Six Indy 500, four Brickyard champs in field at Daytona
Six Indianapolis 500 winners and four Allstate 400 at the Brickyard winners lead a large group of drivers with major-event starts at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway competing this weekend in the Rolex 24 At Daytona, the traditional opener of the North American auto racing season.
The 24-hour Grand Am Rolex Sports Car Series presented by Crown Royal Special Reserve event starts at 1:30 p.m. (EST) Saturday, Jan. 27 on the 3.56-mile Daytona International Speedway road course. Practice and qualifying take place Jan. 25-26.
Fox will open coverage from 1-2:30 p.m. Saturday, followed by periodic coverage on Speed Channel from 2:30-6 p.m. and 8-10 p.m. Saturday, and 6 a.m. until post-race Sunday.
Winners of each of the last three Indianapolis 500 and Allstate 400 at the Brickyard races are competing this weekend at Daytona. Recent Indy winners: Sam Hornish Jr. (2006), Dan Wheldon (2005) and Buddy Rice (2004). Recent Brickyard winners: Jimmie Johnson (2006), Tony Stewart (2005), Jeff Gordon (2004).
Other Indianapolis 500 winners racing in the endurance classic are Helio Castroneves (2001, 2002), Eddie Cheever Jr. (1998) and Juan Pablo Montoya (2000). The other Allstate 400 at the Brickyard winner racing in the Rolex 24 is Bobby Labonte (2000).
There are 26 drivers entered in the field this weekend at Daytona with at least one Indianapolis 500 start, seven who have started the Allstate 400 at the Brickyard and three with United States Grand Prix starts. A breakdown:
•Indianapolis 500 (26): Ed Carpenter, Patrick Carpentier, Helio Castroneves, Eddie Cheever Jr., Scott Dixon, Tomas Enge, Christian Fittipaldi, A.J. Foyt IV, Stephan Gregoire, Hurley Haywood, Sam Hornish Jr., Michel Jourdain Jr., Darren Manning, Juan Pablo Montoya, Roberto Moreno, Johnny O’Connell, Max Papis, Scott Pruett, Buddy Rice, Tomas Scheckter, Scott Sharp, Tony Stewart, Paul Tracy, Jimmy Vasser, Dan Wheldon, Roger Yasukawa
•Allstate 400 at the Brickyard (7): Wally Dallenbach Jr., Jeff Gordon, Jimmie Johnson, Bobby Labonte, Scott Pruett, Boris Said, Tony Stewart
•United States Grand Prix (3): Tomas Enge, Gaston Mazzacane, Juan Pablo Montoya
Many of the drivers with IMS ties will race as teammates this weekend.
Montoya, who made a high-profile switch from Formula One to NASCAR last year, will team with Pruett in the No. 01 TELMEX/Target Lexus Riley Daytona Prototype fielded by TELMEX Chip Ganassi Racing with Felix Sabates.
Another Ganassi-Sabates entry will feature IndyCar Series Target Chip Ganassi Racing teammates Dixon and Wheldon driving in the No. 02 Target/TELMEX Lexus Riley Daytona Prototype. Wheldon, Dixon and Casey Mears drove to overall victory in the 2006 Rolex 24.
Enge and Yasukawa will share driving duties with Indy Pro Series veteran Chris Festa in the No. 7 SAMAX Pontiac Riley Daytona Prototype.
Carpentier and Manning will be among four drivers behind the wheel of the No. 11 Citgo Pontiac Riley Daytona Prototype, while 1995 Indianapolis 500 Rookie of the Year Fittipaldi will share driving duties with his boss, Cheever, in the No. 39 Crown Royal Special Reserve/Cheever Racing Porsche Crawford Daytona Prototype.
The two-car Brumos Porsche Daytona Prototype team will have four Indy 500 veterans in its lineup. Rice and Sharp will drive the No. 58 Red Bull Brumos Porsche Riley, while Haywood and Moreno are among the veteran starters in the No. 59 Brumos Porsche Riley.
Castroneves and Hornish are members of a strong, four-man driving team for the No. 60 Michael Shank Racing/Fresh From Florida Lexus Riley Daytona Prototype.
Gordon, Labonte and Stewart are teaming with road-racing veterans this weekend.
Four-time Allstate 400 at the Brickyard winner Gordon is making his Rolex 24 debut with sports car standouts Wayne Taylor and Max Angelelli, and former F1 driver Jan Magnussen in the No. 10 SunTrust Racing Pontiac Riley Daytona Prototype.
2000 Brickyard winner Labonte is driving with Rob Finlay, Michael Valiante and Michael McDowell in the No. 19 Z-Line/Make-A-Wish Ford Crawford Daytona Prototype.
2005 Brickyard winner Stewart will join veterans Andy Wallace and Butch Leitzinger in the No. 20 Howard Motorsports Pontiac Crawford Daytona Prototype. Stewart and Wallace fell just 20 minutes short of overall victory in 2004 when a broken suspension part knocked their team from the lead held for the previous 16 hours.
Another driver with a connection to the Indianapolis Motor Speedway is making his Rolex 24 debut this weekend: IMS Chief Executive Officer Tony George. He will share driving duties in the No. 00 Vision Racing Porsche Crawford Daytona Prototype with his IndyCar Series drivers, Ed Carpenter, Tomas Scheckter and A.J. Foyt IV, with Indy 500 veteran Stephan Gregoire also behind the wheel.
