Posted on by Kathy Sheldon

Tap your toes to the beat from … Darrell Wallace Jr.?

That’s right. Bubba isn’t just a race car driver, he’s a drummer, too. And a good one at that.

The 24-year-old Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series pilot posted a video to Twitter highlighting some sick drum beats and elite-level head banging.

Wallace, who will wheel the iconic No. 43 for Richard Petty Motorsports in 2018, covered Of Mice & Men’s ‘Forever YDG’N’ for all of social media to see.

We wonder if Bubba can form a NASCAR band. Maybe get Jimmie Johnson on vocals … Kyle Busch on lead guitar? His best friend Ryan Blaney bringing down the house on bass?

RELATED: Blaney, Bubba next death metal duo?

Oh, the possibilities, and we are completely here for all of them.

Posted on by Team Release

CONCORD, N.C. (Jan. 30, 2018) – Valvoline Inc. (NYSE: VVV) — a leading worldwide supplier of premium branded lubricants and automotive services — has extended its partnership with 12-time NASCAR Cup Series champions Hendrick Motorsports through 2022.

 

In 2018, Valvoline will become a primary sponsor of the No. 88 Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 of 24-year-old driver Alex Bowman for two Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series races annually over the next five seasons. Valvoline also will continue as the Official Lubricants Partner of Hendrick Motorsports and as a major associate sponsor of the team’s full stable of Chevrolet race cars and drivers, which include Chase Elliott, William Byron and seven-time Cup champion Jimmie Johnson.

 

As part of the new agreement, Valvoline also will be the presenting sponsor of the Randy Dorton Hendrick Engine Builder Showdown, a yearly competition that brings together Hendrick Motorsports engine builders and Hendrick Automotive Group master technicians. The 16th annual event took place in November on the Hendrick Motorsports campus in Concord.

 

“Hendrick Motorsports has been an exceptional partner and shares our passion of continuously improving all we touch through our hands-on expertise,” said Heidi Matheys, Valvoline’s chief marketing officer. “Alex’s enthusiasm for being hands-on with his own cars makes him a wonderful fit for Valvoline, and we’re excited to support him and the entire No. 88 team as a new primary sponsor. We look forward to more success on the track in the years to come.”

 

Since 2014, Hendrick Motorsports has used Valvoline products in its racing engines, which have earned two Cup Series championships (2014 and 2016), two NASCAR Xfinity Series (NXS) titles (2014 and 2017) and more than 100 points-paying event wins across various series. Off the track, Valvoline is the preferred lubricant of Hendrick Automotive Group, which operates 97 car dealerships across the United States and poured nearly 1 million gallons of Valvoline product in 2016.

 

“I’ve always liked the quote, ‘You are what your record says you are,’” said Rick Hendrick, owner of Hendrick Motorsports. “Valvoline has such a tremendous track record in both racing and on the road in passenger vehicles because they never stop innovating. Across our organization, they’re partners in developing racing technology and in providing unparalleled products to our dealership customers. It’s a relationship we take great pride in and look forward to continuing for many more years.”

 

A lifelong auto enthusiast who works on his own cars, Bowman will drive the No. 88 Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 in the Cup Series beginning in 2018. In 2017, he was an integral part of the simulation and on-track testing programs for Hendrick Motorsports and manufacturer partner Chevrolet. The Tucson, Arizona, native won Oct. 7 at Charlotte Motor Speedway in his first NXS start of the year.

 

“I’ve always been hands-on with my race cars and personal cars,” Bowman said. “I grew up working in my dad’s body shop, so doing things myself is something that started early. For me, it’s very cool to be a part of Team Valvoline because they offer quality products and share my passion for cars and racing. They also do a great job focusing on their DIY customers, which is something I’m really drawn to. I love what the Valvoline brand stands for and can’t wait to work with them.”

Posted on by Staff Report

CHARLOTTE, N.C. — Joey Logano wore his trademark grin last week while making the rounds at NASCAR Media Tour Presented by Charlotte Motor Speedway.

He can smile now. A fresh season looms ahead, and with it, an opportunity for the Team Penske No. 22 Ford camp to erase a frustrating 2017 campaign that saw a drop from Championship 4 in 2016 to out of the playoffs.

“I didn’t see that coming at all,” Logano said. “After you almost win the championship and win a bunch of races the last four years before that, you think making the playoffs is kind of a given. That is kind of the way I thought. I would say it blindsided every one of us.”

PHOTOS: Logano through the years

Logano and the No. 22 team had gotten into a groove since 2014, logging 14 wins during the three-year period prior to the 2017 season. That stretch included a staggering 22 top-five finishes in 2015, and two trips to the Championship 4 in Homestead-Miami.

So, what happened?

Well, the team won at Richmond in April but had the finish ruled encumbered. That meant it could not be used to automatically advance into the playoffs.

As first-time winners Austin Dillon, Ryan Blaney and Ricky Stenhouse Jr. reached Victory Lane, Logano was pushed further down the standings, ultimately finding himself out of the playoff picture.

“Yeah, we never want to have that feeling again,” he said. “That sucks. Not being in the playoffs is no fun. I think after going through that and living that horror film, you don’t want to do that again. There is plenty of motivation to make sure that doesn’t happen again.”

RELATED: Logano, wife welcome son

The key in 2018? Being open to change, Logano said.

“Last year was a trying year. We learned a lot,” Logano said. “The biggest thing we learned was to be able to be a little more open-minded about things. We started to be open-minded at the end of the season. We probably waited a little too long. When you find something that works for you and you are able to keep evolving off of that foundation that you built that works and you keep building off of something and then the rules change and things change and then all of a sudden that doesn’t work anymore, it is really hard to just knock over what you built and start all over.

“It is very challenging to get yourself to think that openly. As a driver, I have had to change. (Crew chief) Todd (Gordon) has had to change. The way we set up our cars has had to change. The sport changes. It evolves and you have to evolve with it and we are a little late to the game.”

As for the on-track performance to come, Logano thinks it will mirror that memorable 2014-16 stretch in which he emerged as one of the most prolific drivers in the garage.

“I think we will go out there and redeem ourselves,” he said. “There is a little extra motivation there. We know we are a championship team. Nothing has changed from two years ago when we almost won the championship. It is the same group. Nothing has changed. We know we can still do that. Let’s go. Is Daytona here yet?”

RELATED: Drivers that will bounce back in 2018

Posted on by Brad Norman

One man’s trash is another man’s treasure.

And there isn’t an old-school, vintage piece of car metal Dale Jr. doesn’t want to add to his infamous ‘graveyard.’

MORE: Take a video tour of Dale Jr.’s car graveyard

In 2014, Earnhardt described how he began collecting the wrecked cars citing he ‘couldn’t bring myself to throw (them) away’ because his family had spent so much time and money on the vehicles. A valid reason.

Fast forward to 2018, and Junior is still out there adding to his iconic collection. However, this time a fellow driver is offering up one of his own cars … and of course it’s rising Camping World Truck Series star Noah Gragson.

Don’t tempt him with a good item, Noah. You’ll get a visitor soon enough.

But Dale, you know the rules. Pics or it didn’t happen.

Posted on by Holly Cain

RELATED: Congrats pour in for Ganassi’s 200th win | Action Express wins Rolex 24

DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. – Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series driver AJ Allmendinger took last year off from competing in the Rolex 24 At Daytona, but he resumed racing in the sports car season-opener this year in a different class with new teammates  — and showed himself in the same fine form that always makes him a favorite.

Allmendinger teamed with Katherine Legge, Alvaro Parente and Trent Hindman to finish second in the GTD class of the Rolex on Sunday — a very respectable 22nd  place overall. And the 21.511-second difference between them and third place in the class was one of the best battles of the endurance race on the 2.56-mile Daytona International Speedway road course. The No. 11 GRT Grasser Racing Team Lamborghini won the division.

It’s the fourth podium finish in 12 Rolex starts for Allmendinger, who won the race overall in 2012 driving a prototype.

His entry this weekend in the No. 86 Acura NSX GT3 was for his friend Michael Shank — the longtime IMSA team owner who fielded prototypes previously and the only owner Allmendinger has raced for in the Rolex 24.

Going into the race, Allmendinger conceded it would be “different” for him driving a sedan competing against the Lamborghini, Ferrari, Audi, Porsche, Mercedes entries. But he acknowledged his team was stacked with talent and he was optimistic.

“Not the win and Rolex we wanted but my teammates were awesome,’’ Allmendinger said on Twitter following the race. “So cool to be on the podium with the @MichaelShankRace team.

“Amazing weekend.’’

The team’s performance was good enough to win the opening round of the North American Endurance Cup. And Allmendinger will return to Daytona Beach for the NASCAR portions of Speedweeks already feeling accomplished and warmed-up.

“This might be the most tired I’ve ever been,’’ Allmendinger said. “It probably was not a wise call on my part not to run an air hose to my helmet. But this Acura NSX GT3 has been fun to drive. I love Michael Shank and I love this race team.

“That last stint, I was starting to get the chills inside the car. But this is what the Rolex 24 is all about: the last four hours you give everything you’ve got.”

PHOTOS: Scenes from the Rolex 24 at Daytona

Posted on by Chase Wilhelm

RELATED: Action Express takes overall Rolex 24 victory | Full Rolex 24 results

Team owner Chip Ganassi is known for including the hashtag #ILikeWinners in various tweets and there’s a reason behind it.

He’s taken a liking to now winning 200 times, to be exact.

Ganassi scored his 200th victory as a car owner in Sunday’s Rolex 24 at Daytona International Speedway, the season-opening endurance race for the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Series.

The No. 67 Ford GT co-driven by Ryan Briscoe (Australia), Richard Westbrook (England) and Scott Dixon (New Zealand) took victory in the GT Le Mans (GTLM) class. The milestone was made even more special as the No. 66 Ford GT shared by Dirk Mueller, Joey Hand and Sebastien Bourdais finished second, making it a 1-2 finish for the Ganassi-owned group.

The 200 victories are spread across four different disciplines of motorsports — NASCAR, IMSA, IndyCar and the FIA World Endurance Championship (WEC).

Ganassi gave the starting command for the weekend’s Rolex 24, then watched his cars lead all but nine of the 783 laps completed in their class.

It was the team’s record eighth win in the Rolex 24 — the second straight in class, plus six more victories overall.

“No team orders, just 24 hours of intense racing,’’ Ganassi driver Westbrook told FOX Sports television with a huge grin as the pits emptied in celebration.

Before the race, Ganassi admitted that winning 200 races was the furthest thing from his mind (sort of).

“I want to win the race, I’m not worried about number 200 or number 300,’’ Ganassi said. “But,” he conceded with a smile, “certainly to get the 200th at a historical event would be a feather in our cap.’’

After Ganassi added feather No. 200 to his storied racing cap, his fleet of NASCAR drivers — Kyle Larson, Jamie McMurray and John Hunter Nemechek — hopped on Twitter to congratulate their boss.

Posted on by Staff Report

What channel is NASCAR programming on this week? We answer that and provide all the weekly NASCAR television listings here in the NASCAR TV schedule.

Note: All times are ET.

MORE: Get the NBC Sports App |  How to find FS1, FS2 | Get FOX Sports GO | How to find NBCSN

Monday, January 29
6 p.m., NASCAR Race Hub, FS1

Tuesday, January 30
3 a.m., Rolex 24 at Daytona, FS1 (re-air)
6 p.m., NASCAR Race Hub, FS1

Wednesday, January 31
2:30 a.m., NASCAR Race Hub (re-air), FS1
3:30 a.m., IMSA Racing, Weathertech Sportscar Championship: Daytona, FS2
6 p.m., NASCAR Race Hub, FS1

Thursday, February 1
2:30 a.m., NASCAR Race Hub (re-air), FS1
6 p.m., NASCAR Race Hub, FS1

Friday, February 2
3:30 a.m., NASCAR Race Hub (re-air), FS1

Posted on by Staff Report

DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. — As the crow flies, it’s 2,850 miles from Daytona Beach, Florida to Lima, Peru.

That’s a shorter distance than the No. 5 Mustang Sampling Cadillac DPi-V.R co-driven by Joao Barbosa, Filipe Albuquerque and Christian Fittipaldi covered over 24 hours en route to a history-making victory in the 56th Rolex 24 At Daytona.

Breaking a 36-year-old record, the No. 5 machine finished with a total of 2,876.48 miles completed, 808 laps around the 3.56-mile Daytona International Speedway to win the 2018 IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship season-opener.

The previous Rolex 24 mileage record of 2,760.960 miles was set in 1982 by John Paul Jr., Rolf Stommelen and John Paul Sr. in a Porsche 935 that completed 719 laps around what was then a 3.84-mile circuit. The record for laps completed of 762 set in 1992 by Masahiro Hasemi, Kazuyoshi Hoshino and Toshio Suzuki in a Nissan R91 also was eclipsed by the No. 5 Action Express Racing entry this weekend.

In all, the top-15 finishers in the race broke the distance record in a race that had just four full-course caution periods for a total of 20 laps.

Finishing order: See Rolex 24 results on IMSA.com

“This is a great endurance achievement and story,” said IMSA CEO Ed Bennett. “We are extremely proud of all the drivers, teams, manufacturers and IMSA officials who played important roles to achieve this together.”

Barbosa and Fittipaldi each claimed their third overall victory in the Rolex 24 At Daytona and first since 2014, when they teamed with Sebastien Bourdais to win in the No. 5 Action Express Racing Corvette DP. Barbosa also earned a GTS class victory in the 2003 Rolex 24, while Albuquerque added an overall victory to a 2013 GT class win in the Rolex 24.

“I think it’s huge,” said Brazilian driver Fittipaldi, who also won the Rolex 24 overall in 2004 and 2014. “Especially after what happened last year. It went the way it went, but obviously we didn’t swallow it that easily. It has been in our throat for 365 days. I remember going into the press conference and sort of mentioning, ‘Now, I have to wait another 365 days for a shot at it,’ and this is what we did.”

As Fittipaldi referenced, the win avenges the No. 5 team’s bitter defeat in the 2017 race, when late-race contact between Ricky Taylor and Albuquerque while battling for the lead in the final minutes of the race forced Albuquerque to spin and sent Taylor and his teammates, Jordan Taylor, Max Angelelli and four-time NASCAR Cup Series champion Jeff Gordon to victory lane.

“I think it’s one of those things that we start to think that the world is kind of fair in a way,” said Albuquerque, who along with Barbosa, hails from Portugal. “Last year, I lost it for very little in a controversial way, and this year, the engine was dying on us, or having problems, for six hours.

“Somehow, I don’t know how to be honest, it lasted with very high temperatures and we got the win. A lot of people thought that, ‘OK, we are candidates,’ but so many other ones are candidates. We did a remarkable race.”

The No. 5 took the lead for the final time during the race’s 16th hour and went on to win over its Action Express Racing team car, the No. 31 Whelen Engineering Cadillac DPi-V.R – co-driven by Felipe Nasr, Eric Curran, Mike Conway and Stuart Middleton – by a margin of 1 minute, 10.544 seconds.

“There was a lot of drama behind closed doors that a lot of people didn’t really see,” said Barbosa, whose other two overall victories came in 2010 and 2014. “We had an issue, actually, on both cars that they were overheating. I was very surprised by so few yellows. The race pace was very, very high for the whole 24 hours, no rest at all. We were able to put some water in the car during one of those times under yellow and it didn’t really cost us any time.

“Unfortunately, the 31 had to do it under green and that put them back a couple of laps. The team was managing the situation in the best possible way, hoping that everything would be OK. Just a tremendous job from the Mustang Sampling Cadillac crew. They really put their heads together and they definitely are a big part of this win today.”

The No. 54 CORE autosport ORECA LMP2 car shared by Jon Bennett, Colin Braun, Loic Duval and Romain Dumas finished third and won Rolex watches for winning the Trueman Pro-Am Team Endurance class. The No. 54 machine also completed the full 808-lap distance.

Finishing fourth, four laps behind the winner, was the No. 32 United Autosports Ligier LMP2 car shared by Will Owen, Hugo de Sadeleer, Paul Di Rest and Bruno Senna. Rounding out the top five was the No. 78 Jackie Chan DCR JOTA ORECA LMP2 with co-drivers Ho-Pin Tung, Alex Brundle, Ferdinand Habsburg-Lothringen and Antonio Felix da Costa.

Milestone win for Ganassi comes in GTLM class

Chip Ganassi gave the starting command for the weekend’s Rolex 24 At Daytona on Saturday and a day later hoisted a trophy in Victory Lane courtesy of a phenomenal performance and GT Le Mans (GTLM) class sweep for his two-car team in the historical race. His cars led all but nine of the 783 laps completed.

It was a nice bookend for the championship team owner and good way to start the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship racing season – giving Ganassi his 200th victory in major league auto racing. It the team’s record eighth win in the Rolex 24 – the second straight in class, plus six more victories overall.

Ganassi’s No. 67 Ford GT driven by Ryan Briscoe, Richard Westbrook and former Indy 500 winner Scott Dixon led its team car, the No. 66 Ford GT, across the finish line for the victory by only 11.180 seconds.

The third-place No. 3 Chevrolet Corvette C7.R finished two laps behind the Fords. And it all made for exciting close-quarter racing during the record-setting event won overall by the No. 5 Action Express Racing Cadillac.

“No team orders, just 24 hours of intense racing,’’ Ganassi driver Westbrook told FOX Sports television with a huge grin as the pits emptied in celebration.

Dixon, who has two overall victories in addition to Sunday’s class win, summed up his feelings with a smile as well. “Pretty sweet,’’ he said.

It was also pretty intense – especially in the final couple hours.

MORE: Allmendinger tests endurance in Rolex 24 

The defending Rolex 24 GTLM class champion No. 66 – driven by Joey Hand, Dirk Mueller and Sebastien Bourdais – led the bulk of the race and was listed as the lead class car for 21 of the first 24 hourly results.

But a pit stop for the final driver change – Bourdais to Hand — took a few seconds longer than normal with a slight hiccup getting the car from neutral into first gear. That was enough to give the team’s other car the opportunity to seize the advantage and change the competitive dynamic on track.

The cars were so close for so long, that pit strategy may have ultimately decided the running order.

And as each Ganassi driver confirmed following the race, there were no team orders.

“There was a little bit of strategy playing out between the two teams which was really cool – just to witness the whole thing,’’ said Westbrook, who earned his first Rolex watch.

“Everyone was trying to outsmart one another. We chose to short-fill and they put me out on a nice clean track with new tires, I was able to push and had a nice clean out-lap and built up a lead. That sort of took the pressure off.

“They tried to react to that and do the short-fill next time as you obviously would, but by that point we were on the front and had pretty much sewn it up by then.’’

Hand, a defending winner of the race, was happy for the Ganassi team although also understandably disappointed as he stood on pit lane following the checkered flag.

“You always want to be the one that wins for the team but man, we still had a great day,’’ Hand said. “The car led a lot of this race and as far as the team goes we’ve got two cars and finished and first and second. You can’t do better than that.

“For Chip Ganassi and Ford Racing, it was a great day and this Ford GT ran flawlessly.

“I’m definitely bummed because I thought we had a good car all day and then had our worst car at the end, unfortunately. The 67 car was really good at the end and we were really good at the beginning.”

Everyone on the Ganassi team agreed that keeping the trophy in-house was a tremendous accomplishment and shows how well Ganassi leads the team. It was an exciting and challenging race – just the kind of day, just the kind of important race that makes earning a 200th trophy here extra special.

“It’s simple,’’ Dixon said. “We come here each weekend to win. There’s no thinking about finishing second. Everyone thrives on the winning culture here. Chip, through many [racing] disciplines has proven that.’’

MORE: Congratulations pour in for Ganassi’s milestone win

And as historic as the win was, Ganassi reminded everyone after spraying champagne and hoisting hardware that he isn’t ready to talk about 200 wins yet. He’s ready to collect more.

“We’re just the type of team, as [Team Manager] Mike Hull says ‘Let’s try to do the best job we can do today. What can we do about what’s in front of us today?’

“That’s how we approach things. Today’s win is about here at Daytona, about the Rolex, about these three guys up here.”

And, he added, “I think in terms of the 200 wins, there’s a time and place to talk about that. We’re the kind of team, we just focus on trying to do the best we can today.’’

Lamborghini Secures First Ever Rolex 24 Victory with GRT

Austria-based Grasser Racing Team (GRT) bested the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship GT Daytona (GTD) field at the 56th running of the Rolex 24 At Daytona in the No. 11 Lamborghini Huracán GT3 to deliver the manufacturer’s first ever victory in the prestigious twice-around-the-clock event.

Mirko Bortolotti, the 2017 Blancpain GT Series champion, led the final 52 laps to secure the first WeatherTech Championship victory for GRT and its entire driver lineup as well, completed by Rolf Ineichen, Franck Perera and Rik Breukers.

Bortolotti previously caught the eyes of other GTD competitors when he posted the fastest lap during Roar Before the Rolex 24 qualifying earlier this month to secure premium garage and pit spaces for the No. 11 for this weekend’s race. However, due to a qualifying penalty, the team started the race last on the grid.

GRT’s first race of IMSA competition came one year ago at the 2017 Rolex 24 At Daytona, and while Bortolotti and Ineichen were a part of the team’s driver lineup then, this was the first WeatherTech Championship start for Perera and Breukers.

“It’s a big day for us, definitely,” said Bortolotti. “Coming from the back of the field, makes it even more special, I guess. I don’t know if this happened before but I don’t care ‑‑ coming from last position, winning such an important race, it’s great. Just so proud of everyone, of the whole team, and Lamborghini obviously. We’ve been working so hard to make this happen.

“Personally, I just ‑‑ quite speechless about this. It’s really a big thing, big day. I’m really happy. I want to say thanks to everyone, also to the fans for coming down here for this race, the atmosphere in Daytona is always mega. It’s even more special to win this race.”

RELATED: Scenes from Daytona

“It’s a great success what we tried many times before to win a 24‑hour race for Lamborghini but we were not successful,” added Ineichen. “Now we are in Daytona. This is special. It’s really, really special. It’s a big dream, I think, of everybody to win here in Daytona. We did it now. We did it for Lamborghini, and we’re really proud on that.”

The No. 11 Lamborghini crossed the finish line 16.806 seconds ahead of Michael Shank Racing’s No. 86 Acura NSX GT3 of Alvaro Parente, Katherine Legge, Trent Hindman and Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series winner AJ Allmendinger, which ran in the top five for the majority of the race and led a total of 51 laps of the race’s 752.

Rounding out the podium was another Lamborghini Huracán GT3, that of Paul Miller Racing with full-time drivers Bryan Sellers, Madison Snow joined by Andrea Caldarelli and Bryce Miller behind the wheel of the No. 48.

And while one team celebrated an inaugural victory, one driver’s storied career came to a close when the checkered flag waved.

Scott Pruett, IMSA’s all-time winningest driver with 60 victories, previously announced that the 2018 Rolex 24 would be his final race as a professional driver. The move was fitting in that Pruett also holds the most class wins at the Rolex 24 At Daytona with 10, with the next closest set of drivers owning five.

Pruett shared the No. 15 3GT Racing Lexus R CF GT3 with Jack Hawksworth, David Heinemeier Hansson and Dominik Farnbacher and claimed a ninth-place finish in the class.

“I’m not leaving, but I certainly am going to open up a new chapter,” Pruett said. “And I think last night I did all my driving, the majority of my driving was from about 8:00 last night to about 7:00 this morning, with maybe one or two out‑of‑the‑cars in between. So, I’ll remember the darkness of Daytona and certainly all the craziness that happens at nighttime, along with a little rain. And those are all great, fond, wonderful memories.”

Posted on by Staff Report

DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. – Adoring fan response and fellow driver congratulations greeted Scott Pruett everywhere he went in the Daytona International Speedway garage Saturday morning in the hours just prior to the afternoon’s Rolex 24 At Daytona green flag.

The retiring five-time Rolex 24 overall winner was gracious and appreciative of the attention, however, he said he remained 100 percent committed to adding another trophy courtesy of his final career start this weekend.

“The intensity is starting to build,’’ Pruett said following the Rolex 24 drivers’ meeting Saturday morning. “It’s business as usual, but busier than usual,’’ he said smiling. “So much fun.’’

RELATED: Pruett to retire after Rolex 24 | Rolex 24 TV schedule | Scenes from Daytona

With the Chairman of IMSA, Jim France, on one side and IMSA CEO Ed Bennett on the other of Pruett, IMSA President Scott Atherton presented the great champion specially commissioned artwork depicting cars Pruett drove throughout his championship IMSA career.

“Wow, this is humbling and wonderful,’’ Pruett told the crowded meeting. “I hope you have a wonderful and safe race.’’

Pruett and his No. 14 3GT Racing Lexus RC F GT3 racing team will start fourth in the GT Daytona (GTD) class.

Posted on by Staff Report

DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. – Legendary racer Dan Gurney, who passed away on Jan. 14 at the age of 86, is being honored throughout the Rolex 24 At Daytona. Cars and drivers throughout the field are paying tribute with commemorative car and helmet decals, the FOX Sports telecast has been dedicated to Gurney, and a Sam Posey written and narrated tribute will close the FOX network telecast just before it goes off air at 5 p.m. ET.

And leading the 2018 Rolex 24 At Daytona field around on its pre-race parade lap will be the No. 30 Lola T70 race car that Gurney drove to victory in the 1966 Can-Am race at Bridgehampton in New York. It was the only Ford-powered car ever to win a Can-Am race.

Among Gurney’s many other achievements as a driver, team owner and constructor was his Toyota-powered Eagle Mk III Prototype, in which PJ Jones set the all-time Rolex 24 At Daytona qualifying record that still stands today.

RELATED: Gurney passes away | Gurney’s career stats