Spirit of Daytona Racing failed to turn its pole position in to a strong result as a tough 2013 season continued.
Richard Westbrook and Ricky Taylor could only manage to finish eighth in the two hour, forty-five minute race, struggling with grip throughout the race.
Westbrook began the race from pole, pulling out a slight lead at the start of the race. However, after the opening laps grip began to fade away from the #90 Corvette DP and his opponents started reeling him in.
“It’s tough out there, we knew it was going to be tough,” said Westbrook. “We knew we had a good qualifying lap, but we knew everyone was going to make it up today, and they have, and we just couldn’t pull a gap. It’s a shame because we were hoping this would be a good place to turn our season around.”
Westbrook handed the car over to Taylor, who hoped that slight changes to the car during the pitstop would improve the handling during his stint.
“The rear of the car just wasn’t planted,” said Taylor. “We were good in colder conditions, but the sun came out and the track got hot so the track was a lot different. We gambled a little bit, thinking we would be able to see similar conditions. Unfortunately we didn’t so that made for a long day today.”
Westbrook took over for a second time towards the end of the race, having to settle for eighth as the Daytona Prototype battle hotted up as the race drew to a close.
“It was a frustrating day for all of us,” said team owner Troy Flis. “We tried a few things and they just didn’t go the way we wanted. Over the long run, we didn’t have the car for the guys that we should have. We tried a lot with pressures and even aero, but it just didn’t work out so it was a tough day.”
