Indystar.com Rolex 24 Weekend Preview

Rolex 24 this weekend

Johnson might not drive an Indy car, but he's back in a Daytona Prototype for this weekend's Rolex 24, the top U.S. sports car race, held on the 3.56-mile road course at Daytona International Speedway.
Johnson will share driving duties of the No. 99 GAINSCO Chevrolet/Riley with Jon Fogarty and Alex Gurney. The 24-hour race begins at 3:30 p.m. Saturday.
IndyCar will be well-represented. Graham Rahal will drive with Scott Pruett and Memo Rojas in Ganassi Racing's No. 01 Target BMW/Riley. The team's No. 02 Telmex car has Scott Dixon and Dario Franchitti alongside Montoya and last year's Daytona 500 and Brickyard 400 winner, Jamie McMurray.
Ryan Briscoe is in the No. 10 SunTrust Chevrolet/Dallara with Max Angelelli and Wayne Taylor. Ryan Hunter-Reay is part of the Level 5 Motorsports' No. 95 BMW/Riley. Justin Wilson is with A.J. Allmendinger in the No. 6 Ford/Dallara of Michael Shank Racing.

Vernay tests with Conquest

Firestone Indy Lights champion JK Vernay will test with Conquest Racing on Monday in his first step toward landing an IndyCar ride.
As champion, Vernay, a 24-year-old French driver, has a scholarship from IndyCar in the range of $500,000 to $1 million to be applied to the top series. The test will be at Sebring (Fla.) International Raceway.
Conquest is far from settled on its 2011 plans. Team owner Eric Bachelart is interested in retaining last year's driver, Bertrand Baguette, and has talked to Paul Tracy about a program.
Vernay's Indy Lights team, Sam Schmidt Motorsports, will test USAC champion Bryan Clauson, Noblesville, today at Phoenix International Raceway. Clauson has a "Road to Indy" scholarship to compete in the five oval tracks on the Indy Lights schedule.

Etc.

Andrew Murstein, a new partner of Richard Petty Motorsports, said this week he would like the Sprint Cup team to pursue Danica Patrick and/or Clint Bowyer for 2012. The team is fielding A.J. Allmendinger and Marcos Ambrose this season. Patrick is signed to drive with Andretti Autosport's IndyCar team this year, but there is an option for next year. . . . Wes Collier, a Zionsville native and Ball State graduate, has been given the general manager's title at Lucas Oil Raceway (formerly O'Reilly Raceway Park) in Clermont. He has served as the acting GM since August.

Source:  Indystar.com Curt Cavin 1/28/11