The first major motorsport event in America for 2010 goes down this weekend. The 48th running of the 24 Hours of Daytona will happen on January 30-31 and the action can be followed on SPEED. We’ll be watching as much as we can. The Daytona prototypes don’t do a whole lot for us, although they sound killer, but the GT cars are killer to watch, especially after 12 hours or so when they’re all “seasoned” with dirt, rubber, and grime.
The man who will be starting on the inside of row one is Max Angelelli who managed to lap the course in just over 1:40 at and average speed of 127 mph. The high speed portions of the course, up on the banked oval really help to drive up the avgerage lap speed and they do provide some great passing alleys and there are lots of “drag races” throughout the event.
Interestingly, the top three qualifiers are all sporting Ford power. The leading GT car is a Mazda RX-8 which was lapping the track about nine seconds slower than the prototypes.
One of the lesser mentioned landmarks that will come with this race is the end of the endurance racing career of legend Hurley Haywood. Haywood will still race cars, just not for long hauls. He has had an amazing career that includes three wins at LeMans. We’d vote him as the best endurance racing sports car driver of all time.
If you haven’t ever given sports car racing a second look, this is a great race to tune into. Lots of screaming V8 motors, American iron taking on the world’s best, and high speeds on the high banks of Daytona. OOGA BOOGA!
Source –Jacksonville.com — Hurley Haywood’s Last Ride
Source — LA Times.com — Max Angelelli Captures Pole for Rolex Daytona 24
