Corvettes and Porsches dominate at Rolex 24 Feb.3-4, Daytona International Speedway

A cold rainy weekend greeted race fans for the Rolex 24, the world's premier endurance race.  Thanks to the help of SAFE Motorsports and Steve Nix, I was able to purchase great tickets for the event including seating in the Winston Tower Suites overlooking the front straight.  Hans Clebsch (pictured above) was touring with the Cleveland Orchestra and stopped by for a visit to the famous raceway.  Both of us were impressed by the facilities and the cars (pictured below).  We arrived early on Saturday prior to the start of the race and wandered through the pit area looking in all the cars and talking to the drivers and crew.  It was great!  Later, we met up with Vinnie and Mary Hollar, Ernie Wilding, Nelson Landa and Scott McKay who were camping in the infield.

After enjoying the Cleveland Orchestra and violinist Gil Shahan Saturday evening, Suzan and I returned for the finish of the race on Sunday morning.  The event was dominated by the Corvette and Porsche teams with the C5R's taking 1st and 4th, and Porsche taking 2,3,5,6,7,8, and 10th.  It was a great event and we hope to be back again next year!

posing with the red beast in my driveway....Hans got to experience driving with 400hp and 9lbs. of boost behind his right ear

one of the winning Corvettes

Dyson Racing, a perenial favorite....they would suffer an engine failure on Sunday that ended their chances at another victory (after leading the race all Saturday)

Corvette pace cars

Corvette Z-06 on display in the infield.....many local car clubs were also represented....Porsche, BMW, Corvette, Viper....now we need an NSX parking area!

cars roar past the start-finish line at the start of the race....the sound was deafening

infield horshoe turn as cars start onto the high-speed oval

Chillin' outdoors on Sunday (above)....staying warm inside in the Winston Tower Suites! (below)

the checkered flag drops on the Corvette team.....they finish first and fourth in the event