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Links in a Chain.(Column)
Byline: Rich Ceppos
I started noticing his name in race results during the past year. In the Rolex Sports Car Series Daytona Prototype class. Winning in American Le Mans Series GT2 cars. I saw him on TV, whipping a Porsche 911 race car into submission. There are lots of young guys laboring in relative obscurity in professional road racing these days. This one I knew: Patrick Long.
I'd been a very small link in the chain of Long's career. Eight years ago I'd gotten a tip about a teenage karting phenom deserving of a break. Did I know anyone who could help? Maybe. I made a call and promptly forgot about it.
Now Long is driving for Roger Penske in the factory-backed Porsche RS Spyder prototype in ALMS, in famous races like the Sebring 12 Hour and Petit Le Mans. Feeling a distant connection, I had to know: How had he managed to do it?
I caught up with Long on his way to a Grand-Am series doubleheader; he would drive in two classes over the weekend. Long is 25 now and exudes the cheery confidence of a man ideally suited to his work. When he gives you the capsule summary of his career, it's clear he has earned the right.
In his junior ...
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