The phone call came on a bleak Monday morning. “I’m pleased to say that you’ve won the competition in Motor Sport to attend the Daytona Rolex 24 hours. Can you and a friend make it?” You could have measured the silence in milliseconds before I said yes! A quick call to a friend to share the good news. His reaction was priceless. He didn’t even have to enter the competition to win the trip of a lifetime.
A few weeks later and, after some communication from the team at Daytona to let us know what would be in store, we were on our way. We landed at Orlando International airport and less than an hour later we were in the Hilton Hotel right on Daytona Beach.
The next day we left to get our VIP passes sorted before heading into the circuit. It was my first time at Daytona – and what a place! The RVs were already arriving in the infield, the Porsche owners’ club was busy setting up shop and the Ferris wheel was in action. We headed straight to the new hospitality building for our first taste of VIP treatment.
There was breakfast and an introduction to the event, and then it was off to the control tower on the outside of the circuit for a great overview of the race day operations and a history of Daytona from race director Mark Raffauf. We then made our way up onto the roof to get photos of the support race.
Fast-forward to Saturday morning, race day and time to soak up the atmosphere and an opportunity to snap some photos of the drivers, including Juan Pablo Montoya. What followed must go down as the highlight of the trip for me – a flying lap of the circuit courtesy of the legendary Hurley Haywood.
I threaded myself through the rollcage of the 1997-winning Porsche, got strapped in and we were off. Hurley knew his way around Daytona, having won the event five times, and a glance past my white knuckles saw the rev counter sitting at 7500 in top gear through turn three over the bumps on that awesome banking. When people say this race is tougher than Le Mans, I now understand why! There wasn’t a moment when g-forces weren’t being exerted on my body in one direction or the other.
This was followed by an informative and entertaining pit tour, and an excellent lunch with an opportunity to quiz Motor Sport’s Nigel Roebuck on his views of the new Formula 1 season and listen to Vic Elford recount his past triumphs at Daytona.
We watched the parade and the start of the race from the roof of the VIP suite, which provided plenty of cover from the rain. It didn’t dampen our enthusiasm as much as it soaked the teams, the band and the cheerleaders who had to perform in the downpour.
Once the race had settled down we headed off to the Daytona archive, which houses a fantastic array of memorabilia collected by circuit founder Bill France. This dated back to the days when racing on the beach was the norm. There was enough there to keep anyone interested in motor sport captivated for hours – cars, trophies, photos and race programmes were all on display.
Then it was back to the pitlane to catch up on the action, where everyone was friendly and accommodating. On Sunday we had another walk along the pits before heading to the fun-filled Daytona Experience. Having our photo taken with the race winners in victory lane along with Vic Elford provided a perfect finish to our trip, and the picture now hangs on my wall.
The overall experience was awesome, with great company and plenty of treats that money couldn’t buy. The hospitality was great and my special thanks go to Kathy, Birgit and Elena from International Speedway Corporation who looked after us so well. It’s something I’ll remember for a long time and I’ll be keeping an eye out for future competitions!
By David Thornton
