Current sports car stars enjoying classic cars with former aces in Daytona’s historic 24-hour

This weekend’s Historic Sportscar Racing Classic 24 Hour at Daytona International Speedway is a dream event – and a great way to get a head start on the 2015 season and January’s Rolex 24 At Daytona.

It’s a rare opportunity to see and hear classic cars of all varieties at speed, racing on the fabled high banks, in Daytona’s first 24-hour vintage event.

For competitors, it’s also a unique opportunity to drive cars they’ve dreamed about, including the Ford GT40, Porsche 907, Greenwood Corvette and ORECA Viper, competing against legends including Brian Redman, Hurley Haywood, Jochen Mass, Elliott Forbes-Robinson, Vic Elford, Jurgen Barth, Arturo Merzario and Andy Wallace.

TUDOR United SportsCar Championship co-drivers Leh Keen and Cooper MacNeil are sharing the Alex Job Racing Porsche 911 Carrera RSR that won its class in both the Rolex 24 At Daytona and Mobil 1 Twelve Hours of Sebring in 1999. Their current No. 22 WeatherTech Porsche 911 GT America is a descendant of that vehicle.

Action Express Racing/Whelen Engineering driver Eric Curran returns to a Corvette DP that he formerly raced in the TUDOR Championship. He’s helping its new owner prepare it for historic competition – but he’s also driving a 1967 Corvette Stingray in the endurance race.

The Classic 24 includes six different groups that compete in a rotating schedule for 24 hours of racing. The first group takes the green flag at 1 p.m. Saturday, followed by the second group at 2 p.m., continuing non-stop until 1 p.m. Sunday. Each group competes in four sessions of approximately 45 minutes each, including a five-minute mandatory pit stop.

Other current IMSA drivers on the scene at Daytona this weekend include Patrick Long, Johannes van Overbeek, Ryan Dalziel, Ricky and Jordan Taylor, Mirco Schultis, James Sofronas, Shane Lewis, Sean Rayhall, Matt Plumb, Mark Kvamme, Randy Pobst, Cody Ellsworth, Cameron Lawrence, Mike Skeen, Jim Pace, Byron DeFoor, David Hinton and Dr. Robert Gewirtz, plus car owners such as Kevin Doran, Peter Baron and Enzo Potolicchio.