2012 Rolex 24 at Daytona Team/Driver Entry List

Photo Credit: Grand Am

The following list is an preliminary list for the 2012 Rolex 24 at Daytona as of January 10th. The 50th annual Rolex 24 at Daytona is set for January 28th.


Grand Am Rolex Series Daytona Prototype Class

For the first time since 2008, a new look Daytona Prototype class will debut in 2012 in accordance to new Grand Am Rolex Series rules. Rolling along the high-banked Daytona International Speedway turns will be refreshed Riley along with the Dallara and Lola chassis cars. Set to make a stunning class debut is the Chevrolet Corvette DP car with five vehicles set to race with a Chevrolet V-8 engine.

Car #	Race Team	Drivers	Car Engine/Chassis
1	Chip Ganassi Racing with Felix Sabates	Joey Hand, Scott Pruett, Graham Rahal, Memo Rojas	BMW / Riley
2	Chip Ganassi Racing with Felix Sabates	Scott Dixon, Dario Franchitti, Jamie McMurray, Juan Pablo Montoya	BMW / Riley
2	Starworks Motorsport	Ryan Hunter-Reay, Tony Kanaan, Miguel Potolicchio, Maurizio Scala, EJ Viso	Ford / Riley
5	Action Express Racing	David Donohue, Christian Fittipaldi, Darren Law	Chevrolet / Corvette DP
6	Michael Shank Racing		Ford / Riley
8	Starworks Motorsport	Ryan Dalziel, Lucas Luhr, Allan McNish, Alex Popow, Enzo Potolicchio	Ford / Riley
9	Action Express Racing	Joao Barbosa, Terry Borcheller, JC France, Max Papis	Chevrolet / Corvette DP
10	SunTrust Racing	Max Angelelli, Ryan Briscoe, Ricky Taylor	Chevrolet / Corvette DP
50	50+Predator/Alegra	Byron Defoor, Elliott Forbes-Robinson, Brian Johnson, Jim Pace, Carlos de Quesada	BMW / Riley
60	Michael Shank Racing	Ozz Negri, John Pew	Ford / Riley
76	Krohn Racing	Colin Braun, Nic Jonsson, Tracy Krohn, Ricardo Zonta	Ford / Lola
77	Doran Racing		Ford / Dallara
90	Spirit of Daytona	Antonio Garcia, Oliver Gavin	Chevrolet / Corvette DP
99	GAINSCO/Bob Stallings Racing	Jon Fogarty, Memo Gidley, Alex Gurney	Chevrolet / Corvette DP

Grand Am Rolex Series GT Class

Photo Credit: Grand Am

A category consisting of production-based sports cars, the Grand Am Rolex Series GT Class will again feature the teams competing with the Chevrolet Camaro, Porsche GT3, BMW M3 and the Mazda RX-8. GT Class for the 2012 Rolex 24 at Daytona will see the debut of the Ferrari 458 Italia race car and the series entrance of Audi with their R8 supercar.

Car #	Race Team	Drivers	Car
3	Extreme Speed Motorsports	Ed Brown, Guy Cosmo, Scott Sharp, Johannes van Overbeek	Ferrari 458
4	Magnus Racing	Justin Bell, Ryan Eversley, Daniel Graeff, Ron Yarab Jr.	Porsche GT3
12	Alliance Autosport	Scott Rettich, Matt Schneider, Darryl Shoff	Porsche GT3
15	Rick Ware Racing		Ford Mustang GT
16	Rick Ware Racing		Porsche GT3
17	Burtin Racing with Goldcrest Motorsports	Sebastian Asch, Jack Baldwin, Claudio Burtin, Martin Ragginger, Bryan Sellers	Porsche GT3
18	Muehlner Motorsports America, LLC	Mark J. Thomas	Porsche GT3
20	Liqui Moly Team Englster/Mitchum Motorsports Porsche	Franz Englster, David Murry, Joseph Safina, Gunter Schaldach	Porsche GT3
22	Bullet Racing	Randy Blaylock, Darryl O'Young, Steve Paquette, Joe White	Porsche GT3
23	Alex Job Racing	Emmanuel Collard, Marco Holzer, Butch Leitzinger, Cooper MacNeil	Porsche GT3
24	Alex Job Racing	Michael Avenatti, Bob Faieta, Fred Poordad, Bill Sweedler, Cort Wagner	Porsche GT3
26	NGT Motorsport	Henrique Cisneros, Sean Edwards, Carlos Kauffmann, Nick Tandy	Porsche GT3
40	Dempsey Racing	Patrick Dempsey, Charles Espenlaub, Joe Foster, Tom Long	Mazda RX-8
41	Dempsey Racing	Don Kitch Jr, Charles Putman, Dan Rogers	Mazda RX-8
42	Team Sahlen	Dane Cameron, Joe Nonnamaker, Wayne Nonnamaker, Will Nonnamaker, Joe Sahlen	Mazda RX-8
43	Team Sahlen	Joe Nonnamaker	Mazda RX-8
44	Magnus Racing	Andy Lally, Richard Lietz, John Potter, Rene Rast	Porsche GT3
45	Flying Lizard Motorsports with Wright Motorsports	Jorg Bergmeister, Patrick Long, Seth Neiman, Mike Rockenfeller	Porsche GT3
46	Michael Baughman Racing	Michael Baughman, Ray Mason, Mike Yeakle	Chevrolet Corvette
48	Paul Miller Racing	Rob Bell, Sascha Maassen, Bryce Miller	Porsche GT3
49	Team Sahlen	Joe Sahlen	Mazda RX-8
51	APR Motorsport	Ian Baas, Jim Norman, Dion von Moltke	Audi R8 Grand-Am
55	Acumen Motorsport	Frank Del Vecchio Doug Grunnet, Scott McKee	Porsche GT3
56	AF - Waltrip	Rui Aguas, Robert Kauffman, Travis Pastrana, Michael Waltrip	Ferrari 458
57	Stevenson Motorsports	Ronnie Bremer, John Edwards, Robin Liddell	Chevrolet Camaro GT.R
59	Brumos Racing	Andrew Davis, Hurley Haywood, Leh Keen, Marc Lieb	Porsche GT3
62	Risi Competizione	Raphael Matos, Toni Vilander	Ferrari 458
63	Risi Competizione		Ferrari 458
64	TRG	Gaetano Ardagna, Eduardo Costabat, Emilio Di Guida, Eliseo Salazar	Porsche GT3
65	TRG	Bob Doyle, Mike Hedlund, Jack McCarthy, Jim Michaelian	Porsche GT3
66	TRG	Dominik Farnbacher, Ben Keating, Patrick Pilet, France Allan Simonsen	Porsche GT3
67	TRG	Steven Bertheau, Marc Goossens, Wolf Henzler, Spencer Pumpelly	Porsche GT3
68	TRG	Chris Cumming, Kevin Estre, Damien Faulkner, Carlos Gomez, Ben Keating	Porsche GT3
69	AIM Autosport Team FXDD Racing with Ferrari	Emil Assentato, Anthony Lazzaro, Nick Longhi, Jeff Segal	Ferrari 458
70	SpeedSource	Jonathan Bomarito, Marino Franchitti, James Hinchcliffe, Sylvain Tremblay	Mazda RX-8
74	Oryx Racing	Humaid Al Masaood, Saeed Al Mehairi, Steven Kane,	Audi R8 Grand-Am
75	Stevenson Motorsports	Matt Bell, Al Carter, Eric Curran, Hugh Plumb	Chevrolet Camaro GT.R
82	Dick Greer Racing	John Fergus, John Finger, Dick Greer, Mark Hotchkis, Owen Trinkler	Porsche GT3
87	Racers Edge Motorsports	Jan Heylen, Doug Peterson, Maxim Soulet, Emilio Valverde	Dodge Viper
88	Autohaus Motorsports	Paul Edwards, Matthew Marsh, Tom Milner, Jordan Taylor	Chevrolet Camaro GT.R
93	Turner Motorsport	Michael Marsal, Dirk Muller, Jorg Muller, Dirk Werner	BMW M3
94	Turner Motorsport	Bill Auberlen, Paul Dalla Lana, Billy Johnson, Boris Said	BMW M3

Pruett and Rajos Take Grand Am DP Win at Barber; Mazda Wins GT Class

Photo Credit: Grand Am

With the IZOD IndyCar Series set for their inaugural race on Sunday at Barber Motorsports Park, the 2.38 mile race track saw the familiar face of the Grand Am Rolex Sports Car Series Saturday for the 2.5 hour Porsche 250. The first major series to open Barber Motorsports Park in 2003, the Rolex Sports Car Series brings the wide array of cars from Daytona Prototypes and the GT Class.

On the drop of the green flag, the pole-sitting #10 SunTrust-sponsored Ford Dallara leaped to an early lead in the hands of Ricky Taylor. Stretching out a 4.796 second interval over the 2nd place runner, the SunTrust Racing team showed dominance through the early pace. In the GT category, a quartet of Mazda RX-8s were fighting for the top spot in the production-based class. On lap 2, the lead in GT changed as the #30 RX-8 of Jordon Taylor passed the #70 SpeedSource RX-8.


Photo Credit: Grand Am

The first full-caution of the Porsche 250 was thrown on lap 14 as Tracy Krohn overshot turn 10 where after the #75 Ford Dallara was slowed by a sand trap and a large foam barrier along the wall. Following the yellow flag, a new leader emerged for DP class as the #8 Corsa Car Care BMW Riley benefiting from not pitting under the caution period.

On lap 21, the caution flew again at Barber Motorsports Park for a DP race car. This time, it was a blown engine on the #99 GAINSCO/Bob Stallings Racing Chevrolet Riley. Team owner Bob Stallings looked on as two of the first three races of the 2010 Grand Am Rolex Series saw his #99 GAINSCO car parked prematurely. "Jon came on line and said he thought we lost the motor. There was a big vibration and then a big pop, and he said it sounded like something actually went through the side (of the engine)." Stallings said.



Photo Credit: Grand Am

The Corsa Car Care BMW Riley headed to pit lane relinquishing the DP lead to the #61 Michael Shank Racing Ford Riley being driven by Mark Wilkins. With the Michael Shank vehicle comfortable in the top position for 17 laps, the Ford-powered Riley fall to the #01 Target Chip Ganassi Racing-owned BMW Riley. Piloted by Memo Rojas, the TELMEX-supported ride took control of the middle course of the Porsche 250 from lap 39 to lap 64. Within the time that the #01 BMW Riley took the lead, a battle in GT ignited as a challenger emerged against the Mazda brigade. One of the my new for 2010 cars to the Grand Am Rolex Series, the #07 Corvette piloted by Paul Edwards consistently lapped faster than the #70 SpeedSource team RX-8. On lap 54, Edwards completed the pass to take the Corvette to the front of GT. Unfortunately, this lead would be short-lived as the #07 Corvette would lose control on track spinning out. While Paul Edwards was able to regather the race car, the Corvette lost the class lead to the #69 SpeedSource Mazda now driven by Jeff Segal.

Driver changes took place beyond the halfway mark of the Porsche 250. Lap 62 saw than 2nd place Ricky Taylor come to the attention of pit road exiting the #10 to allow co-driver Max Angelelli to take the Ford Dallara through the anchor stage of the Barber Motorsports Park sports car event. "It was all going very good. I got held up in traffic and struggled a little. Hopefully we have good track position - I know Max can do it. At the start, the car was very good in clean air." Ricky Taylor commented after leaving the #10 SunTrust car.

Two laps later, Memo Rojas surrendered his race-leading #01 TELMEX BMW Riley to American teammate Scott Pruett. The #59 Brumos Porsche Riley in the hands of David Donohue briefly held first but would pit on lap 67 providing the lead back to the #01 BMW Riley.

With a 3rd race caution flying on lap 68 for a parked #19 Corvette driven by Andy Lally, the green restarted the race action on lap 73. Within the vehicle grouping, the #9 Action Express Racing Porsche Riley was sent off course. Joao Barbosa wheeled the #9 car would finish the Porsche 250 10th in class indicating that the honeymoon for winning the 24-hour of Daytona is apparently over.

At lap 75, Scott Pruett in the #01 BMW Riley was holding first position over the #60 Crown Royal XR Ford Riley being wheeled by Ozz Negri. Ryan Dalziel and Max Angelelli followed to complete the top-4. In GT, with the efforts of the #07 Corvette going south, the Mazda Rx-8s were seated in the first four in class standings. The #94 Turner Motorsports BMW M6 being steered by Bill Auberlen running 5th was the highest running non-Mazda.

With the last 33 laps saw the Chip Ganassi-owned BMW Riley run away to their second overall victory of the year crossing the finish line first at Barber Motorsports Park. Negri and Dalziel brought their respective cars to podium in the Daytona Prototype class.


Photo Credit: Grand Am

In GT Class, Jeff Segal held off the fellow Mazda RX-8s driven by Jordan Taylor and his SpeedSource car owner Sylvain Tremblay to win the Grand Am category. The #57 Stevenson Motorsports Chevrolet Camaro GT.R would rally to the 4th place in class.

Chip Ganassi Racing wins Grand Am Grand Prix of Miami

Photo Credit: Grand Am Media

The first racing following the 2010 season opener for the Grand Am Rolex Sports Car Series at the Rolex 24-hour of Daytona, the seeds of the sports car series' 2010 season long tour has yet to be planted. The Rolex Sports Car Series took their race machines to the further south corner of the Florida state to run the Grand Prix of Miami sports car event on the Homestead-Miami Speedway. Competing in leisurely 2 hour and 45 minute sprint race, the 2.3 mile road course within the traditional oval started in the bright Miami sun and ended amidst the beam of headlamps.

The start of the Daytona Prototype (DP) cars was marred by a collision between the #6 and #01 machines in the first turn. The #01 Chip Ganassi Racing-backed BMW Riley driven by Memo Rojas attempted to make an out-braking pass on the Brian Frisselle piloting the #6 Michael Shank Racing Ford Riley. Losing considerable ground at the beginning of this sprint race, the Ford-powered Riley found itself buried in the lower part of the Daytona Prototype running order. Thanks to the caution-free melody of the Grand Prix of Miami, teams like the #6 Michael Shank Racing were trapped by their early struggles.


Photo Credit: Grand Am Media

Losing the lead after their pole start, the #59 performed a power move on the #99 GAINSCO/Bob Stallings Racing DP car using the immense Porsche V8 momentum on the front straightaway. The Grand Prix of Miami saw the DP class lead alternate between the #99 Riley Chevrolet, #59 Porsche Riley, and the Chip Ganassi-owned BMW Riley.

Along with the #6 entry, another DP class heartbreaker was the events for the Rolex 24-hour winning team of Action Express Racing. Experiencing the highest of highs after surviving the Daytona International Speedway road racing jewel, the #9 Porsche helmed by Terry Borcheller and Joao Barbosa suffered a water leak forcing their a mid-way retirement.

In the GT class, the #70 SpeedSource Mazda RX-8 shared by Jonathan Bomarito and Sylvain Tremblay rose to the challenge posed by the 2010 season's array of new cars at Daytona. At Homestead-Miami Speedway, The class' pole was snatched by the #07 Chevrolet Corvette which was one vehicle coming from the new guard of Rolex Sport Cars. Set back by high tire pressures in the first stint, the team fell prey to the more established RX-8.

Entered in their second race in the GT class, the Turner Motorsports BMW M6 provided a more positive result as the #94 spent some valuable time bonding with the V8-powered race machine. The end result for the Turner Motorsport effort concluded with a top 5 finish in the GT class.

With 22 minutes left in the Grand Prix of Miami, a breather was provided to the field as a full-course caution citing debris was drawn for the first time in the race. Allowing the David Donohue driven #59 Brumos Porsche Riley to gain about 10 seconds on the leading #01 BMW Riley piloted by Scott Pruett. With the restart coming with 14 minutes to go, the powered-engined car crept increasingly closer to the Chip Ganassi Racing-owned BMW. Stalking Scott Pruett through the final lap, David Donohue came up just short of snaking around the victorious #01 BMW Riley. One month after a disastrous weekend at Daytona, the #99 GAINSCO/Bob Stalling Racing car was piloted home 3rd in the Grand Prix of Miami in the Daytona Prototype class.


Photo Credit: Grand Am Media


The GT Class lead was diced through late race pitstops. Eventually, racing luck favoured the #69 SpeedSource Mazda under the driver pairing of Emil Assentato and Jeff Segal claiming the GT win. Following a respectable debut run for the Chevrolet Camaro GT.R campaigned by Stevenson Motorsports, the #57 piloted by Andrew Davis and Robin Liddell came home second in class.

Delay in Publishing Grand Am Rolex Series 24-hour of Daytona Recap

Loss of an Internet connection prevented me from posting the XSL Speed Reporter recap of the Rolex 24-hour of Daytona last night. Please forgive the delay and enjoy the highlight for the 2010 edition of the American sports car racing classic.

Action Express Racing Porsche Wins Rolex 24 hour of Daytona, Mazda takes GT honours

Photo Source: Grand Am


With rain pelting Daytona International Speedway, the 2010 Rolex 24-hour of Daytona starts single file behind the safety car (DP cars following a Mazda RX-8 and GT cars were packed behind a Mazdaspeed3). While there are a number of rain-driving experts in the Grand Am Rolex series, 19 minutes past until the Rolex Series field were set loose.

As the green flag was finally given to the competitors, the first lap saw some serious jockeying for position. Even as the green first lap of a 24 hour race will count for little on Sunday afternoon, DP cars challenged the polesitting #10 SunTrust Racing Dallara Ford by the second turn with the Crown Royal pulling along the side of lead car. Driven by Angelelli through the first stint, the #10 SunTrust car would be under heavy attack due to less than stellar handling which saw him settle in 7th place after 10 minutes under green.

Photo Credit: Grand Am

Wheeling the #01 Target/Chip Ganassi Racing BMW Riley, one of the spotlight prototypes for the weekend, Scott Pruett flew from fourth to first as the tightly-packed Daytona Prototypes stormed down the backstretch to lead the first green flag laps on the race. The #01's team car, the #02, was a who's who of Chip Ganassi Racing's IndyCar and NASCAR empire for 2010, the #02 lineup consisted of Dixon, Dario Franchitti, Juan Pablo Moytona and Jamie McMurray. Taking the lead early, this BMW-powered Riley would be a consistent placeholder in the early stages of the race. However, the #02 car did not go uncontested as 5 different Daytona Prototype teams held the top spot at some point in the endurance race's first 3 hours. Taking turns in the lead were the Doran Racing #77 in the hands of Memo Gidley, the #59 Brumos Porsche, a #2 Crawford Chevy driven by Dane Cameron and the #02 BMW Riley.

The GT class also saw a quick fight for the as the #30 Mazda RX-8 shot past the class leading #69 SpeedSource entry early. An eclectic variety of vehicles which ranged from the race proven Porsche GT3s, the hard-working Mazda RX-8s as well as the GT newcomers BMW M6 and Chevrolet Camaro all had their class leading moments. As the race endured through the initial hours, one of the newer cars would demonstrate the common new race car bugs. The #94 BMW M6, campaigned by Turner Motorsport, had one driver reporting intense heat around the foot pedals. Prepared to remedy his with a NASCAR trick, teammate driver Boris Said carves up a foam foot container as an insole for his upcoming driving stint. More problem crept forward as an air flow restriction took the BMW out of the lead GT position. Recovering the obstruction, the Turner Motorsport #94 continued the full race since for a respectable 8th place in GT.

Photo Credit: Grand Am

A tough race for all racing machines, as the race extended beyond midnight (about 8 hours, 30 minutes into the event) the 3.56 mile road course wore hard on the Daytona Prototypes in particularly. The first and major casualty was the #02 Target/Chip Ganassi Racing car which suffered a terminal engine failure after leading over half of the event up to that point before 12:20PM. With other Daytona Prototype contenders leading in the night following the #02 retirement, the #75 Krohn Racing car and the #59 Brumos Racing Porsche had opportunities to light the way around the Daytona high-banks. Both vehicles encountered problems shortly after leading with the #75 requiring an extended pit stop to address body damage and a brake pad change knocking the Krohn Racing team out of winning contention.

The Brumos Racing Porsche #59 were the defending overall winning team running drivers Raphael Matos, David Donohue, Butch Leitzinger and, for the last team in Rolex 24-hour of Daytona competition, Hurley Haywood after a career which saw 6 class victories come for the racer. Preventing Haywood's 7th win was misfortunes that slowed the Porsche engined Riley overnight with 20 laps lost in a garage stop to replace a rear end gear. The #59 Porsche would eventually retire from competition claiming 11th in DP class and 26th overall in the event's final standings.

At midpoint, the GT battle had also seen a fair share of excitement with the #57 Chevy Camaro entered by Stevenson Motorsports running second behind defending GT class Daytona winning #67 TRG/Flying Lizards Motorsports Porsche GT3 team. The pole-sitting SpeedSource #69 Mazda RX-8 was still in contention through the halfway point of the event despite the car being nosed into a tire barrier after sliding off-course.

While the DP leaders suffered setbacks through the 8-12 hour mark of the 24-hour of Daytona, the 18-hour mark claimed to be savage on the GT field. Interrupting the hotly-contested class battle were a slew of mechanical gremins. The first car to be slowed was the #57 Stevenson Motorsports Camaro which was leading past the 3/4 mark of the race. Spending a long-time behind the wall as a result of transmission issues, the new Grand-Am Rolex Series GT car lost the chance to take a debut victory.

The #57's main competitor, the #67 TRG/Flying Lizards Motorsports Porsche GT3, would be the next to fall to the grueling 24-hour run. A throttle spring break required two unscheduled pit stops during the course of the race. While the #67 Porsche continued to be stay in contention until the end, the #69 SpeedSource Mazda was not as lucky as a water leak slowed the RX-8.

While the 2010 Brumos Racing team fell from competition, the #9 Porsche by Action Express Racing (built from the team which was last year's second Brumos team) rose to the front in a fight between the #6 Michael Shank Ford Riley and the remaining Target/Chip Ganassi Racing #01 car.

Surrounded by considerable media attention at Daytona, the #99 Gainsco/Bob Stallings Racing Chevrolet Riley faced an uphill battle since the first practice on Thursday when Jimmie Johnson misplaced the car while passing a GT runner. Through Thursday night, an entire team went into refurbishing the rear end of the #99 car, named the 'Red Dragon'. An example to teamwork and effort, the Gainsco/Bob Stallings Racing returned on Friday placing some competitive laps in the final two practice sessions leaving some to think the #99 'Red Dragon' could be a contender through the 24-hour race duration. While maintaining a healthy pace through the first half of the race, The fire was ultimately lifted from the Gainsco/Bob Stallings Racing team by an oil pump failure.

Further consolidating the survivors in the Daytona Prototype class, two more engine casualties claimed the vehicles of #55 Crown Royal/NPN Racing and the #6 Michael Shank Racing into the noon time hours on Sunday.

Judged as a race-changing move, the #01 Target/Chip Ganassi car, being piloted by IndyCar driver Justin Wilson, made an abrupt drive down pit road turning behind the wall. Probably acting in caution after the loss of the #02 car, after two laps mechanics of the red and blue #01 BMW Riley found no problems with the machine sending the car back out into competition. From this point, the #9 Action Express Racing Porsche Riley took a firm grip of the race lead. Portugal Grand-Am driver Joao Barbosa took the wheel through the final two plus hours of the race never setting a wheel wrong. Despite the best efforts from a charging #01 BMW Riley being hustled by Scott Pruett which saw the Target/Chip Ganassi Racing car close over 40 seconds in the final two hours, the Action Express Racing #9 Porsche Riley crossed the line first as a little mentioned underdog before the green flag fell on Saturday afternoon.

Photo Credit: Grand Am

Overcoming early setbacks the second SpeedSource car, the #70 Mazda RX-8, succeeded in winning their 2 GT class title at the Rolex 24 hour of Daytona in 3 years shared by Jonathan Bomarito Nick Ham, David Haskell and team principal Sylvain Tremblay. Taken through the final stage of the 24-hour race by Bomarito, the SpeedSource #70 ended up crossing the finish line 4 laps ahead of the #67 Porsche GT3.

Photo Credit: Grand Am

The 2010 Rolex 24 hour of Daytona is now in the books continuing to provide a healthy variety of happiness, heartbreak, assured excitement as well as surprise. The harden sports car driver and team talents outwitted the finances and bravado of the skilled sportsmen from other racing series. Teams of the #9 Action Express Racing Porsche Riley and the #70 SpeedSource Mazda RX-8 celebrated to the euphoria of Daytona victory lane. For the drivers, the happiness included the sights of their new Rolex watches.

Once again on this most prestigious of North American endurance races, it was proven the difference a day can make.

Grand Am Rolex Sports Car: Entry List for 2010 24 Hour of Daytona

By this time next week, the 2010 edition of the 24 Hour of Daytona will challenge the Grand-Am Rolex Sports Car Series competitors and vehicles. The January 30th event will start at 3PM Eastern time on the road course of Daytona International Speedway with sports car racing regulars as well as the guest appearances of drivers from other walks of motorsports. For 2010, Jimmie Johnson, AJ Allendinger and Scott Dixon are just a few names slated to compete in what is the first major North American auto race of the season. With qualifying set for Thursday and Friday, the following are the cars and teams you'll be able to expect for the 24 hour race. The two lists below are for the Daytona Prototype and GT Class.

Please click on the list and let me know if they are not readable.

Race Engines Come to Live in 2010: 24-Hour of Daytona Testing

Photo Credit: Grand-Am Road Racing


Amidst unseasonably cool Florida temperatures, three days of Grand-American Road Racing cars begin to heat up Daytona International Speedway in preparation for the first major race weekend in North America, the 2010 Rolex 24-Hour of Daytona. With a temperature measurement of 53 degrees Fahrenheit on Friday represented the warmest weather for entire weekend test session, drips near the freezing point combined with precipitation actually created icy conditions that postponed morning testing on Saturday for the Rolex Sports Car Series.


Photo Credit: Grand-Am Sports Car

the Grand-Am Rolex Sports Car Series Daytona Prototypes and GT cars took turns around the 3.45 mile road course formulated from the Superspeedway complex. blazing around the track fastest has been the Suntrust-sponsored Dallara Ford wheeled by Max Angelelli. The 2005 Rolex 24-hour of Daytona overall race winning team and driver, the #10 Daytona Prototype clocked a lap of 1 minute, 40.466 seconds. Besides posting the quickest pass around the Daytona International Speedway, Angelelli has shown pace throughout the test weekend leading two of the three days on the time sheets. 2009 Grand-Am Rolex Sports Car Daytona Prototype series champion GAINSCO Racing Chevrolet driven by Alex Gurney, a Scott Dixon-wheeled Chip Ganassi Racing Riley breaking their new BMW powerplant and the Michael Shank Racing Riley-Ford piloted by Michael Valiante (who led the messy Saturday session in driving weather accustomed to Canadians) also showed nearly comparable speed through testing.


Photo Credit: Grand-Am Sports Car


In the sampling of Rolex Sports Car GT cars, an Alex Job Racing-owned Porsche GT3 took top speed honours. Driven by 22 year old Austrian Martin Ragginger, the Porsche logged a lap at 1 minute and 49.627 seconds. With the factory-backed Pontiac Racing effort gone with the demise of the GM brand, the rock-steady Porsche squad's main nemesis for 2010 will be a race-hardened group of Mazda RX-8s. With one RX-8 driven and owned by actor Patrick Dempsey, another car campaigned by SpeedSource will offer a season-long fight for the German sports car powerhouse.

Dialing in race cars within weather which barely reached average temperature lows for the Daytona Beach area for the late January event, horsepower was peak but tire grip was at a premium for the sports cars. In spite of this, the sessions endured only minor incidents such as spins and blown engines from select vehicles with all categories of drivers exercising caution.



Photo Credit: Grand-Am Sports Car

Serving as a test session for the prestigious Daytona Prototypes and GT class machines of the Grand-Am Rolex Sports Car series, the Continental Tire Sports Car Challenge vehicles are also unleashed in preparation for a 200-mile race to roll on the Friday before the day-long headline event. This year, the all-new competition versions of the Chevrolet Camaro and Dodge Challenger will meet making with a 5.0 liter Ford Mustang Boss 302R resembling a modern revival of the SCCA Trans-Am series (In fact, a #6 Camaro and #15 Mustang showed up with paint schemes iconic with the late 1960s to early 1970s glory days). Split into two classes of competition, the Continental Tire Sport Car Challenge features their faster, more powerful car in the GS (Grand Sport) class and the ST (Sport Tuner) Class for smaller race cars which will include the MAZDASPEED3 and Subaru Impreza WRX STI as newcomers for 2010. With 54 cars total showing up for the Daytona test, the 2010 race for the Continental Tire Sports Car Challenge guarantees to be a well-contested affair.



Photo Credit: Grand-Am Sports Car


The perennial kick-off to the 2010 racing season in North America, the clock for the Rolex 24-Hour of Daytona will start at January 30th at 3:30 PM Eastern time.

Naughty and Nice of Auto Racing 2009: Sports Car Racing

Counting down to Christmas, Santa Claus has been checking his list twice assuring that all the good kids (or even kids at heart) will receive at least that one gift. XSL Speed Reporter will use the 'Naughty and Nice' scale to judge this past year in auto racing. Placing events into two categories, the nice and positive movements in motorsports will be granted a 'Gift' rating. Negative moments and disappointing news will be given a 'Lump of Coal' rating.

Starting with the look back to 2009, XSL Speed Reporter will review the transpiration in the North American Sports Car series, the American Le Mans Series (ALMS) and the Grand American Sports Car Series. While both leagues were injured by the recent economic meltdown, they have also been able to gain solidarity in specific classes.

Gift: The ALMS' GT class categories- With Porsche 911, BMW M3, Ferrari F430GT, Panoz and now the Chevrolet Corvette competing in the same GT category by the end of 2009, this all-new eclectic grouping have provided the most captivating competition seen in the sports car series. One of the most memorable on-track battles occurred at the Mosport round where a Corvette C6R edged by and held off a Risi Competizione Ferrari through in the final minutes of the event.

Photo Credit Richard Prince/GM Racing Photo

Lump of Coal: Audi Sport Team Joest- We know that the current economic climate for automakers have left factory auto racing on shoestring budgets, Audi went to all the trouble to build their R15 prototype only to limit its race involvement to 3 major events.

Gift: Pursuit of more environmentally-friendly technology- The American Le Mans series has become a showcase of greener racing through recent years. Started ages ago on the Audi R8 prototypes adoption of gasoline direct injection, latest innovations inside the ALMS field have included diesel powered race engines, e85 fuel, and kinetic energy recovery systems (KERS). Of course, these green initiatives always contains a strong undercurrent of public relations, sports car racing have long since demonstrated its advantages to production cars. With the help of series brass and rewards such as the Michelin Green Challenge, created to spotlight these technological improvements, racing can remain relevant well into the future.

Lump of Coal: The Weather by Road Atlanta during the Petit Le Mans- Completing only 184 laps (less than half of the race's 1,000 mile distance within 10 hours), the 2009 Petit Le Mans was halted by an intense thunderstorm system. With around 3 inches of rainfall accompanying the troubling skies over top of the Road Atlanta, the win was awarded to the Peugeot 908 prototype after a lengthy red flag period. A bad break for the American Le Mans Series competitors, this rainstorm was crushing to the residents within the Georgia area who had been victims of up to 5 inches of precipitation over a 1 week period just a few days earlier.

Gift: Daytona Prototype Car Counts- The Grand American Rolex Sports Car Series made some massive noise when the France family-owned sports car decided to phase out the traditional sports car prototype class in the favour of their own. The Daytona Prototype class was created in 2003 on the framework of NASCAR stock car racing to make racing closer betw

een teams and ultimately more affordable. While top teams exist in the Daytona Prototype class such as Chip Ganassi Racing, 11 cars ran a full schedule in 2009 when the American Le Mans top prototype division is fighting to maintain half a dozen cars per race.

Lump of Coal: Canadian Race Promoters- With snow blanketing the Canadian landscape for as much 6 months a year, auto racing has a limited season to make use of national racetracks. This past race season, the American Le Mans Series race at Mosport coincided with the major NASCAR weekend at Circuit Gilles Villeneuve in Montreal, which also featured the Grand American Rolex Sports Car Series on the Saturday. As a Canadian motorsport fan, booking two big races on the same weekend cost us either a chance to watch an incredible dice between Ferrari and Corvette at Grand Prix of Mosport or the chance watch Andrew Ranger and Jacques Villeneuve finish strong against NASCAR regulars in the Nationwide series.

Perhaps we should not be surprising as a Canadian sports fan (yes, auto racing is a sport); For almost 40 years in the Canadian Football League (CFL) there were two teams that played under the name Rough Riders.

Gift: Acura's continuing commitment to sports car racing- At one point during 2009, inside sources indicated to the media that Acura may have considered bowing out of the American Le Mans Series after the year wrapped. However, 2009 prototype championship team Patron Highcroft Racing have confirmed they're returning with the Acura ARX-02 for a 2010 title defense. The 2010 season also includes an invitation to the upcoming Le Mans 24-hour race for the Japanese brand's first visit to the event.

Photo Credit: Dan R Boyd/Acura Media

Photo By GM/Pontiac Racing

Lump of Coal: The loss of Pontiac- As a General Motors division since 1926, Pontiac had a long association with motorsports. Competing within the fields of NASCAR, NHRA, as well as sports car racing, Pontiac would never enjoy the immense GM support for the motorsport efforts of Chevrolet. The final triumphs for Pontiac came in the Grand American Rolex Sport Car Series. Pontiac badging adorned GM Racing engines in many of the Daytona Prototype class champions including the 2009 series winning team Gainsco/Bob Stallings Racing. As well as involvement in the Daytona Prototype category, Pontiac enlisted GT teams to compete with race cars derived from first the GTO and later the G6. In the final race of 2009 at Homestead Miami Speedway, Paul Edwards and Kelly Collins bought a Pontiac G6 GXP-R to class victory.