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ALLAN MCNISH: I came here in the late '90s.
The race was completely different to it is today.
We're talking about the 50th anniversary
race here at Daytona.
It's obviously a big thing.
It's the 50th year of the running of the event.
They've pushed very hard to create an
international presence.
And said from the driver's point of view, oddly, there's
probably more, and a higher quality of, drivers.
You just need to look at the DP field.
And there's some pretty good guys there.
There's been a lot of NASCAR guys in the past.
And there's IndyCar.
There's some ex-F1.
You know, there's sports cars.
There's probably generally a better driver field, but maybe
a little bit lesser car field.
LEO PARENTE: This is pre-race at the Rolex 24 at Daytona.
And it's a fantastic race.
The 50th anniversary of this famous event.
And the debut of many new race cars-- from Ferrari, from
Audi, the Corvette DP, and the narrow-roof Riley.
All of this has got these fans excited.
We couldn't ask for a better day.
It's the only 24-hour race in America.
It's the first race of the new 2012 season.
Can't be better than this.
Michael, running the Ferrari here, the new
one for Grand Am.
Is there anything you're gonna be watching for as you start
these first hours?
MICHAEL WALTRIP: Oh, just looking forward to the
experience.
I've never run Daytona.
And growing up in America and watching my brother compete in
this race back in the early '80s, I've just always been a
fan of the event.
And so to get to experience the 50th anniversary Rolex and
see all the enthusiasm, the crowd that's here.
And driving a Ferrari?
LEO PARENTE: So, Andy, you're starting the car.
Talk to me about the temptation to make that move
in turn one versus 24 hours?
ANDY LALLY: You got to balance out your aggression with your
passiveness here for the entire 24-hour race.
We've got the most competitive GT field in the history of the
Rolex, or any 24-hour race for that matter.
So we've got to go.
But there's definitely a balance.
If I see the opening, I'm going to go for it.
But I'm not gonna take any unnecessary chances.
LEO PARENTE: So what part of this experience compares to
the other things you've done?
TRAVIS PASTRANA: Oh, man, just driving a car is awesome.
This is a Ferrari.
This is my first time racing one of those.
Give me the keys, say go fast.
I mean, 24 hours?
How can you beat that?
LEO PARENTE: My only other question, I thought drivers
were shorter?
TRAVIS PASTRANA: I know.
Well, hey, here you go.
These are the other two guys on my team.
And then we got Michael, who's--
LEO PARENTE: OK.
OK.
Balances out.
TRAVIS PASTRANA: Balances out.
LEO PARENTE: Have a good one.
TRAVIS PASTRANA: Thanks a lot.
MATT FARAH: You woke up this morning, put this on, and then
looked here in the mirror and you were like, yeah,
I'm ready to go now.
LEO PARENTE: Mike, as beautiful as this MOMO car is,
it's what underneath it works.
Talk to me about the setup.
Was there a difference in setup for qualifying versus
running this race?
MIKE FOX: Yes.
We didn't have to worry about tire life in qualifying.
So we could make the cambers very aggressive and straighten
the toes out.
Because it's just a short deal and the driver just has to
hang on to it for a little while.
For 24 hours, we have to tame it down and
make everything last.
So we take the camber out, set the tires flatter, straighten
the toe out.
So the tires will last longer.
In qualifying, the tires only have to last for 15 minutes.
In race, we have to run the tires at least
an hour and a half.
And we'd like to go two stints if at all possible.
So yes.
There is a big difference.
LEO PARENTE: And beyond that in setup, everyone picks one
or two corners as the key corners to set the car for.
Which are those corners, and what'd you do?
MIKE FOX: I didn't set it up for the corners.
I set it up for the straightaway.
LEO PARENTE: OK.
MIKE FOX: The car is very straight, and the
wing is very flat.
Because I can make up more time on front stretch than I
can anywhere else.
LEO PARENTE: Begs the last question, did you adjust
gearing for a draft?
MIKE FOX: No.
LEO PARENTE: OK.
[MUSIC PLAYING]
[CAR ENGINES ROARING]
LEO PARENTE: There's something in Grand Am rules that allow
this car to be sitting in the garage to still be racing.
Seems the team started an extra car, this car 43.
And in the first few laps, parked it.
It's a perfectly good race car.
But the strategy is that if they had a problem with the
other cars, they could put the drivers in this car and go
back racing.
Because right now, this car is still in the race.
[MUSIC PLAYING]
LEO PARENTE: 14 Daytona prototypes.
45 GT cars.
But it's about 25% of the field that
makes this race special.
They're the new cars.
Two Audis, five Ferraris, five Corvettes, four narrow-roof
Rileys, and one Mustang GT.
There's a lot of excitement to see Audi at the Rolex.
But there were problems.
The Ferraris look sexy.
They're front-row fast.
My Atlantic friend, Anthony Lazzaro, said they were easy
to drive, even with less downforce than
the GT and GT3 versions.
But mechanical problems kept them in the garage and in the
back of the race.
Porsche has a 50-year tradition here at the Rolex,
and the 2012 race proved why.
Fast, efficient with fuel, and tuned for probably the best
aero in the GT class, which gave them speed and that fuel
efficiency.
Chevy came to the Rolex to dominate the attention with
their new Corvette body work.
But it was the new technology from Ford with the Roush Yates
Motors that's dominating this race.
The Rolex 24 wasn't the only series with new cars.
Grand Am also has the KONI challenge for more
production-based race cars.
And Multimatic debuted the new 4.7-liter V8
Aston Martin Vantage.
Also in KONI you can find drift star Tyler McQuarrie
licking his road-racing chops.
TYLER McQUARRIE: The comparison of technique
between road racing and drifting is pretty simple.
With drifting, you're taking the car and you have to be
past the limits at all times, throughout your entire run.
And the further you get past the limits, the better it is
for judging.
There's more smoke, the better it is for the crowds.
Whereas racing, you're riding this line.
You don't want to be under the limits, but you don't want to
be over it.
It's just this really small window.
So you're kind of massaging, going back and forth.
Up a little bit past the limits.
You might have a little moment, a little under where
you're like, OK, I can charge into that corner
a little bit more.
So that part of it, you're trying to finesse a race car.
LEO PARENTE: What would make this a more
international event?
What needs to happen for this race to get more European?
JACKIE STEWART: Well, more variety of cars.
LEO PARENTE: And the drivers?
JACKIE STEWART: Oh, they would come with the cars.
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