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Champions Descend Upon The Daytona International Speedway

Grand Marshal Foyt unable to attend

Daytona Beach, Fla. – As the countdown for the 50th anniversary edition of the Rolex24 at Daytona clicks away, the infield, the population of the infield, the media center and the garage area has grown significantly. Even though rain greeted Friday’s crowd, there were non-stop activities taking place on and off the track.

The day opened with a street parade of winning cars that travel from the Ocean Center to the track. Some two dozen former winners made the journey to the delight of the fans along the way. Bobby Rahal, Ron Fellows and Didier Theys were among the notable driving the vintage vehicles.

The cars will be on display throughout the weekend and they will also take parade laps prior to Saturday’s Rolex24.

A J Foyt’s highly publicized appearance as grand marshal had to be altered today because the former Rolex24 winner has been hospitalized in Texas due to complications from recent knee surgery. “I am really sorry that I can’t be there for the Rolex24. I was really looking forward to it,” Foyt said. “I feel so bad that I let everyone down. It was going to be a fun weekend for me, but I guess I’ll be watching the race from my hospital room. Yep, the doctors pulled rank on me. And I hate to admit it, but I think they’re right – this time.”

In addition to the Grand-Am Continental Tire Sports Car Challenge race – the BMW Performance 200 – 41 champions from various racing series gathered for the annual photo-shoot and subsequent interview sessions.

Prior to the photo gathering, Grand-Am officials announced that VISITFLORIDA.com has been named the presenting sponsor of the inaugural North American Endurance Championship, a special competition encompassing the three highest profile races: the Rolex24 at Daytona, the Sahlen’s Six Hours of the Glen and the Super Weekend at the Brickyard.

At Indianapolis, champions will be crowned for the Daytona Prototype and GT classes with the winners crowned after the three-hour event on the 2.605-mile road course. The DP champion team will receive a $100,000 prize and the GT team $50,000.

The three events will be uniquely scored, enabling drivers and teams to earn a maximum of 20 points at each event. For the Rolex24, points will be award to each class at the six, 12, 18 and 24-hour marks. For the six-hour Glen race, points will be award at the three-hour mark and the finish, with the points multiplied by two. At Indianapolis, points will be awarded at the finish of the race, which will be multiplied by four.

Actor/driver Patrick Dempsey and co-driver Joe Foster, who are sponsored by VISITFLORIDA.com, were also part of the announcement program. Said Dempsey about the championship, “Everybody I know in the paddock is very excited about the championship and the championship-within-a-championship. The championship should help build an audience for road racing in this country.”
Discussing the significance of racing at Indianapolis for the first time, Dempsey added, “It is fantastic. The track has so much history and even though I haven’t had a chance to test there, I am looking forward to it. It is nice to have a track with so much history and soul, and you can feel that when you are there. Being on that track is very moving and we are thrilled to be able to race there.”

Chip Ganassi brought his cadre of drivers to the media center for interviews with the bulk of the comments being made by the team owner (winner of four of the most recent Rolex24s), Rolex Series champion Scott Pruett, IZOD IndyCar Series champion Dario Franchitti and NASCAR, F1 and Indianapolis 500 winner Juan Pablo Montoya.

Even though Pruett’s car lost an engine on Thursday, his team saw that as an extreme exception and no problems are foreseen for the Rolex24. Their major concern has to do with the sizable GT field and the new GT competitors, who seem to have nearly as much speed as the Daytona Prototypes.

In previous years, Montoya gained quite a reputation for running into other cars and his teammates have devised an electronic sign that lets the other competitors know when the Colombian is in the car. The 02 signal board will read: “Juan” when he’s in the car and “Not Juan” when he’s out of the car. Defending himself, Montoya stated, “Another driver told me a few years ago, ‘You don’t come here to make friends and if you want friends, bring them with you,’ and I do just that.”

Added Ganassi, “We just came from our race meeting and in that meeting, we talked about handing the car off to the next driver like they want the car handed to them. You are racing for 24 hours and you don’t want to lose the race in the first 22 hours. We certainly don’t want to lose the race that way.”

Pruett expressed concern with the new Riley and said they are using set-ups that are not normally used. “We are slower and the car has more drag in it, which is kind of a surprise to us,” he said. “With a smaller greenhouse, we thought we would have more top speed, but it is not so. As the DPs become slower, the GT cars are going faster, which means you are forced to take more chances.”

Discussing the new IndyCar, Scott Dixon said, “It has been a busy off-season and with the new car, it has been exciting because it is something new. The other car has been around a few years and there wasn’t much you can do with it at this point. The new car is getting there and while there are a few frustrating points, including the politics, we are getting there. If they had let Ganassi and Penske go out and be told to fix it, the process would have been quicker, but they have to have a car for everybody.

“The most challenging point is that we have been spoiled because we knew the old car so well. We can make the car better. Maybe not being as good on ovals, it will allow for more separation on the track. Cars will be coming and going, which should make for better racing.”

Dixon has tested the car on the ovals at Ontario and Homestead and tests at Sebring will take place soon followed by another test at Ontario and Barber.

Regarding the diminished number of oval-track races, Dixon voiced concern but from what he has learned about the 2013 schedule, he thinks the outlook should be much better.

Teammate Franchitti said he hasn’t driven the new car since November but he said with the options recently provided by Dallara and IndyCar, he is guardedly optimistic that improvements will be forthcoming. “It is moving in the right direction,” he said.

Going to Indianapolis without benefit of another oval event, Franchitti admitted it will make the race interesting. “Testing at Indianapolis to dial the car in will be critical for us,” he said. “It will be much more of a learning process and it will change things a little bit.”

Franchitti said the differences between the old and new car are dramatic. “Nothing is the same. The chassis, the power and the seat position are so different.” He went on to say that 2012 will be a challenging year for the series but the positives will be the new car, the turbos and the power. He hears there may be as many as 25 cars in the starting fields in the season ahead.

“Ovals are important for the series,” he said. “IndyCar and IndyCar championship as you have to be good on ovals, street and road courses. You have to have the ovals, the right ovals, to have the balance in the schedule.”

He hopes the days of pack racing are over and minimized with the new car.

Regarding Danica Patrick’s transition, Franchitti said, “Being full-time on the Nationwide side will be good for her. She should be more competitive but on the Cup side, I don’t know, except that at Daytona, she might be very good.” Patrick and Franchitti discussed NASCAR at length and according to the latter, she has followed his suggestions, including surrounding herself with quality teams. “Being with Tony Stewart will be a good help for her and Dale, Jr., too, along with Rick Hendrick.”

Ryan Briscoe has a positive outlook going into the IndyCar season. “I want to win the first race and go from there,” he noted. “I ran the car at Fontana and it was okay, but a lot of work has been since then. It is going to be an extremely steep rate of development. We have been figuring out what aero configurations and geometries we need to use. The car is so different from last year’s model; it takes a lot of tuning and we have just touched the surface. Starting next week, we will be back at Sebring and we will be working hard on the cars.”

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