by Lou Modestino<\/p>\n
The 2013 racing season is off and arunnin\u2019, yet we\u2019ll have to wait until the Super Bowl is over before we see any NASCAR action. When Bill France, Sr., erected Daytona International Speedway in 1958 for stockcars, he also had built an infield road course. His intention was to host world class road races for drivers and cars from all industrialized nations, hence the 24 Hours of Daytona now known as the Rolex 24 which was just held. The late Bill France, Jr., continued along the same course.<\/p>\n
Senior was a man of vision. Over the years, this particular road race has developed into a 24 hour endurance event, and, true to his vision, famous drivers from all over the globe have participated in this annual race. Now with the American LeMans Series merging with Grand Am in 2014, the 24 Hour grind should be really something next year. Thanks to the efforts of Jim France, Bill, Jr\u2019s., brother, this race continues to make further strides on the world racing front.<\/p>\n
However, there appears to be a little, bitty problem. While the 24 Hours of LeMans draws wall-to-wall crowds, that\u2019s not the case at all for the Rolex 24. Mucho fans are needed to buy tickets to this event. Even though major automakers in the US, Asia and Europe support this Daytona Rolex event, for some reason, this race does not nearly have the draw of LeMans. Apparently, endurance racing in North America isn\u2019t as popular as it is in Europe.<\/p>\n
Chip Ganassi\u2019s team of JP Montoya, Scott Pruett and Memo Rojas won in the recent Prototype class at Daytona, and, In the process, Chip\u2019s team has racked up five wins thus far. Ganassi\u2019s second car, driven by Dario Franchitti and Jamie McMurray and others, went out early on. In the GT\u2019s, the Audi R8, driven by Filip Albuquerque, Dion Motlke and David Donahue, upstaged the Porsche teams when the checkered flag flew.<\/p>\n
Now that that\u2019s over, we can look forward to the upcoming Daytona SpeedWeeks with the Sprint Cup, Nationwide and Camping World Series.<\/p>\n
NASCAR on FOX opens its 13th season with expanded coverage from Daytona, providing live programming across three FOX Sports Media Group networks \u2013 FOX Sports, FOX Deportes and SPEED.<\/p>\n
The flag officially drops on FOX Sports\u2019 2013 Speedweeks coverage with the newly named SPRINT UNLIMITED AT DAYTONA, live and in prime time on Saturday, Feb. 16 at 8:00 p.m. ET, followed by live coverage of DAYTONA 500 QUALIFYING, Sunday, Feb. 17 at 1:00 p.m. ET.<\/p>\n
Coverage of the DAYTONA 500 on FOX begins Sunday, Feb. 24 with FUSION EVOLUTION PRESENTED BY FORD, a 30-minute special at 11:30 a.m. ET, followed by the traditional one-hour NASCAR on FOX pre-race program, live at noon ET from the Hollywood Hotel, FOX Sports\u2019 state-of-the-art mobile studio located in the Daytona International Speedway infield. Host Chris Myers is joined by two-time Daytona 500 winner Michael Waltrip and his brother, NASCAR Hall of Fame driver and three-time NASCAR Sprint Cup Series champion Darrell Waltrip. At 1:00 p.m. ET, Darrell joins NASCAR on FOX race announcer Mike Joy and Daytona 500-winning crew chief Larry McReynolds in calling the 55th running of the \u201cGreat American Race.\u201d<\/p>\n
SPEED opens its coverage from Daytona on Feb.14 with a NASCAR Race Hub special from Daytona Speedweek\u2019s Media Day. In addition to covering practice and qualifying sessions, SPEED is once again home to the BUDWEISER DUEL and the NASCAR CAMPING WORLD TRUCK SERIES opener from Daytona.<\/p>\n
Major events from 2013 Daytona Speedweeks from the FOX Sports Media Group family of networks (all times Eastern and subject to change):<\/p>\n
Feb. 14<\/p>\n
\u00b7 NASCAR Race Hub \u2013 Media Day Special (SPEED, 6 p.m. to 8 p.m.)<\/p>\n
Feb. 15<\/p>\n
\u00b7 Sprint Unlimited practice (SPEED, 5 p.m. to 6 p.m., LIVE)<\/p>\n
\u00b7 Sprint Unlimited final practice (SPEED, 6:30 p.m. to 7:30 p.m., LIVE)<\/p>\n
Feb. 16<\/p>\n
\u00b7 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series practice (SPEED, 11 a.m. to 1 p.m., LIVE)<\/p>\n
\u00b7 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series practice (SPEED, 2 p.m. to 3:45 p.m., LIVE)<\/p>\n
\u00b7 ARCA Racing Series race (SPEED, 4:30 p.m. to 6 p.m., LIVE)<\/p>\n
\u00b7 NASCAR RaceDay \u2013 Sprint Unlimited (SPEED, 6:30 p.m. to 8 p.m., LIVE)<\/p>\n
\u00b7 Sprint Unlimited (FOX & FOX Deportes, 8 p.m. to 10 p.m., LIVE)<\/p>\n
Feb. 17<\/p>\n
\u00b7 Daytona 500 Qualifying (FOX & FOX Deportes, 1 p.m. to 4 p.m., LIVE)<\/p>\n
\u00b7 Sprint Unlimited Replay (SPEED, 5 p.m. to 7 p.m., Taped)<\/p>\n
Feb. 20<\/p>\n
\u00b7 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series practice (SPEED, Noon to 1:30, LIVE)<\/p>\n
\u00b7 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series final practice (SPEED, 2:30 p.m. to 4 p.m., LIVE)<\/p>\n
Feb. 21<\/p>\n
\u00b7 NASCAR Camping World Truck Series practice (SPEED, Noon to 1 p.m., LIVE)<\/p>\n
\u00b7 NASCAR RaceDay \u2013 Budweiser Duel (SPEED, 1 p.m. to 2 p.m., LIVE)<\/p>\n
\u00b7 NASCAR Budweiser Duel (SPEED, 2:00 p.m. to 5:30 p.m, LIVE)<\/p>\n
\u00b7 NASCAR Camping World Truck Series final practice (SPEED, 6 p.m. to 7:30 p.m., LIVE)<\/p>\n
Feb. 22<\/p>\n
\u00b7 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series practice (SPEED, 11 a.m. to Noon, LIVE)<\/p>\n
\u00b7 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series practice (SPEED, 12:30 p.m. to 1:30, LIVE)<\/p>\n
\u00b7 NASCAR Camping World Truck Series qualifying (SPEED, 1:30 p.m. to 3:30 p.m., LIVE)<\/p>\n
\u00b7 NCWTS Setup (SPEED, 7 p.m. to 7:30 p.m., LIVE)<\/p>\n
\u00b7 NASCAR Camping World Truck Series race (SPEED, 7:30 p.m. to 10 p.m., LIVE)<\/p>\n
Feb. 23<\/p>\n
\u00b7 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series final practice (SPEED, 10:30 a.m. to Noon, LIVE)<\/p>\n
Feb. 24<\/p>\n
\u00b7 NASCAR RaceDay \u2013 Daytona 500 (SPEED, 9 a.m. to Noon, LIVE)<\/p>\n
\u00b7 FOX Daytona 500 Special (11:30 a.m. to Noon)<\/p>\n
\u00b7 FOX NASCAR Sunday \u2013 Daytona 500 (FOX, Noon to 1 p.m., LIVE)<\/p>\n
\u00b7 55th Running of the Daytona 500 (FOX & FOX Deportes 1 p.m. to 5:30 p.m., LIVE) <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
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