Celebration of the 24 Hours of Daytona – Page Five
IMSA's open-top World SportsCar category had replaced the GTP class by 1995.
The 2002 race was won by the Dallara LMP Judd entered by Doran Lista Racing, driven by the quartet of Didier Theys, Mauro Baldi, Max Papis and Fredy Lienhard.
Seventy-three cars started the 2002 event, leading to the inevitable traffic jams on the infield road course.
Driving through the Turn 4 banking on the oval, Dyson Racing's long-time driver James Weaver checks the mirror on the team's Riley & Scott Ford during practice in 2002.
Legendary endurance driver Hurley Haywood, five-time winner of the Daytona 24 Hours, three-time winner of the 24 Hours of Le Mans and two-time victor at the 12 Hours of Sebring, awaits the start of practice in 2005.
Intense, dramatic light falls on the cars as the race transitions from daylight into evening in 2005.
Actor Paul Newman drove in the 24 Hours of Daytona on multiple occasions, with his last appearance being in 2005 driving this Crawford-Ford. Early evening light on Saturday illuminates Newman's famous blue eyes in his final time behind the wheel at Daytona.
Sascha Maassen, Lucas Luhr, Darren Law, and David Donohue drove the Fabcar-Porsche of Brumos Racing to 8th place in 2005.
The 2005 race was won by the Riley-Pontiac driven by Wayne Taylor, Max Angelelli and Emmanuel Collard.
Roger Penske made a return to the 24 Hours in 2008 and 2009, recording finishes of 3rd and 6th.
Relying on the venerable Riley chassis, Chip Ganassi's teams have dominated the 24 Hours in recent years, recording four first places and two seconds in the last six years.
Prototype traffic on the banking, early in the evening in 2009.
A 24 hour mix of GT cars and Prototypes brings endless traffic jams, this one an early-morning example from 2009, at the entry to the "bus stop" chicane which marks the end of Daytona's back straight.
The signature paint scheme of Brumos Racing is a familiar sight on the Daytona road course.
About Bob Harmeyer
I was a bit surprised looking at all these great pictures. It appears that Daytona is just about an all Porsche field. I thought that there were many more vehicle makes involved in that race than that ???
Art G
Great stuff! You forget how many of the iconic names in racing raced at Daytona.
These pictures warm the heart on a cold winter’s day in Ohio. They seem to focus on the GTP era and that’s not a bad thing.
I drove a Cobra in the 1966 Daytona 24 Hour race, but I hadn’t realized that 1966 was the first year it was run.
I remember it was very cold at night and in an open car.
Great pics it’s a blast to be able to see all the cars from the past in one place I’am glad to be able to say its off of my bucket list of races to see
I long for a return to the glory days of IMSA GTP. The decline since the late 1990s is evident here.
Excelente trabajo, muy buenas fotos, saludes desde Costa Rica, Sigifredo Matamoros S del Circulo de Periodistas y Locutores Deportivos CR