Several racing drivers at the Rolex 24 at Daytona this weekend, such as Magnus Racing's Andy Lally, care deeply about animal welfare. Of course, Andy's the one who hits a possum with his team's #44 Porsche 911 GT America. [Fair warning: race car roadkill below.]
Here's what happened, in Lally's own words:
Possums are big, nasty varmints that can bust through a lot of things at speed, particularly on a fast track like Daytona. Here's what whacking a possum does to a Porsche:
I'm relieved it's not a bunny after Fluffy and I crashed their live stream last night. Fluffy is supposed to bump you up in the standings as it's done for Shane van Gisbergen's Alex Job Racing Porsche 911 GT America, which currently sits in second in GTD. Here's hoping the Bunny Bump hops them ahead in the last few hours of today's race.
Luckily, all it really seemed to do internally was bend the radiator. Not break. Not bust open. Just a bend. Sure, I'll still file this in my "water cooling is evil" and "this is why stuff doesn't go in the front of a 911" file, but it's quite a testament to their radiator's build quality!
The crew and fans quickly named the deceased possum "BoP," for "Ballast of Possum." The hashtag #AvengeBallast started going on social media as well, because it's about time the team avenges the untimely death of the poor little animal.
Miracle workers on Magnus' crew put the car back together, and it's back out in the race.
Whether Daytona International Speedway will credit the team with pest control or not is TBD.