January 25-26, the last time IMSA drivers were on the race track competing in the annual 24 hours of Daytona and everything seemed normal at least for the time being.
Little did everyone know, two months later, a pandemic would bring a halt to almost everything in the world including most if not all Motorsports leagues. Everything was getting canceled left to right and it looked as though, IMSA would not be able to restart their season or even complete the schedule.
However, there was some light at the end of the tunnel, as the series officials announced they would be racing at Daytona International Speedway for a sprint event of two hours and 40 minutes.
A long break in racing can be a good thing, while for some it can be bad. The break in the action, can give drivers some time to think about their expectations to either change them or keep them, despite not knowing what the rest of the schedule would be after the Daytona 240.
For Corvette Racing, drivers Jordan Taylor and Antonio Garcia haven’t seen their expectations changed much, if at all.
Jordan Taylor, the Orlando, Florida native, believes his current mindset hasn’t changed, but thinks the new type of schedule and the restart will make things more interesting out on the track.
“I don’t know if it’s altered things, but it’s made everyone a little more excited to get back to the track,” Taylor said. “I think we still have a team, a car and a full package to compete for the championship. For us, maybe the break is a little bit of an advantage for us with a new car. The guys were able to go back and study the car… understand where can make improvements whether it’s pit stops, drivability of the car, engine calibration, all those little things that have been worked on between the engineers and crew. I still have high expectations.”
Garcia, Jordan’s teammate, says the restart will be difficult for most people involved, and having limited track time will prove challenging as well.
“It’s going to be a challenge for everyone,” Garcia said. “Not being able to test your development on track is a new thing to do. Everyone is working at home so it’s not easy. You go by how the race went at Daytona, and we hope we are fixing the items we identified but we couldn’t test them on track. That’s the only downside to that and having just two hours practice. It will be a challenge, but Corvette Racing is the best team out there. If anyone can do this, it’s this team.”
