24 Hours of Daytona

 A Bit of Our Racing HIstory 

For those that don't follow car racing, the 24 Hours of Daytona (a.k.a. The Rolex 24) is an endurance sports car race sanctioned by IMSA (International Motor Sports Association) and sponsored by Rolex. Held at the Daytona International Speedway in January, it runs continuously for 24 hours through most types of weather or temperatures. If interested in more information about this race. click this link: Daytona Beach Rolex 24

When we started dating in 1971, Pete introduced me to the world of car racing and I've been hooked ever since. Sunday, Sunday, Sunday...you could find us at Lebanon Valley Dragway where Pete raced his 1967 Corvette. The month of May brought the Indy 500 and those Indy Cars and the Andretti's became forever embedded in my soul. The yearly family Indy 500 party was epic. In the 90s we joined SCCA and our Saturdays found us working at Lime Rock Park in Connecticut, me in the tower with Timing & Scoring, and Pete on the track as a corner worker. 

We attended many live Indy Car races at tracks within our reach; Toronto, Cleveland, Nazareth, New Hampshire. We eventually set our sights on the Indy 500 and the Rolex 24. While the Indy 500 still remains on our Bucket List, we were able to realize the dream of the Rolex 24 in January 2022.

The Rolex 24

Let me start by saying, strap on your step tracker because you are going to do a lot of walking. This is a 4-day event, starting on Thursday and we walked a total of 31 miles, 10 miles just on the first day. It didn't help that when we got to the infield fan center, they wouldn't let us in with the Go-Pro; not in my coat pocket, not in my purse, not in my backpack. We had to walk all the way back to the car (about 1 1/2 miles) to put it away....ugh. (We eventually found a way to sneak it in.)

We spent the day exploring and getting the feel of the track, where the garages are located, where to find the drivers, how the shuttles run, where to find the beer and the restrooms. We were excited to watch a scheduled night practice on Thursday, especially since Mother Nature decided to send us some rain. With a front-row seat in the infield, it was breathtaking and thrilling to watch the cars go through the horseshoes at speed, tires spinning and rooster tails flying. The cars are equipped with neon lights to display their car number, position on the track in their class, and across the top of the car so their spotters and pit crew can identify them easily at night in a sea of race cars. 

Saturday, race day, temps in the '40s, clear blue sky, breezy. The race cars were pushed into their starting positions on the grid and they opened the gates for fans to walk out onto the track to see the cars, meet the drivers, and, if you had a Sharpie, sign your name on the start/finish line. 

 

1:40 pm Saturday and the start of the race was absolutely thrilling. There is no word to describe the roar of 61 racecars taking the green flag at speed, tires smoking as they jockey for track position. Average lap time ranges from 1 1/2 to 2 minutes with speeds of 120-140 mph, around this 3.81-mile course. (If you were driving 60 mph, it would take you almost 4 minutes to drive one lap!) With 5 different classes of racecars running the race, it makes for very interesting racing. They settled into their pace while we jockeyed around to various sections of the grandstand to see the race from different vantage points. 

The afternoon wore on and the sun started to drop into the west, the temps went south, and the wind came off the ocean. This made for a very cold, uncomfortable combination. Even though we were wearing hats, gloves, Under Armour, sweatshirts, and winter coats, the 27-degree temp with wind chill was too much to bear. Disappointed that we wouldn't get to see any night racing, we retreated to our hotel for the night and got updates on the race from an app on our phones. 

Sunday was a much better day with temps in the 60s, going up into the 70s. We arrived at the track and much to my delight, my favorite driver and his team were in first place in their class, but Pete's favorite team was struggling after a bad night. 

1:40 pm Sunday and the end of the race was approaching  After a few nail-biting, back and forth laps, the overall race leader, Helio Castroneves, took the checkered flag and my team took first in their class. 

  
Team DragonSpeed - LMP2 Class                Team Corvette - GTDPRO Class       

Helio Castroneves taking the Checkered Flag

DPi Class

Unfortunately, Romin wasn't allowed anywhere near the track. He had to sit and wait for us in the parking lot about a mile and a half away. So, no pictures of Romin at the Daytona International Speedway. 

Click on any photo to enlarge it to full screen. To enlarge videos, click on the full-screen icon in the lower right of the video. If you'd like to see more pictures, here is the link to our photo album. Rolex 24 Photo Album

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Peace, Pete & Lori