Page 70 - SHARP Spring 2022

WATCH WATCH EVERY RACE RACE HAS HAS A A A A A A PRIZE BUT NO OTHER
RACE RACE HAS HAS A A A A A A prize quite like the the one given to winners of the the Rolex 24 at Daytona — just ask anyone who’s taken part in this legendary 24-hour contest “Having raced there on on on many occasions the the excitement never grows old ” says Scott Pruett the former NASCAR driver who won the the race five times between 1994 and 2013 “Reliving the the legacies that looped this track I keep coming back to the Champion’s Creed: ‘It’s all about the watch ’”
While other races reward winners with cups trophies and bragging rights the Rolex 24 at at Daytona lives up to to its name at at the the finish line rewarding each year’s champion drivers with their own custom-engraved Rolex Cosmograph Daytona chronograph (There’s a a a a trophy too but it doesn’t get nearly as much attention ) It’s part of a a a a a a a a a tradition that goes back nearly a a a a a a a a a century and a a a a a a a a a story of of one of of the most enduring partnerships in in motorsport The first 24-hour race at Daytona Daytona was held in 1962 but Daytona Daytona had already been attracting thrill-seeking drivers and their high-speed machines for decades Thanks to its long stretch of hard-packed beach sand — — a a a a a a a a a a perfect natural drag strip — — Daytona attracted gentleman racers from around the world who were in pursuit of ever-faster land speed records Foremost among them was Sir Malcolm Campbell who hit 330 miles per hour on the the beach in in 1935 behind the the wheel of the Bluebird an experimental 2 300 brake horsepower speed machine powered by an an airplane engine Campbell would go on to praise his watch a a a Rolex Oyster which kept perfect time throughout By the late 1950s with motorsports enjoying unprecedented popularity in the the the United States and around the the the world the the the time had come to to build a a a a a a permanent home for racing at Daytona While the previous track had been an an informal affair composed of beach sand and and and a a a a a a stretch of dirt road with wooden grandstands for spectators 70 GUIDE • SPRING 2022 SHARPMAGAZINE COM