DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. -- Sure, NASCAR has the high-wattage personalities. Drag racing has the raw speed and IndyCar racing can't be beat for pure, wheel-to-wheel excitement.But this weekend's Rolex 24 at Daytona International Speedway represents the truest form of racing in America and is arguably the toughest 24-hour race in the world.
The starting grid is eclectic and richly-talented; the racing diverse and pure - right turns, left turns, high-speed high-banks and tricky chicanes; the conditions unique - daylight, moonlight, rain or shine.
Where else can you watch the Indy car champions and NASCAR stars test themselves against the world's best sports car drivers in exotic, ultra-fast prototypes maneuvering around a healthy dose of GT-class rich-guys-who-own-Porsches?
Three-time NASCAR Sprint Cup champion Jimmie Johnson is here on an off-weekend, as is reigning IndyCar Series champ Scott Dixon. Legendary Indy 500 owner Roger Penske is fielding a car and so is legendary NASCAR owner Richard Childress.
There are four Indy 500 winners and two Daytona 500 champs entered and an A-list of racing pedigrees from Petty to Donohue to Gurney to Mears. Racing's superstarlet Danica Patrick will compete and so will Patrick Dempsey, "Dr. McDreamy" from television's hit "Grey's Anatomy."
The cars are compelling to look at and even cooler to listen to - screaming down the straight aways and screeching into the braking zones around the 3.56-road course.
And for those purists who still need a sense of relevancy?
There's a good bet history will be made this weekend.
Chip Ganassi Racing is trying to win its fourth consecutive Rolex 24 title - perhaps one of the most impressive - if under-appreciated - feats in all of racing.
"To do it three years in a row is very, very impressive,'' said 2007 Indy 500 winner Dario Franchitti, who will steer Ganassi's No. 02 Lexus Riley."Every race there are so many variables plus this race is so long it just magnifies things.''
And while it's impossible to control the variables of a 50-car field through two trips around the clock, the Ganassi team has proven itself a master of preparation and trackside support.
"We start getting the car ready two weeks after the last season ends,'' said Scott Pruett, driver of the No. 01 Ganassi Lexus and a two-time defending Rolex champion.
Race weekend, there may be 40 people in the two-car Ganassi pit stall and the crew and drivers are just the beginning. Each driver has a "handler" whose sole duty is to efficiently usher the driver from the pits to a good meal or to a warm bed after each driving stint.
There's even a masseuse just for the crew members - most who work the entire 24-hour race plus set-up and clean-up.
And yet for all the preparation and strategizing the race inevitably comes down to the final hour. The cars are so durable that drivers can run full-on from the get-go and that means door-to-door racing for hours, not just a for a green-white-checkered finish.
The first 10 cars on Saturday's grid are separated by less than a second, yet there was a difference of 22-seconds between the fastest prototype and slowest GT-class car.
The competitiveness within class coupled with the speed disparity between classes is just one more subplot- further proving this event to be racing's best competition of driver, team, stamina and resolve. You don't just win, you endure.
"It's going to be close,'' Chip Ganassi said. "You try to do everything right as much as possible, but at the end of the day, you've got to have a little bit of luck on your side.
"We've got our fingers crossed.''
