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Cadillac is back American luxury car maker returns to motor racing
Posted: Thursday February 03, 2000 03:23 PM
DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. (AP) -- Race car drivers sometimes say, "It drove like a Cadillac out there." Yet the luxury division of General Motors hasn't fielded a race car for 50 years. The wait is over. The Cadillac Northstar LMP sports car makes its debut at Daytona International Speedway on Thursday, the opening day of practice and qualifying for the Rolex 24. "They definitely have put together the best looking race car out there," said Wayne Taylor, a former Daytona and Sebring 12-hour winner who will drive one of two Cadillacs entered in the 24-hour event Saturday and Sunday. The last time Cadillac raced was in 1950 at the 24 Hours of Le Mans, where Briggs Cunningham drove a specially built car and a near-stock Coupe de Ville. The purpose-built race car, driven by Cunningham and Phil Walters, finished 11th, despite skidding into a sand pit. Sam and Miles Collier drove the Coupe de Ville to 10th. An English race car, the Allard J2, used a Cadillac V8 engine in the 1950 Le Mans and finished third. Because it was selling a luxury car, Cadillac dropped out of auto racing after that event. However, to help market the new Northstar engine, the company felt it was time to get back into racing. The new cars are being built by Riley & Scott in Indianapolis, which also builds its own sports cars and chassis for the Indy Racing League. The cars will be powered by a 4.0-liter version of Cadillac's 32-valve Northstar V8 engine with dual turbochargers. "It's great to be involved with the biggest car manufacturer in the world," Taylor said. "When you say the word Cadillac it really gets people's attention. I feel that with the commitment GM has put into this program that it's the best place to be. Their goal is to win Le Mans, and that's one race that I haven't won." The South African-born racer will share the cockpit of one of the Cadillacs with Italian Max Angelelli and Eric van ce Poele of Belgium. The second entry will be co-driven by Butch Leitzinger, Frank Lagorce and Andy Wallace of England. "I have to say the Cadillac is the most solid car I've ever driven right out of the box," said Leitzinger, who was part of the winning Dyson Racing team last year. "It's actually like driving a production Cadillac down pit road because it runs like a street car at low (engine) revs and it doesn't have the shakes and rattles that a new car usually has." The season-opening sports car endurance event will also be the first race for the new Grand American Road Racing Association, a sports car sanctioning body formed by International Speedway Corp. ISC also owns and operates NASCAR and several racetracks, including Daytona. One-hundred cars in five classes, including 23 in the top SportsRacer division, have been entered. About 80 of them are expected to start the race on Saturday. The balance of the classes are GT, GTO, GTU and American GT. Besides the two Cadillacs, the top division will include five Ferrari 333SPs and several Riley & Scott Mark IIIs. The defending champions have entered the Riley & Scott that carried them to a win last year and might also debut a Ford Reynard 2KQ. Rob Dyson's driving lineup will include James Weaver of England, Elliott Forbes-Robinson, CART star Max Papis and John Paul Jr. Thursday's qualifying session will include all classes, but only the top two cars will lock up starting positions in the race. The rest of the field will be set in qualifying Friday.
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