Patrick Long’s charity go-kart race a huge winner post-Sebring 12-hour

By Mar 20, 2014, 8:00 AM EDT
0 Comments
source:
Photo courtesy AWOL Photo

On Saturday, Patrick Long won the Mobil 1 Twelve Hours of Sebring in the GT Le Mans class. On Sunday, he won the unofficial “post-Sebring good guy” award.

Long’s third annual Pro-Am Kart Race at Dan Andersen’s Andersen Race Park in Palmetto, Fla., near Tampa, was held the Sunday after this year’s 12-hour endurance classic.

Featuring a bevy of all-star pro drivers – Sebastien Bourdais, Jan Heylen, Bryan Sellers, Katherine Legge, Colin Braun, Martin Plowman, Tommy Kendall, Tristan Vautier and more among them – and an open format to where anyone who wanted to show up could drive alongside them, the event is designed purely to raise money for the All Children’s Hospital, in St. Petersburg, Florida.

The event ran from noon to 4 p.m., with the 72-lap race approximately making for a 1.5-hour enduro. The format featured 12 teams of 5 drivers, including one pro per team (a maximum of 24 laps by the pro). A minimum of 5 pit stops was required with driver changes and 2-lap qualifying preceded the race.

Additional parts of the day included the Cars and Coffee Car show in in the morning, food trucks and a live band present, live silent auctions and open practice all morning for all entries, their families and friends, for paid/donating participants.

All proceeds from the event go towards the hospital for pediatric treatment, education and research. More information can be found at http://www.kart4kids.com and http://www.allkids.org.

source:
Photo courtesy AWOL Photo

“This event has come from humble beginnings, we just wanted to grow it organically and see where it went,” Long told MotorSportsTalk this week. “After our third annual event it seems our biggest challenge will be accommodating everyone who wants to come – it’s open to everybody.”

The first year, a check raised was in the neighborhood of $6,000. Last year, that was around $13,000. This year, it topped the $50,000 mark.

“This started as a round table chat with some of my friends at the Suncoast Region of the Porsche Club of America,” Long said. “The idea was to help continue motorsport’s contribution to All Children’s Hospital in honor of Dan Wheldon. Dan was a big karter who often ran at Andersen and was a huge supporter of All Children’s. The concept made perfect sense to me, but I knew these events aren’t easy to pull together.”

“The goal is try to make it a post-Sebring fixture and make it the go-to Sunday afternoon deal,” he added. “Drive up at 10am from Sebring, get into Palmetto about noon and fly out of Tampa at 6pm.”

Considering Orlando’s the other option to get home, this is a wise suggestion.

Alas, of the pro driver turnout, most were active in Saturday’s 12-hour. Bourdais, who needed to get to Birmingham, Ala. for the Verizon IndyCar Series test on Monday, still raced anyway. Legge, who was able to stay, offered her insights on the day.

“It was such an amazing event for a great cause,” she said. “Everyone involved had so much fun; it was a great way to end the weekend. I have much admiration for Pat and the organization, and all their efforts.”

source:
Photo courtesy AWOL Photo

Sellers and Patrick Dempsey, who both race for Porsche customer teams in the TUDOR Championship, were among others donated items to the event as well.

Now it’s about continuing to grow the event, raise money for children and appeal to local race fans.

“Everyone’s welcome, you make a donation then have fun and drive,” he said. “We’re not asking anything except to come out and have fun. We had a bunch of wives and girlfriends racing, too.”

“We sold out weeks in advance without any official PR or marketing. This is about contributing to a good cause and giving back, and having fun on an afternoon.”

SPONSORS INCLUDE:

  • Major: Patron Spirits, Team Pelfrey
  • Semi-Major: Bert Smith Porsche, Reeves Porsche, Porsche Drivers Selection, Rally Convenience Stores, Bradenton Herald, Alegra Motorsport, Andersen Race Park, Motorsport Illustrated News, GMG Racing, The Dikman Company, Manatee Educational TV, AWOL Photo, European Performance, Bright House Networks, Mariner Car Wash, Apparel World, Vita Vining Hermann Denton Group

Ford unveils a new Mustang for 2024 Le Mans in motorsports ‘lifestyle brand’ retooling

Associated PressJun 9, 2023, 7:00 PM EDT
Ford Mustang Le Mans
Ford Performance
2 Comments

LE MANS, France — Ford has planned a return to the 24 Hours of Le Mans with its iconic Mustang muscle car next year under a massive rebranding of Ford Performance aimed at bringing the automotive manufacturer “into the racing business.”

The Friday unveil of the new Mustang Dark Horse-based race car follows Ford’s announcement in February (and a ballyhooed test at Sebring in March) that it will return to Formula One in 2026 in partnership with reigning world champion Red Bull.

The Mustang will enter the GT3 category next year with at least two cars in both IMSA and the World Endurance Championship, and is hopeful to earn an invitation to next year’s 24 Hours of Le Mans. The IMSA entries will be a factory Ford Performance program run by Multimatic, and a customer program in WEC with Proton Competition.

Ford CEO Jim Farley, also an amateur sports car racer, told The Associated Press the Mustang will be available to compete in various GT3 series across the globe to customer teams. But more important, Farley said, is the overall rebranding of Ford Performance – done by renowned motorsports designer Troy Lee – that is aimed at making Ford a lifestyle brand with a sporting mindset.

“It’s kind of like the company finding its own, and rediscovering its icons, and doubling down on them,” Farley told the AP. “And then this motorsports activity is getting serious about connecting enthusiast customers with those rediscovered icons. It’s a big switch for the company – this is really about building strong, iconic vehicles with enthusiasts at the center of our marketing.”

Ford last competed in sports car racing in 2019 as part of a three-year program with Chip Ganassi Racing. The team scored the class win at Le Mans in 2016 in a targeted performance aimed to celebrate the 50th anniversary of Ford snapping Ferrari’s six-year winning streak.

Ford on Friday displayed a Mustang with a Lee-designed livery that showcased the cleaner, simplified look that will soon be featured on all its racing vehicles. The traditional blue oval with Ford Performance in white lettering underneath will now be branded simply FP.

The new mark will be used across car liveries, merchandise and apparel, display assets, parts and accessories and in advertising.

Farley cited Porsche as an automaker that has successfully figured out how to sell cars to consumers and race cars in various series around the world while creating a culture of brand enthusiasts. He believes Ford’s new direction will help the company sell street cars, race cars, boost interest in driving schools, and create a merchandise line that convinces consumers that a stalwart of American automakers is a hip, cool brand.

“We’re going to build a global motorsports business off road and on road,” Farley told the AP, adding that the design of the Mustang is “unapologetically American.”

He lauded the work of Lee, who is considered the top helmet designer among race car drivers.

“We’re in the first inning of a nine inning game, and going to Le Mans is really important,” Farley said. “But for customer cars, getting the graphics right, designing race cars that win at all different levels, and then designing a racing brand for Ford Performance that gets rebranded and elevated is super important.”

He said he’s kept a close eye on how Porsche and Aston Martin have built their motorsports businesses and said Ford will be better.

“We’re going in the exact same direction. We just want to be better than them, that’s all,” Farley said. “Second is the first loser.”

Farley, an avid amateur racer himself, did not travel to Le Mans for the announcement. The race that begins Saturday features an entry from NASCAR, and Ford is the reigning Cup Series champion with Joey Logano and Team Penske.

The NASCAR “Garage 56” entry is a collaboration between Hendrick Motorsports, Chevrolet and Goodyear, and is being widely celebrated throughout the industry. Farley did feel left out of the party in France – a sentiment NASCAR tried to avoid by inviting many of its partners to attend the race so that it wouldn’t seem like a Chevrolet-only celebration.

“They’re going right and I’m going left – that NASCAR thing is a one-year deal, right? It’s Garage 56 and they can have their NASCAR party, but that’s a one-year party,” Farley said. “We won Le Mans outright four times, we won in the GT class, and we’re coming back with Mustang and it’s not a one-year deal.

“So they can get all excited about Garage 56. I almost see that as a marketing exercise for NASCAR, but for me, that’s a science project,” Farley continued. “I don’t live in a world of science projects. I live in the world of building a vital company that everyone is excited about. To do that, we’re not going to do a Garage 56 – I’ve got to beat Porsche and Aston Martin and Ferrari year after year after year.”

Ford’s announcement comes on the heels of General Motors changing its GT3 strategy next season and ending its factory Corvette program. GM, which unlike Ford competes in the IMSA Grand Touring Prototype division (with its Cadillac brand), will shift fully to a customer model for Corvettes in 2024 (with some factory support in the IMSA GTD Pro category).