TEAM CORVETTE PREPARES FOR VICTORY AT ROLEX 24
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During a press conference at Rolex 24 At Daytona testing January 4-6, Team Corvette commented on the many unique changes to the team including the addition of Dale Earnhardt and Dale Earnhardt Sr. of NASCAR fame, as drivers in Corvette #3 along with Kelly Collins and Andy Pilgrim. Collins and Pilgrim will share the driver's seat of the No. 3 Goodwrench Service Plus Corvette C5-R with the Earnhardt family in the Feb. 3-4 Rolex 24 At Daytona and both sportscar aces are thrilled with the once-in-a-lifetime opportunity.
"Driving with the Earnhardts, somewhere down the line when I'm retired, I'll be able to say I drove with those guys at Daytona," said Collins, who was part of the winning team in the GTS class of the 1999 Rolex 24 At Daytona. "To me, that's rocking chair equity."
Pilgrim is equally thrilled with his teammates. "It's very cool," Pilgrim said. "It's hard to put it into easy terms. I've road raced my whole life. I was born in England, but I'm now a U.S. citizen. I've been here 20 years. I knew about Dale Earnhardt before I came to the states. He's a legend. There's no two ways about it. The guy's achieved legend status for what he has done."
"I'm very happy to be at Daytona again." added Pilgrim It's a great opportunity for all of us. One of the cars will hopefully win this race. There's nothing like winning at Daytona. We're here to win and that's what we're going to do."
Ron Fellows reflected on last year's exciting Rolex 24 At Daytona fight to the finish with the Dodge Viper: "It's the closest finish, but we were still on the wrong end of it. It was a tremendous battle last year. It was all-out sprint. We got behind in the first four hours. It was a sprint to the end. It was tires, fuel and go as fast as we could. The Viper set the same pace. In a 24-hour race, we ran out of time. We have the car and we have some unfinished business here. We're looking to get to the end of the (This year's) Rolex 24 and be first."
"We know the strength of the team and the cars. Both cars have the capability of running a good hard pace and anything can happen in these events." commented Chris Kneifel. "You need to make sure you take care of your business and keep it clean. We're here to win. As Ron said, we need to get on top of the podium, and with any luck, one of the two cars will be there at the end."
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