DAYTONA BEACH, Florida – The entry list for the 2015 Historic Sportscar Racing (HSR) Classic 24 Hour at Daytona presented by IMSA, November 12 – 15, will be officially announced Thursday, October 15 at 11 a.m. EDT. Several of the Classic 24 Hour at Daytona’s six run groups are already at capacity, and HSR officials will spend the coming days reviewing cars currently on the waitlist and approving any additional entries.

“We have been anticipating a strong entry for the second edition of the Classic 24 Hour at Daytona presented by IMSA but the current list being finalized for announcement next week certainly exceeded our expectations,” said HSR President David Hinton. This is an even better representation of the last half century of international sports car racing than the outstanding lineup of race cars that participated in last year’s inaugural Classic 24 Hour at Daytona. We truly will have something special for everyone, no matter what your favorite sports car racing era is, at the Classic 24 Hour this year.”

While the entry list is fast filling up, teams will be able to add drivers to officially entered race cars in the weeks leading up to the race. A list of drivers that is already packed with past and current sports car racing stars will no doubt grow over the next month.

– Several current and iconic prototype sports cars tested for two days earlier this week at Daytona International Speedway (DIS) where teams and drivers were preparing for the Classic 24 Hour at Daytona. The list included the popular pair of 2005 Audi R8 LMPs from Rogers Motorsports, driven at the test by Doug Smith and James Gue, and the similar Audi of Travis Engen prepared by GMT Racing. Smith co-drove the Rogers Motorsports entry to victory with Andy Wallace in last year’s inaugural Classic 24 Hour at Daytona.

“The test went well,” Smith said. “We came here with an agenda and went through that.  I’m really satisfied heading to the airport from here and looking forward to being back in a couple of weeks, it’s a tremendous event. In an open top car like the Audi it is a totally different experience at night, very vibrant, the colors, it’s a really cool thing to take in.”

Rogers Motorsports Team Manager Bobby Green was pleased after a productive test.

“We really haven’t done much with the car since last year so we really kind of wanted to shake it out,” Green said. “We had a couple of things we wanted to try from last year so we took the opportunity today to try to better ourselves for next month. Right now, Doug is locked and loaded and Andy is tentative as far as our drivers. The way it is working right now is that if Andy can’t make it then Butch Leitzinger is going to drive. We did test James Gue today as a reserve driver, and if neither of the boys can make it we’ll put him in there. He did a great job for us today.”

– GMT Racing also ran at the Daytona test a stellar 1996 Riley & Scott Mk III, entered in the Classic 24 Hour for Rick Carlino and Derek Jones, and the eye-catching 2007 Pescarolo Judd LMP of David Porter. Porter challenged the Rogers Motorsports Audi team for the 2014 Classic 24 Hour win and has no intention of coming up short this year.

“To win the race is the hopeful accomplishment, that’s it,” Porter said. “We had the fastest car in every session last year and, unfortunately, I didn’t put on my best driving performance and screwed up. We ended up four laps down and, even with a car that fast, you can’t make back four laps. I want to redeem myself in my own mind as much as anything else. I’m looking forward to this so much. Sitting on that grid at 4:30 in the morning under the lights is one of the coolest things I’ve ever seen.”

– Winning sports car racing driver Gunnar Jeannette tested at Daytona with co-driver Steve Scullen in his 2009 Oreca FLM09 LMPC race car prepared by GMT Racing. Jeannette has made several Rolex 24 At Daytona starts and will be helping Scullen through his first-ever race on the legendary DIS road course at the Classic 24.

“This car is slightly more modern than some of the other cars but it’s going be a great car to have out there,” Jeannette said. “It’s Steve’s first time at Daytona so I’m sure he’s going to be really excited about going out and getting some night laps around here and to just experience everything that Daytona has to offer in a 24 hour event. We went through just kind of a simple test program mostly, just about getting Steve prepared for the 24 because he hasn’t driven here before. I think once we get here for the race weekend and get a number of cars out there it’s going to get a bit crazier.”

Scullen is going to experience Daytona and racing at night for the first time.

“I’ve never done any night racing and have never been to Daytona before,” Scullen said. “I can’t tell you how cool it is when you go up on the banking for the first time, it’s amazing. To be honest, it’s just getting enough familiarity with the visuals around the track so you know where you are independent of what the light is overhead.”

– Former Rolex 24 At Daytona overall winner Jim Pace helped local Daytona Beach-area driver Angus Russell take his first laps in his Porsche 962 during the Daytona test. Pace shook the car down and recorded for a video on the HSR YouTube Channel his thoughts and view from the 962’s cockpit as he lapped the 3.56-mile DIS road course.
Russell also got up to speed in the Porsche after Pace’s initial run. The 962 is chassis No. 114 that ran with the German Kremer Racing team as one of the familiar Leyton House entries. Notable drivers at the time included Marc Surer and Jo Gartner, among others. The Porsche is currently maintained and prepared by GEautosports.

“I’m a local resident, I live in Ormond Beach, so I know a lot about the Daytona history,” Russell said. “As a kid growing up I saw the 24 Hours of Daytona and Le Mans so for me these are cool cars and a great track here. The 962 I have is an iconic car of that period and kind of built for these type tracks like Daytona and Le Mans. This was my first time in the car today, Jim Pace was here giving me some advice, we just did these two days and we will sit down and evaluate everything.”