactly sixth on the GTD Pro grid, right in line with his veteran co-driver’s expectations.
“We definitely don’t have the speed of a couple of the cars ahead of us, […] but we’ll just go out there and do our best, and if things unfold in front of us to present some opportunities to do something with strategy, we’ll obviously do that and try to sneak our way onto the podium.”
Detroit’s narrow and intense nature has historically bred chaos in GTD Pro, so there is nothing truly out of bounds for Saturday’s 100-minute race for the #1 BMW crew.
Supercars champion Mostert enjoying unique challenge of Detroit
Multiple Bathurst 1000 winner and defending Australian Supercars Champion Chaz Mostert is making a cameo appearance in the #15 Vasser Sullivan Lexus RC F GT3 this weekend in Detroit, his second entry in IMSA this season after competing at Daytona in the 75 Express Mercedes-AMG. Coming from his championship-winning background in Supercars, Mostert has raced on many challenging street tracks that make for very competitive racing.
His initial reaction to the Detroit street circuit was positively giddy after the two free practice sessions on Friday, during which the #15 Vasser Sullivan Lexus finished seventh and fourth, respectively.
“It’s so unique here in Detroit. When you’re at a new track, you want to try and adapt as quick as you can, but this is quite a tricky little track, especially with the little bumps on entries. Trying to find a groove around here is tricky. Being a street track, the migration of the grip changes a lot, so I’m really excited for qualifying this afternoon.”
“I think every time I get in [the car], I feel like learning a bit more. But then you have the split pit lane that’s so unique, and also IndyCar here on the same weekend. I feel like I’m a bit of a young schoolboy coming to see the thing that he’s always wanted to try!”
Grip was a big issue the entire day in all three IMSA sessions, with many cars going long into turns one, three, and eight, especially. Mostert will have to work with teammate Aaron Telitz to gather information on the ever-changing track during the brief free practice three on Saturday morning, heading into the 100-minute sprint Saturday evening, where the #15 Lexus will line up seventh in class.
Images © Jack Webster / dailysportscar.com
