Horrocks In Florida
Mature, Refined Muscle
© Gary Horrocks

Gary got himself into the right frame of mind for the Sebring 12 Hours with a late-January tour of Florida...

Florida. Been there, done that. Didn’t buy the shirt. I’ve got too many already, anyway. As far as been there, yup, we did most of the state in between Sebring, Pensacola and Daytona. Stupid? Quite possibly. Worthwhile? Yes. Would I do it again? Ask me later, much later as I’m still trying to recover.

When the opportunity arose to take in both the American Le Mans (ALMS is much easier for a lazy typist such as myself) test at Sebring and also the Grand Am race at Daytona, a rather dim light bulb went on in my head. Now, you must realize, these light bulb things going off in my head are rather rare lately, especially as my daughters get older, so even a dim light is something that must be examined.

So, I explained my so-called idea to two people, with the hope that they would either say I’m freaking nuts or agree that they are nuts too. Well, DSC contributor Martin Spetz and Steve Smith, who is in charge of PR for the GTO racing program, have to be lumped into the latter category as they agreed to go along with the plan.

OK, so what is the plan? Take in the Sebring test, then head northwest to Pensacola, take in the US Naval Air Museum with Martin and then to Daytona for the Rolex 24 hour race. Simple plan? Well not really. The drive each way is something that is rather long, somewhere around 500 miles each way, so that is where the second phase of the plan came in. Do the drive in a GTO. Why not? A car with that sort of potential should make the travel time significant shorter.

Well, what is even scarier now is that Martin bought into this hook line and sinker, and even suggested that we add in another event before Daytona, namely the centennial celebration of the record run of a Stanley Steamer at Ormond Beach. So, he arranged some credentials for that, and with Steve’s and GM’s blessing, we were off.

Just to set the tone for the week, I scheduled my flight to arrive in Orlando late on Sunday night. So, once I gathered my bags and was dropped off to pick up my car, it was well past midnight. And I still had to make the tedious drive down Hwy 27 to Sebring where road construction is a given.

So, I’m handed the keys for what is obviously the only Yellow GTO around and I’m off. Or so I think. I turned the key and nothing happened. I looked around and then it dawned on me. ‘It’s a stick; depress the clutch, you idiot. OK, that works. Now where is reverse? Where is the inside light? Open the door and see the light. Reverse is up and all the way over. Good, now I can get on my way. Grab a bite of fast food in a drive thru. Window. Get the window down. Where is the button? It’s on the center console!’ What felt like 10 minutes later, I finally got the window down.

Driving the GTO was a pleasure. It took very little time to feel acclimated with the car. It was very responsive but also very civilized. ‘Hmmm… Cruising is very comfortable, but the RPM is a bit high. Oh that’s right. Six speed.’ Sixth must be down below fifth, but it kept going into fourth, so I tried again, this time giving a slight side pressure to the right on the shifter and voila, sixth gear.

About that time, a sign indicating a toll booth comes up. ‘Where’s my change? Of course, I don’t have any. I don’t carry any after a flight and all I got McChange wise was something like 39 cents. That won’t work for the 75 cent toll. Dig wallet out and hand off a dollar. Oh man, it’s the exact change booth.’ So there I was, looking around like an idiot trying to figure out what to do. ‘OK, set the brake, get out and walk to the booth that is manned – wait, he’s telling me to just go.’ Feeling rather un-cool like, I took off. Steve, if a ticket arrives for failure to pay a toll, I’m sorry. Send the bill to Malcolm. He’ll take care of it.

Finally I was off to the open road. Traffic was thankfully light, being too late for most people and too early for the drunks, so the drive was surprisingly and thankfully easy. I arrived at my destination in Avon Park, somewhat too awake for sleep right away, so I collapsed on the bed and turned on ESPN to witness the blow by blow account of Kobe Bryant scoring 81 points in a basketball game. And I had the opportunity to see it multiple times before I finally dozed off…

I woke what was allegedly the next day in a stupor, not really knowing or caring where I was. I finally drag my sorry butt out of the bed and waited for my brain to catch up with me time zone wise. It was then off to Sebring to witness testing.

‘Good, the car is still there where I left it. Nobody took it and I still have the keys. Life is good so far.’

Life was still good when I reached the track. No tickets, no problems other than one wrong turn. Getting to the track at Sebring is like coming to a vacation home, only this time I got to do it in a good car, not a clapped out rental wreck.

It was good to see some of the same people that you see around North America, race in and race out, good to see some race cars and good to get into the sun and out of the Northwest, where it rained 11” in the month of January. Not sure what my bald head thought of that bright orb in the sky, but a break from the rain can’t be a good thing.

Impressions from Sebring – the Audi is an incredible piece of engineering and technology. I was somewhat disappointed by the sound, but then again, I didn’t really know what to expect.

Looking back, I guess if I had expected nothing, that is about what I would have gotten, because the sound is almost nothing. Maybe Audi borrowed technology from the Air Force stealth programs, because if you weren’t looking for either of the Audis on track, you wouldn’t know they were coming until they were past you.

Seventy-five people to support the test? I hate to think how many are coming over for Sebring and then how many will be in support at Le Mans.

The new Dyson Lola is impressive. There is something that is impressive about bare carbon. Something sinister about it. I guess between the patchwork quilt BMW and the Flying Lizard with tape numbers, it all contributed to the feeling of being at a hush, hush top secret test.

After a day and a half at the track, it is time to head out onto the road. Testing was good to see, but unless you are really intimately involved, it becomes a bit like, oh I don’t know, watching the rain fall outside again. So it was time to head out and get a feel for the Goat – see how it performed on the open road.

So, off we went. Out into the great beyond of - yes, you guessed it traffic. We were stuck for what seemed to be forever in gridlock, from construction on the beloved Hwy 27. I guess it was revenge for me not having any problems driving down on Sunday.

Finally, traffic broke loose and so did the speed. I must say that the GTO is quite a comfortable car to drive. And a very comfortable car to drive fast. Thankfully Martin provided a radar detector, which should be mandatory with a car of this capability. Many times I looked at the speedometer and found the speed beyond what would be considered prudent for somebody “that ain’t from ‘round here”, if you know what I mean. Let’s just say that for over 500 miles of traveling, including a good portion of stop and go, we still averaged close to the 70 mph speed limit and the readout indicated that we were getting 21mpg. Must be that sixth gear I found.

Somewhere on Hwy 10, between Martin asking “are we there yet?” and his reminiscing about a recent occurrence on a street corner in Chicago, I asked him if this was really worth it. I mean this has been a freaking long trip and his answer was, “I guess we’ll see tomorrow.”

Despite driving that long and arriving late into our destination, Pensacola, I must say that I felt pretty good. I was somewhat refreshed, with only tired eyes from driving for so long in the darkness. Muscle car in performance, but very refined. Maybe a mature, refined muscle car is an apt description. The only real surprise about the car was how invisible it was, even in bright yellow. Nobody really noticed the car. That’s good and bad I guess. Depends on your perspective.

Tomorrow arrived, which was actually Wednesday, at least that is what I was told it was. Sleeping after a late dinner at Taco Bell can be slightly difficult, but I arose anyway, ready to see what I had been wanting to see for quite some time, the US Naval Air Museum. OK, I’ll admit it. The travel was worth it.

I felt like I was 10 years old again, looking at the airplanes I built models of back then. It was truly an amazing and memorable day, spent drooling on old airplanes. No sense in further explanation. You either get it or you don’t.

Martin went looking for his old helicopter that he flew before he became retarded. Oops. Before the Coast Guard considered him retarded or something like that. Anyway, he was told the ‘copter was out on the flightline and they would gladly have someone take us out there. No argument from us. It was like seeing a reunion. A man and his copter… it’s a sweet thing?

Why did you chain him to it, Gary? Ed.

Finally reality hit. It was time to head out. Time to get to head to Daytona. Now comes the real drudgery. Another 500 miles drive to go back to work. The trip was interrupted for a quick stop to replenish with one of the Shulers – I don’t know one from the other – I’m not from around there, remember.

This time, it was Martin driving and I was looking out for cops and counting the miles down. Martin, feeling a bit more local than I, and wanting to vacate an area of some yahoos out on the highway, found that the GTO still appears to have plenty left in reserve, even when traveling at an indicated 120 mph. Not sure what the top end of this car is, but is sure felt good at that speed. No fuss, no trouble. Just relaxed and comfortable.

Eventually Daytona came into view and yet another long day in the saddle came to an end. Thankfully Dentist Extraordinaire, long time Dyson photographer/historian and sometime DSC shooter Brian Mitchell had space for us to crash, so that’s what we did. And crash hard we did. So hard that earplugs became mandatory.

Up and at it the next day to see the centennial of the Land Speed record set by a Stanley Steamer on the beach. Something in excess of 127 mph! Nuts. Plain nuts. I was surprised that any driver with large enough spheres suspended between his legs could fit inside the car.

There was something refreshing to watch cars roughly 100 years old, tooling up and down the beach. Everybody seemed to be enjoying themselves and the crowd was actually surprisingly strong. Even Jack Roush was seen to be having a good time.

Unfortunately, the reproduction of the car that set the record 100 years ago was being a bit obstinate and refused to run cleanly for many of the runs. A nice touch though was to include descendents of the original builders and driver actually drive it up and down the beach.

From there, Martin split for a family commitment (?) and for myself, it was off to meet up with Russell and later Janos at Daytona International Speedway, for the Rolex race. I hate to say it, but by the time I arrived at the track, I was ready for a vacation from this trip. I won’t go on about the race at Daytona. Been there, done that. I’m still burned out on writing about the event, even a week plus later, what with the commitments I had for both DSC and also InsideTrack. Again, more time was spent catching up with many people that I had missed in the off-season, only this time it was difficult to find everyone that I wanted to see because of the sheer number of cars and drivers and the fact that it takes awhile to fully sort out who went where and what the scheme of the car is now. I will say that the GM dinner was quite enjoyable on Friday night, especially hearing Kelly Collins describe his first time driving a PTG BMW last year. That alone was almost worth the trip.

I would have to say getting a ride around Daytona in the pace car definitely ranks up there as far as a highlight. I could only imagine the sensation of speed on the banking in a tightly sprung race car at full tilt. As it was, the surroundings for my ride were quite familiar, as it was in a GTO. The sensations were similar to the street car, and I hate to say it, but some of the velocities we reached were similar.

As Sunday rolled along and the race ended, I was faced with the prospect of handing over the keys of the GTO. It didn’t seen to be the right thing to do, but every trip must come to an end. But, in many ways, this was something that I was truly looking forward to though. I’m a firm believer that the best flight is one that you don’t remember. I had a real nice flight home.

Oh, when I got home, I found that the drain in the basement was backing up from the abundance of rain that we were having. Welcome home!!!

Would I do it again? Probably. Would I do it next week? No way, but how many days is it until Sebring?

I do want my GTO back now…