IRL

Patrick May Team With Wallace In 24

On the first day of a massive three-day Rolex 24 At Daytona test session, Rusty Wallace, the 1989 NASCAR champion, continued to learn the ins and outs of the Daytona Prototype while Indy Racing League star Danica Patrick took her first laps in the sleek and stylish sports car.

Wallace, who retired from NASCAR NEXTEL Cup Series competition after the 2005 season, is going to make the Rolex 24 At Daytona on Jan. 28-29 his final competitive race. He is expecting to team up with sports car veterans Allan McNish and Boris Said and Patrick. “We’re going to get (Danica) in the car and get her some time and see if she likes driving the car,” Wallace said. “It’s up to her if she wants to be the fourth driver to sign on. She’s got the invitation. There’s no doubt about that. We feel like we’re going to have a good winning team.”

“It’s always flattering when you can run with drivers like Rusty, Allan and Boris,” Patrick said. “Provided I go out there and run fast and everything . . . I don’t want to drag the team down. So let’s make sure it goes alright. If it goes the way it normally does, it should be just fine.”

Patrick is turning her first laps at DIS during this week’s test and is looking forward to making her first Rolex 24 start on the legendary 3.56-mile road course. “Any kind of track that people come back to time and time again means it’s pretty good,” Patrick said. “I have to imagine it’s going to be a lot of fun going racing on the road course and the oval at the same time. Just the prestige of this race is enough. I’m looking forward to it.”

Patrick is surprised that Wallace is coming out of retirement to run the Rolex 24, a grueling and challenging race. “I’d be really tired,” Patrick quipped. “I asked him, ‘aren’t you tired?’ Because I’m thinking about my schedule in racing compared to theirs and that’s the biggest thing for me. I’m just not sure I have the energy and I’m 23. It’s ridiculous. He’s had an amazing career and didn’t end on a low note by any means. He did a great job. I’m honored to sit up here with him.”

Rolex 24 testing continues on Friday and Saturday and is free and open to the public with access to the Oldfield Grandstand through the lobby of DAYTONA USA.

According to the current BMW Team Italy-Spain WTCC driver, and double Champ Car-Champion and former F1 driver, Alex Zanardi, a US production company has purchased the rights to his autobiography and intends using it as the basis for a movie.

Zanardi, who suffered a near-fatal accident in the 2001 Champ Car round at the EuroSpeedway Lausitz, losing both his legs, made his motor racing comeback in 2003, when he contested the season finale of the FIA European Touring Car Championship.

He then took part in the 2004 series and was part of BMW's line-up in the FIA World Touring Car Championship. The Italian made it back to the highest step of the podium at Oschersleben, where he celebrated an emotional win.

Zanardi is aware of the fact that most racing movies haven't been box-office hits but said: "Almost all motor racing films flopped, and you always need lots of money to produce them. In this case, however, if the film stays close to the book, the scenes about racing would take up a rather a limited amount of time."(auto123.com)

As America’s leading active open-wheel race-car driver in terms of wins, poles, starts and laps led, Paul Tracy (#3 Indeck Ford-Cosworth/Lola/Bridgestone) could be forgiven for taking a few months off if he so chose, as he prepares for his 16th season of racing in the Bridgestone Presents The Champ Car World Series Powered by Ford.

But the Canadian star knows that the best way to prepare for the rigors of Champ Car racing is by doing more racing, and he has again chosen one of the most demanding races in the world to include in his pre-season regimen. The 30-time Champ Car race winner announced Thursday that he will partner with Michael Shank Racing for the Rolex 24 Hours of Daytona, to be held at Daytona International Raceway January 26-29.

Tracy will join Paul Mears Jr., former Indy Lights competitor Mike Borkowski and former Champ Car Atlantic driver Kenny Wilden on the four-man team, piloting the #6 Graydon Elliott Fusion Racing Lexus-Riley Daytona Prototype in the twice-around-the-clock endurance event. It is the second straight season that Tracy has competed in the prestigious event. He ran with Bell Motorsports last season and helped put his car in the lead early, but mechanical problems doomed his effort to an early retirement.