"Most of the race equipment is okay," Flis said on Wednesday. "It looks like our lift gate got water in it – so that killed the motor and our generator for the track was under water. We have two days to figure out what's working and what isn't – you don't know until you go to use something. We went to use the forklift, and it was under water so now it won't run. We tried to move everything up higher before the storm, but there's only so much you can move higher."
VISIT FLORIDA Racing will be paddocked next to Michael Shank Racing at Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca, and Shank has already offered his team's truck to Flis for power, should the need arise.
"It is going to be awhile before we get through everything," Flis said. "Right now, we are just getting through the essentials."
Because of Irma's unpredictability – it was initially expected to go up the east coast of Florida before moving west — Tequila Patron ESM, another WeatherTech Championship Prototype team and located in Riviera Beach, near West Palm Beach, was expecting severe damage, but escaped the most destructive part of the storm.
"ESM decided on Monday before the hurricane that we would start loading for Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca and get the trucks on the road by Thursday in anticipation of the possibility of a near direct hit from Irma," team manager Erin Gahagan said. "The crew, as usual, worked hard and quickly to get the truck drivers on the road and ahead of the traffic. This gave our crew time to prepare their houses and evacuate if needed as well.
"We are fortunate that the shop and homes of the crew were spared any damage when Irma decided to go west," Gahagan said. We now have a lot of work to do to finish the cars once we get to Laguna Seca, but the crew is ready to go, and hopefully we can finish the year on the podium in the last two races."
Of the three IMSA tracks that experienced damage from Hurricane Irma – Daytona International Speedway, Sebring International Raceway and Road Atlanta – Sebring took the hardest hit, being only 20 miles east of the storm's eye, and remains without power four days later. Despite the damage, which appears to be more severe than when three hurricanes hit the area in 2004, Sebring resumed operations within two days.