Ganassi, Penske, Dempsey Head Latest Rolex 24 Entries
Chip Ganassi Racing with Felix Sabates, seeking an unprecedented fourth consecutive victory in the Grand-Am Rolex Sports Car Series presented by Crown Royal Cask No. 16, and Penske Racing were among the teams filing a pair of Daytona Prototype entries.
TRG entered four Porsches in the GT class, Autometrics, Team Sahlen and Stevenson Motorsports entered two-car teams, while Gray's Anatomy star Patrick Dempsey will compete under the Dempsey Racing banner.
Chip Ganassi Racing with Felix Sabates entered a pair of Lexus-powered Rileys, while Penske Racing entered two Porsche Rileys. Drivers on both teams are yet to be announced.
Among the other Daytona Prototype entries, Childress-Howard Motorsports will make its Rolex 24 debut with the No. 2 Pontiac Crawford, driven by Andy Wallace and Rob Finlay. AIM Autosport entered the No. 61 Ford Riley for Burt Frisselle, Mark Wilkins, John Farano, Alex Figge and David Empringham. RVO Motorsports entered the No. 12 Chevrolet Riley for Roger Schramm, Tonis Kasemets, Paul Dallenbach and Bill Lester. No drivers were listed on the entry for the No. 77 Doran Racing Ford Dallara.
Three motorcycle stars will co-drive the No. 09 Spirit of Daytona Porsche Coyote. "Mr. Daytona," five-time Daytona 200 By Honda winner Scott Russell, will co-drive with AMA Motocross and Supermoto legend Jeff Ward and Superbike star Jason Pridmore. Guy Cosmo completes the driver lineup.
Patrick Dempsey will make his second appearance in the Rolex 24. Hyper Sport will field the No. 40 Mazdaspeed Mazda RX-8 GT under the Dempsey Racing banner. Sharing the driving with the popular racer/actor will be Joe Foster, the 2008 KONI Challenge Series co-champion, and Charles Espenlaub.
Kevin Buckler's TRG filed entries for a quartet of Porsche 997s. David Quinlan, Bruce LeDoux, Dan Watkins and Steve Zadig will pilot the No. 63 entry. Co-driving the No. 65 are John Potter, Craig Stanton and Bryce Miller. Andy Lally and RJ Valentine partner in the No. 67, while Josemanuel Gutierrez, Chris Pallis and Steve Miller will be in the No. 68.
Stevenson Motorsports returns with the No. 57 Bryan Mark Financial/Stevenson Auto Pontiac GXP.R for Robin Liddell, Andrew Davis and Jeff Bucknum. The team will also field the No. 97 Stevenson Automotive Group Corvette for James Gue and John Stevenson.
Autometrics Motorsports entered the No. 14 and No. 24 Porsche GT3s for drivers including Claudio Burtin, Jack Baldwin and Mac McGehee. Team Sahlen entered the No. 42 and No. 43 Corvettes for Joe Sahlen, joined by Will, Wayne and Joe Nonnamaker.
Other GT entries were the No. 30 Racers Edge Motorsports 3-Dimensional.com/Idemitsu Mazda RX-8 for Dane Cameron, Dion von Moltke and Doug Peterson, plus the No. 33 Wright Motorsports Phillips Way Racing Porsche 997 of Phillip Martien and BJ Zacharias.
The 2009 Rolex Series begins with the Jan. 3-5 Daytona Test Days, the Road Before the Rolex 24. All entries in the Rolex 24 are also entered in the test days. The entry list so far looks like this:
Daytona Prototype (DP)
| NO. | TEAM | DRIVERS | CAR |
| 2 | Childress-Howard Motorsports | Rob Finlay, Peterborough, N.H., Andy Wallace, Oxford, England | Pontiac / Crawford |
| 5 | Penske Racing | Porsche / Riley | |
| 6 | Michael Shank Racing | AJ Allmendinger, Huntersville, N.C. , Ian James, Paradise Valley, Ariz., John Pew, North Palm Beach, Fla., Michael Valiante, Vancouver, B.C., Canada | Ford / Riley |
| 7 | Penske Racing | Porsche / Riley | |
| 09 | Spirit of Daytona Racing | Guy Cosmo, West Palm Beach, Fla., Jason Pridmore, Ventura, Calif., Scott Russell, Atlanta, Ga., Jeff Ward, Newport Beach, Calif. | Porsche / Coyote |
| 10 | SunTrust Racing | Max Angelelli, Monte Carlo, Monaco, Brian Frisselle, Aspen. Colo., Wayne Taylor, Apopka, Fla. | Ford / Dallara |
| 12 | RVO Motorsports | Paul Dallenbach, Basalt, Colo., Tonis Kasemets, Mundelein, Ill., Bill Lester, Atlanta, Ga., Roger Schramm, Loves Park, Ill. | Pontiac / Riley |
| 58 | Brumos Racing | David Donohue, Malvern, Pa., Darren Law, Phoenix, Ariz., Buddy Rice, Phoenix, Ariz. | Porsche / Riley |
| 59 | Brumos Racing | Joao Barbosa, Porto, Portugal, Terry Borcheller, Vero Beach, Fla., JC France, Daytona Beach, Fla., Hurley Haywood, Ponte Vedra Beach, Fla. | Porsche / Riley |
| 60 | Michael Shank Racing | Colin Braun, Ovalo, Texas, Ryan Hunter-Reay, Boca Raton, Fla., Oswaldo Negri, Miami, Fla., Mark Patterson, Bronxville, N.Y. | Ford / Riley |
| 61 | AIM Autosport | John Farano, Toronto, Ontario, Canada, Burt Frisselle, Aspen, Colo., Mark Wilkins, Toronto, Ontario, Canada | Ford / Riley |
| 75 | Krohn Racing | Oliver Gavin, Northamptonshire, England, Tracy Krohn, Houston, Texas, Eric van de Poele, Incourt, Belgium | Ford / Lola |
| 76 | Krohn Racing | Nic Jonsson, Buford, Ga., Darren Turner, Royal Leamington Spa, Warwickshire, England, Ricardo Zonta, Curitiba, Brazil | Ford / Lola |
| 77 | Doran Racing | Ford / Dallara | |
| 99 | GAINSCO/ Bob Stallings Racing | Jon Fogarty, Bend, Ore., Alex Gurney, Irvine, Calif., Jimmy Vasser, Las Vegas, Nev. | Pontiac / Riley |
GT (GT)
| NO. | TEAM | DRIVERS | CAR |
| 07 | Banner Racing | Kelly Collins, Newport Beach, Calif., Paul Edwards, Nipomo, Calif., Jan Magnussen, England | Pontiac GXP.R |
| 14 | Autometrics Motorsports | Jack Baldwin, Marietta, Ga., Claudio Burtin, Atlanta, Ga., Cory Friedman, Charleston, S.C., Mac McGehee, Jacksonville, Fla. | Porsche GT3 |
| 24 | Autometrics Motorsports | Porsche GT3 | |
| 26 | Gotham Competition | Jerome Jacalone, New York, N.Y., Joe Jacalone, St. Augustine, Fla. | Porsche GT3 |
| 30 | Racers Edge Motorsports | Dane Cameron, Glen Ellen, Calif., Doug Peterson, Bonita Springs, Fla., Dion von Moltke, Coral Gables, Fla. | Mazda RX-8 |
| 32 | PR1 Motorsports | Patrick Barrett, Los Osos, Calif. , Mike Forest, Edmonton, Alberta, Canada, Thomas Merrill, Salinas, Calif. , Al Salvo, Arcadia, Calif., Jeff Westphal, San Carlos, CA | Pontiac GXP.R |
| 33 | Wright Motorsports | Phillip Martien, , BJ Zacharias, Cincinnati, Ohio | Porsche GT3 |
| 40 | Dempsey Racing | Patrick Dempsey, Beverly Hills, Calif., Charles Espenlaub, Lutz, Fla., Joe Foster, Atlanta, Ga. | Mazda RX-8 |
| 42 | Team Sahlen | Joe Nonnamaker, North Canton, Ohio, Wayne Nonnamaker, North Canton, Ohio, Will Nonnamaker, North Canton, Ohio, Joe Sahlen, Elma, N.Y. | Corvette |
| 43 | Team Sahlen | Joe Nonnamaker, North Canton, Ohio, Wayne Nonnamaker, North Canton, Ohio, Will Nonnamaker, North Canton, Ohio, Joe Sahlen, Elma, N.Y. | Corvette |
| 57 | Stevenson Motorsports | Jeff Bucknum, Lake Havasu City, AZ , Andrew Davis, Bogart, Ga., Robin Liddell, Newbury, England | Pontiac GXP.R |
| 63 | TRG | Bruce Ledoux, Southboro, MA, David Quinlan, Cohassett, MA, Dan Watkins, , Steve Zadig, | Porsche GT3 |
| 64 | JLowe Racing | Jim Lowe, Bryn Mawr, Pa., Jim Pace, Ridgeland, Miss., Tim Sugden, England, Johannes van Overbeek, San Francisco, Calif. | Porsche GT3 |
| 65 | TRG | Bryce Miller, Summit, N.J. , John Potter, Salt Lake City, Utah, Craig Stanton, Long Beach, Calif. | Porsche GT3 |
| 67 | TRG | Andy Lally, Dacula, Ga., RJ Valentine, Braintree, Mass. | Porsche GT3 |
| 68 | TRG | Josemanuel Gutierrez, Monterrey, México, Steve Miller, Mercer Island, Wash., Chris Pallis, Mercer Island, Wash. | Porsche GT3 |
| 69 | SpeedSource | Emil Assentato, Locust Valley, N.Y. , Nick Longhi, Nyack, N.Y., Lonnie Pechnik, Mountain View, Calif., Jeff Segal, Miami, Fla. | Mazda RX-8 |
| 70 | SpeedSource | Nick Ham, Evergreen, Colo., David Haskell, Plantation, Fla., Sylvain Tremblay, Sunrise, Fla. | Mazda RX-8 |
| 97 | Stevenson Motorsports | James Gue, Alpharetta, Ga., John Stevenson, Swansboro, NC | Corvette |