TOOELE, UT September 10, 2010 – “To me, that is the magic of Davy Jones, the master of going faster, that he able to do such a masterful job with his hands tied behind his back,” commented co-driver John McCutchen II after Jones qualified thirteenth for tomorrow’s GRAND-AM Utah 250 — without a passenger side door. The door flew off after a quick spin on cold tires at the start of qualifying, robbing the Roush-Yates powered Lola Daytona Prototype of a sizable amount of its rear-wing downforce. Jones still ended up with a time that was only two seconds off his morning’s best practice time.
“That is no easy feat, especially for a driver still learning the car, to have to adjust to such a drastic change in downforce levels,” added Chris Dyson. “This is the first time both John and Davy have run the outer course here at Miller Motorsports Park and the car is new to both of them. There has been substantive progress in a short period of time.”
“There is still a lot of time left in the car,” said Jones. “Daytona prototypes take a lot of mid-corner momentum and that it is something you have to creep up on. I am learning how late I can brake – it is a fine line which we are still learning, so there is more time there also. Each session is a learning experience. We are not here to set records right off the bat, so tomorrow the goal will be to be consistent, learn as a team and hit all our marks and put in a good result.”
This is the inaugural race for the #16 Heart Car being run in conjunction with Dyson Racing and Godstone Ranch Motorsports. “This race is a showcase for Godstone’s mission to fight heart disease using the allure of motorsports,” noted McCutchen. Joining the team this weekend is Ally Smith, the “Bionic Bride,” who recently appeared on the Today Show with Matt Lauer and was featured in People magazine. Ally’s heart was damaged by a virus when she was an 18-year-old student athlete at Texas A&M University. Last year a Texas Heart Institute artificial heart pump was implanted which assists her while her heart heals, allowing her to marry her college sweetheart this summer.
More information on Godstone Ranch Motorsports and their mission to fight heart disease can be found at www.godstoneranchmotorsports.com. With their cell phone giving campaign, anyone can text “car” to 50555 and donate $10 to the Texas Heart Institute. The team can be followed at www.twitter.com/godstoneranch.
The Rolex Sports Car Series Utah 250 is the season’s finale and can be seen live tomorrow on SPEED at 2:00 PM ET.
