Series 2011 Daytona 24H pre-event news 2010-12-15

Five-Time Winner Haywood Comes Out Of Retirement To Rejoin Brumos Lineup For 49th Rolex 24 At Daytona
DP Champs Rojas and Pruett, Racer/Actor Patrick Dempsey Also Enter

DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. (Dec. 15, 2010) - Five-time overall Rolex 24 At Daytona winner Hurley Haywood will be racing in North America's premier endurance race after all in 2011.

Haywood will come out of retirement to race for the 39th time in the Rolex 24, following the team's entry of the No. 59 Brumos Porsche 911 GT3 Rolex Cup. He joins defending GRAND-AM Rolex Sports Car Series presented by Crown Royal Cask No. 16 Daytona Prototype series champions Scott Pruett and Memo Rojas and racer/actor Patrick Dempsey among the latest drivers entered for the race.

The 49th edition of the event takes the green flag at 3:30 p.m. ET on Saturday, Jan. 29, 2011, at Daytona International Speedway, opening the 12th season of the Rolex Series.

While Haywood announced his retirement following the 2010 Rolex 24, the return of Brumos Racing to the GT class prompted his return to competition.

"It wouldn't be right for a Brumos Porsche 911 not to have the name Haywood over the door," said Haywood, who will join Leh Keen and Andrew Davis in the No. 59. This car is an evolution of the Porsche 911 he raced for Brumos to a GT class victory in the 1972 Rolex 24. Four of Haywood's five overall Rolex 24 victories have been in 911-based Porsches.

Pruett and Rojas return in the No. 01 Target/TELMEX BMW/Riley which finished second the last two years after winning in 2007 and 2008. Chip Ganassi Racing with Felix Sabates also entered the No. 02 TELMEX/Target BMW/Riley that won in 2006. The team's remaining drivers will be announced in the near future.

Dempsey Racing entered a pair of Mazda RX-8s. Patrick Dempsey, who finished sixth in last year's event, rejoins Joe Foster, Charles Espenlaub and a driver to be announced in the No. 40 Mazda/Visit Florida Mazda RX-8. Regulars James Gue and Dane Cameron will be joined by Ian James, Dave Lacey and Don Kitch in the No. 41 Seattle Children's Hospital/JG Sport/Global Diving Mazda RX-8.

TRG has entered four Porsche GT3s, with three NASCAR drivers in the lineup. Brendan Gaughan and Andy Lally join Steve Bertheau, Wolf Henzler and Spencer Pumpelly in the No. 67 Sargent & Lundy/Southpoint Hotel & Casino entry. NASCAR Nationwide Series veteran Kenny Wallace will co-drive with Ryan Eversley, Daniel Graeff and Ron Yarab in the No. 68 Children's Tumor Foundation Porsche GT3.

Following up on a podium finish in 2010, Level 5 Motorsports entered a pair of BMW/Rileys. Scott Tucker was named as driver on both the No. 55 and No. 95 entries, with the remainder of the drivers yet to be announced.

Sunoco Rolex 24 At Daytona Challenge winner Ross Kaiser - the British Radical Cup champion - is expected to be part of the lineup on the No. 77 Doran Racing Ford/Dallara.

Two Ferraris were among the single-car entries in the Rolex Series GT class. Two-time Rolex Series GT champion Cort Wagner joins Fred Poordad in the No. 81 DragonSpeed Ferrari F430, while Dominik Farnbacher, Allan Simonsen and Rob Bell will share Tony Dowe's No. 00 Aten Motorsports Ferrari F430. In addition, Jordan Taylor will anchor the lineup on the No. 46 Autohaus Motorsports Chevrolet Camaro, with additional drivers to be announced.

The next Rolex Series activity will be the Roar Before the Rolex 24 testing at Daytona International Speedway on Jan. 7-9. For additional information, visit www.grand-am.com.

-source: grand-am