Tony Stewart posted the quickestlap time in happy hour on Friday at Daytona International Speedway, as raceteams made final preparations for this weekend's Rolex 24 At Daytona.Stewart turned a 1:49.422 lap at 117.125 mph in the Howard-Boss MotorsportsNo. 2 CITGO Chevrolet Crawford during the final practice session.
"I don't think they are going to give a trophy away or anything for beingfastest in happy hour. We're just bedding in brakes and trying to make surewe don't have any problems tomorrow," said Stewart.
While some have dismissed the chances of Stewart and co-drivers DaleEarnhardt Jr. and Andy Wallace winning the Rolex 24 At Daytona, the pair ofNASCAR NEXTEL Cup drivers and road racing veteran are prepared to prove themall wrong. "I don't care what anyone thinks. I think we have a shot, andthat's all that matters. I don't care what anybody else thinks about ourchances," said Stewart.
The Red Bull-Brumos Racing No. 58 Porsche Fabcar turned the second-fastesttime in happy hour with its 1:49.455 lap at 117.089 mph, while the SunTrustRacing No. 10 Pontiac Riley was third quickest with a 1:49.572 lap at116.964 mph.
The Red Bull BE Racing No. 73 Ferrari 360 topped the GT class in happy hourwith its 1:54.981 lap at 111.462 mph, and the Doncaster Racing No. 91Porsche GT3 Cup was fastest among the SGS competitors with a 1:58.012 lap at108.599 mph.
Defending overall and GT winner Kevin Buckler of The Racer's Group feelsconfident of his team's chances of repeating its success. "I feel prettygood. The cars are running great. The drivers and crew are doing great.Obviously there have been some setbacks with us with our trailer and issueswith qualifying. Putting three cars in the top five in qualifying is prettycool, but then having their times disallowed because of our paperwork snafuwas a bummer," said Buckler. "It's a 24-hour race, and I think we're very,very prepared. We have the strongest lineup we've ever had. Across theboard, with all the cars, I'm really proud of everybody."
Several teams will make their racing debut in the Daytona Prototypes classduring the Rolex 24, including the Spirit of Daytona with its No. 09 CITGOPontiac Crawford. "The car is running really well. Everybody seems realcomfortable. We've been able to dial out a few handling issues. So, I thinkwe're getting real close to being ready for the race," said Doug Goad,driver-owner of the Spirit of Daytona No. 09 Pontiac. "We'll go out andstart the race and see what the field wants to do as far as setting thepace. We're not looking to set the pace. We really just want to check it outand follow it around for a while. If the pace is too quick, we'll back itoff a little bit and run a pace a little slower."
The green flag will wave to start the 42nd anniversary of the Rolex 24 AtDaytona on Saturday at 1 p.m. Tickets are currently available for the eventand can be purchased at the gate, online atdaytonainternationalspeedway.com or by calling the Speedway ticketoffice at 386-253-RACE. SPEED Channel will broadcast more than 15 hours ofthe Rolex 24 At Daytona live on Saturday and Sunday.
