Rolex 24 Legend Haywood Reflects on Revered Brumos Car Number
Jan. 30, 2021
By David Phillips
IMSA Wire Service
DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. – What’s in a number? Ask baseball fans about No. 42, hockey fans about No. 99, NASCAR fans about No. 43 or No. 3, Formula 1 fans about Red 5 and IndyCar fans about No. 14. When it comes to IMSA fans, you’d be hard pressed to find a number that matches the gravity of No. 59. It’s a number that will forever be associated with Brumos Racing and a legacy that includes five wins in the Rolex 24 At Daytona, two in the Mobil 1 Twelve Hours of Sebring Presented by Advance Auto Parts and a trio of victories in the 24 Hours of Le Mans, along with more than a dozen championships. There’s an added dimension to the symbolism of No. 59 at the 2021 Rolex 24. This year marks the 59th running of the endurance event. IMSA and Daytona International Speedway are honoring that 59 connection with a parade of Brumos cars before the start of the race today. And when the green flag waves just after 3:30 p.m. ET this afternoon, it will be Brumos Chairman Dan “Dano” Davis fittingly will be the one doing the honors. No fewer than five Rolex 24s were won by Hurley Haywood, two in collaboration with co-driver and Brumos Racing founder Peter Gregg in cars bearing the revered No. 59. “Any time you win at Daytona it’s special,” says Haywood, who shares the record for most Rolex 24 overall triumphs with Scott Pruett. “To win this race five times has been a real honor and a source of pride.” Published in 2018, Hurley: From the Beginning (co-authored by Haywood and Sean Cridland) runs no less than 420 pages. One could probably fill that many pages and more with Haywood’s memories from his victories in the Rolex 24, let alone those he didn’t win. Does any single victory stand above the rest? “If I had to pick one, it would be the first win with Peter in 1973,” he says. “Again, every win at Daytona is special, but that one really means a lot. “Porsche was introducing a 2.8-liter version of the 911 Carrera RSR for the 1973 season and they really viewed the 24 Hours as an extended test. We didn’t have any expectations of even finishing the race, let alone winning it.” Porsche provided a pair of the 2.8-liter 911s to Brumos and Penske Racing, shipping them from Germany in time for a prerace shakedown test. The plan was to ship them back to Germany following the race to analyze what worked and what hadn’t. “After the test, we saw evidence the flywheel bolts were coming loose,” Haywood recalls. “Peter told Roger (Penske) about it, but Roger didn’t believe him. He thought Peter was messing with his head. Sure enough, that’s what put the Penske car out of the race.” But not before Haywood, then 26, got a graduate-level course in race driving from a couple grizzled veterans. “It was a great race,” he says. “I learned a lot racing with Mark Donohue and George Follmer in the Penske car.” Once the Penske 911 dropped out, it was relatively smooth sailing for Haywood and Gregg. They cruised home a dozen laps clear of the Ferrari 365 GTB4 piloted by Francois Migault and Milt Minter. The only hitch came when Porsche chief engineer Helmut Flegl cautioned the two to moderate their pace to ensure that the car held together and that they didn’t make any mistakes. “Flegl told us to slow down, but Peter said, ‘No!’ That’s when drivers make mistakes, when they break the rhythm that’s put them in the lead to begin with,” Haywood recalls. “So, Peter and I just kept going at our normal pace, not taking any big risks obviously, but still driving pretty close to the limit. And we didn’t make any big mistakes, the car held together … and we won. That was pretty darned satisfying.” If 1973 ranks atop Haywood’s list of fond Rolex 24 memories, the ’77 race comes in a close second – call it 1A – even though it was in car No. 43 instead of the familiar No. 59. Again, reliability, or the lack of it, was a factor not just in the outcome of the race but in Haywood’s choice of mounts. As was the case four years earlier, Porsche was breaking new ground at Daytona. This was the first time “customer” teams could enter the fearsome twin-turbo Porsche 935 that had been campaigned as works entries the previous season. “1977 was another year I had no expectations about winning,” Haywood says. “It was the first year for the twin turbo at Daytona, and I just didn’t think they’d have the necessary reliability. So, I did a deal to drive with John Graves and Dave Helmick in the Ecurie Escargot 911 Carrera. John and Dave were relatively inexperienced, but we figured if we ran trouble-free and didn’t make any big mistakes, we could finish on the podium. And as it turned out, the twin turbos all broke and we wound up winning.” As with any 24-hour win, there’s more to the story. In Haywood’s case, a LOT more. “I finished a stint shortly after it got dark, and the team asked whether John or Dave wanted to take the next stint,” he says. “They both said ‘No, I don’t want to drive in the dark.’ “Great! So, I wound up driving an eight-hour stint. I would come in for fuel, jump out of the car, go back to the trailer, grab a different helmet and get back in the car,” he laughs. “I don’t think I fooled IMSA, but they didn’t seem to care. I was doing OK, not making any mistakes. But those were different times. “Actually, the cars were a lot easier to drive back then,” Haywood continues. “They weren’t as fast as today’s cars; the physical forces were not nearly as severe as in modern cars. The mental stress was similar but in terms of the physical wear and tear on the drivers, there’s no comparison. “Like I said, those were different times. There were only two, sometimes three, drivers for each car. There was no motorcoach where you could sleep between stints. You’d just crawl into the back of the transporter, wrap yourself in one of those mover’s blankets and try to grab a nap. And the food? McDonald’s!” Different times to be sure. Equally sure is the fact that Hurley Haywood wouldn’t trade one of his Rolex 24 wins for all the nights in a five-star hotel or all the meals in a Michelin “3 Stars” restaurant that money can buy. |
