2009 Rolex 24 at Daytona
No. 2 Gentleman Jack Pontiac Crawford

Hour 1

The 2009 Rolex 24 at Daytona is underway. The Childress-Howard Motorsports’ No. 2 Gentleman Jack Pontiac Crawford started 18th on the grid at Daytona International Speedway after an engine failure in practice Thursday forced the team to miss the first round of qualifying. The team bounced back with a solid qualifying effort and a strong final practice Friday.

It was a full day of activities Saturday leading up to the actual competition on the track. Drivers and crew met at 10:30 a.m. to discuss race strategy and then went straight to Victory Lane for the driver’s meeting at 11:30 a.m. Immediately after that, all four drivers participated in an autograph session for the great throng of fans enjoying the warm temperatures and exciting international sports car atmosphere. Driver introductions began at 2:15 p.m. with the procession of Daytona Prototype cars being pushed down pit lane within arm’s length of the crowd lining both sides of the asphalt.

Andy Wallace took the green flag just after 3:30 p.m. Eastern Standard Time and settled in for 24 hours of competition. Rob Finlay is scheduled for the second stint, Casey Mears for the third and Danica Patrick the fourth.

Early on, Wallace called in that the Gentleman Jack Pontiac Crawford was suffering from an overall lack of grip. He was running in the 17th spot after the first half hour and 14 laps of competition.

Check back 15 minutes after each hour between now and Sunday afternoon at 3:30. We’ll keep you up-to-date on all the on-track (as well as the off-track) activities throughout the night and right up to the checkered flag.