This amazing 24-hour endurance race held each year at Daytona International Speedway in Daytona Beach, Florida is always a great way to start off the new race season in the USA. The race features top drivers from NASCAR and IndyCar racing series plus international racing series, such as Formula 1. The 3.56-mile (5.73 km) combined road course, utilizes portions of the NASCAR tri-oval and an infield road course.

The race was renamed after the prestigious Rolex Watch Company in 1991 when they became the title sponsor of the race, and it began the iconic tradition of awarding the winning drivers of all classes a steel Rolex Daytona watch.

Starting in 1966, the Daytona race was extended to the same 24 hour length as Le Mans with event designed to determine which team of drivers can take their sports car the farthest in a fixed time period, rather than the shortest time over a fixed distance as in most conventional auto races.

The Rolex 24 is run on a closed course within the speedway arena without the use of any public streets. with lights installed around the circuit for night racing. The driver teams were expanded to 3 drivers in the 1970’s and today four or five drivers will compete on a team.

In order to make sports car racing less expensive, new rules were introduced in 2002. The dedicated Daytona Prototypes use less expensive materials and technologies and the car's simple aerodynamics reduce the development and testing costs.

The Gran Turismo or GT class cars at Daytona are closer to the road versions. In an effort for teams to save money, GT rules have now changed to permit space frame cars clad in lookalike body panels to compete in GT (the new Mazda for example, and the forthcoming Infiniti G35). These rules are somewhat similar to the old GTO specification, but with rather more restrictions.

The intent of space frame-clad cars is to allow teams to save money -- especially after crashes, where teams can rebuild the cars for the next race at a much lower cost, or even redevelop cars, instead of having to write off an entire car after a crash or at the end of a year.

Since the Rolex 24 precedes the NASCAR and IndyCar Series races, it is also a showcase for the best of these and other international racing series. In the past renowned drivers Jimmie Johnson, Jeff Gordon, Helio Castroneves, Sam Hornish Jr., Juan Pablo Montoya, Greg Biffle, Paul Tracy, Sébastien Bourdais, Kurt Busch, Kyle Petty, Scott Dixon, Dan Wheldon, Casey Mears,  Rusty Wallace, Danica Patrick,  Tony Stewart and Buddy Rice have competed in this annual superstar showcase. Even Dale Earnhardt and Dale Earnhardt, Jr. were paired together in the 2001 race.

Four-time NASCAR Sprint Cup Series Champion Jimmie Johnson will kick off his 2010 racing season at Daytona International Speedway in the Rolex 24 At Daytona on January 30-31.

In the 2009 edition the winning team was driven by David Donahue, Antonia Garcia, Darren Law and Buddy Rice who drove the Brumos Racing entry an impressive 4,211 km in just 24 hours.
 
This year’s race January 30-31, 2010 should prove to be another exciting ultimate test of man and machine, for the benefit of sports car racing fans worldwide. SPEED TV's live coverage will begin at 3 p.m. ET Saturday and last until 10 p.m., and will resume Sunday at 7 a.m. and run until 4 p.m.