Grand Am Sportscar News
Rolex 24 Hours of Daytona Pre-Race
By Text and Photos: Jimmy Sykes
Jan 27, 2006, 10:37

Every year as the holidays wind down, sportscar racing fans have always looked forward to the beginning of a new season. In the United States this has always been marked by the running of the Rolex 24 Hours of Daytona, the famous race that is more than a test of speed, but a test of endurance. Drivers and teams from all over the world struggle to keep their cars and bodies running at top speed as the hands move two times around the clock. Its more than just a race, it has always been an event and this 44th running will be nothing less.

As the Grand Am series has grown in popularity of the last several years, people are taking notice. The number of teams in this years event has grown to 76 and there are a staggering 68 drivers in the field that have one a major professional championship either nationally or internationally and in all forms of cars, from open wheel to touring cars, to sports cars. Names like Paul Tracy, Rusty Wallace, Adrian Fernandez, Christian Fittipaldi, and Danica Patrick have all come to play this year in Florida. It is one of the largest fields in history and has some of the biggest names and most successful drivers of all time, what is not to like?

Roger Edmondson, President of the Grand American Road Racing Association (GARRA), states, "I think it's become the vogue for sanctioning bodies to blow their own horn and talk about their numbers, TV numbers, spectator numbers and all of those other numbers. I think the true health of any series is the endorsement given to us by sponsors, teams and drivers, and by that measure, Grand American is clearly setting the pace.

Last year for the Rolex 24 At Daytona, we had 62 cars running. Typically, the Rolex24 has a larger entry than for testing. This year, our entry list for the Daytona Test Days comprises 33 Daytona Prototypes and 42 GT cars for a total of 75 entries, which shows the type of growth that we've come to expect but should never take for granted in this, the greatest road racing series on the planet. "

Clearly the series is proud of its growth, as they have a right to be.

As the cars started taking the track early this week, the competition is starting to become clear. The Porsche/Crawford of Alex Job Racing/Emory Motorsports has been at the top of the field in most sessions and will sit on the pole for Saturday’s green flag. Other cars showing real speed and promise are Adrian Fernandez’s Lowes sponsored Pontiac Riley, both of Chip Ganassi’s Lexus Rileys, the SunTrust Racing Pontiac Riley, the Red Bull/Brumos Porsche Fabcar and the Finlay Motorsports Ford Crawford. All of these cars were within a second and a half of each other through all the combined practice sessions.


In the GT class, Tafel Racing’s Wolf Henzler put their Porsche GT3 Cup car on the pole and will lead the rest of the GT field to the green flag. Other fast cars during the test sessions were the other Tafel Racing Porsche, TRG’s Pontiac GTORs Farnbacher Racing’s, SAMAX’s, and Fiorano Racing’s Porsche Cup cars were also toward the top of the field.

Over 70 cars will take the green flag on Saturday, how many will still be running on Sunday will remain to be seen. What happens in between over the course of 24 hours will surely be an exciting time for all.

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