Where NASCAR and IndyCar Drivers Go to Have Fun

DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. - The autograph line wound from the garage to Daytona International Speedway's famous victory lane, at least a full football field away.

One man took a vacation day from his job to drive three hours from Valdosta, Ga., to wait six more hours in line just to get NASCAR champ Jimmie Johnson to sign a photo and a shirt. A family waited nearly as long to have former Indy 500 winner Juan Pablo Montoya sign 10 miniature replicas of the No. 42 Chevy he drives in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series.

"This is one of the cheapest races we can go to,'' said Fernando Zapata, 42, who brings his wife and two young children to the Rolex 24 Hours at Daytona sports car race every year.

To see their favorite NASCAR drivers.

It's enough to make sports car purists cringe, but for the Grand-Am Series - NASCAR's sports car sibling - it doesn't matter why fans are coming through the gates or watching on television. As long as they're paying attention."Having some big name drivers for our largest event of the year will attract more attention whether it's through Indycar, NASCAR or Formula One,'' said Grand-Am Series Vice President of Marketing and Communications Kevin Hindson.

"The goal really is to show them the style of racing that we do all year long, the close competition, the bumping and the grinding. And being able to showcase it with some big-name drivers is beneficial to us all, the promoters, television and the series for long-term growth.''

The historic Rolex 24 at Daytona, which begins Saturday at 3:30 p.m. (EST), is the closest thing racing has to an IROC race - drivers from multiple disciplines competing in a twice-around-the-clock event through Daytona International Speedway's 3.56-mile road course that last year, amazingly, was decided by a single second. A record four cars finished on the lead lap.

This year's 44-car starting grid features not only Johnson, who will co-drive for the defending Grand-Am Series prototype champion GAINSCO team, but the last two IZOD IndyCar Series champs, Dario Franchitti and Scott Dixon and four former Indy 500 winners (Montoya, Rice, Franchitti and Dixon).

NASCAR drivers Jamie McMurray, A.J. Allmendinger and 2000 Cup champion Bobby Labonte will be driving, too, as will Patrick Dempsey, whose day job is playing "Dr. McDreamy" on the hit television show, "Grey's Anatomy.''

They join an ultimate A-list of sports car specialists - second-generation talents like defending race winner David Donahue, whose late father Mark Donahue won this race in 1969 and Alex Gurney, whose father Dan Gurney won the inaugural Rolex race in 1962.

Also racing are four-time Rolex winner Scott Pruett, three-time winner Butch Leitzinger and road course great Boris Said. Veteran Wayne Taylor, who won this race in 1996 and 2005, will start on the pole for the first time Saturday thanks to the effort of sports car Max Angelelli in the No. 10 SunTrust Ford.

And the legendary five-time Rolex winner Hurley Haywood has announced this will be his 36th and final Rolex start. He joins Donahue, Leitzinger, Darren Law and 2009 IndyCar Series Rookie of the Year, Raphael Matos, in the No. 59 Brumos Racing Porsche, last year's race winner.