After a dramatic crash in qualifying yesterday by Jan Magnussen, Corvette Racing has worked through to midnight last night to repair the heavily damaged No.3 machine.

Magnussen had cooled his tires and was given the green light to take one more shot to challenge for the pole. He was within .14 of a second of Jonathan Bomarito’s pole time when he ran wide at turn three and hit the tire wall.

Forever the racer, Magnussen bounced off the tire wall and his natural instincts kicked in – “how car I dirve this back to the pits”. Magnussen kept going before crew chief Dan Binks told him the left rear was hanging off the car.

“What makes us good is that everyone at Corvette Racing digs deep,” said  Dan Binks, Corvette Racing No. 3 Crew Chief.

“As long as that thing didn’t need a new chassis, it was going to make the race. Everybody poured their hearts into this thing – both the 3 and 4 car guys worked hard on it and left about midnight.

“We changed literally everything: the transmission, all the control arms, front and rear swaybars, nose, bodywork, door, exhaust system, steering rack… it was wiped out.

“But it was a lot of stuff that all had been fit at the shop so it goes on pretty good. To be ready seven hours after a shunt like that is pretty amazing. I don’t think any other car or team here could do that. Everyone worked really hard. We have a really great race car and still have a chance to win this thing.”

The No.3 Corvette was back on track this morning with Magnussen posting the fourth fastest time in the warm-up.

Michelin Alley talked to Magnussen last night after the dramatic crash.