Is this:

http://youtu.be/_ZirytRdz-Q

I was watching motivational videos and ran across this classic. At first I thought this was a 'I had to start at the back' video, until I realized the spec e30's were pulling away on the back straight. Roush racing is now paying this guy to drive Grand Am.

 

Over the curbs, mis-shifting, avoidable contact, 2 wheels off, passing a bunch of cars that clearly can't get out of their own way in the corners...

Roush should pay me to drive too.

All joking aside, Good video and a good drive.

 

Is that Billy driving? What's wrong with using curbs and running a couple wheels off if there's no damage and it nets a faster lap time? The contact-- eh, woops-- the mis-shifting, yeah, bad, but everything else really is the difference between a pro and an amateur.

 

I didn't see any avoidable contact on the part of the driver in the video. The bimmer didn't leave the required 3/4 car width "racing room" But, that's not to say anyone would be expecting a pass there.

That's Lyonel Kent, watch his hands, amazing.

 

lynol kent.....yes.....he has ita track record by over 2 seconds in a nasa qualifying session.....

hmmmmm....wonder what 220 hp does pushing a 120 hp civic down the back stretch...now you know!!

race with the kents manny mannny times!

 

I had no idea! Did he just get the Roush ride?

 

Nothing at all. I do it all the time. So how do I contact Roush?


On a serious note, I'd love to chance to race against him.

 

the guy climbed through the pack... cant say he did anything wrong.
Pretty impressive id say.
Reminds me of a Camaro driver I know

 

Maybe it's just me...the guy is a good driver, but I'm not that amazed. There are at least 12 HC Drivers in California that are as good or better, and they are not driving for Roush..and as far as him getting paid to drive for Roush, maybe, maybe not. There are scads of folks in Grand Am, ALMS, etc that are basically paying to drive. Not trying to be a hater, just my humble opinion...

 

You're opinion is dead on, but the truth is a professional race car driver's value is sometimes outside the realm of driving itself. Personality, marketability, the ability to be an example of a team's standards, etc. are often things teams first look for. When it really comes down to it, many drivers are completely capable of keeping up with pros. I've raced with many club level guys that, as far as driving talent goes, are better than most professional drivers I now drive with-- they just lack other skills necessary to hold a job in such a competitive market.

Dirty19... haha, yeah...

 

It was great fun watching him race up through the pack. Making moves for sure, getting the job done. Imagine with a little more power what that thing would do.

 

It's on his website. Based on his pairing on the Rum Bum team I'm assuming he is the hired gun.

 

Holy mixed class racing Batman! Looks like a LeMons race to me with all that mixed speed.

Is the spec e30 slower than an H4 Honda? It seems the spec e30 got held up on that turn by the CRX in front of him and he tried to dive bomb him. Skipping around, it doesn't seem like he ever did pass him after that. I don't see why he required anything for the guy. He was clearly ahead of him, didn't have to give him any line.

It's the responsibility of the passing driver to make the pass clean (which he didn't), it's the responsibility of the driver being passed to maintain their line (which they did). If he spun and/or hit the e30 on that pass attempt, it would be the H4 driver's fault.

While it is impressive, he was a bit wreckless climbing through the field.

 

Se30 back in the day. Maybe BS (before skeen)

 

Since you brought it up let me tell you my opinion. The difference between a good amateur driver and a pro driver is length of your phone book and the size of your wallet.
If you have the money and the contacts you can climb the ladder as far as you want even if you are not that good.
Like it was said I know some hc drivers that are better than some pro drivers but don't have the money or contacts to go further in their careers .
Give u an example. Not too long ago one of my friends had the chance to go to another country " France " and drive one of the wtcc cars in a track. Right away he was 1 1/2 sec. From the track record in that car. Heck he was offered a drive for next year if he brought money to the table.
Of course a pro driver gets better with time, you are surrounded by engineers and mechanics that know exactly what you need , the only thing you need to do is drive, and how do you get better ? , seat time right.
It is hard for us already to pay for a weekend at bw . Imagine if I want to compete in grand am , how much I have to pay.
Another example , memo Rojas , he is not by any means a top driver in my opinion, makes mistakes that could have cost the team the championship how many times , but he knows Carlos slim which happens to have a little money to spare so Memo is driving dp and having Scott save his *** everytime.
Remember money and contacts. If you have both you get far.

 

i agree with a lot of this. i bolded one statement too, that goes along with what you have said. i will be a guessing man, but i bet this race was ran on june 20, 2004. yes, 2004, i bet he has improved dramatically. heck for all we know, that could have been his second w2w race. my guess is that it was not, but since there is a lot of speculating going on in here, i might as well do it too.

 

$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$ $$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$ $$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$ $$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$ $$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$


https://honda-tech.com/forums/road-racing-autocross-time-attack-19/dark-%24ecrets-%96-realities-pro-racing-2949731/

 

Lyonel can drive. He's also the only one I know who can make a Honda Civic IT car unreliable. That dude rings every inch of life out of the car and then some! That said, the talent level of the drivers he was passing was far from stellar.

 

Lets not forget Dave Gran's articles.
It explained to us how racing truely is.
Matt also lamented how you must be much more than a driver you have to be to stay in the game.

All that known... hats off to anyone who has the contacts and money. Im not a hater.
Just keep in mind guys, we do this because we like it.
We do this when we can afford it.
It's not going to stop me from ever doing it... im addicted. It's fun.it makes me happy!
I love motorsports, and I like to be around it.

 

Lyonel is far from rich though. I raced with Lyonel in 02 and 03 and we paddocked together most every weekend. Lyonel, his wife and I stayed close after I could no longer afford to race. They took a lot of risk financially to fund his running of the Skip Barber series and other series that eventually led up to the lucky break he finally got. But don't ever think they just stroked a check and he became a pro racer. I am sure that happens but not in this case. Lyonel has a very positive attitude and a personality that makes people want to have him around. Does not hurt that the guy can flat out drive. Besides, he admits on his website that the video "is not a cameo of my best driving". I think he is much better on equipment now than he was in the early years. Anyway, couldn't happen to a better guy.

 

+1.

 

Most professional road racing in the US is the simply the pinnacle of a hobby driven industry. Mr. super rich guy, you want to go faster? Look under this dark, magic curtain: Pro Racing, and you get on TV.

The rich guys have to pay their money to someone, and those are the professionals in racing. It takes a lot of hard work by very talented people to put a car on track that is not embarrassingly slow. Not to mention what it takes to field a competitive car. Its the team behind that fast car that makes it fast, and sometimes those guys get so good at their trade that they start attracting money on their own.

They want the top talent driving their cars, and that driver also has to be able to function as a spokes person for the money people. Hence the mythical "paid professional driver," but just because he is drawing a check doesn't mean he isn't still working 80 hours a week between staying in top shape, working sponsors, developing personal sponsorships, testing, and probably sweeping the shop floor.

I admit there are a lot of people who are just writing a check to run in the lower professional series, but don't assume it of everyone. I understand the guy in this video works a full time job outside of racing, in addition to all his racing commitments. He must be one of those people who can function on 4 hours of sleep.

As far as the video goes, the first time I watched it I thought "what a hack." Then he did something on the last time through turn one that caught my attention. I went back, watched closer and realized it was some pretty brilliant driving. Of course with a couple of sketchy passes, and a pretty cavalier attitude about keeping his car in one piece for more than one race. Take it for what it is, the early learning curve of a pretty talented guy.

The pass on the BMW and the Legends were non-incidents according to the CCR.

 

Any driver from hpde to dp and beyond that strap him or herself to a car in any kind of track has merit to it. It takes a lot of courage to be able to do it.
There is some out there that are just naturals and have the talent, most of us have to work really hard at it and hope that we have enough money to enter events to have seat time.
Don't mentioned being discovered or noticed by someone . So if you start the process of elimination maybe one in thousands will make it on pure talent and that's where money comes in handy. It is a really good way to short cut all the process.
I guess what I'm trying to say is that it doesn't hurt to have the money to get noticed and if you have it and make it good as a racer then good for you. And if you have the talent and got noticed and now you are making money that is awesome .

 

maybe thats the difference between a pro driver and ur self .. speak for ur self thanks !

 

I caught that too. He was doing it on the other laps as well, just the last lap he tried carrying that last extra bit of speed and had to chase the back of the car a bit which makes it a bit more obvious.

Certainly not the average talent club racer that is scared to death of passing someone and only drives the DE line. Lyonel's driving looks a lot like the way I drive indoor go-karts. Complete, 100% commitment on corner entry and drive the damn thing any place there is room, paved or not. I wonder what his current videos look like.