A look back at our daytona triumphs
The Brumos Racing team won the 24 Hours of Daytona a total of four times — three times in the seventies and a fourth win more than three decades later.
The winning legacy started in 1973. From not having a car until two weeks before the race to a seagull hitting the windshield at 170mph with 7 hours to go, this victory did not come easy. Crew Chief Jack Atkinson and driver Hurley Haywood take us back in time and discuss the herculean team effort that put Brumos on the map once and for all.
The story of the seagull is perhaps the most famous story, What’s not as well known is that the difference between triumph and tragedy may have been the radio communication. It was the first time the pits and drivers used this communication.
With 7 hours left to go, Hurley Haywood got shocked by a big bang and the cockpit filling with shards of glass, feathers and blood. One of the many seagulls of Lake Lloyd had hit the windshield. Hurley radioed Jack Atkinson in the pit, who told him to keep going for as long as he could while the quest for a replacement windshield began. Standard practice back then when there was no spare, the crew had to find someone to donate a compatible windshield.
Communication was key in resolving the issue to maintain the lead and race to the finish. A few laps later, the bird no longer blocking the sight, Haywood and Gregg continued the race and drove their 911 RSR to victory. It’s a story for the history books, hear it from the legends that lived it:
The second Brumos victory at Daytona came in 1975 - even though it was two years after the first, the victories were technically back to back since the 1974 edition got canceled. The 24 Hours of Daytona became the opening round of the Camel GT Series in 1975 and marked the first time that IMSA sanctioned the event. There were 51 total entries, 21 of which were Porsches. Our Carrera RSR was the one that outlasted them all,
Photos by Hal Crocker
The third triumph followed three years later in 1978. The Brumos entered two cars, one with the number 59, one with 99. Perhaps somewhat unexpectedly, it was the #99 car that took home the win. In an interesting coincidence of numbers, the team’s #59 car came in 59 laps after the winner.
More than three decades later, the Brumos team was on top again in 2009. The victory was special for many reasons.
The victory can be seen as the culmination of Brumos’s stewardship of the Daytona Prototype class throughout the 200s. Under Bob Snodgress leadership, Brumos was at the helm of the development of the Grand Am Series and Daytona Prototype class in the early 2000s. Bob started his journey at Brumos in 1972 as General Manager for the dealerships and would become the co-owner 18 years later with Dan Davis. Their first move after the acquisition was to return to professional racing, with IMSA supercar successes throughout the nineties. While Bob never got to witness it himself, his work on the Daytona Prototype series ultimately resulted in this fourth and final win at the 24 hours of Daytona, more than three decades after the third.
Putting the Brumos name back on the board and honoring Bob’s memory was special for the team - but for one driver this win was extra special: David Donohue. This win came exactly 40 years after his dad Mark Donohue’s win at Daytona, so along with the Brumos name, David got to put his own name back on the board. Emotions were running high and history was being made, relive the final lap of the 2009 race: