when there's a decent chance your race car appeared as a blip on an airport's radar there's

definitely a story to tell here's bobby rayhall's story from seabring in 1986 with the bmw north

america imsa gtpp team where the best laid plans certainly went awry.

Thanks to Bobby for taking a moment here to spin this yarn brought to us by Cooper Tires,

the Justice Brothers, and Toronto Motorsports.com.

For a number of years, tried to get a ride with BMW.

My old mechanic from Atlantic days, Wiley McCoy, after I went into, went to Europe, he had gone and worked for McLaren on the BMW turbo four-cylinder engines.

He was an engine builder by, originally by profession, had been then had started way back in the 60s

with Holman and Modi wound his way up north and after I left the states to go to Europe he went

on to McLaren he had been working for Doug Shearson in Michigan so he went on to McLaren and

started up with them and I think it was probably 70 I want say 77, somewhere around there when Hobbs was driving

the BMW and McLaren had a relationship.

Anyway, so I kept bugging, you know, him and anybody I could talk to it at BMW, try to get a ride in the car and never unsuccessfully.

But in 85, I guess it would have been, trying to think it was the name, Smith,

I can't think it was name right now. He'd been an original partner with Bruce McLaren when they

started McLaren engines and McLaren USA. So anyway, he calls me out. We wonder if you'd be

interested in driving the, this is when BMW had progressed to a March chassis with a BMW, again, the

VNW four cylinder engine.

Basically, yeah, Formula One zillion horsepower engine, slightly detuned for endurance racing.

It was the first event for, because I had driven the March Chevy and MSA in, at Sebring

in Daytona and 82, and, you know had um finished second at seabring

with the car but this was you know the next step up and uh anyway so of course he said but i'd

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