Rolex 24 at Daytona: The Start

Photo by Matthew Lowell Thompson

All Saturday morning I had to keep reminding myself that, when the race started, it was going to last 24 hours. A whole day. From 3:30 in the afternoon on Saturday to 3:30 in the afternoon on Sunday. I've been to a lot of races, the longest being six hours. This was going to be unlike anything I've done before.

By Jen Thompson

We started the morning by checking out the Champions Club, which were our digs for the weekend. Then we headed over to the Fan Zone for the driver autograph session. There were so many fans and so many drivers, but we tried to get as many autographs as we could. Matt got the photos he took signed by Michael Waltrip (he's only been carrying them around for two years). And I was glad to have my Boris Said t-shirt from Seneca Lodge signed by the man himself.

Photo by Matthew Lowell Thompson

Then we took our position on the Champions Club roof for the start of the race. Right on the start-finish line. Doesn't get any better than that. Before the race, we were treated to a parade of vintage Rolex 24 cars. During the driver intros, a bald eagle flew over the start-finish line. I would have thought it was part of the ceremony itself if I hadn't seen the bird pluck a fish out of the Lake Lloyd the afternoon before. And then it was gentlemen start your engines, and the 24-hour clock started ticking.

Photo by Matthew Lowell Thompson

And only a couple hours later, the sun started to set. The headlights started coming on, and we all started to settle in for long haul. As a side note, I was truly impressed by run by the two Sahlen DPs. For their first race in that category, they made a great run. Not easy when your first race is 24 hours long.

Photo by Matthew Lowell Thompson

 And then the darkness truly set in. It was time for the night portion of the race.