After a long time spent preparing for Sound & Speed, we were all getting used to not getting enough sleep.  Then off we go to the Grand-Am Rolex 24 At Daytona race this past weekend at Daytona International Speedway (DIS).  If you thought this was a race of 24 LAPS, or even 24 MILES, you were wrong. The 24 means a 24 HOUR, non-stop, endurance race not only for the drivers and crew, but for everyone involved.

Our hospitality team began the weekend with the usual stuff… opening a zillion boxes at the hotel, setting up the lovely Tower Suites overlooking the track and zipping around DIS trying to determine whose golf cart was the fastest… then giving the slowest cart to the newbie on the team. Sorry Andy!

On Friday, we had a great time with our guests, watching them experience a ride on the 3.56 mile road course in the Grand-Am Pace Car at 95 MPH. If this is not on your bucket list – you should add it now! What a thrill to see the smiles on the guests’ faces as they got out of the car. Especially as they tried to decipher the unmistakable stench of burning breaks and smoking tires…

Some of our guests with big smiles after their Pace Car rides

Later in the day, we headed over to the Daytona 500 Experience for a tour of everything the facility has to offer. ..including the simulators. This year, I was smart enough to SKIP the simulators that made me nearly lose my lunch last year. I did, however, enjoy the “Dream Laps” ride and laughed like a kid with our guests as we bumped around in the Disney-style video ride.  I will say, it’s always amazing to watch grown adults acting like kids as they experience an IMAX movie with 3D glasses on, play the tire changing game and compete in the “buckle-yourself-into-and-out-of-a- Daytona-Prototype-race-car-as-fast-as-you-can” game.

On Saturday, as raceday began, we left Rachel Fort, our lone ranger on the hotel registration gig, to fend for herself at the Hilton (sorry Rach!) and we were off to the track for a few hours of pre-race activities prior to the green flag.

Our guests were able to experience a walk through the pits and the SunTrust garages learning all they could in a few minutes about the SunTrust #10 Ford Dallara Daytona Prototype race car (say that phrase again as fast as you can!). Big thanks to our good buddy Warren Scheckter, from Wayne Taylor Racing, who was there to add some inside info to the garage tour – it’s always great to hear the ins and outs of the team from an inside source. Our guests were also able to tour the new team transporter and spend some time with the SunTrust race team.

(L to R) SunTrust drivers Brian Frisselle, Pedro Lamy, Max Angelelli and Wayne Taylor

Warren Scheckter, from Wayne Taylor Racing, giving our guests the inside scoop.

As all 63 cars lined up on the grid, our guests joined the team on pit road for pre-race festivities and gave well wishes to Max “the Ax” Angelelli who started the race in the 5^th position.

”The SunTrust guests get an up close look at the #10 car during pre-race activities”

Shortly after the race began, each of our guests got to stand with “the flag lady”, as she is known, on the Starter Stand and watch the #10 car race by underneath them. Wow! What an experience!

“Can’t we stay in the Starter Stand just a little longer?”

Later that night, we had dinner at the Daytona 500 Experience museum, came back for some late night snacks, hung out for a bit, stayed as long as most guests could make it (about 2am) and went back to the hotel for a catnap. We returned around 7 am and it was amazing to think how tired we were compared to the teams that were STILL going at it, lap after lap after lap.  Although each driver took their turn in the car (for a max of 3 hours per stint) and slept in between, for the most part the team and crew were up and working on the car for nearly 40 hours straight!  And to think that most people typically work (and no, we’re not typical) 40-hour weeks and these guys were doing 40 hours straight! In the words of the immortal Joey Lawrence…Whoa!

Sunday morning went really well for the team, crew, drivers and our guests and we all cheered as the SunTrust team stayed in the top four for the last few hours of the race. What an accomplishment for the crews that maintain these cars so that they run at top speeds for over 24 hours and over 730 laps.

As the checkered flag flew, we all cheered for Max Angelelli as he finished the race in 4^th place, behind the two Brumos cars (1^st and 3^rd) and the Target car (2^nd place).  While the crew was high-fiving to celebrate not only a 4^th place finish but also the end of the race, we all took a deep breath and were ecstatic that the weekend was over. The Rolex 24 is an exciting race, full of fun and excitement, but I have to admit, I am glad it’s behind us!

Needless to say, the flight home, full of teams, crew and sponsors, was dead silent as everyone on board snoozed the whole trip home.

Until the next race…

Lauren

“The a|i|m SunTrust team is either happy that the race is over or that Tyler Hargrove went home early ”

On January 9th and 10th, Sprint Sound & Speed Presented by SunTrust took place in Nashville, TN. 2009 marked the fourth year of the event and we at a|i|m are proud to say that it went off very well, once again.

Our team wears many hats throughout the process of the event, from securing sponsors to confirming artist and driver appearances down to assisting on-site. At any given moment in Nashville, you will find a member of the a|i|m team doing something to help the event run as smooth as possible.

For those who have not checked out the rest of our website and seen what Sound & Speed is (shame on you), it’s an annual kickoff to the upcoming NASCAR season which combines music and motorsports and benefits Victory Junction and the Country Music Hall of Fame ® and Museum. Below are a few pictures taken by our event photographer, David Bean.

Hello and Happy New Year (4 days late!). We have all made it back to the office safely after a nice and enjoyable holiday break. For the most part, we stayed busy over the past two weeks, as we have a few large events coming up in the month of January and February, but luckily, we found the time to spread the holiday cheer. Below are a few pictures and short entry from our own Brandon Schnitzer regarding the volunteer effort:

“When we arrived at the center, I didn’t really know what to expect, but after I met the CEO of Compassion Atlanta, I, along with the rest of a|i|m, couldn’t wait to get started.  He told us story after story about families that started at minimum wage jobs, working just to scrape by, only to improve their well-being and ultimately their cash-flow after receiving food and supplies from Compassion.  While all we did was unpack donated materials and stuff care packages for the needy, stories like this made us feel great about our hard day’s work.

Needless to say, our work would not be possible if it weren’t for Compassion Atlanta and their heart of gold.  I recommend everyone reading this to donate a few hours of your time in the next month to a worthy cause like the one Compassion Atlanta constantly strives to reach.  I promise you won’t regret it.”

Sweep it, Mark!

The a|i|m team!