Familiar faces to watch in the Rolex 24
Yes, we still have four weeks until the Daytona 500, but the Rolex 24 endurance race, the first race of Daytona Speedweeks, kicks off Saturday afternoon.
In the Daytona Prototype category, Jamie McMurray and Juan Pablo Montoya are again splitting driving duties in Chip Ganassi's No. 02 with IndyCar drivers Scott Dixon and Dario Franchitti. They finished second last year to Ganassi's No. 01 team of Joey Hand, Scott Pruett, Graham Rahal and Memo Rojas. All four drivers return to the No. 01 this year.
Neither car is on the front row, however. The pole went to Ryan Dalziel driving the No. 8. The No. 10 car that will be driven at times by Ryan Briscoe, starts second. AJ Allmendinger is in the No. 60 and Max Papis is in the No. 9 along with JC France, Brian France's cousin. Tony Kanaan, Ryan Hunter-Reay and E.J. Viso are in the No. 2.
In the GT Series, Michael Waltrip and Travis Pastrana are sharing a AF-Waltrip Racing Ferrari with Michael Waltrip Racing co-owner Robb Kauffman and Rui Aguas. Boris Said is in the No. 94 for Turner Motorsports and Andy Lally is in the No. 44. And, yes ladies, Dr. McDreamy is back. Actor Patrick Dempsey is in the No. 40, one of the two cars he owns this weekend in the GT Series.
Coverage of the race begins at 2:30 PM ET on Speed and concludes Sunday afternoon.
