Everything was looking on the up and up come saturday morning before the green flag dropped at 3:30pm . The car was qualified by Max Hyatt and put inside the top ten for the start of the 48th running of the 24 Hours of Daytona.

“We knew we had a good shot at the class win this year as our car was solid around the banking which makes up about 1/2 of the lap. So we wouldn’t have to punish the car as hard to make a good lap time as some of the other competitors.” explained Westphal.

After the 2nd hour went by, it the race was handed over to Jeff to handle the difficult half wet, half dry conditions with dry weather tires. “My engineer called me up to the pit cart to fill me in on the conditions just prior to getting in the car. The track was too dry for wet tires, so we were forced to run on dry tires. The only issue was in some spots we still have quite a bit of standing water, so I would have to be very careful until it dried out completely which was likely to be a long time as the sun has just set, so the unused damp sections will stay wet.” The californian took to the mixed conditions like a fish to water, and quickly got the #32 BMW M6 back on leaders pace, eventually taking the car back up to from 13th to 5th when it was time to change drivers again.

The toughest part about this race isn’t the actual driving portion, though that isn’t easy, but rather keeping your body in optimal condition. The car is about 140 degrees inside, and drivers need to wear the required 3 layer suit, plus nomex undergarments that are basically the same thermals you wear when you ski or snowboard, however ours are fire retardant. Then we have high top leather shoes on, gloves and a helmet. So we are covered head to toe, and then driving a sauna for 1 to 2 hours. By the time you get out, you’ve lost anywhere from 2-6 lbs in water weight. That in itself is the biggest challenge, because you can’t simply drink 5 lbs of water and call it good, eventually you become so dehydrated that band aiding the problem is not enough. Plus we need to eat in between the stints, so the 4 hours out of the car you have suddenly only becomes 30 minutes of true rest after your stretching and replenishment is taken care of.

As Jeff was taking a rest, the Corsa Car Care BMW M6 had been through the ringer in the middle of the night, and when it was time to get back in to do another 2 hour stint, the car needed some repairs which meant it sat in the garage for about 1 hour, putting the team close to 40 laps down. “You always want to stay positive but that was enough of a handicap to where i knew a win would be a long shot. However, it didn’t change my performance at all, if anything it just made me more determined to hoist the team back up the leader board!” exclaimed Jeff. The entire Corsa Car Care team pushed and pushed through the remainder of the race, making up spots slowly but surely as other teams ran into issues as well.

Ultimately the end came up to me, as we were half a lap behind the Alex Job Porsche that was in 11th, and with 60 minutes left, a 30 second deficit is feasible for us to overhaul. I made the last driver change as quickly as i could in hopes that every second would make the pass more likely, and took off onto the 3.5 mile course. When I exited pit lane with warm, but used tires and a full fuel load, I slotted in just in front of the car we needed to pass, meaning if he got by us we’d be one lap behind. For all of you that know me personally, this simply wasn’t going to happen, so i pushed 110% to stay in front while i adapted to the car in this configuration, until the second lap out there when i gathered enough pace to start pulling away.

The trusty 23 year old not only passed the Porsche, but then put him one lap down to the Corsa Car Care team, doing what the team had asked and then some! Then with about 15 minutes left in the race, Jeff decided there was more to be lost than gained from running at the higher pace so he backed off slightly to ensure the car would mechanically make the finish, solidifying Pr1 Motorsports and Corsa Car Care in the record books as 11th in class and 18th overall.

“I’d like to thank everyone who made this event possible, PR1 Motorsports, Cacci Construction, Corsa Car Care, TnT Demolition, Pete & Marianne Pignati, Hand Crafted Metals, J.f. Ohlund, Alpinestars, GoPro, AMS, Eric Wildt, Dustin Bramell and film crew. You all had a significant influence, and your efforts and support are greatly appreciated from all of us at Jeff Westphal Racing LLC!”

Hey all, this is coming directly from me (Jeff Westphal) in blog form. I’ve been working hard on trying to secure enough backing to get to the 2010 Rolex 24 Hours of Daytona, and a big thank you to all who have helped contribute to make this happen. Drivers from all over the world and all different forms of motorsports will be here to compete, such as;

Scott Pruett, Scott Dixon, Dario Franchitti, Justin Wilson, Jamie Mc Murray, Juan Pablo Montoya, Jimmie Johnson, Aj Allmendinger, Max Angelilli, Sebastian Bourdais, Raphael Matos, Ricardo Zonta, Buddy Rice, Paul Edwards, Patrick Dempsey, Jan Magnussen, Robin Liddell, Wolf Henzler, Andy Lally, Patrick Long, Jorg Bergmeister, Johonnes Van Overbeek, Jonathan Bomarito, Timo Bernhard, Roman Dumas, Bobby Labonte, Bill Auberlen, Joey Hand, Boris Said, and of course, Jeff Westphal

are only some of the 200+ drivers on the entry list.

I’m looking forward to Daytona this year as i feel this new BMW M6 package will fare a bit better than our previous Pontiac GXP-R. The BMW does what i like to call “handle the straights really well!” And we faired well in the pontiac even with being damaged and in the garage for 45 min, so I’m confident that this year will be better. However, there is quite the driver list attending, so it’s going to be no easy feat.

Aside from all the excitement of the race itself, i’ve also been training physically quite a bit, both on the road bike and on foot. If there are any road bikers out there that want to join in, give me a call of send me an email!!! And if that weren’t enough, I’m also working closely with my good friend and producer Dustin Bramell on putting together a documentary to cover not only my experiences at the 24HR event, but that of an aspiring professional racer including but not limited to; the struggle day to day to make an event like this come together. From the business aspect, to the networking, to the many many phone calls, to the training and traveling. And i think there might be some footage in there from the 24, but i’m not sure

Anyways, stay tuned for updates on that project (it really is a project, a graduate school project to be precise). In any case, i suppose putting up the air time the 24 will get might not be a bad idea eh? So here it goes:

TV Schedule:
January 30th
Speed Channel, 3pm Eastern - (so that’s Noon out here for us west coasters)

January 31st
Speed Channel, 7am Eastern - (so that’s 4am west coast, eek!!)

If you don’t get speed, call your cable provider right now!!!! haha, or find a local bar/restaurant that has it on. Also, you can check out updates during the race at the Grand Am website. (http://www.grand-am.com/)

Thanks for stopping by!

The San Mateo Daily Journal published an article on my racing journey from day 1 through the near future with the 2010 Daytona 24 Hour race coming up at the end of this month. Have a look!

http://www.smdailyjournal.com/article_preview.php?id=122026&eddate=01/01/2010%2001:29:00

September 19th, 2009 Jeff Westphal and PR1 Motorsports headed to Tooele, Utah for the Utah 250.  The race was standard 2 hour and 45 minute Grand AM Sprint race format, with 2 drivers being the minimum.  Max Hyatt and Jeff Westphal were poised to turn their luck around from the previous event in Montreal, Quebec roughly 1 month prior, which they did with Westphal’s stellar qualifying lap putting the #32 BMW M6 on the outside of the 3rd row.  ”I’m extremely pleased with our qualifying yesterday, 6th is no pole, but the car felt the best it has all weekend, and i think it should be pretty good during the race.” quoted the talented Californian.

When the green flag dropped, so did Westphal’s right foot.  He drove a fantastic opening double stint (double the standard time due to strategic reasons, roughly 1 hr. 45 min.) staying in touch with the front running GT cars ready to hand the car over to his team mate for the last hour dash to the checkered.  ”The car was pretty good, however the track was changing rapidly and i was struggling to keep it underneath me.  I’d have a big understeer (when the car doesn’t want to turn) then I’d correct it with the adjustable sway bars inside the cockpit and the car would pick up a big oversteer (when the car turns too much and the rear slides).  It seems we were on either side of the optimal balance when the track got slick, but in any case i learned a lot about the chassis and the tires over a stint and was able to communicate that to the team before my time was up, so they made some changes to the aerodynamics of the car while max was getting in.”  explained Jeff.  That detail oriented description Jeff gave to the engineering staff at PR1 motorsports paid off, and Max Hyatt was able to finish the car in 4th position, matching the team’s best ever finish in a Grand-Am event.

Jeff Westphal will still be instructing privately and at the Jim Russell Racing School at Infineon Raceway through the off season, and preparing for 2010.  Look for him training through out the bay area either on foot or by bicycle.

Round 10 of the Rolex Grand Am series had the teams and drivers traveling abroad to the infamous Circuit Gilles Villenueve in Montreal, Canada.  More importantly, Jeff Westphal was given the green light from sponsors to attend the event and give the GT class drivers another capable car to contend with.  It was the first time racing in a foreign land for Westphal, and he took to it like a fish in water.

“Practice was relatively busy, we were in the pit lane from 10 am until around 8 pm, trying to get up to speed on the great circuit.  This place is notorious for overheating brakes, and we were having exactly that issue, which needless to say didn’t help en stow confidence while trying to learn the place.  It’s very narrow, much more narrow than TV lends itself to be” said the Californian.  After struggling with the brake cooling issue, the PR1 Motorsports BMW M6 was behind the curve on honing in the set up for Saturday’s race, and qualified well considering the  circumstances.  With Max Hyatt at the helm for qualifying and the 1st stint of the race, the M6 started on the inside of the top 10 and made use of a pre race trip down pit lane to outfit wet tires for the forecasted and increasing rain at the pre race ceremonies.  ”We made the call to go to wets and start from pit lane which ultimately became unnecessary as Grand Am let everyone come down the lane to get wets if they needed.  However, lots of cars opted to stay on dry’s in hopes of the rain lightening up.”  elaborated Jeff.  After the first lap, the PR1 entry was in 4th position, and chipping away at the 3rd place Porsche.

With roughly 1 hour to go, the PR1 M6 needed Max to drive for roughly 5 more minutes to allow the car to enter the fuel window (being able to make it to the end without the need for more) on a full tank with Westphal  in the car while others would need to stop again.  However, the #32 car was involved in some contact, and was deemed too damaged to continue, leaving Westphal suited and prepared on the sideline.  ”Of course i was disappointed, i worked so hard to get everything in place financially, but that’s racing.  This sort of stuff happens, so you have to roll with the punches!”  exclaimed Jeff

Unfortunately Jeff was unable to compete in the race as the car was damaged, but he was able to put together another race to make up for the lost time in the spotlight.  Jeff will be contesting the race at Miller Motorsports Park in Tooele, Utah on September 19th.  Coverage will be on speed channel, Saturday the 19th @ 2:30pm pst.

August 7th the Grand Am series visited historic Watkins Glen for a second time this season, though it was the first time this season for Jeff Westphal and team PR1 motorsports.  ”We had originally set out to do the first race at the glen, but the car was in the beginning stages of it’s transformation.”  Jeff was speaking about the former Pontiac GXP-R that he ran this season at the 24 Hours of Daytona with team Pr1.  Midway through the year, the team took the chassis and stripped it down in preparation for the BMW drivetrain and body work to ultimately create the BMW M6 that Westphal raced at the Glen in early August.  ”The car was fantastic right from the get go, obviously it’s got it’s quirks that need to be worked out like any race car, but we were quick right away which is very encouraging about this new package.”

The race was off to a great start, when Max Hyatt started the debut M6 in 6th place on the grid, and had moved up 2 spots by the 3rd lap.  Unfortunately as the race continued, the tides took a turn for the worst.  Max spun coming on to the front straightaway which ultimately put the car 3 laps down when it was handed over to Jeff.  However, the driving duo and the team kept their heads high, and Jeff was able to hoist the M6 from 16th to 12th in the remaining 1 hour and 28 minutes of the race.  ”The race was broken up by quite a few yellows, it seemed as though every handful of laps you were dodging body work here, or a Porsche there, plus i was told to switch the car onto fuel map 3 to try and save gas, as well as loosing 2nd gear with 45 mintues to go.  So needless to say it was pretty eventful for us” explained Westphal.  ”Having said that, i really want to thank the team for burning the candle on both ends for roughly 50 days transforming this car and making such a great package, my hat’s off to them!”

You can catch the prodigious talent and PR1 motorsports racing in Montreal with the BMW M6 this August 29th.  Coverage will be on speed channel (see previous post for times.)

Jeff will be racing at Watkins Glen, NY August 7th and then in Montreal, Canada on August 29th.  Both Grand Am Rolex events will be covered by Speed.  The 7th of August will be tape delayed at 5pm pacific standard on Friday, and the Canadian race on the 29th will be shown at 11Am pacific standard time. For all those wondering, this is what car you will be looking for!

PR1 Motorsport BMW M6

See you then!

-Jeff

It’s been a while since Jeff has been inside the Grand Am GT car he drove in Daytona Beach, Florida earlier this year, but he’s still training as hard as ever in preparation for his next 2 events this season.  Testing will be taking place prior to the Watkins Glen event in New York with The Nascar Sprint cup, which will be keeping Westphal busy August 8th, and then he will be headed abroad to Montreal, Canada at the Circuit Gilles Villeneuve, August 22nd.  Both events will be aired live on the Speed Channel (check local listing for times) under the title Grand Am Racing.  Be sure to check Jeff out in the newly rebuilt Pr1 Motorsports machine…….

Jan 25th & 26th Marked the 47th Running of The 24 Hours @ Daytona, the season opener for the entire racing world, but more particularly the 2009 Rolex Grand Am Series. This was also a particularly special date as it was Jeff Westphal’s Sports Car Racing Career Debut.

The weekend started Thursday, January 22 for the 251 drivers in attendance (not the least of which included drivers such as Juan Pablo Montoya, Danica Patrick, AJ Allmendinger, Jimmie Johnson, Scott Dixon, Ryan Briscoe to name a few) with a mandatory drivers meeting. From then on, it was selected practice sessions until Friday morning Qualifying. PR1 Motorsports had it’s own agenda between the Grand Am schedule; out of the 4 drivers in the car, Team Owner Bobby Oergel needed to select someone to qualify the car.

After a “qualifying shootout” in an earlier practice session, it was decided that Jeff would be the one to qualify the #32 Miracle Sealants Pontiac GXP-R. By the end of the short 15 minute qualifying session, Jeff had positioned the Pontiac in 21st out of 30 Gt entries. The light at the end of the tunnel was that the Pontiac’s disadvantage comparatively to the other Gt cars (Porsche’s and Mazda’s) was it’s aerodynamic efficiency. So it was a pretty sure bet that a Pontiac wouldn’t be on pole at this heavily aero limited track. However, the 2008 Championship winning car was a Pontiac driven by Factory GM driver Paul Edwards which was only a mere .4 of a second ahead of the #32 Westphal piloted Pontiac. “Qualifying was very interesting to say the least, every session so far in this series has been at least an hour long, so to say we have 15 minutes and send us out there, it definitely called upon my F2000 roots to try and get a lap in early. I had traffic and or spun out cars infront of me on my two quick laps toward the end of the session, which cost us a little bit more than .2 a lap, so we would’ve been within a tenth of a second of Edwards had there been no issues.” commented the talented rookie. That being the case, the #32 car would have only started 4 spots farther up on the 30 car grid.

Come Saturday morning, the anticipation had been building since the first test in November. “You could feel the tension in the atmosphere, everyone was pretty much ready to just hop in and get going. But there were media responsibilities to attend to before anything racey happened. I felt like very much the small fish in the big pond if you will, with such a great lineup of drivers, it’s an honor to be racing with some of those names.” As the start drew nearer and nearer, with Jeff burning through the media responsibilities, autograph sessions, pre race prep, before he or anyone else knew it, the grid was set and the national anthem was playing. As the cars rolled out and the green flag flew, the esteemed grid of talent had no idea who Jeff Westphal was, but they were about to find out. After his first double stint (consisting of 2 sets of tires and 2 loads of fuel, approximately 2 hours of driving) Jeff had hoisted the #32 Miracle Sealants Pontiac up to 13th out of the 30 cars. “We’re definitely not the quickest lap to lap, but we are definitely consistent and we’re quite good in the infield as well!” Elated the 22 year old after his first hours in a Grand AM Race.

As the race wore on and Jeff had been retired to his Motorhome for some sleep in preparation for the grave yard shift (midnight - 7am.), at around 8pm on a restart after a yellow flag, the #32 car was struck by a Daytona Prototype car going into turn 3. The result of it was a broken right rear suspension and 40 minutes (-29 laps) in the garage to get the car back into race shape. “When i heard we had an issue, of course i was disappointed but it is a long race, so i knew we weren’t completely out of the running, so i didn’t give up hope.” said Westphal.

Jeff was in and out of the car numerous times through the night into the early morning when he got in at sunrise for his last late night shift. “The racing in the 24 Hours is so much different than anything i’ve ever done before, for one racing at night presents it’s own challenges with shadows and traffic, but the biggest difference is monitoring the car and massaging it rather than beating it up for a good lap time. With GT cars, if you run flat out the entire race you will break down, it’s just a matter of when, and in the end, he who has the least time in pit lane and the garage is the victor.”

As Sunday wore on, and the pace of the GT field slowing due to the cars being tired and in need of rebuilds, The #32 PR1 Miracle Sealants Pontiac GXP-R chugged on to an impressive 11th in class. The rookie effort of the team and all of its drivers secured their position and finished the race just outside the top 10. “We did some math, and minus the -29 laps we lost due to an uncontrollable incident, that would’ve had us in 5th spot in GT out of 30. Though i don’t want to take any credit away from the team or the drivers, it was a team effort, and we are all very proud of each other for enduring our own obstacles and in the end getting the job done as fast as possible. I would like to thank the entire PR1 team, as well as my co-drivers Al Salvo, Mike Forest, Thomas Merrill, and the infamous Pat Barrett for being our go to guy for the entire 24 incase of emergency. It was really great to share this experience with such top notch people. As well as all who made this event possible for me, Alpinestars, Wine Country Motorsports, Cacci Construction, and everyone who has continued to support me through out my career. They were all especially instrumental in this years 24 Hours for me” described an incredibly exhausted and sleep deprived Westphal.

The Grand Am series resumes this coming April, as due time is needed to re-prepare all the equipment. Check back for updates on Jeff’s racing season!

The 22 year old native Californian and F2000 championship winning race team PR1 Motorsports have been confirmed to compete in this years up coming Rolex 24 Hours of Daytona.  Back from the 3 day test in early January, Westphal is training hard in preparation for the grueling 24 hour race in store for him later this month.  ”We had a successful test this past weekend, the drivers are gelling well together, and we all have the right focus necessary to have a successful 24.  The quickest car rarely if ever wins this race, it’s all about risk management and going the distance with as little problems as possible, so that was our focus as a team coming to the Roar Before The 24 Test days Jan 3-5th, and i am extremely excited to feel the enormous atmosphere at the 24 to boot!” elated the recent Champion.  Jeff has only driven the Pontiac GXP-R on two separate occasions, but is quickly coming to grips with the new equipment often being the fastest out of his team’s 4 driver line-up.  

The 47th running of the 24 Hours of Daytona is a famous all day event that draws all drivers from all forms of motorsport to compete in this historic event.  Some of which are the likes of: Nascar’s 3 peat champion Jimmie Johnson, IRL’s Danica Patrick, Ryan Briscoe & Scott Dixon, former F1 and IRL driver Juan Pablo Montoya, Jimmie Vasser, AJ Allmendinger, Dario Fanchitti, Randy Pobst, and of course, yours truly!  Traditionally the race consists of 2 separate classes (Daytona Prototype or DP, and Grand Touring or GT), yet racing at the same time and for separate class wins.  With both classes in strong form, the field will be roughly 50 cars strong (20 DP and 30 GT) come 3:00 pm on January 24th.

Coverage of the event will be live on January 24th from 12:00 noon - 1:30pm (PST) on Fox, and then continued coverage on Speed Channel from 1:30pm on.   Be sure to check out Jeff in his Television and Sports Car debut later this month!