The one team that can truly boast of an all-American connection at the Rolex 24 At Daytona would be GAINSCO/Bob Stallings Racing. The team not only has an all-American driver lineup but also boasts of an all-American crew. Even the No. 99 GAINSCO Auto Insurance Chevy Riley, that the team has been racing in for the past five consecutive years, is a U.S. made Riley XX powered by an engine straight out of Detroit, which is a Chevrolet version of GM’s celebrated small-block V8. Equipped with a starry lineup and an all-American crew, drivers, car and engine, all that is left to see is that whether GAINSCO/Bob Stallings Racing can create history by being the first 100% American team to claim victory in the event that can be traced back to 1962.

The enviable all-star lineup at GAINSCO/Bob Stallings Racing includes Alex Gurney, Jon Fogarty, Jimmie Johnson and Jimmy Vasser. All the drivers have an excellent track record behind them and bring with them versatility as well as experience to the team. While the duo of Alex Gurney and Jon Fogarty has proved their mettle by twice becoming the reigning champions at the Grand-Am Rolex Sports Car Series, Jimmie Johnson will be bringing to the team his experience of winning the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series Championship for a record four times. Even Jimmy Vasser will be joining the team for a third year in a row and will be bringing his expertise of being a former CART Champ Car World Series titlist. GAINSCO/Bob Stallings Racing can also very well claim to be the only returning all-American as well as all-champion lineup that has entered to compete in the top-tier Daytona Prototype division.

The all-star lineup that presently represents the GAINSCO/Bob Stallings Racing team on the Daytona International Speedway tracks made its debut in the year 2008 and claimed a second-place finish at the event. This year the team has plans to make the time off the tracks as entertaining as it is on the tracks. GAINSCO Auto Insurance announced its plans to entertain about 85 agent partners, VIPs and award-winning employees at the Rolex 24 At Daytona. One of the highlights of the event would be a Friday night dinner hosted by the team wherein Bob Stallings, the team owner, and the four drivers would meet and greet the guests. The second highlight of the evening would be when the GAINSCO drivers would demonstrate their skills and talent on the fast-gaining-popularity iRacing.com simulator that features the No. 99 GAINSCO Auto Insurance Daytona Prototype. The team was introduced to the online racing simulation offered by iRacing through Alex Gurney. The online racing simulation is an exact replica of the No. 99 GAINSCO car as well as the Daytona tracks. For NASCAR champion Jimmie Johnson the Daytona tracks offer the real deal as he stated that the challenge of the Rolex 24 At Daytona is what keeps getting him back. He also added that it was a challenge for him to come out of his comfort zone and learn the car, the braking zones and turning points amongst others.

Tags: Alex Gurney, Gainsco/Bob Stallings Racing, Jimmie Johnson, Jimmy Vasser, Jon Fogarty, Rolex, Rolex 24 at Daytona

This entry was posted on Saturday, January 30th, 2010 at 5:00 pm and is filed under Rolex Culture, Rolex Events. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.