Daytona Joins Sebring, Watkins Glen, Road Atlanta In Unique Competition;WeatherTech Championship Opener Attracts Diverse International All-Star LineupDrivers from all forms of motorsports are converging on Daytona International Speedway for this weekend’s 54th Rolex 24 At Daytona, the opening race for both the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship and the Tequila Patrón North American Endurance Cup. Demonstrating the diversity of the event, Mikhail Aleshin, a Russian IndyCar driver debuting a Russian Nissan-powered Prototype, will be joined on the front row by Pipo Derani, a Brazilian competitor in the FIA World Endurance Championship.The Patrón Endurance Cup is a competition that includes the Rolex 24, Mobil 1 Twelve Hours of Sebring Fueled by Fresh From Florida, Sahlen’s Six Hours of The Glen and Petit Le Mans powered by Mazda at Road Atlanta.“This is a championship within a championship,” said Ryan Dalziel, driver of the No. 90 Visit Florida Racing Corvette DP. “It’s great that Tequila Patrón continues to support the championship. These are four of the best races in the world, and the Patrón Endurance Cup is something we look forward to all weekend.”The Patrón Endurance Cup awards points at various segments in each of the four rounds. Five points go to the leader of each segment, with four points for second, three for third and two for the remaining competitors. Jan Magnussen used 2015 victories at Daytona and Sebring to help the No. 3 Corvette Racing Corvette C7.R take Patrón Endurance Cup honors in the GT Le Mans (GTLM) class.“Winning at Daytona and Sebring helped us a lot, but we had a goal of scoring points at all the segments for Petit Le Mans,” Magnussen said. “Last year most of our success came in the Patrón Endurance Cup, and for sure we will try to do it again. I think the team will be paying attention to scoring points in in the different segments at all four races this year.”NOTEBOOKThe Rolex 24 At Daytona brings together an all-star field found nowhere else in motorsports. Saturday’s field includes NASCAR Sprint Cup Series regulars AJ Allmendinger, Kyle Larson and former Daytona 500 winner Jamie McMurray, along with Brendan Gaughan from the NASCAR XFINITY Series. Joining Aleshin from the IndyCar ranks are Indy 500 winners Scott Dixon, Tony Kanaan and Ryan Hunter-Reay, along with veterans Graham Rahal, Simon Pagenaud, Jack Hawksworth, Tristan Vautier and James Davison. Also, defending Indy Lights champion Spencer Pigot will make his IndyCar debut in 2016.Past Formula One racers in the field include Rubens Barrichello is an 11-time winner with more F1 races (322) than any other driver. He joins Grand Prix regulars Giancarlo Fisichella, Alex Wurz, Christian Fittipaldi, Jan Magnussen, Pedro Lamy, Gianmaria Bruni, Olivier Beretta and Sebastien Bourdais – who also won four three consecutive Champ Car titles. Current F1 driver Sergio Perez also is in attendance as a part of the TRG-Aston Martin Racing team, although he will not drive in the race.International racing standouts include Brendon Hartley from the defending FIA World Endurance Championship LM P1 squad; two-time overall Le Mans winner Wurz, seeking to become the 13th driver to win the classics at Daytona, Le Mans and Sebring; 2015 Le Mans overall winners Nick Tandy and Earl Bamber; Australian V8 Supercars star Shane van Gisbergen; along with dozens of competitors from the WEC and other top international series.European teams competing at Daytona and selected Patrón Endurance Cup races include Russian-based SMP Racing, Tequila Patrón ESM, Konrad Motorsport, Aston Martin Racing, and German Frikadelli Racing, competing in the United States for the first time.Katherine Legge led Friday’s final WeatherTech Championship practice – the lone session run under dry conditions – with a lap of 1:38.590 (129.993 mph) in the No. 0 Panoz DeltaWing Racing coupe. The forecast for both Saturday and Sunday calls for zero percent chance of precipitation after Thursday’s opening practice and qualifying was run in steady rain.Television coverage of the Rolex 24 At Daytona begins on FS1 at 2 p.m. ET. FOX Sports will offer a total of 16 hours of coverage across FS1, FS2 and the FOX Sports GO mobile app. The overnight hours will be streamed live on IMSA.tv and the IMSA mobile app.