Every day another team or two sign up, it seems, for the biggest race of the Grand Am Rolex Sports Car Series season, the Rolex 24 at Daytona.
So far 48 cars in three classes have officially declared their entries for the 51st running of the all-day endurance classic—16 Daytona Prototypes, 35 GTs, and seven cars in the new GX class.
The DPs include all the usual suspects: a pair of Riley-BMWs from 2012 champion Chip Ganassi Racing, two Riley-Fords from 2012 Rolex winner Shank Racing, another from 2012 runner-up Starworks Motorsports. Action Express, Spirit of Daytona, and Wayne Taylor will each field a Coyote-Corvette, as will Starworks alumnus 8 Star; Bob Stallings will bring a Riley Corvette. Team Sahlen is stepping up form GT to field a pair of Riley-BMWs in its DP debut.
GT features four Audi R8s, three TRG Porsches, two more from 2012 class winner Magnus Racing, four Ferraris, a Viper, and regulars like the Marsh Corvette, Stevenson Camaro, Brumos Porsche, and Turner BMWs.
The new GX class has attracted a variety of makes: A quartet of Mazda 6’s entered by SpeedSource/Visit Florida (old RX8s rebodied,) the McMahon Lotus Evora, and a pair of Porsche Caymans entered by Napleton Racing and BGB Motorsports.
Likely the list will continue to grow as the race date approaches. Last year 58 cars in two classes took the green flag, and with a third class added, a final grid of similar size art least can be expected.
The 51st Rolex 24 at Daytona starts Jan. 26, 2013. Tickets are available through Grand-Am.com.
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