Start your engines: What you need to know about the Rolex 24 Hours of Daytona

By Jan 27, 2018, 1:56 PM EST
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The 56th edition of the Rolex 24 Hours of Daytona once again promises lots of action and excitement.

The race starts this afternoon and will go 24 hours straight – and unless there is a full-course caution, cars will keep going no matter what, including racing in the rain.

Here’s a quick primer to give you the key details for today’s race:

RACE: IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship season opener – the Rolex 24 at Daytona

TIME: Race begins at 2:30 p.m. ET on Saturday and concludes 24 hours later at 2:30 p.m. ET on Sunday.

WEATHER: The race should be dry until around 10 a.m. ET on Sunday, when the Wunderground.com forecast says precipitation chances will be 25 percent, increasing to 48 percent and chance of scattered thunderstorms at 1 p.m. ET and with a good likelihood the race will finish wet, with rain chances increasing to 63 percent by 2 p.m. ET. The race concludes at 2:30 p.m. ET.

TV BROADCAST SCHEDULE:

SATURDAY

2-5 p.m. ET – FOX (green flag at 2:30 p.m. ET)

5-10 p.m. ET – FS2

10-11 p.m. ET – Fox Sports Go

11 p.m. – 12 a.m. ET – FS1

SUNDAY

12-8 a.m. ET – Fox Sports Go

8-10 a.m. ET – FS2

10 a.m. – 3 p.m. ET – FS1 (checkered flag at 2:30 p.m. ET)

RADIO:

* IMSA Radio (available online) will broadcast the entire race. Will also be broadcast via SiriusXM (Sirius Channel 138/XM 202/Internet App Channel 972).

TIMING & SCORING:

* Available on IMSA.com

NUMBER OF ENTRIES (50 total):

Prototype (20)

GTLM (9)

GTD (21)

TOP QUALIFIERS

Prototype class:

  1. No. 10 Konica Minolta Cadillac Dpi-V.R Cadillac Dpi – 1:35.083 — Jordan Taylor, Renger Van Der Zande, Ryan Hunter-Reay
  2. No. 7 Acura Team Penske Acura Dpi – 1:36.090 – Helio Castroneves, Ricky Taylor, Graham Rahal
  3. No. 5 Mustang Sampling Racing Cadillac DPi – 1:36.194 – Filipe Albuquerque, Joao Barbosa, Christian Fittipaldi

GTLM class:

  1. No. 3 Corvette Racing Chevrolet Corvette C7.R – 1:42.779 – Jan Magnussen, Antonio Garcia, Mike Rockenfeller
  2. No. 66 Ford Chip Ganassi Racing Ford – 1:42.798 – Joey Hand, Dirk Mueller, Sebastien Bourdais
  3. No. 912 Porsche GT Team Porsche 911 RSR – 1:42.927 – Laurens Vanthoor, Earl Bamber, Gianmaria Bruni

GT Daytona class

  1. No. 51 Spirit of Race Ferrari 488 GT3 – 1:46.049 – Paul Dalla Lana, Pedro Lamy, Mathias Lauda, Daniel Serra
  2. No. 82 Risi Competizione Ferrari 488 GT3 – 1:46.502 – Miguel Molina, Ricardo Perez de Lara, Martin Fuentes, Santiago Creel, Matt Griffin
  3. No. 15 Racing Lexus RC F GT3 – 1:46.658 – Jack Hawksworth, David Heinemeier Hansson, Scott Pruett, Dominik Farnbacher

NOTES:

* First Rolex 24 race: 1962

* Most wins (driver): Hurley Haywood (5), Scott Pruett (5)

* Most wins (team): Chip Ganassi Racing (6)

* Most wins (manufacturer): Porsche (18)

* Grand Marshal: Chip Ganassi, who is also seeking his 200th career win as a motorsports team owner across all platforms, including IMSA, WEC, IndyCar and NASCAR

* One of the biggest names taking part in his first Rolex 24 is two-time Formula One champion Fernando Alonso

* Helio Castroneves makes his debut in IMSA as a full-time driver, moving from his previous career in IndyCar

* Acura Team Penske makes its official debut as a full-time IMSA organization, fielding two cars: No. 6 Prototype – Dane Cameron, Juan Pablo Montoya, Simon Pagenaud; No. 7 Prototype – Helio Castroneves, Ricky Taylor, Graham Rahal

* Active Formula 1 Drivers (2):

Fernando Alonso (two-time World Champion, 32 career Grand Prix victories)

Lance Stroll (20 career Grand Prix starts)

* Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series Race Winners (2): Juan Pablo Montoya (2 career victories), A.J. Allmendinger (1 career victory)

* Indianapolis 500 Winners (4): Helio Castroneves (3 victories), Juan Pablo Montoya (2 victories), Ryan Hunter-Reay (1 victory), Scott Dixon (1 victory)

* Verizon IndyCar Series Champions (4): Scott Dixon (4 championships), Juan Pablo Montoya (1 championship), Ryan Hunter-Reay (1 championship), Simon Pagenaud (1 championship)

* The field include 14 drivers who have won at least one IndyCar race, more than 30 drivers who have won the 24 Hours of Le Mans, and nine drivers who started the 2017 Indianapolis 500.

* Legendary racer Dan Gurney, who passed away on Jan. 14 at the age of 86, will be honored. Cars and drivers throughout the field will have commemorative car and helmet decals, the Fox Sports telecast has been dedicated to Gurney and a Sam Posey written and narrated tribute will close the Fox telecast following the race’s conclusion.

* The No. 30 Lola T70 that Gurney drove to victory in the 1966 Can-Am race at Bridgehampton, New York – the only Ford-powered car to ever win a Can-Am race – will lead the field around on its pre-race parade lap.

* Scott Pruett competes in the last race of his career. He retires after Sunday’s checkered flag. Pruett hopes to win a sixth Rolex 24, which would set a record for most championships by a driver. Pruett and his No. 14 3GT Racing Lexus RC F GT3 racing team will start fourth in the GT Daytona (GTD) class.

* In case you’re wondering, yes, Jackie Chan Racing is partly owned by Chinese action movie star Jackie Chan.

Ford Mustang GT3 test has Austin Cindric dreaming of Daytona: ‘I want to drive that car’

By Mar 22, 2023, 2:30 PM EDT
Cindric Ford GT3 test
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Austin Cindric wasn’t the “mystery” test driver behind the wheel of the new Ford Mustang GT3 at Sebring International Raceway, but the Team Penske driver desperately wanted to be.

Ford CEO Jim Farley, an amateur sports car driver himself, made the big reveal via a Tuesday tweet that provided the first video evidence of the GT3 Mustang on track.

“I’ve watched the video in question about a million times,” Cindric said Wednesday during a Ford Performance Zoom news conference to promote NASCAR’s first road course weekend of the season at Circuit of the Americas. “Definitely exciting times for sure. I want to drive that car. It suits my experience level and also the relationships that I have.”

Ford will enter the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship next season with its GT3 Mustang, entering a two-car factory effort (that will be managed by Multimatic) in GTD Pro and making customer cars available in the GT Daytona category.

That increases the likelihood of seeing more NASCAR drivers crossing over to IMSA. Cindric has been the only full-time Cup driver in the Rolex 24 at Daytona the past two years, but Ford Performance global director Mark Rushbrook has said the GT3 Mustang will provide more opportunities.

Ford has used its GT4 Mustang as a NASCAR driver development tool in the IMSA Michelin Pilot Challenge with Harrison Burton and Zane Smith combining to win the season opener at Daytona International Speedway in January.

“We’re excited about the Next Gen car and the new architecture there and the similarities between that car and GT3 and even GT4 cars,” Rushbrook said at the announcement of the Ford GT3 program in January 2022 at Daytona. “We think it’s a great opportunity and to do be able to do that in a 24-hour race and get NASCAR drivers even more time is something we need to consider taking advantage of that opportunity.”

Given his sports car background, Cindric probably still would be in the Rolex 24 regardless. He has eight IMSA starts since the 2017 season opener at Daytona, racing a Lexus RCF GT3 and Mercedes-AMG GT3 in the GT category. The 2022 Daytona 500 winner made his second LMP2 start this year with Rick Ware Racing.

But Cindric’s preference naturally would be in a Ford, particularly with sports car racing enjoying convergence and crossovers in both GT and prototype racing.

“It’s an exciting time in GT racing, just as it is now for prototype racing with a lot of new regulations and manufacturers building new GT3 cars,” he said. “And also the opportunity with WEC (the World Endurance Championship) and Le Mans and how that all lines up for that category of car. It’s definitely an exciting time. I want to be as much of a part of that as possible.”

Though those odds seemingly will increase with multiple Ford entries in the Rolex 24 field next year, Cindric said NASCAR drivers still have to put in the networking to land rides as he has in recent years.

“Now how (the GT3 Mustang) relates to specifically NASCAR drivers and how often they want to be in the Rolex, could it be an influence? Absolutely, as far as the tie-in with the manufacturer,” Cindric said. “But the challenge and the drive and the logistics of getting an opportunity for a race like the Rolex 24 will be just as challenging as it always is to find your one-off ride for the race. At least from my experience, that’s what I still anticipate.”

It turned out the “mystery” test driver wasn’t from NASCAR (Farley revealed the driver to be 24 Hours of Le Mans winner Joey Hand after a fan asked whether it was Joey Logano).

But Cindric believes there could be more Cup drivers — and perhaps himself — behind the wheel of Mustang GT3s in the future.

“There’s definitely more of a pathway than I think there would be before as far as Ford drivers are concerned,” he said. “Hopefully, I’ll get the opportunity to drive that thing. It’s obviously a great looking car. That’s the first box you’ve got to check. And it’s cool (to have) a guy like Jim Farley, no doubt he’s a racer just as much as he is steering the ship for Ford. It’s cool to see he’s just as excited as the rest of us about it.”