Throughout
the SSC2K's short career, it has evolved through no less than four separate
front end designs. Some minor, some more extensive. At the
traditional January Daytona Test Session in 2001, the Crawford showed up
in its initially designed bodywork. That consisted of a blunt nose
with exposed splitter area as well as very wide open front wheel arch exits
leading to side mounted cooler intakes.
By
the 2001 Daytona race, the SSC2K appeared with revised front body work.
The main difference was that the newly shaped nose was lengthened and brought
the body work forward closer to the splitter leading edge. The side
intakes for the radiator were now less visible in that the bodywork was
brought forward in this area as well. It was reported to be worth
some 12 mph on the straights at Daytona.
In
retrospect the Crawford suffered from issues similar to the original Reynard
2KQ regarding how the blunt nosed high downforce body work disrupted
the airflow down the sides of the car. Subsequently, the flawed body
work was never seen again.
At
the Phoenix round the car had been revised further. The bodywork
between the fenders had been lowered and the radiator intakes had been
relocated from the side to between the fender and the tub in the top surface
of the sidepod. Additional modifications to the gearbox oiling reduced
mechanical drag issues previously experienced.
The
ultimate revision appeared in 2002 at the Daytona 24. Major changes
to the cooling and airflow management in addition to the replacement of
the troubling Gemini built transmission with an X-Trac unit. The
culmination of their efforts with the SSC2K came at the '02 Grand-Am event
at the Virginia International Raceway when the Crawford came home first
fighting off strong opposition from, ironically, Kevin Doran's Dallara
LMP.