Spirit of Daytona Racing
continued their two-wheel experiment as they prepare for the 47th
anniversary Rolex 24 At Daytona on Jan. 24-25 at historic Daytona
International Speedway.
The Daytona Beach-based
team, which has previously tested their No. 09 Porsche Coyote
Daytona Prototype at DIS with motorcycle stars Ricky Carmichael,
Jason Pridmore and five-time Daytona 200 By Honda winner Scott
Russell, added motorcycle veteran Jeff Ward to the mix on Tuesday
during the first day of the two-day November Test Days session.
November Test Days is the
second of three major tune-ups for the Rolex 24 and has 40 sports
cars on the entry list - 20 Daytona Prototypes and 20 GT class
machines.
Ward has driven almost
everything you can possibly drive at Daytona International
Speedway from stock cars, sports cars, Supercross and road racing
motorcycles and has been runner-up three different times in the
Daytona Supercross By Honda.
But he's never gotten
behind the wheel of a sleek and stylish Daytona Prototype, which
he will do during November Test Days.
"I raced the 24-hour
back in '97," said Ward, who has also competed in the IndyCar
Series. "That was my first time in a sports car and my last
time in one. The last time I was here, I ran some laps around here
testing for Team Tabasco. The last time I rode this road course, I
was here on a Formula Xtreme factory Honda bike testing a couple
of years ago. It's been a little while.
"I love riding road
courses. That's always been my best but I've never been in this
car. It's going to take a little while. I'm not expecting go out
there and go fast right away. I just want to get comfortable step
by step by step and not get overwhelmed right away. It should be
fun."
Russell is back at DIS with
Spirit of Daytona Racing for his sixth sports car road course test
and his third at "The World Center of Racing." The team
is using new updated Coyote body work which has thrown Russell a
curve ball in his learning process.
"It's a huge challenge
for me," said Russell, whose nickname is "Mr.
Daytona." "As a whole, I'm pretty happy with my
progress. I've been making gains at a decent rate. A racer always
wants to go faster. Clearly, I've got a lot of work to do. The old
car I was feeling pretty comfortable in. Now we've got a new one
to deal with so it's kind of set us back a bit. We've got quite a
bit of work to do on this car to get us back to where I was
at."
Having drivers from
different racing series hop over into sports cars has been a
common sight in recent years of the Rolex 24. But having the
two-wheel stars of motorcycle racing attempting the cross over is
something new and it's a welcome sight to many of the sports car
veterans in the garage.
"Motorcycle guys, they
obviously have a lot - I was going to say car control - but of
course it's bike control," said three-time Rolex 24 winner
Andy Wallace. "You can't have that control and then go to
four wheels and be rubbish at it. They obviously got something or
otherwise they would fall off the bike every week. Of course if
you take yourself out of a car and put yourself into a bike, the
same is not true. I'm absolutely rubbish on two wheels whenever
I've driven one on the road so I'm going to have to stick with
four wheels."
Childress-Howard
Motorsports
The Richard Childress name is usually associated with NASCAR as
the legendary owner has won two Daytona 500s with the late Dale
Earnhardt and most recently with Kevin Harvick in 2007.
Now, Childress has
partnered with Rick Howard in the Rolex Sports Car Series to form
Childress Howard Motorsports. The team is testing the No. 4
Pontiac Crawford with Rob Finlay and Andy Wallace during November
Test Days.
"For me, it's a big
thrill obviously with the history there that Mr. Childress has
done," Wallace said. "I think he wanted to branch out
into sports car racing and I've been the lucky recipient so far.
What we're trying to do is build a team that can ultimately win
races again. It's nice to be there at the start of it."
Busch, Petty and Dempsey
expected to test on Wednesday
NASCAR veteran Kurt Busch (Penske Racing) and Kyle Petty (Orbit
Racing) and Grey's Anatomy star Patrick Dempsey (HyperSport) are
expected to test on Wednesday during the second day of November
Test Days.
November Test Days is open
to the public with fans able to view testing from the Sprint
FANZONE with a $10 Daytona 500 Experience tour-only ticket. Fans
that have already purchased tickets to the 2009 Rolex 24 At
Daytona will be admitted free.
Admission for the Jan. 2-4
test session will be $10 each day and the ticket includes access
to the infield, Sprint FANZONE and garage. On Saturday, Jan. 3,
there will be driver question and answer sessions between Rolex
Series drivers and fans.
Tickets for the Rolex 24 At
Daytona are available online at http://www.daytonainternationalspeedway.com
or by calling 1-800-PITSHOP.