Celebration of the 24 Hours of Daytona – Photo Gallery
By Bob Harmeyer
Daytona International Speedway in 2012 is celebrating the 50th anniversary of the track’s first road race, a three hour event won by Dan Gurney when he coasted across the finish line with a blown engine.
The first two road races were three hour events, the third and fourth were expanded to 2000 kilometer contests, and the now-traditional 24-hour race distance was first run in 1966. It was shortened to six hours in 1972, and cancelled completely in 1974 due to an oil embargo and the resulting fuel shortage. Consequently, this year marks the 44th time the circuit has hosted a 24 Hours race, and I believe I’ve photographed at least half of them.
Working for manufacturers, sponsors, agencies and a handful of editorial clients, I’ve photographed most of the major racing series – and tracks – in the world since the early ’70s. My photo archive contains images of the Indy 500 from the years AJ Foyt, Al Unser and Rick Mears became four-time winners; the Daytona 500 when Richard Petty won his seventh 500, and Dale Earnhardt won for the only time in his career; Formula One in Sweden, when Jody Scheckter won the only race for the Tyrrell six-wheeler; and World of Outlaws races at Eldora Speedway when Steve Kinser and Sammy Swindell were beginning their careers.
But the 24 Hours of Daytona, 12 Hours of Sebring and 24 Hours of Le Mans endurance races are my three favorite events for photography. Without a doubt.
The sheer lengths of those three events offer a multiplicity of light that constantly changes in quality, color and intensity, and the variety of machinery on-track together is absolutely unmatched in other forms of racing. For pure, raw visual appeal, no other event offers the magnitude, range and diversity of jaw-dropping, emotional images that are routinely available at these three races.
Daytona’s uncertain winter weather adds to its visual diversity. Frequently, it’s pleasant, sunny and warm, and the photographs are of brightly-lit machines and beautiful sunsets. But on occasion, it can be cold, overcast and wet, with cars splashing through standing water or trailing rooster tails on the banking.
And there always are the night hours, splashed with streaks of light and glowing brake disks, mesmerizing and nearly hypnotic when watched from the vast grandstands that wrap around the Daytona tri-oval.
The combination of all these factors makes the 24 Hours of Daytona an experience that should be on the “bucket list” for all race fans.
Celebration of the 24 Hours of Daytona – Photo Gallery
The crew of Interscope Racing Porsche 935 works on a mid-race engine change in the pit lane during the 1978 event. Starting from pole position, Danny Ongais led early in the race, but engine dramas relegated the team to a 56th place finish.Al Holbert was one of IMSA’s most noteworthy entrants / drivers through the 1970s and 1980s. Driving for Belcher Racing in the 1978 event, Holbert was teamed with Gary Belcher and Doc Bundy and finished 6th.Bobby Rahal at the wheel of the Porsche 935 K3 he shared with Bob Akin and Roy Woods in the 1980 race. Engine issues led to an early retirement and 54th classification in the final results.A Goodyear tire engineer checks tread depth during a pit stop for the Porsche 935 K3 driven by Dale, Don and Bill Whittington in the 1980 race. The trio finished 16th.Legendary team, legendary drivers, legendary event — Driving a Porsche 935, Joest Racing drivers Reinhold Joest, Rolf Stommelen and Volkert Merl took the checkered flag with a 33 lap margin of victory in the 1980 24 Hours of Daytona.Bobby Rahal at the wheel of Bob Garretson’s Porsche 935, exiting Daytona’s “bus stop” chicane on the way to overall victory in 1981. Teamed with Garretson and Brian Redman, this was the first major victory of Rahal’s developing career.Bobby Rahal, Bob Garretson and Brian Redman celebrate in victory lane after winning the 1981 24 Hours of Daytona by a margin of 13 laps.Bob Wollek, Jim Busby and John Fitzpatrick started the Kremer Racing Porsche 935 from the front row in 1981, but engine problems saw them complete just 167 laps, finishing 46th.The business end of Bruce Leven’s Porsche 935, on the jacks during a pre-race practice session in 1982. Leven was joined in the car by Al Holbert and Hurley Haywood, qualifying 4th and finishing 15th.Danny Ongais and Ted Field suffered an engine failure in the team’s Porsche 935 just 55 laps into the 1982 24 Hours of Daytona.One of the most spectacular drivers ever to wheel a Porsche 935, John Paul, Jr., along with his father and Rolf Stommelen, turned a third-row starting position into a Daytona victory in 1982.The March 82G, the first March GTP machine and the first car designed by current Red Bull F1 designer Adrian Newey. Distinctive with it’s “lobster-claw” design, the car was driven by Bobby Rahal, Bruce Canepa and Jim Trueman at Daytona in 1982. Rahal qualified the car on pole, but gearbox problems sidelined the team and they finished 24th.
With a streak of taillights and a turbo spitting flame, the Porsche 935 of Frank Rubino, Pepe Romero, Doc Bundy and Dale Whittington makes the turn from Daytona’s tri-oval onto the infield road course in 1983.Hurley Haywood pilots Bruce Leven’s Porsche 935 through Daytona’s banking in Turn 4 during practice for the 1983 race. Together with Al Holbert, Haywood and Leven finished 16th.Spectacular sunset skies are not uncommon at Daytona, this one coming during night practice for the 1983 race.The Mazda RX-7 of Jim Downing, John Maffucci and Steve Potter splashes its way out of the infield road course in 1983, heading onto the Daytona banking.The Porsche 935 of long-time Camel GT Series entrant Bruce Leven spits flame in the braking zone for the first horseshoe turn on Daytona’s infield road course in 1984.Jaguars entered by Bob Tullius were among the most immaculately prepared cars in racing, exemplified by this XJR-5 GTP entry in the 1984 event.Mario Andretti climbs into the original Porsche 962 on the starting grid for the 1984 race at Daytona. This was the original 962, entered by the factory as a development effort. Driven by Mario and his son Michael, the car retired after 127 laps and was classified in 66th place.Group 44 brought a pair of pristine Jaguar XJR-5 machines for the race in 1984, finishing in 3rd and 24th places when the checkered fell on Sunday afternoon.Twenty-five years after his Formula 1 debut with Team Lotus, Innes Ireland was behind the wheel of this Porsche 924 for the 1984 version of the 24 Hours of Daytona. Teamed with Bob Bergstrom and Tom Winters, the car completed just 236 laps and finished in 48th position.A GTP car is hustled through the night on Daytona’s road course in 1985.
Celebration of the 24 Hours of Daytona – Page Three
Trailing a plume of flame from the turbo, the Porsche 962 of Al Holbert, Derek Bell and Al Unser, Jr. streaks into the first hairpin of Daytona’s infield road course en route to a second place finish in 1985.A vantage point high in Daytona’s grandstand yields streaks of tail lights and turbo flame during the 1985 race.Jack Roush’s road-racing program had remarkable success in the Daytona 24 Hours, winning class victories in each of 10 consecutive appearances.Al Holbert’s Porsche 962 runs ahead of Bob Tullius’ Jaguar XJR-5 during the late afternoon hours of the 1985 event.Daytona’s sweeping grandstand offers prime viewing of Daytona’s unending string of mid-race, mid-night pit stops.Rob Dyson’s Porsche 962 leads a group of cars into the second horseshoe corner of Daytona’s infield road course in the 1987 event.Ford had limited success competing in IMSA’s GTP category with cars prepped by Zakspeed USA. David Hobbs, Gianpiero Moretti and Whitney Ganz drove this Ford Mustang Probe at Daytona in 1987, starting 11th, but losing the engine on lap 328 and finishing 40th.A lone Porsche 962 powers through the 31 degree banking early Sunday morning of the 1987 event.Showing the wear of a long race, the Holbert Racing Porsche 962 runs through Daytona’s tri-oval en route to the 1987 victory. Al Holbert, Derek Bell, Chip Robinson and Al Unser, Jr. shared driving duties.A.J. Foyt drives his Porsche 962 through Daytona’s “bus stop” chicane early Sunday morning during the 1987 race. Foyt tapped fellow Indy 500 winners Al Unser and Danny Sullivan as his co-drivers, and the trio of open-wheel stars finished 4th.
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Photographed from the front straight grandstand, the Porsche 962 of Al Holbert, Derek Bell and Chip Robinson stops for service during the 1988 race. The car developed engine problems, completed 660 laps and was classified in 7th place when the checkered flag fell on Sunday afternoon.Daytona’s vast grandstands provide spectacular, mesmerizing, night-time views of pit road activity as well as the entire race track as seen here in 1988.Eddie Cheever, Johnny Dumfries and John Watson finished third in one of Tom Walkinshaw’s Jaguar XJR-9 entries in 1988.A.J. Foyt started his Copenhagen-sponsored Porsche 962 from the fifth row in 1988. Foyt had tapped Al Unser, Jr. and Elliott Forbes-Robinson as co-drivers, and the trio completed 675 laps to finish in sixth place.The Porsche 962 of Al Holbert, Derek Bell and Chip Robinson leads a group of cars through the Daytona tri-oval during the early laps of the 1988 race.A.J. Foyt hustles his Porsche 962 through Daytona’s “bus stop” chicane during the Saturday morning warmup before the 1988 race. Foyt, along with co-drivers Al Unser, Jr. and Elliott Forbes-Robinson, brought the car to the finish in 6th place.The Brun Motorsports Porsche 962 sweeps past the Alba AR6 Ferrari of Gaston Andrey Racing going through Daytona’s tri-oval during the 1988 event.Dan Gurney, American auto racing legend, and a winner at Daytona both as a driver and team owner.The Eagles of Dan Gurney’s All American Racers were among the most popular entries in IMSA’s fabled GTP category, with the 1989 24 Hours being the team’s first race in the category.The field falls into formation approaching the green flag in 1989, during the golden era of IMSA GTP competition.The pole-sitting Nissan GTP ZX-T, entered by Electramotive Engineering and driven by Arie Luyendyk, Chip Robinson, Geoff Brabham and Michael Roe, on the Daytona banking in 1989. Engine problems left the car in 27th place at the finish.
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IMSA’s open-top World SportsCar category had replaced the GTP class by 1995.The 2002 race was won by the Dallara LMP Judd entered by Doran Lista Racing, driven by the quartet of Didier Theys, Mauro Baldi, Max Papis and Fredy Lienhard.Seventy-three cars started the 2002 event, leading to the inevitable traffic jams on the infield road course.Driving through the Turn 4 banking on the oval, Dyson Racing’s long-time driver James Weaver checks the mirror on the team’s Riley & Scott Ford during practice in 2002.Legendary endurance driver Hurley Haywood, five-time winner of the Daytona 24 Hours, three-time winner of the 24 Hours of Le Mans and two-time victor at the 12 Hours of Sebring, awaits the start of practice in 2005.Intense, dramatic light falls on the cars as the race transitions from daylight into evening in 2005.Actor Paul Newman drove in the 24 Hours of Daytona on multiple occasions, with his last appearance being in 2005 driving this Crawford-Ford. Early evening light on Saturday illuminates Newman’s famous blue eyes in his final time behind the wheel at Daytona.Sascha Maassen, Lucas Luhr, Darren Law, and David Donohue drove the Fabcar-Porsche of Brumos Racing to 8th place in 2005.The 2005 race was won by the Riley-Pontiac driven by Wayne Taylor, Max Angelelli and Emmanuel Collard.Roger Penske made a return to the 24 Hours in 2008 and 2009, recording finishes of 3rd and 6th.Relying on the venerable Riley chassis, Chip Ganassi’s teams have dominated the 24 Hours in recent years, recording four first places and two seconds in the last six years.Prototype traffic on the banking, early in the evening in 2009.A 24 hour mix of GT cars and Prototypes brings endless traffic jams, this one an early-morning example from 2009, at the entry to the “bus stop” chicane which marks the end of Daytona’s back straight.The signature paint scheme of Brumos Racing is a familiar sight on the Daytona road course.
I was a bit surprised looking at all these great pictures. It appears that Daytona is just about an all Porsche field. I thought that there were many more vehicle makes involved in that race than that ???
Art G
Great stuff! You forget how many of the iconic names in racing raced at Daytona.
These pictures warm the heart on a cold winter’s day in Ohio. They seem to focus on the GTP era and that’s not a bad thing.
I drove a Cobra in the 1966 Daytona 24 Hour race, but I hadn’t realized that 1966 was the first year it was run.
I remember it was very cold at night and in an open car.
Great pics it’s a blast to be able to see all the cars from the past in one place I’am glad to be able to say its off of my bucket list of races to see
I long for a return to the glory days of IMSA GTP. The decline since the late 1990s is evident here.
So true. I wish the TUDOR series was more like it….
Excelente trabajo, muy buenas fotos, saludes desde Costa Rica, Sigifredo Matamoros S del Circulo de Periodistas y Locutores Deportivos CR
Wow …. Awesome photos of my favorite drivers and machines in action. Thank you for sharing.
Bob, I remember those years before digital, waiting to develop and send photographs of the winning teams for race/win ads. Your photographs are a beautiful archive of racing history.
Amazing shots, as always!