The speed lovers awaiting the Rolex 24-hours Daytona race have finally got a respite. The 500 miles (804.7 km)-long race held at the Daytona International Speedway in Daytona Beach, Florida starts at 2 p.m. ET.
THE SPEED lovers awaiting the Rolex 24-hours Daytona race have finally got a respite. The 500 miles (804.7 km)-long race held at the Daytona International Speedway in Daytona Beach, Florida starts at 2 p.m. ET.
The Daytona 500 was the first 500-mile (800 km) auto race to be televised live flag-to-flag on network television when CBS aired it in 1979, continuing to air until 2000. From 2001 to 2006, the race alternated between FOX and NBC under the terms of a six-year, $2.48 billion NASCAR television contract. Starting in 2007, FOX became the exclusive home of the Daytona 500 under the terms of NASCAR's new television package.
This year, Dario Franchitti pitted while leading at the five hour mark. After turning the No. 02 TELMEX/Target Chip Ganassi Racing with Felix Sabates BMW RIley over to Juan Pablo Montoya, he spent some time with the media."The conditions in the car were OK," Franchitti said. "It was a little warm in the car during the first stint, but then they pulled out a blocker in front of the driver ventilation system for the second run, and it was perfect inside the car. The balance was good. The conditions were tricky, especially getting up to speed on cold tires. When you do get up to speed, there's one lane around the track in a lot of places. As soon as you go through turn one through the horseshoe it's one line. You can try to make a move, but you've got to be careful. Then from five all the way through the bus stop it's treacherous as hell right now to the exit."We're turning laps right now, not taking any chances. The Target/TELMEX car seems pretty quick. I'm quite happy right now. I had trouble with some of the switches. I couldn't find where the drink bottle was, but once I found it, it turned out Dixon drank all the water, anyway. Everything's working fine”Will he do something now to take his mind away from racing?"It's a catch 22 situation. I want to watch the race, because it's exciting - I'm a race fan and I want to see what's happening. On the other hand, you've got to distance yourself and just focus on your job. So I'll watch for a little while and sleep. I've got six hours until I get back into the car. I'll probably eat, watch some SPEED TV and sleep, then get ready for another go in the middle of the night.