Grand-Am
Daytona 24: Steve Johnson preview
Former Patriot Striving for Perfection in Rolex 24 At Daytona Just like his former team, Porsche racer and former New England Patriot Steve Johnson is looking for 24 perfect hours this weekend at Daytona DAYTONA BEACH, Fla (22 January 08)-- As ...
Published: Jan 23, 2008, 10:05 PM
Copy link
Share on Viber
Former Patriot Striving for Perfection in Rolex 24 At Daytona
Just like his former team, Porsche racer and former New England Patriot Steve Johnson is looking for 24 perfect hours this weekend at Daytona
DAYTONA BEACH, Fla (22 January 08)-- As he enjoys watching the team he once played two seasons of National Football League for work their way towards a perfect season, Synergy Racing pilot Steve Johnson knows that he will have to count on that same kind of perfect teamwork if he wants to make it to the winner circle in this weekend's Rolex 24 At Daytona.
Johnson, of Bristol, VA, is making his fourth career start in the legendary 24-hour Rolex season-opener, which will be carried live on Fox Network starting at 1:00 PM ET this Saturday.
"We have to be perfect for 24 straight hours, just like the Pats have had to be to get to this point in the season," said Johnson. "Everything has to go exactly right every lap for 24 hours, and there's no break to study tape on the other guys!"
While Johnson knows that star players catch headlines and make waves, no organization can put a perfect effort together without teamwork. Like Tom Brady and his impressive roster of teammates, stars in their own right, Johnson will also see his competitive chances boosted by the depth of the roster on the No. 81 EMC Mechanical entry.
He will be sharing driving duties with two world-renown Porsche 911 stars in German Lance Arnold, who is a member of the Porsche UPS Junior Team, and Irishman Damien Faulkner, who scored a championship runner-up result in his rookie season of Porsche Supercup competition. The international line up is rounded out by former Formula One and Champ Car ace Robert Doornbos, who will look to start his 2008 with a strong run in the endurance classic.
"We have four drivers, six guys on the pit crew, twice that number at the shop and at the track to support it, and everyone is an important part of the effort it takes to get a good result in this event," said Johnson. "This race is a lot like the NFL season--nothing really matters until the end. You can be fast in practice, you can qualify well-- you can even lead the first 12 hours of the race...but if you have a problem-with the car, with traffic, with anything going wrong, it just doesn't matter because you won't be there at the end. What you have to focus on is being there when the sun comes up, and being ready to race from there."
The race, which slots neatly between last weekend's NFL conference playoffs and the Super Bowl weekend on February 3rd, marks the opening event on the 14-race 2008 Rolex Sports Car Series calendar.
-credit: sr
We want your opinion!
What would you like to see on Motorsport.com?
Take our 5 minute survey.
- The Motorsport.com Team
Read and post comments
Read also :
Share Or Save This Story
Copy link
Share on Viber
Previous article Memories of Earnhardt Sr racing Rolex 24
Next article Daytona 24: Scott Pruett - Lexus interview
Top Comments
There are no comments at the moment. Would you like to write one?
View More & Comment
More from
Lance David Arnold
Mercedes names line-up for Nurburgring 24 Hours title defence
Endurance
Endurance
24 Hours of Nürburgring
Mercedes names line-up for Nurburgring 24 Hours title defence
Nurburgring 24h: Mercedes rules at the one-third point
Endurance
Endurance
24 Hours of Nürburgring
Nurburgring 24h: Mercedes rules at the one-third point
Matteo Malucelli puts Scuderia Praha Ferrari on pole for 12H Epilog BRNO
Endurance
Endurance
12 Hours of Brno
Matteo Malucelli puts Scuderia Praha Ferrari on pole for 12H Epilog BRNO
Latest news
Las Vegas GP reveals neon sign-inspired trophy design
Formula 1
F1 Formula 1
Las Vegas GP
32 min
Las Vegas GP reveals neon sign-inspired trophy design
IndyCar 2026 season review: Juncos Hollinger Racing
IndyCar
Indy IndyCar 36 min
IndyCar 2026 season review: Juncos Hollinger Racing
Indy NXT unveils 15-race 2027 schedule with four doubleheaders
Indy NXT
IndL Indy NXT 41 min
Indy NXT unveils 15-race 2027 schedule with four doubleheaders
Why aerodynamics will become "even more important" under 2027 MotoGP regulations
MotoGP
MGP MotoGP
Qatar GP
1 h
Why aerodynamics will become "even more important" under 2027 MotoGP regulations
Subscribe and access Motorsport.com with your ad-blocker.
From Formula 1 to MotoGP we report straight from the paddock because we love our sport, just like you. In order to keep delivering our expert journalism, our website uses advertising. Still, we want to give you the opportunity to enjoy an ad-free and tracker-free website and to continue using your adblocker.
You have 2 options:
- Become a subscriber.
- Disable your adblocker.
Subscribe now Already subscribed? Sign in here
Already disabled your adblocker?
Reload page
Manage Alerts
Subscribe