I’m pulling for the 6 with Simon and Juan.
And like Mr. Paul B... our lovely #19
( prepare for copious copies of posts spamming liveries and personalities)
Like this one..
Here is my cliff notes account of my experience at the Roar on Friday.
I’ll tell the biggest story first since it speaks to the phenomenal, fan-friendly experience that is IMSA Weathertech.
As I warned, I was likely going to be spending too much time around the GEAR Racing Lamborghini. So I am standing outside the garage next to a cart where a gentleman is hanging out. I ask him if he is associated with the team, he says my name is Mark Ruggieri, the owner of GEAR Racing (background in sports management and marketing with some prior motorsports involvement). In my brain, I am doing a Snoopy dance because I cannot believe my good fortune. Mark is a super, super nice guy. He is enthusiastic and genuine. Not long after we started to chat he invited me into the garage where we continued our discussion (he said come by anytime). We talked about how GEAR came about (he has a young daughter who is a racing fan and he wanted to create a program to encourage women to race), the origin of the livery (have a go, Andy Blackmore! Christmas timeframe, the concept was his. They may keep the pop art theme for the season.), and how Lamborghini became the platform of choice (networking and drivers availability). Mark said the program took 8 weeks to put together! He made an interesting comment about Katherine Legge, saying she was leading the team like Tom Brady. I would say we talked a good 20 minutes or so. (GEAR wants to expand beyond IMSA, https://sportscar365.com/imsa/iwsc/gear-a-multi-faceted-initiative-plans-for-europe-nhra/)
In a later trip to the #19 garage, I met Kara Kenney, the global brand director of GEAR (also the CEO of The MPH Agency) and her associate. They were also very generous with their time to talk about the program. They provided my only swag, stickers of the #19.
I briefly met three of the four drivers of the number 19, Legge, Nielsen, and Calderon. I basically wished them good luck, which they appreciated. Rahel Frey had not arrived at the track. Now for the Christina story. At the 19 garage again, Christina is getting her driving suit modified with black tape. See, there was a Honda racing logo on the front and it needed to be covered, hence the black tape. While they were doing that, I noticed Honda Racing displayed on the back. I mentioned that to Christina as she was walking away. She went back to her crewman to confirm the oversight and he took care of that blemish too. She laughed that she never looked at the back of the suit.
There were a number of drivers besides the GEAR crew I wanted to meet and had the good fortune to. They included Andy Lally, Townsend Bell, and Shane Van Gisbergen. Van Gisbergen, I think, was trying to fly under the radar. I greeted him leaving his garage (I did not catch him on the way in) and wished him good luck. He kindly said thanks. The Aim Vasser Sullivan garages were always full of waiting fans and IMSA cameras, must have been the Kyle Busch effect. Not a driver, but Bill Riley is kind of a genius so I was happy to wish him good luck too.
The packaging on the AVS Lexus GTD is nuts.
In the Michelin Pilot Challenge series, I knew that Hailie Deegan was driving for Ford in the GS class. I was standing across from the Pilot Challenge garages and before I knew it, she walked by in her driver suit. She was running competitive times in practice this morning, she definitely has talent.
Lastly, the new Corvettes are great looking race cars. They do not sound as distinctive as they used to, however. Such is progress. The Corvette team was great with the Scouts. I saw Dan Binks and Jordan Taylor spend time with the scouts and the leaders talking about the cars, signing swag, and patiently posing for pictures.
To close this report, here is Juan Pablo Montoya, juandering around. 
Jp
Edited by jonpollak, 20 January 2020 - 22:18.
