RELATED: History of NASCAR drivers in the Rolex 24
DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. — The list of NASCAR greats to hoist a trophy at Daytona’s famed Rolex 24 ranges from Hall of Famers such as Bill Elliott and Terry Labonte to stock car greats such as Mark Martin and includes Jamie McMurray, who after seven tries, won a champion’s Rolex last year to showcase along with his 2010 Daytona 500 trophy.
The late Dale Earnhardt competed just once finishing on the GT podium in his only try driving with his son Dale Earnhardt Jr. in 2001, along with sports car veterans Andy Pilgrim and Kelly Collins.
AJ Allmendinger claimed a much-celebrated Rolex overall win in 2012, the 50th anniversary of the legendary race.
The very first full-time NASCAR driver to win overall? Casey Mears in 2006.
Through the history of this event full-time NASCAR drivers have been eager to give the Rolex 24 a try. And typically, found it as challenging and confounding as any week in a Sprint Cup Series’ competition.
McMurray, Allmendinger and third-year Cup driver Kyle Larson — who co-drove with McMurray to the 2015 Rolex overall win — will give the great endurance race another shot this weekend at the newly-unveiled, highly-celebrated, ultra-modernized Daytona International Speedway, which is fresh off a $400 million “re-imagining” renovation.
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The Russia-based prototype team and driver Mikhail Aleshin won the pole in the No. 37 BR01 Nissan and it will lead the 56-car field to green at 2:40 pm ET in the 54th Rolex 24 at Daytona — the first round of the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship.
“Looking forward to defending our win,” Larson said, smiling. “I think we’re a great team and great combo with (Scott) Dixon leading it and me on the tail. I’m hoping we can put together another full 24 hours here and get another watch.”
Larson is part of Chip Ganassi’s defending championship team this weekend co-driving again with McMurray, reigning IndyCar champion and another former Indianapolis 500 champion, Tony Kanaan.
The high-wattage, high-achieving lineup is matched by the anticipation of the series’ new cars and revised classes fighting it out among the best sports car racers in the world for an entire day.
And for much of the great history of this event, the sports car veterans ruled the road.
NASCAR champions such as Jimmie Johnson and Tony Stewart gave it their best but are collectively 0-for-12 in claiming a shiny new watch. Johnson came closest to adding a Rolex to his resume and his wrist after finishing second overall in both 2005 and 2008 — co-driving, in ’08, with sports car royalty Alex Gurney, Jon Fogarty and IndyCar champion Jimmy Vasser.
Stewart’s best finish was third in 2005 co-driving with sports car veterans Andy Wallace and Jan Lammers.
Danica Patrick and NASCAR Hall of Famer Rusty Wallace have given this race a try too. Patrick finished eighth overall in 2009 with Mears on her team. Wallace’s only entry ended before the half-way mark. He was teamed with Patrick in 2006 and their car turned only 273 laps of 734 ultimately run.
The race remains a crown sought by NASCAR’s best, who compete alongside those sports car talents in one of the most diverse, highly anticipated events on the calendar.
“I enjoy it, last year was fun and I think having all the drivers together, it’s really the only time of the year we’re all together,” Larson said, smiling. “Everyone’s telling stories. We all have dinner together. And to see everyone’s driving talent and share the vehicle is pretty cool.”