“This race is different than anything else we do all year. The logistics are incredible. We have four drivers, a pit crew of about 30 people, we make about 25 pit stops, use 22 sets of tires, 600 gallons of gas, and change the brakes on the car at least twice. It never gets boring,” he added.
Doran’s team won the race in 1998 and 2002, and he introduced the JE4 prototype chassis in 2003. Now named a Dallara, it’s all Doran’s design. Two other teams, Michael Shank Racing and SunTrust Racing also race Dallara’s. Doran Enterprises, which sold the constructor license to Dallara to help fund further design on the car, also provides all of the parts for the Dallara’s used in Grand Am Racing.
A lifelong racer, Doran has seen lots of changes over the years.
“Just the technology alone has changed tenfold in the past few years. This car now uses nine on-board computers or processors, which control everything from the fuel management and ignition to running all of the indicator lights and the transmission. The wiring harness and computer setup for the car costs $140,000, and that’s before you buy the chassis or the engine,” he said.
“It’s so sophisticated, that I have one engine man and one car man do nothing but monitor the real time telemetry of the car during the race. We know more about the car than the driver. The driver no longer watches gauges, we have indicator lights on the steering wheel in case the oil pressure drops, heck the computer even sends a text to the screen in the center of the steering wheel,” Doran explained.
Brian Frisselle, Henri Richard, Matt Bell and Ross Kaiser will drive the Daytona prototype coupe at the 24 Hours, and Frisselle and Richard will campaign the car for the remainder of the 12-race season. The Grand Am series will make its season ending stop at Mid Ohio Sports Car Course in September.
A Ford V8 engine built by Roush Yates racing powers the car.
“It develops about 550 horsepower, and we use a 5-speed transmission that is operated by paddle shifters,” Doran explained. The top speed for the cars is almost 200 mph on the backstretch of the Daytona track, which utilizes part of the oval and a road course in the infield.
When Wheels visited the Doran shop, the thrash was in high gear to get the Daytona prototype car ready, in addition to the two BMW 128’s that are also going to Daytona.
“We’re running those two cars in the Continental Challenge series, a support race that runs on the same weekends as Grand Am,” Doran said.
“It makes for a long weekend, but we only do it once a year. The 24-hour race is tough though, starting at 3:30 p.m. on Saturday, so we’re really up all day Saturday and most of Sunday, but if we win, we won’t be tired at all,” he said.
The Rolex 24 at Daytona can be viewed on the SPEED channel today, from 3 to 10 p.m., and the conclusion of the race will air on SPEED on Sunday, beginning at 9 a.m. until the race is over.