At the start of the twice around the clock race, the No.19 Z-Line Designs/Mission Residential/Uniden/Make-A-Wish Daytona Prototype only had one lap on their Ford-powered race motor. A lap that was taken by Michael McDowell around 10:30 a.m. race morning. The team had experienced a problem with their race motor the day before and unfortunately missed the final practice session but Grand Am allowed the team to make one lap around the 3.56-mile, 12-turn road course.
Not knowing what to expect at the start of the race, Michael Valiante slid behind the wheel and prepared to take the green flag for the start of the 45th running of the Rolex 24 at Daytona. Unfortunately the motor seemed to be down on power from the start and forced Valiante to fall back a few positions at the beginning of the race.
"This was the first race with new Bosch engine management system," explained Steve Cameron. "As it turns out it seems that there's a bit of work left to be done. On a positive note I was extremely impressed with how our drivers handled the many obstacles thrown at them over the 24 hours. Michael (Valiante), Rob (Finlay), Michael (McDowell) and Bobby (Labonte) running not only fast but mistake free throughout he event."
The drivers and crew did an incredible job overcoming whatever obstacles were thrown at them throughout the race and managed to bring the No.19 machine home to a tenth place position.
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Cameron and Finlay
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It looked like the team might even have a shot at finishing further up in the top-10 but with less than an hour remaining in the race Valiante was forced to bring the bright yellow machine back to the garage area. As the team quickly worked to resolve the problem, the engine still would not fire so in a last ditch effort the crew pulled the car through the garage area with their pit cart in hopes of bump starting the car.
John Maddox with Roush/Yates Engines pulled up on his four wheeler and was able to hook the No.19 machine to the back and Valiante fired up the motor as his teammate Michael McDowell cleared the way. The car rolled through the garage area and back onto the circuit completing a few more valuable laps before retiring for good.
The team's effort, including the drivers will to finish the race found the Finlay Motorsports team finishing the 24 hour race in the tenth position.
"The crew did an amazing job," explained Michael Valiante. "They are what kept us in the top-10 the entire race, we couldn't have asked for more from them."
The Finlay Motorsports team will now head back to their shop in Mooresville, NC and begin preparations for their next event in Mexico City. |
| 2007 Rolex 24 at Daytona Final Results |
| Pos |
No. |
Drivers |
Team/Car |
Laps |
Best Lap Time |
Avg Speed |
| 1 |
01 |
Pruett/ Duran/ Montoya |
Ganassi w/Sabates / Lexus Riley |
668 |
1:44.395 |
99 |
| 2 |
11 |
Duno/ Carpentier/ Manning/ Dalziel |
SAMAX / Pontiac Riley |
668 |
1:44.394 |
99 |
| 3 |
10 |
Taylor/ Angelelli/ Gordon/ Magnussen |
SunTrust Racing / Pontiac Riley |
666 |
1:44.538 |
99 |
| 4 |
59 |
Haywood/ France/ Barbosa/ Moreno |
Brumos Porsche/ Kendall / Porsche Riley |
662 |
1:44.233 |
98 |
| 5 |
61 |
Wilkins/ Empringham/ Frisselle/ Frisselle |
AIM Autosport / Lexus Riley |
657 |
1:45.884 |
97 |
| 6 |
7 |
Yasukawa/ Enge/ Festa/ Montana |
SAMAX / Pontiac Riley |
655 |
1:44.845 |
97 |
| 7 |
77 |
Gidley/ Gollin/ Jourdain/ Servia |
Doran Racing / Ford Doran |
655 |
1:45.563 |
97 |
| 8 |
47 |
Morgan/ Morgan/ Bernhard/ Zacharias |
TruSpeed Motorsports / Porsche Riley |
636 |
1:46.796 |
94 |
| 9 |
60 |
Patterson/ Negri Jr/ Castroneves/ Hornish Jr |
Michael Shank Racing / Lexus Riley |
628 |
1:45.514 |
93 |
| 10 |
19 |
Finlay/ Valiante/ Labonte/ McDowell |
Finlay Motorsports / Ford Crawford |
627 |
1:45.429 |
94 |
|
PREVIOUSLY
ROLEX 24
FINLAY MOTORSPORTS 20 HOUR REPORT
DAYTONA BEACH, FL (January 28, 2007) - Twenty hours into the twenty-four hour event, the No.19 Z-Line Designs/Mission Residential/Uniden/Make-A-Wish Daytona Prototype currently being driven by Michael McDowell sits in the ninth position. |
Battling treacherous rainy conditions throughout the night, the drivers ran a steady pace keeping the No.19 machine in the top-10 the entire night. As daylight broke over Daytona International Speedway Rob Finlay took over the reigns from his teammate Michael Valiante. Finlay drove his stint in wet conditions eventually relinquishing the driving duties to Michael McDowell. |
Due to the ongoing problems with the engine, the team's goal is to keep making laps and come away with their first top-10 finish of the 2007 Grand American Rolex Series season. |
ROLEX 24
(12 HOURS) FINLAY MOTORSPORTS HALF WAY REPORT
DAYTONA BEACH, FL (January 28, 2007) - Michael Valiante moved the No.19 Z-Line Designs/Mission Residential/Uniden/Make-A-Wish Daytona Prototype machine into the top-10 just after 10:00 p.m. Bobby Labonte took over the reigns following Valiante's stint and was running ninth when an on track incident caused another full course yellow. |
The team took advantage of the yellow flag conditions and called Labonte into the pits for a scheduled stop. They quickly went to work changing the brake pads, tires and put Rob Finlay into the car. Unfortunately the car failed to restart and when it did fire Finlay was forced to bring the No.19 behind the wall because of a red flag condition. |
There was extensive damage done to the guard rail in turn two so Grand Am is uncertain of how long the repairs will take.
Stay Tuned! |
ROLEX 24
FINLAY MOTORSPORTS EIGHT HOUR UPDATE
DAYTONA BEACH, FL (January 27, 2007) - Eight hours into this 24-hour event, the Z-Line Designs/Mission Residential/Uniden/Make-A-Wish sponsored Daytona Prototype machine currently sits in the twelfth position. Still down on power the team and its drivers continue to lap the 3.56-mile, 12-turn road course hoping that consistency pays off. |
Rob Finlay started off the second four hours and drove a steady pace handing the car over to Michael McDowell during the races first full course caution.
"Unfortunately the engine is still down on power so we're just going to have to deal with that situation all night," said Rob Finlay. "Our strategy is to just keep running laps and hopefully we'll be able to pull off a top-10 finish for our sponsors."
Michael McDowell slid behind the wheel for his stint and continued to run consistent lap times until turning the machine over to his teammate Michael Valiante. |
 |
Michael McDowell
|
"The name of the game is to turn laps," said Michael McDowell. "If we can continue to make our way around the course without having to visit the garage we can still pull off a decent finish."
Currently Michael Valiante is behind the wheel of the team's Ford-powered Crawford Daytona Prototype machine. |
ROLEX 24
FINLAY MOTORSPORTS FOUR HOUR UPDATE
DAYTONA BEACH, FL (January 27, 2007) - Four hours into the 45 th running of the Rolex 24 Hour at Daytona, the Finlay Motorsports team currently sits in the twelfth position. At the start of the race Michael Valiante pulled the No.19 Z-Line Designs/Mission Residential/Uniden Make-A-Wish Daytona Prototype machine onto the course in anticipation of a green flag start. |
Unfortunately at the start of the race the car experienced an engine problem forcing Valiante to fall back a bit. With the problem at hand, the team radioed the young Canadian and explained to him to keep a cool head and the race could still come to them.
 |
Bobby Labonte
|
With the possibility of rain in the forecast, Steve and Rick Cameron changed the driver order and put Bobby Labonte in the car around lap 33. Labonte who tested with the Mooresville, NC team a few times this winter had not turned a lap yet this weekend due to unforeseen circumstances. Labonte took over the reigns and pulled a double stint right off the bat turning the car over to Rob Finlay on lap 104. |
"That was alright," explained the likeable Bobby Labonte. "I struggled a bit with the amount of traffic at first but I got used to it. In testing we just didn't have quite as many cars out there at once. It's just a shame that we're down on power because the car's pretty good right now."
Stay tuned for more updates!
|
ROLEX 24
FINLAY MOTORSPORTS QUALIFIES 7th FOR THE ROLEX 24 HOUR
DAYTONA BEACH, FL (January 25, 2007) - Qualifying for the 45th annual running of the Rolex 24 Hour at Daytona took place earlier today and Michael Valiante piloted the No.19 Z-Line Designs/Mission Residential/Uniden/Make-A-Wish Ford-powered Crawford Daytona Prototype machine to a seventh place starting position. |
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Michael Valiante
|
The aggressive young Canadian went out for his qualifying run but unfortunately was held up because of an incident involving several cars. The altercation occurred right in front of him forcing him to get on the brakes because of all the debris on the track.
"On the first lap, four or five cars went off in the first turn and a huge amount of dirt was left on the track," said Michael Valiante. |
"The leaders had already been through turn one before the incident occurred and I was the first car to arrive at the corner and had to get off the gas. It's unfortunate that I couldn't get in a clean lap because the car was really quick in the morning session. The car is good; I'm not at all concerned about the race."
The Finlay Motorsports team will sit tomorrow morning's practice session out because of a scheduled engine change. The No.19 will return to action for the final 45 minute session before the engines come to life for the start of the Rolex 24 Hours at Daytona on Saturday, January 27 at 1:30 p.m. |
