Rolex 24 Recap

The unofficial start to the motorsports season, The Rolex 24 Hours of Daytona, took place over the weekend, and for the second year in a row I was greatly entertained by the event. I look forward to this race not only because it brings racing back after a too-long absence, but also because it has a bit of an all-star feel to it. Drivers from many different motorsports series, view the Rolex 24 as a prestigious endurance challenge, so you'll find drivers from IndyCar, NASCAR, sports cars, Formula One, and others participating. This year, fans were treated to an entertaining race with a little bit of drama and controversy at the end. And there were plenty of IndyCar drivers to watch.

I counted ten active full-time IndyCar drivers who participated: Mikhail Aleshin, Sebastien Bourdais, Ryan Briscoe, Scott Dixon, James Hinchcliffe, Ryan Hunter-Reay, Tony Kanaan, Simon Pagenaud, Graham Rahal, and Justin Wilson. Bourdais was on the overall winning team, and RHR found himself atop a podium with a third-place finish in the GT LeMans class. In addition to these regulars, there were also 12 other drivers who were behind the wheel of an IndyCar or an Indy Lights car at least once last year: AJ Allmendinger, Townsend Bell, Gabby Chaves, Conor Daly, Sage Karam, Katherine Legge, Lucas Luhr, Tristan Nunez, Sebastian Saavedra, Alex Tagliani, Tristan Vautier, and EJ Viso. There seemed to be a lot more IndyCar drivers participating this year, and I imagine we will see even more in the future. This marks the fourth year in a row that an IndyCar driver has been on the overall winning team. Last year, after winning the Rolex, Charlie Kimball had his best season yet. Will Bourdais follow suit? Given his history and mad driving skills, you have to like his chances in 2014.

For those who have never watched the Rolex 24 or any sports car race, it can be confusing and overwhelming. With four different classes and at least three drivers for each car (necessary for a 24-hour race), trying to follow everything is a daunting task. But if you like technology and performance cars like Porsche, Ferrari, and Corvette, this is the place to see some of the best. I'm not here to discuss all of that, because much of it is over my head, but it was nice to see Corvettes sweep the top four spots.

This year's Rolex 24 will be remembered for two things, both of which IndyCar fans are all too familiar with: a scary crash between Memo Gidley and Matteo Malucelli, and a controversial call from race control at the end of the race. First, the crash, which should serve as an important reminder of how dangerous racing is, and how we should keep pursuing safety innovation. After seeing the crash live, I have to say it is truly miraculous that Gidley survived. Granted, he has a broken back and had surgery on both his left arm and left leg, but he is fortunate to be alive. It's difficult to assign blame for the crash, so I won't presume to do so. I know Gidley was not happy when he saw the replay, though. He has a long recovery ahead of him, so I hope he thinks positively rather than dwell on those angry demons. Perhaps a call or visit from Alex Zanardi, whose courage I greatly admire, might help?

Second, the call at the end of the race. Initially, race control called a 70-second penalty on Alessandro Pier Guidi's (teammate of Townsend Bell) car for "avoidable contact" with Markus Winklehock. The call temporarily handed Winklehock's team the win, and Twitter blew up. Literally. Read Bell's feed from yesterday and you'll see what I mean. Fans were outraged because there was no actual "contact" to be avoided. Bell proceeded to forward these tweets to IMSA, who actually seemed to listen. Race control officials reviewed the decision and eventually overturned it.

It's interesting to note that the racing between Alessandro and Markus was 1) incredibly exciting and 2) the result of a late, unnecessary full course yellow. Driver Leh Keen spun and landed in the tires with less than twenty minutes to go, but he was able to recover quickly and get back on course. Nonetheless, officials threw a caution flag, which set the stage for a close finish. Some might call this manufactured drama, and they'd probably be right. One has to wonder if this is the future of racing: late caution flags to create dramatic racing and close finishes. We've already seen it happen in NASCAR. Is this what fans want? Is it necessary to keep people interested in auto racing? All good food for thought, and things to keep an eye on this year in all motorsports series.

All in all, I would highly recommend all IndyCar fans check out the Rolex 24 next year. You can catch an early glimpse of your favorite drivers, experience real racing in January, and maybe, just maybe, get a side of controversy with your main course.