One of the highlights of the Tudor United SportsCar Series Roar Before the Rolex 24 is night practice, where drivers accustom themselves to pushing the car to the limits of performance while occasionally testing the limits of visions as well. The sounds are louder the contrasts between light and dark are stark as cars pass under overhead spotlights and disappear into the gloom.
The TUSCC Rolex 24 is unique in that it has one of the longest dark periods of any 24-hour race. While Le Mans might be fully dark for six hours, at Daytona International Speedway cars race under the lights from seven p.m. Saturday until six a.m. Sunday—almost twelve hours of darkness, isolation, and the sudden glare in the mirrors of overtaking cars sweeping by out of the night.
When the sun finally rises, drivers still have eight hours of racing ahead of them—two-and-a-half ordinary race distances to cover before the checkered flag waves and drivers and crews, wired yet spent, can start to think about unwinding.
Tickets to the 52nd TUSCC Rolex 24 at Daytona, Jan. 25–26, can be purchased through the Daytona International Speedway website. Visit IMSA.com for more information.
(All Photos Chris Jasurek/Epoch Times)
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