ROLEX 24: Pruett’s ready for win No. 6

Numbers matter to Scott Pruett. The 55-year-old 5-time winner of the Rolex 24 at Daytona is back on a new quest, with a new team, to earn his record-breaking sixth victory, and with his focus shifting to a new full-time program later this year, 2016 could be the Californian's final pursuit of an overall win.

Tallying Pruett's achievements is a daunting task. Start with more than 100 karting wins, add 80-plus sports car wins in IMSA, Grand-Am, and Trans-Am, a pair of IndyCar victories, a Le Mans victory, and more than 20 combined karting and road racing championships together, and you get someone whose career is overflowing with success.

His numbers will be hard for any American to match, yet with a Type A personality like Pruett possesses, there's always one more win to chase. Including class wins, Pruett has won more than a dozen times at Daytona, but the elusive sixth overall victory is what's led the Roseville resident to partner with two-time Rolex 24 winners Action Express Racing to separate himself from the great Hurley Haywood, who shares the current record of five wins.

• Scott Pruett receives 2016 RRDC Phil Hill Award

Pruett's role at AXR will transition to leading the factory Lexus GT3 program whenever the car is ready, and once it hits IMSA's WeatherTech SportsCar Championship trail, he'll be racing for class wins in the bottom-tier GT Daytona category. Knowing the Lexus and GTD is on the horizon for 2016 and beyond, Pruett has one realistic chance left to take the overall win, and it's this weekend.

"It's been an incredible run," he told RACER. "The good Lord has blessed me with his career that is pushing on almost five decades. With wins and championships in go karts in sports cars in IndyCars, and then back to sports cars, it's been incredible for me.

"As I look towards Daytona, I certainly want to put myself in a position where we have as good a chance as anybody to win that race, but I don't like to get caught up with [talk about the sixth win] because I have been to that race so many times and silly things can happen at that race so you never know what the outcome is going to look like till you take the checkered flag."

Pruett has also intensified his training routine to make sure he's prepared for the physical challenge of pushing AXR's Corvette DP to the limit throughout the 24-hour race with his teammates.

"As I'm focused on this race, a lot of your preparation is gone into the driver, all the training, because it starts for me virtually at the end of the season," he continued. "I start focusing on going back to Daytona and working with a trainer, spending more time in the gym, and doing that element of it all during the offseason. And for the team, they do the same thing with the car, spending months making sure it's in its best shape to win the race. You don't want to be a weak link."

Dwelling on the possible outcomes of the 2016 Rolex 24 doesn't interest Pruett. A victory would certainly put his quest to become the all-time winner to rest, but if it doesn't happen, there's no guarantee he wouldn't return after his Lexus contract concludes to take another shot at the record.

"You will see me in the Lexus next year in the GT category, but with that said, the other thing is, you never say never," he remarked. "If it doesn't happen this year, it doesn't happen. I am so happy with where I am at and all the championships and all the wins and all the wins at Daytona. If I don't get the win, I don't get the win. I go in knowing the team is as good as it can be. We certainly have a chance. I'm as good as I can be, and we can get to the checkered flag first."

Is it possible Pruett could step away from AXR's Corvette DP feeling satisfied with the result – whatever it ends up being?

"My mark has been made in sportscar racing and everything I have done," he said. "It would be great to win another race, but I certainly do not have to win another Rolex 24 at Daytona. Would it be great? Yeah, but I'm already tied with another incredible, great driver. And if that is the way it's meant to play out, then so be it."

Let's just say that if Pruett leaves Daytona still tied with Haywood, it won't be a surprise to see him back in a prototype as his 60th birthday approaches to try and rectify the problem.