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Filed under: Daytona Int'l Speedway

DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. -- Sure, Chip Ganassi's driver lineup looked unbeatable: three Indy 500 champions, a Daytona 500 winner and the reigning sports car season champs. But in the always grueling, unpredictable and increasingly wild and woolly Rolex 24 at Daytona, it takes more than talent. It takes luck, preparation and in Sunday's case, great tenacity to win.

Reigning Grand-Am Series champ Scott Pruett took the lead from his Chip Ganassi Racing teammate, 2008 Indy 500 champ Scott Dixon, with 45 minutes left in the twice-around-the-clock race on the 3.56-mile Daytona International Speedway road course, then held him off on a re-start with one lap to go to give Ganassi his fourth Rolex 24 win in the last six years.

Ganassi is the first owner in racing history to simultaneously own the Daytona 500, Indianapolis 500, Brickyard 400 and Rolex 24 trophies -- something people are already affectionately calling the "Chip Slam.''

"I don't drive the cars, I don't change the tires and I don't work on the engines,'' Ganassi said, modestly acknowledging the accomplishment. "I'm just the guy that gets to stand up here and talk about it. It's a lot of other guys that do the hard work.

"A win here does not reward you at the next race. We had a great day today and tomorrow we're on to the next race.''

The first four finishers were separated by less than four seconds after 24 hours of what was one of the most competitive races in the event's 49-year history. It was the fourth overall and ninth class win for Pruett, who co-drove with Memo Rojas, second-generation IndyCar driver Graham Rahal and sports car veteran Joey Hand.

"We were very optimistic, but did we know we'd win? No,'' Pruett said about his last stint in the car after chasing his teammates for much of the race. "But Joey (Hand) did a great job making up time. We knew we had a strong car and were just looking at our options.''

 

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Filed under: A.J. Allmendinger, Jimmie Johnson, Daytona Int'l Speedway

DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. -- Nineteen hours into the Rolex 24 at Daytona, Juan Pablo Montoya held a meager five-second lead over his Chip Ganassi Racing teammate Memo Rojas and the Michael Shank Racing Ford driven by Max Papis.

As the sun came up over the famous Daytona International Speedway high banks Sunday morning, six of the marquee Grand-Am Series Daytona Prototypes were on the lead lap -- the top five separated by only 15 seconds with five hours remaining in the twice-around-the-clock race through the 3.56-mile road course.

Wolf Henzler has the No. 67 TRG Motorsports Porsche in front of the GT production class -- an inspired drive, considering the car started at the rear of the 50-car field after its pole-winning qualifying effort was disqualified for a technical violation.

Ganassi, who became the first owner to win three consecutive Rolex 24 races from 2006-2008, saw his teams have some minor problems in the opening hours of the race, but they emerged from a fog-induced early morning caution period to prove themselves as he class of the field again. Some of the closest calls came between the Ganassi team cars -- both featuring a Who's Who list of racing stars.

Montoya is co-driving with Daytona 500 winner Jamie McMurray, two-time Indy 500 winner Dario Franchitti and two-time IndyCar champ Scott Dixon. They are competing against Ganassi's full-time Grand-Am Series entry driven by reigning series champs Scott Pruett and Rojas, along with IndyCar driver Graham Rahal and sports car driver Joey Hand.

Without exception, drivers characterized the early laps of the 2011 Rolex 24 at Daytona as wild and adventurous and it has proven to be one of the most action-packed offerings in the race's 49-year history.

 

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Filed under: Daytona Int'l Speedway, Chase for the Sprint Cup, NASCAR

DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. -- NASCAR President Mike Helton, Vice President of Competition Robin Pemberton and Sprint Cup Series director John Darby held a competition update news conference Friday at Daytona International Speedway, confirming that the sanctioning body is looking at a "simpler" points system that would be introduced in all three national series for the 2011 season.

Speaking to reporters during downtime from a three-day preseason test session at the Daytona Beach track, the trio spoke on a wide range of issues. First, Helton made the news official that drivers must now select only one of the three national series to earn points toward a championship. He also indicated NASCAR was considering changes to the 1, 3 and 7:30 p.m. race start times introduced this past year.

Pemberton said that the proposed fuel injection systems would not be used this season but are progressing well in tests and Darby explained that the introduction of ethanol to fuel this year was actually an easier transition than when NASCAR switched from leaded to unleaded fuel in 2008.

The hot topic, unquestionably, was a change to the points system -- which would be the first since NASCAR formed in 1958 -- even if none of the officials would confirm what the new format might look like.

"We're in the middle of the conversations, telling the competitors where our mind is,'' Helton said. "The goal for some time is to create a points system that is easy to understand, easy to explain, easy to talk about but also be credible at the end of the season. So it's a function of taking the current one that has established credibility and come up with one that you can sit and have a conversation with someone and they say, 'well, that's pretty simple.' ''

"We're close. And we're getting a lot of good feedback from the drivers about tweaks that would go into that.''

 

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Filed under: David Reutimann, Martin Truex Jr., Daytona Int'l Speedway, NASCAR Testing, NASCAR

DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. -- If a few hours of testing the new pavement on the high banks of Daytona International Speedway is any indication, NASCAR drivers say fans can expect an even more action-packed, unpredictable Daytona 500 than usual. And that's saying a lot.

The prevailing opinion during Thursday's first test session was that the spanking-new, $20 million paving job is going to create one of the most wide-open 500s in recent history. Drivers praised the smoothness of the circuit and say it has created an even playing field between the veterans who knew all of the nuances and the new drivers not afraid to lift in a four-wide draft through the corners.

"It's just going to be wild,'' said Carl Edwards, who was 22nd fastest of the 40 drivers in town for the three-day test session. "The track is so smooth and has so much grip that there's no telling what people will try. You know the last lap is going to be insane.''

Michael Waltrip Racing drivers David Reutimann and Martin Truex Jr. led four Toyotas (pictured above) at the top of Thursday's speed chart. Reutimann's top speed was clocked at 195.780 mph and Truex was just a tick off at 195.776 mph.

Red Bull Racing teammates Brian Vickers and Kasey Kahne were next fastest. This was Vickers' first official test since being sidelined most of last season with a blood clot. Kahne, who moves to Red Bull this season, is coming off double-knee surgery in the off-season.

Tony Stewart turned in the fifth-fastest lap in his Chevrolet, followed by the Chevys of Jeff Gordon, Clint Bowyer and defending 500 winner Jamie McMurray.

 

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Filed under: Tony Stewart, Daytona Int'l Speedway, Chase for the Sprint Cup, Stewart-Haas Racing, NASCAR

DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. -- Two-time NASCAR champ Tony Stewart said Thursday during a break in preseason testing at Daytona International Speedway that he was "embarrassed" and "ashamed" about an altercation with a race track owner in Sydney, Australia, during the last night of a recent month-long vacation there.

Calm, smiling at reporters and speaking in subdued tones, Stewart sported a near full beard, but showed no signs of a "black eye" that was widely reported by Australian media last weekend. According to the Sydney Morning Herald newspaper, Stewart received a black eye in a brief physical altercation between himself and Sydney Speedway co-owner Brett Morris.

Stewart did not reveal the details of the incident, but confirmed he went to a local police station to give a statement and was released with no restrictions on his plans to travel back to the United States the following day. The issue between him and Morris was the condition of the track.

"I've always been one to speak up for what is right, especially when it comes to the safety aspect,''said Stewart, one of 40 drivers participating in a three-day test on Daytona's new $20 million pavement. "It's not uncommon to see drivers and track operators have disputes, but this one went a little farther.''

"I'm definitely not proud of what happened. .... I've lost a lot of sleep over it. I'm embarrassed. I made it all the way through a trip and the last night get in an altercation. I'm ashamed.''

 

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Filed under: Crew Chiefs, NASCAR Testing, NASCAR

Teams will be issued smaller restrictor plates for NASCAR's upcoming Jan. 20-22 Goodyear Tire Test at Daytona International Speedway. And at least one Sprint Cup Series crew chief thinks it's a good idea to slow the cars on the newly paved 2.5-mile superspeedway.

"I think the decision was made to slow down the speeds because the speeds were too high at the first test,'' said Pat Tryson, veteran crew chief of the Michael Waltrip Racing No. 56 NAPA Auto Parts Toyota.

"It's a good move on the side of safety because no one wants to see a car go airborne at the potential speeds that could be generated with the plate they had last month. It will be better for the driver and better for the fans in the stands. Safety always comes first.''

The new carburetor restrictor plate will have a 29/32-inch hole compared to the 30/32-inch hole the cars used last month in the first major test session on the fresh pavement. Speeds reached 197 mph in December with 17-car drafts.

"By slowing down the cars, it will make the draft bigger and tighter,'' Tryson said. " Before with a little more power, the cars would spread out a little bit. I think now, we can expect to see the cars a lot closer together and more in one pack versus two, three or four.

"It's going to make for some great racing for sure because I expect to see more three, maybe four-wide racing at Daytona which is exactly what we saw at Talladega Superspeedway. It's going to be a lot of fun for everyone to watch."

 

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Filed under: Jamie McMurray, Daytona Int'l Speedway, Other Racing Series, IRL

For the first time in the history of the Rolex 24 at Daytona, the reigning Indianapolis 500 and Daytona 500 winners will team up to campaign in the twice-around-the-clock sports car endurance race that kicks off 2011 Speedweeks at Daytona International Speedway.

Indy winner Dario Franchitti and Daytona winner Jamie McMurray headline one of the most impressive driver lineups in all of motorsports, sharing driving duties in Chip Ganassi's No. 02 TELMEX-Target BMW with two-time IZOD IndyCar Series champ Scott Dixon and Formula One-turned-NASCAR star Juan Pablo Montoya for the Jan. 29-30 Grand-Am Series season opener.

Ganassi's No. 01 BMW will be driven by reigning Grand-Am Series Daytona Prototype co-champs Scott Pruett and Memo Rojas, the team's newly-signed Indycar driver Graham Rahal and sports car veteran Joey Hand, giving Ganassi a formidable lineup in his quest to win a fourth Rolex 24 at Daytona title. His team became the first in history to win three consecutive times (2006-08) and has finished runner-up the last two years.

Ganassi's eight drivers have won a combined 12 series championships, eight Rolex 24 at Daytona titles, one Daytona 500 and four Indianapolis 500s victories.

 

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The newly paved track at the Daytona International Speedway undergoing tests this week from some of NASCAR’s best drivers. We all remember the fiasco at last year’s Daytona 500 when a pothole in the middle of the track delayed the race for hours. Race officials were determined to not allow such an embarrassing problem happen again in 2011. The track underwent detailed renovations, smoothing out all the bumps and imperfections. After a day out driving, the drivers gave the new pave job a thumb’s up. Former 500 winner Dale Earnhardt Jr. approved of the track remarking “the track is real smooth. It’s got a lot of grip.” The track overhaul should make for a more enjoyable race in February. With the drivers happy with the track heading into the race, the folks at the Daytona International Speedway can breathe a sigh of relief.

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Filed under: Bobby Labonte, Jamie McMurray, Jeff Burton, Kurt Busch, Mark Martin, Daytona Int'l Speedway, NASCAR Testing, Sprint Cup, NASCAR

As defending Daytona 500 champion Jamie McMurray made his first laps on the repaved Daytona International Speedway Wednesday, the newness of it all was mildly overwhelming at first.

"Honestly, from my first 15-lap run in the draft, it took awhile to take it all in and kinda understand what was happening," McMurray said of the first of two days of Goodyear tire tests on the 2.5-mile speedway's new pavement. "When we unloaded, the cars seemed really wide and the track seemed narrow. But, really, after running 20 or 30 laps, it was not scary and was not that big of a deal.

"Today (Thursday), when I got out there, it felt way more comfortable and you kinda learn little tricks and stuff."

What they also learned, McMurray and other drivers said Thursday at a press conference at the speedway, is that because the new surface is so smooth and fast and so much easier to drive, big packs of cars will stay together longer, and that means the chances of big crashes are greater.

"It's gonna be different racing than what we've had in the past," McMurray said. "The cars are going to stay bunched up more. When you're really close together, it increases those chances" of a big crash, McMurray said. "You just gotta hope that you can make it to the end, because the odds [of a crash] are going to be really good, I'd say."

Barring a huge mistake or problem, "you're not going to the lose the draft," said Jeff Burton. "It's going to be big packs all the time. Three-wide is work. Four-wide is a wreck. Because of the mentality of superspeedway racing. there's going to be efforts to go four-wide to pick up positions, and when that starts happening, it's going to be get hairy."

 

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Filed under: Daytona Int'l Speedway, FanHouse Exclusive, NASCAR

NASCAR drivers will get their first chance to try out the new pavement at Daytona International Speedway with a Goodyear tire test scheduled for late January.

Daytona International Speedway President Joie Chitwood would not reveal a specific date -- although it's believed to be the weekend of Jan. 21-- but track spokesman Andrew Booth said the speedway hopes to have a formal announcement as early as next week.

Chitwood said he has been in talks with NASCAR to lobby for a January date -- the first preseason open test at the 2.5-mile superspeedway in four years -- a necessity to try out the $20 million pavement project that is supposed to be completed by January 1.

"That would certainly get the vibe going that we're back at it,'' said Chitwood, who also said he's seriously considering christening the track by driving a car on it on two wheels, a stunt made famous in his family's legendary "Joie Chitwood Thrill Show" -- and one that he personally performed hundreds of times as a third-generation member of the show.

"It will be a different way to start off the season. We'll have a ribbon cutting, maybe I do something crazy like that, we'll put all the elements together and it will feel special,'' Chitwood said.

 

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