Rolex and its Roar Before the 24 at Daytona are big for stock-car fans (no, really) | KEN WILLIS
Next Gen cars?
It’s always Next Gen when the Rolex 24 rolls into town and onto the big track.
We say it every year and will continue until further notice: It’s a loud and lightning-quick bit of irony, but if you’re a fan of stock-car racing — as in something you’ll see in stock down at the dealership — the International Motor Sports Association and its flagship Rolex 24 is where you should hang your officially licensed cap.
When is the Rolex 24 at Daytona?
It’s a big reason why you see so many “car folks” wandering the grounds of Daytona International Speedway during this weekend’s Rolex test sessions, and why the floodgates will be thrown wide open for next Thursday-to-Sunday’s (Jan. 27-30) Rolex 24 weekend.
The 60th Rolex 24 is set for Saturday, Jan. 30 at 1:30 p.m.
It’s largely about the machinery these two weekends, unlike NASCAR, where for a few generations now it’s been about the cockpit celebrities. Not that a new effort isn’t aiming to direct your gaze to the automobiles.
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Along with plenty of wrenching and hanging and welding, NASCAR and its manufacturing partners have put a big promotional effort into the new-look Mustangs, Camrys and Camaros debuting next month.
Or maybe I should say Mustangs, Camrys, and Camaros …
Yes, the Next Gen rides are more stocky than all the predecessors dating back to at least Gen 4, maybe Gen 3 in the ’80s. But Rolex week in Daytona is where you can kick the tires of a Lexus RC F over at the auto mall, or sniff a new Corvette across town at Jon Hall Chevy, then go to the Speedway paddock and check out a pretty decent facsimile of that same car all decked out in race-team colors and logos.
Yes, you’ll need to squint and imagine it without that rear wing, but still.
Rolex 24 2022 driver lineup
On the deep roster of 61 entries for the Rolex, 25 are prototypes — the fastest and most futuristic cars in the garage. You won’t find this version of the Cadillac alongside Hyde Park’s valet stand.
The other 35 entries — that nearly-’bout stock-car portion of the field — all carry the flag of GTD (as in Grand Touring Daytona). But this being IMSA and sports-car racing, it can’t be that cut and dried. Of those 35, 13 are lumped into the GTD Pro class — factory-backed teams with all-professional driver lineups.
The remaining 22 GTD teams are a mix of privateers, semi-privateers, pro drivers and the old staple of sports-car racing: The Gentleman Racer.
The 26 prototypes are broken into three classes, again, because this is sports-car racing and there’s never been a shortage of sports-car racing constituencies.
The Daytona Prototype International (DPi) has just seven entries, remains the marquee Rolex class, but don’t fall in love. The DPi goes away after this year when the North American sports-car rulers enter a whole new world and introduce us to the Le Mans Daytona Hybrid.
Whatever, whenever, whomever ... this time of year we let the Inside Baseball people argue about needed and unneeded changes, and let them argue about things like grid placement, driver ratings and the thankless Balance of Performance efforts.
The rest of us (including you, perhaps) just stand against a railing or fence and enjoy the unique sights and sounds of January at Daytona, where the Porsche nimbly navigating the chicane looks much like the one that scared the bejeezus out of you last week on I-4.
— Reach Ken Willis at ken.willis@news-jrnl.com
This article originally appeared on The Daytona Beach News-Journal: Daytona racing: Rolex, Roar Before the 24 also big weekends for NASCAR fans
