Tomorrow at 3:30 PM EST, the second biggest international endurance racing event of the year begins. For 24 hours teams will fight for every position on every lap, in a full day sprint in and around the Daytona International Circuit.
Teams will face fields made up of active drivers from the IZOD IndyCar Series, the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series, the DTM, the FIA WEC and the Grand-Am Rolex Sports Car series. As well, they will fight their own eyelids to stay awake through a long 13-hour night. Three teams go home with fancy watches, while the other 54 teams get on a long flight back home to reflect on what went wrong.
It's not Le Mans, but it's the next best thing: the 51st annual Rolex 24 at Daytona, and for the first time, Jalopnik will allow you to follow it live. How do you track 57 teams? With this handy spotter's guide.
This is the last race under Grand-Am sanctioning, before they join with ALMS. The fields in DP and GT are arguably the strongest they've ever been. About a third of the full season DP field have swapped rides over the course of the 2012-2013 offseason, and it's given much needed refreshes to many of the major programs.
Furthermore, GT has seen an even larger influx of new production-based equipment, with just four "Prep 2" NASCAR-style tube frame cars remaining in the main GT class. For the first time since 2004, there is a third class joining the grid, with the experimental GX category boasting three Porsche Caymans and three of the gorgeous diesel powered Mazda6 entries. Among the all-stars filling out entries; Audi star Allan McNish, two-time V8 Supercar champion Marcos Ambrose, Daytona 500 winner Jamie McMurray and Indianapolis 500 champions Scott Dixon, Juan Pablo Montoya and Dario Franchitti. If it's anything like 2012's dramatic Starworks vs Michael Shank Racing duel, highlighted by side by side racing between Allan McNish and AJ Allmendinger during three separate stints, this will be a great race.
Despite some balance-of-performance issues (and some subsequent sandbagging), all three classes boast extremely tight fields. To help give you a bit of an idea of who has an advantage and where, I've posted the full entry list below, with notes under each entry telling you where they finished this event in 2012, where they finished the Grand-Am championship in 2012 and where they qualified for this weekend's race. I've also included three objective stats.
One is a rating of the car, which on a scale from 1-to-5 (with, in recent sports car racing terms, 1 being an ALMS Jaguar and 5 being an FIA WEC Audi) measures the overall ability of both the car and the team at the Rolex 24. The second is a 1-to-5 rating of the driver lineup (with, in recent sports car racing terms, 1 being the AF Corse GTE-Am car that caused a Toyota to flip at Le Mans last year and 5 being the Daytona Prototype featuring Sebastian Vettel, Mark Webber, Scott Speed and Brian Vickers that supposedly almost ran in 2010). The third is a general power ranking, which shows where I would think the car would finish in class after 24 hours of racing if nothing in the class saw any mechanical issues.
After you've read over this, get yourself excited for the race, which starts at 3:30 PM EST tomorrow, live in the U.S. on SPEED and live in Europe on Motors TV. Jalopnik will also provide coverage, with a 24-hour live community blog that I will anchor in a Q&A style post during the event. When that launches, you the reader will be able to post questions, comments, pictures and insight to the comments as we all watch the event live together. When the TVs go off overnight, we'll still be here bringing you live updates from the track.
Photo Credit: Trevor Andrusko/Track9 Media
DP Total — 17
01– Chip Ganassi Racing with Felix Sabates
Finish last year – 6th, Championship result last year – 1st, Starting Position – 1st, Car's Rating – 5 Driver's Rating – 4, Predictive Ranking – 4th
BMW (Dinan)-Riley – Scott Pruett, Memo Rojas, Juan Pablo Montoya, Charlie Kimball
Photo Credit: Trevor Andrusko/Track9 Media
02 –Chip Ganassi Racing with Felix Sabates
Finish last year – 4th, Championship result last year – N/A, Starting Position – 1st, Car's Rating – 5, Driver's Rating – 5, Predictive Ranking – 2nd
BMW (Dinan)-Riley – Dario Franchitti, Joey Hand, Scott Dixon, Jamie McMurray
Photo Credit: Trevor Andrusko/Track9 Media
2 –Starworks with Alex Popow
Finish last year – 2nd, Championship result last year – 2nd, Starting Position – 7th, Car's Rating – 4, Driver's Rating – 4, Predictive Ranking – 3rd
Ford-Riley – Ryan Dalziel, Alex Popow, Allan McNish, Sebastian Bourdais
3 –8Star Motorsports
Finish last year – N/A, Championship result last year – N/A, Starting Position – 9th, Car's Rating – 3, Driver's Rating – 4, Predictive Ranking – 7th
Corvette-Coyote – Enzo Poltolicchio, Stephane Sarazin, Nicolas Minassian, Pedro Lamy, Antony Davidson
Photo Credit: Trevor Andrusko/Track9 Media
5– Action Express Racing
Finish last year – 5th, Championship result last year – 4th, Starting Position – 11th, Car's Rating – 3, Driver's Rating – 3, Predictive Ranking – 11th
Corvette-Coyote –Joao Barbosa, Brian Friselle, Christian Fittipaldi, Felipe Nasr, Nelson Piquet Jr
6 – Michael Shank Racing
Finish last year – 3rd, Championship result last year – N/A, Starting Position – 4th, Car's Rating – 4, Driver's Rating – 4, Predictive Ranking – 6th
Ford-Riley – Jorge Goncalvez, Gustavo Yacaman, Chris Cumming, Michael Valiante
Photo Credit: Trevor Andrusko/Track9 Media
8 – Starworks Motorsports
Finish last year – 10th, Championship result last year – 9th, Starting Position – 15th, Car's Rating – 4, Driver's Rating – 3, Predictive Ranking – 12th
Ford-Riley – Scott Mayer, Ivan Bellarosa, Jan Charouz, Brendon Hartley, Gaetano Ardagna
9 – Action Express Racing
Finish last year – 9th, Championship result last year – 6th, Starting Position – 13th, Car's Rating – 3, Driver's Rating – 4, Predictive Ranking – 15th
Corvette-Coyote – Joao Barbosa, Burt Friselle, Christian Fittipaldi, Mike Rockenfeller
10 – Wayne Taylor Racing
Finish last year – 14th, Championship result last year – 5th, Starting Position – 12th, Car's Rating – 3, Driver's Rating – 4, Predictive Ranking – 9th
Corvette-Dallara – Jordan Taylor, Max Angelleli, Ryan Hunter-Reay
Photo Credit: Trevor Andrusko/Track9 Media
27 – BTE Sport
Finish last year – N/A, Championship result last year – N/A, Starting Position – 17th, Car's Rating – 1, Driver's Rating – 2, Predictive Ranking – 17th
Ford-Riley (Generation 2) – Emmanuel Anassis, Anthony Massari, Doug Peterson
See the #27 BTE Sport car here.
42 – Team Sahlen
Finish last year – 12th (ran in GT), Championship result last year – 7th (ran in GT), Starting Position – 3rd, Car's Rating – 4, Driver's Rating – 3, Predictive Ranking – 8th
BMW (Dinan)-Riley – Wayne Nonnamaker, Dane Cameron, Simon Pagenaud, Bruno Junqueira
Photo Credit: Trevor Andrusko/Track9 Media
43 – Team Sahlen
Finish last year - 44th (ran in GT), Championship result last year – 9th (ran in GT), Car's Rating – 4, Driver's Rating – 2, Starting Position – 16th, Predictive Ranking – 12th
BMW (Dinan)-Riley – Joe Nonnamaker, Will Nonnamaker, Joe Sahlen
Photo Credit: Trevor Andrusko/Track9 Media
50 – Highway to Help
Finish last year – 12th, Championship result last year – N/A, Starting Position – 10th, Car's Rating – 3, Driver's Rating – 2, Predictive Ranking – 14th
BMW (Dinan)-Riley – Frank Beck, Carlos de Quesada, Byron Defoor, Ian James, Jim Pace
60 – Michael Shank Racing
Finish last year – 1st, Championship result last year – 8th, Starting Position – 6th, Car's Rating – 4, Driver's Rating – 5, Predictive Ranking – 1st
Ford-Riley – John Pew, Oswaldo Negri Jr, Marcos Ambrose, AJ Allmendinger, Justin Wilson
77 – Doran Racing
Finish last year – 7th, Championship result last year – N/A, Starting Position – 14th, Car's Rating – 3, Driver's Rating – 3, Predictive Ranking – 16th
Ford-Dallara (Riley body) – Paul Tracy, Jim Lowe, John Bennett, Colin Braun
90 – Spirit of Daytona
Finish last year – 8th, Championship result last year – 3rd, Starting Position – 5th, Car's Rating – 3, Driver's Rating – 5, Predictive Ranking – 5th
Corvette-Coyote – Richard Westbrook, Ricky Taylor, Antonio Garcia, Oliver Gavin
Photo Credit: Trevor Andrusko/Track9 Media
99 – Bob Stallings Racing
Finish last year – 13th, Championship result last year – 7th, Starting Position – 8th, Car's Rating – 3, Driver's Rating – 3, Predictive Ranking – 10th
Corvette-Coyote – Jon Fogarty, Alex Gurney, Memo Gidley, Darren Law
Photo Credit: Trevor Andrusko/Track9 Media
GT Total - 34
03 – Extreme Speed Motorsports
Finish last year – 13th, Championship result last year – N/A, Starting Position – 25th, Car's Rating – 4, Driver's Rating – 2, Predictive Ranking – 12th
Ferrari 458 GT3 – Ed Brown, Mike Hedlund, Scott Sharp, Johannes Van Overbeek
13 – Rum Bum Racing
Finish last year – N/A, Championship result last year – N/A, Starting Position – 15th, Car's Rating – 3, Driver's Rating – 3, Predictive Ranking – 30th
Audi R8 LMS – Frank Biela, Christopher Haase, Markus Winkelhock, Matt Plumb
Photo Credit: Trevor Andrusko/Track9 Media
17 – Burtin Racing (with Goldcrest Motorsports)
Finish last year – 33rd, Championship result last year – N/A, Starting Position – 31st, Car's Rating – 3, Driver's Rating – 2, Predictive Ranking – 29th
Porsche 911 GT3 Cup – Jack Baldwin, Claudio Burtin, Mario Farnbacher, Martin Ragginger, Robert Renauer
18 – Mulhner Motorsports
Finish last year – 26th, Championship result last year – N/A, Starting Position – 23rd, Car's Rating – 3, Driver's Rating – Unknown, Predictive Ranking – 27th
Porsche 911 GT3 Cup –TBA
19 – Mulhner Motorsports
Finish last year – 29th, Championship result last year – N/A, Starting Position – 32nd, Car's Rating – 3, Driver's Rating - Unknown Predictive Ranking – 26th
Porsche 911 GT3 Cup –TBA
20 – Dener Motorsport
Finish last year – N/A, Championship result last year – N/A, Starting Position – 28th, Car's Rating – 4, Driver's Rating – 2, Predictive Ranking – 28th
Porsche 911 GT3 Cup – Nono Figueiredo, Constantino Junior, Clemente Lunardi, Ricardo Mauricio, Marcel Visconde
21 – Dener Motorsport
Finish last year – N/A, Championship result last year – N/A, Starting Position – 24th, Car's Rating – 4, Driver's Rating – 4, Predictive Ranking – 25th
Porsche 911 GT3 Cup – Rubens Barrichello, Tony Kanaan, Felipe Giaffone, Nono Figueiredo, Ricardo Mauricio
23 – Alex Job Racing
Finish last year – 17th, Championship result last year – N/A, Starting Position – 14th, Car's Rating – 5, Driver's Rating – 5, Predictive Ranking – 1st
Porsche 911 GT3 Cup – Jeroen Bleekemolen, Cooper MacNeil, Marco Holzer, Damien Faulkner
Photo Credit: Trevor Andrusko/Track9 Media
24 – Alex Job Racing
Finish last year – 14th (ran a Porsche), Championship result last year – N/A, Starting Position – 5th, Car's Rating – 4, Driver's Rating – 5, Predictive Ranking – 4th
Audi R8 LMS – Filipe Albuquerque, Oliver Jarvis, Edoardo Mortara, Dion Von Moltke
Photo Credit: Trevor Andrusko/Track9 Media
30 – MOMO/NGT Motorsport
Finish last year – 18th, Championship result last year – N/A, Starting Position – 34th, Car's Rating – 4, Driver's Rating – 4, Predictive Ranking – 13th
Porsche 911 GT3 Cup – Henrique Cisneros, Sean Edwards, Kuba Giermaziak, Patrick Pilet
31 – Marsh Racing
Finish last year – N/A, Championship result last year – 10th, Starting Position – 22nd, Car's Rating – 3, Driver's Rating – 3, Predictive Ranking – 14th
Corvette Z06-R – Lawson Aschenbach, Boris Said, Brandon Davis, Eric Curran
Photo Credit: Trevor Andrusko/Track9 Media
32 – Konrad Motorsport
Finish last year – N/A, Championship result last year – N/A, Starting Position – 1st, Car's Rating – 5, Driver's Rating – 3, Predictive Ranking – 15th
Porsche 911 GT3 Cup – Michael Christensen, Christian Engelhart, Nick Tandy, Lance Willsey
44 – Magnus Racing
Finish last year – 1st, Championship result last year – 5th, Starting Position – 2nd, Car's Rating – 5, Driver's Rating – 5, Predictive Ranking – 2nd
Porsche 911 GT3 Cup – Nicolas Armindo, Andy Lally, Richard Lietz, John Potter
45 – Magnus Racing
Finish last year – 36th, Championship result last year – N/A, Starting Position – 18th, Car's Rating – 5, Driver's Rating – 2, Predictive Ranking – 16th
Porsche 911 GT3 Cup – Mark Boden, Al Carter, John Farano, Alex Figge, Dave Lacey
51 – APR Motorsport
Finish last year – N/A, Championship result last year – N/A, Starting Position – 26th, Car's Rating – 4, Driver's Rating – 3, Predictive Ranking – 24th
Audi R8 LMS – Matt Bell, David Empringham, John Farano, Alex Figge, Dave lacey
Photo Credit: Trevor Andrusko/Track9 Media
52 – APR Motorsport
Finish last year – 31st, Championship result last year – 11th, Starting Position – 10th, Car's Rating – 4, Driver's Rating – 4, Predictive Ranking – 17th
Audi R8 LMS – Ian Baas, Marc Basseng, Rene Rast, Frank Stippler
Photo Credit: Trevor Andrusko/Track9 Media
56 – AF Waltrip
Finish last year – 22nd, Championship result last year – N/A, Starting Position – 16th, Car's Rating – 4, Driver's Rating – 3, Predictive Ranking – 23rd
Ferrari 458 GT3 – Michael Waltrip, Rui Aguas, Clint Bowyer, Rob Kauffman
Photo Credit: Trevor Andrusko/Track9 Media
57 – Stevenson Motorsports
Finish last year – 4th, Championship result last year – 2nd, Starting Position – 7th, Car's Rating – 3, Driver's Rating – 5, Predictive Ranking – 6th
Chevrolet Camaro GT.R (Prep2) – John Edwards, Robin Liddell, Tom Milner, Jan Magnussen
Photo Credit: Trevor Andrusko/Track9 Media
59 – Brumos Racing
Finish last year – 3rd, Championship result last year – 6th, Starting Position – 13th, Car's Rating – 5, Driver's Rating – 4, Predictive Ranking – 5th
Porsche 911 GT3 Cup – Andrew Davis, Leh Keen, Marc Lieb, Brian Sellers
Photo Credit: Trevor Andrusko/Track9 Media
61 – AIM Autosport with R. Ferri
Finish last year – N/A, Championship result last year – N/A, Starting Position – 11th, Car's Rating -4, Driver's Rating – 5, Predictive Ranking – 7th
Ferrari 458 GT3 – Max Papis, Jeff Segal, Toni Vilander, Giancarlo Fisichella
62 – Wright Motorsports with Snow Racing
Finish last year – N/A, Championship result last year – N/A, Starting Position – 6th, Car's Rating – 4, Driver's Rating – 3, Predictive Ranking – 18th
Porsche 911 GT3 Cup – Sascha Maassen, Klaus Bachler, Marco Seefried, Madison Snow, Melanie Snow
63 – Scuderia Corsa
Finish last year – N/A, Championship result last year – N/A, Starting Position – 4th, Car's Rating – 4, Driver's Rating – 3, Predictive Ranking – 8th
Ferrari 458 GT3 – Alessandro Balzan, Marco Frezza, Alessandro Pier Guidi
Photo Credit: Trevor Andrusko/Track9 Media
64 – Scuderia Corsa
Finish last year – N/A, Championship result last year – N/A, Starting Position – 8th, Car's Rating – 4, Driver's Rating – 3, Predictive Ranking – 9th
Ferrari 458 GT3 – Chico Longo, Rafa Matos, Xandinho Negrao, Daniel Serra
Photo Credit: Trevor Andrusko/Track9 Media
66 – TRG
Finish last year – 6th, Championship result last year – N/A, Starting Position – 12th, Car's Rating – 5, Driver's Rating – 4, Predictive Ranking – 4th
Porsche 911 GT3 Cup – Jorg Bergemeister, Dominik Farnbacher, Ben Keating, Kuno Wittmer
67 – TRG
Finish last year – 2nd, Championship result last year – N/A, Starting Position – 19th, Car's Rating – 5, Driver's Rating -4, Predictive Ranking – 12th
Porsche 911 GT3 Cup – Emmanuel Collard, Romain Dumas, Nic Jonnson, Tracy Krohn
Photo Credit: Trevor Andrusko/Track9 Media
68 – TRG
Finish last year – 24th, Championship result last year – N/A, Starting Position – 30th, Car's Rating – 5, Driver's Rating – 2, Predictive Ranking – 22nd
Porsche 911 GT3 Cup – Ivo Breukers, Brad Lewis, Jim Michaelian, Ronald van de Laar
69 – AIM Autosport FXDD
Finish last year – 7th, Championship result last year – 1st, Starting Position – 9th, Car's Rating – 4, Driver's Rating – 3, Predictive Ranking – 11th
Ferrari 458 GT3 – Emil Assentato, Anthony Lazzaro, Nick Longhi, Mark Wilkins
Photo Credit: Trevor Andrusko/Track9 Media
72 – Park Place Motorsports
Finish last year – N/A, Championship result last year – N/A, Starting Position – 29th, Car's Rating – 5, Driver's Rating – 2, Predictive Ranking – 19th
Porsche 911 GT3 Cup – Chuck Cole, JF Dumoulin, Grant Phipps, Mike Skeen, Mike Vess
73 – Park Place Motorsports
Finish last year – N/A, Championship result last year – 13th, Starting Position – 3rd, Car's Rating – 5, Driver's Rating – 4, Predictive Ranking – 10th
Porsche 911 GT3 Cup – Patrick Long, Spencer Pumpelley, Patrick Lindsey, Jason Hart, Daniel Graeff
Photo Credit: Trevor Andrusko/Track9 Media
78 – Racers Edge Motorsport
Finish last year – N/A, Championship result last year – N/A, Starting Position – 33rd, Car's Rating – 1, Driver's Rating – 2, Predictive Ranking – 31st
Mazda RX8 (Prep2) – Rudy Camarillo, Martin Fuentes, Carlos Peralta, Ricardo Perez De Lara
80 – TruSpeed Motorsports
Finish last year – N/A, Championship result last year – N/A, Starting Position – 27th, Car's Rating – 3, Driver's Rating – 2, Predictive Ranking – 32nd
Porsche 911 GT3 – Kelly Collins, Phil Fogg, Tom Haacker, Jim Walsh
87 – Vehicle Technologies
Finish last year – 42nd, Championship result last year – N/A, Starting Position - 20th, Car's Rating – 1, Driver's Rating – 1, Predictive Ranking – 33rd
Dodge Viper Competition Coupe – Tony Ave, Jan Heylen, Doug Peterson
Photo Credit: Chad Hessoun
93 – Turner Motorsport
Finish last year – 16th, Championship result last year – N/A, Starting Position – 17th, Car's Rating – 3, Driver's Rating – 5, Predictive Ranking – 20th
BMW M3 (Prep2) – Bill Auberlin, Michael Marsal, Maxime Martin, Andy Priaulx, Gunter Schaldach
Photo Credit: Trevor Andrusko/Track9 Media
94 – Turner Motorsport
Finish last year – 43rd, Championship result last year – 3rd, Starting Position – 21st, Car's Rating – 3, Driver's Rating – 4, Predictive Ranking – 21st
BMW M3 (Prep2) – Bill Auberlin, Maxime Martin, Paul Dalla Lana, Billy Johnson, Boris Said
Photo Credit: Trevor Andrusko/Track9 Media
GX Total – 6
00 – SpeedSource with Yellow Dragon Motorsports
Finish last year – 37th (ran in GT), Championship result last year – N/A, Starting Position – 4th, Car Rating – 2, Driver's Rating – 4, Predictive Ranking – 4th
Mazda6 GX (Prep2) – Spencer Pigot, Tristan Nunez, Tristan Vaultier, Terada Yojiro, Joel Miller
16 – Napleton Racing
Finish last year – N/A, Championship result last year – N/A, Starting Position – 1st, Car's Rating – 4, Driver's Rating – 3, Predictive Ranking – 2nd
Porsche Cayman GX – Nelson Canache, David Donohue, Shane Lewis, Jim Norman
Photo Credit: Trevor Andrusko/Track9 Media
22 – Bullet Racing
Finish last year – 20th (ran in GT), Championship result last year – N/A, Starting Position – 6th, Car's Rating – 4, Driver's Rating – 2, Predictive Ranking – 5th
Porsche Cayman GX – James Clay, Darryl O'Young, Daniel Rogers, Seth Thomas, Karl Thomson
25 – SpeedSource with Freedom Autosport
Finish last year – N/A, Championship result last year – N/A, Starting Position – 3rd, Car's Rating – 2, Driver's Rating – 3, Predictive Ranking – 6th
Mazda6 GX (Prep2) – Andrew Carbonell, Tom Long, Rhett O'Doski, Derek Whitis
38 – BGB Motorsports
Finish last year – N/A, Championship result last year – N/A, Starting Position – 2nd, Car's Rating – 4, Driver's Rating – 3, Predictive Ranking – 1st
Porsche Cayman GX – Ryan Eversley, Eric Foss, Lee Davis, Jeff Mosing, John Tecce
Photo Credit: Trevor Andrusko/Track9 Media
70 – SpeedSource
Finish last year – 5th (ran in GT), Championship result last year –4th (ran in GT), Car's Rating – 2, Driver's Rating – 5, Starting Position – 5th, Predictive Ranking – 3nd
Mazda6 GX (Prep2) – Jonathan Bomarito, Sylvain Tremblay, Marino Franchitti, James Hinchcliffe
Photo Credit: Trevor Andrusko/Track9 Media
17 DP + 33 GT + 6 GX = 56 Cars