NASCAR stars ready for this week's Rolex 24
By Dave Rodman, Turner Sports Interactive
January 29, 2002
11:39 AM EST (1639 GMT)
DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. -- More than 20 drivers with some connection to NASCAR will compete in this weekend's opening major event of Speedweeks 2002 at Daytona International Speedway.
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Tony Stewart (center) listens to sports car ace Jan Lammers.
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The Grand American Road Racing Association's season opening Rolex 24 At Daytona opens the two-and-a-half week Speedweeks festival with practice on Thursday. The twice around the clock endurance sports car race begins at 1 p.m. ET Saturday.
With an entry list currently holding 75 cars and more than 200 drivers, there's plenty of opportunity for diversity, and that is a Rolex trademark.
NASCAR drivers have a long history of competing in the event, highlighted from the mid-1980s through the early 1990s when Jack Roush's sports car program was a dominant force. Mark Martin, Bill Elliott, Ricky Rudd, Kyle Petty, Wally Dallenbach and Robby Gordon were among the drivers who raced at the Rolex for Roush.
The 2002 list includes half a dozen current Winston Cup drivers. They include former Daytona 500 winner Derrike Cope; Tony Stewart and Kevin Harvick; the series' most recent winner, Gordon; driver/owner Petty; and broadcaster Dallenbach, who is still entertaining thoughts of getting back behind the wheel.
The diversity of the group is borne out by characters such as veteran sports car racer Jim Downing, a driver/car builder who scored a Sports Racing Prototype class win in last year's Rolex 24.
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Robby Gordon
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Downing is also the constructor of the HANS device, the head and neck restraint designed by his brother-in-law Bob Hubbard that has come into great favor with NASCAR racers following its mandate as a piece of required safety equipment -- along with the Hutchens device -- near the end of last season.
Californian Jim Michaelian is an executive with Dover Downs Entertainment, a company that operates a number of NASCAR tracks including those in Nashville, Memphis and Dover. Terry Lingner's company was a key element in the production of many NASCAR race telecasts throughout ESPN's history in the sport.
Davy Liniger, the founder of the RE/MAX real estate firm, spreads his company's influence through race and series sponsorship and team ownership, along with his driving passion.
NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series driver Rick Carelli and NASCAR Winston West competitor John Metcalf are two of Liniger's employees that will join him and Harvick in a Chevrolet Corvette. Rob Morgan, who got his start in sports cars, is part owner of a Craftsman Truck Series team and is also a former driver in the series.
Among the drivers more well-known for sports car racing but who also have varying degrees of NASCAR experience include Scott Pruett, Boris Said, Anthony Lazzaro, Paul Gentilozzi, David Murry, Brian Simo, R.K. Smith, Butch Leitzinger, Elliott Forbes-Robinson and Dorsey Schroeder, who once qualified on the front row for the Daytona ARCA 200.
The reasons for starting their seasons a weekend early vary, but most of them involve a desire to get back into action in an environment that is decidedly low key.
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Kyle Petty
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"It's pretty tough to come down here and have your Gatorade 125 be your initial race and the Daytona 500 be your next one," Petty said. "There's a lot of pressure on those races. The Rolex 24 kind of takes some of the butterflies from it.
"The only disadvantage is you're racing out of your league. You stand the chance of coming down and looking down like an idiot. We're not road racers by any stretch. I wouldn't put myself on par with the guys on my own team much less with James Weaver, Elliott Forbes-Robinson or Jack Baldwin."
Petty was actually being low keyed to a fault. He finished seventh overall in last year's Rolex 24 and went on to win the GT class, driving with Petty Enterprises Winston Cup teammate John Andretti, in a Grand American race at Watkins Glen International last summer.
"I love to race -- plain and simple," Harvick said of his planned debut in an American GT class Corvette entered by two-time defending class champion Flis Motorsports. "Give me a bicycle or a wagon for that matter and I'll race it. I'm just lucky in this particular case that I get to race a cool Corvette."
Harvick follows one year behind the footsteps of his mentor, the late Dale Earnhardt, who made his first Rolex start a year ago in a factory Corvette and finished on the podium in conjunction with his son, Dale Earnhardt Jr., who is sitting out this year's race.
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Dale Earnhardt climbs into his Corvette during practice for the 2001 Rolex 24.
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"Racing the Rolex 24 is something I've never done in my career," Harvick said. "I've always watched this race on the couch waiting for my racing to get started up. This year I'll be watching it from behind the wheel, and it will be something pretty cool to add to my resume."
"I think with Dale and Dale Jr. and myself, a lot of guys were sitting at home and said, 'Hey, those guys look like they're having a good time - 'Let's go down there and try it,'" Petty said.
Gordon, who like Stewart and Dallenbach will drive in the top Sports Prototype class, won the top GT category in the Rolex from 1990 to 1993 while driving for Roush, who was just beginning his NASCAR involvement that has grown to nine teams.
His Rolex experience crosses a couple boundaries, as he will team with former Indy car foe Scott Sharp in a Riley & Scott.
"Scott and I remained friends after I moved from CART to NASCAR and we got to talking about the 24 hours race when I was in Daytona a couple of months ago," said Gordon, who also plans to continue off-road racing this season in addition to his Winston Cup duties with Richard Childress Racing.
"We wanted to team up for the race and Jim Matthews gave us the opportunity to do it. I've had a lot of success and a ton of fun in the 24 hours and I'm really glad I get to take another stab at it.
"I've had a great off-season and have had the opportunity to compete in all forms of racing. This event is an awesome way to end the off-season and get back into the swing of Winston Cup."
Following the conclusion of the Rolex on Sunday, Stewart and Harvick will have a couple days off before their next Speedweeks activity begins with practice for the True Value International Race of Champions, which begins Tuesday, Feb. 5.
Winston Cup practice for the Daytona 500 opens on Friday, Feb. 8 followed one day later by Bud Pole Qualifying to lock-in the top two starting positions for the "Great American Race."
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