2012 24 Hours of Daytona Preview

Tomorrow is the 50th Anniversary of the 24 Hours of Daytona.  I view this as a celebrity event because racers all over the world come to win this big prize.  Past winners include: Mario Andretti, AJ Foyt, and Dan Gurney to name a few. T.V. coverage is on Speed and Speed.com.

There are a total of 60 entries (14 Daytona Prototype and 46 Grand Touring).

ENTRY LIST

A quick note (Marco Andretti is expected to join the #2 Starworks Ford/Riley as a last minute addition). 

Predictions:

Front Runners: (DP)

SunTrust Racing #10: Wayne Taylor’s team is always strong at the 24 Hours of Daytona. They bring back the same lineup from last year. With the combination of that and their new Chevy Corvette DP chassis it could be a winning combo.

Ganassi Racing #01 and 02: Both Ganassi cars bring back the same lineups/cars/engines from last year.  I expect the 01 team (Scott Pruett, Memo Rojas, Graham Rahal, and Joey Hand) to be great once again since they have been the team to beat the last few years but they will have to it from the back of the pack this year because of an engine failure yesterday.

As for the 02 team, Montoya will be looking for a win after a dismal season last year in Sprint Cup, same story for Jaime McMurray.  As for the open-wheel side of the lineup. Both Scott Dixon and Dario Franchitti will want to open up strong after testing the IndyCars in Sebring over the winter.

Starworks Motorsport #2: With the confirmation of Marco Andretti, Michael Valiante, and Ryan Hunter-Reay as there so called “guest drivers” this could be a great team for the race. Expect them to contend all day long tomorrow.

Starworks Motorsport #8: After winning the pole yesterday in qualifying, the team will want to show on the big stage.  Expect Ryan Daizel to get in the car for the first 5 hours then they switch to Allan McNish and Lucas Luhr at night.

Bob Stallings Racing #99: This year Jon and Alex are back as their main drivers. No Jimmie Johnson or Jimmy Vasser, but Memo Gidley is the third driver this year.  This team has the new Chevy car also. They dominated ‘Roar Before the Rolex’.

Also expect the Action Express and Spirit of Daytona cars to be up there also.

On the GT side I see TRG, Dempsey, Mazda Speed Source and AF Waltrip as contenders.

Winner: DP: SunTrust Racing #10

Winner: GT: Dempsey Racing #40