Editor's note: Due to technical issues, this story failed to appear last week. We are running it here in its full length.
The WRL’s 14 Hours of Daytona ran into the usual Florida weather last weekend, as weather unfortunately shortened the league’s originally scheduled 14-hour timespan.
The true class to watch over the weekend was GTO. It had at least five cars that could have easily taken the podium on the weekend, which may not seem like much with over 30 entries in the class. But it was the closest class in the field, and it made the pit strategy on track even more interesting as teams battled back and forth for the lead.
In terms of the on-track racing overall, though, unless it was a restart or in the early hours of the race, the teams and drivers truly ran their own race for the most part, being that most of the entries, especially late ones, were spread out on track. This caused very few full-course yellows to be thrown over the weekend, and it caused people to focus on the on-track action.
One thing, though, about endurance racing was wear, and that was a factor in this race, being that over 10 cars didn’t finish the race due to some sort of mechanical issue or cars just simply overheating.
While that may be common in most races, with the added heat that Florida brings during the summer months, it felt like it played more of a part in this race than in others due to how sensitive some of these machines can be to the mechanical and electronic parts on the car.
The GTOs
The GTOs were truly the class of the weekend to watch.
Hittman Racing’s No. 39 Toyota Supra was able to mustard away the top spot overall and on the podium for class, staying very competitive all weekend and starting on pole. The No. 39, who was consistently towards the top of the leaderboard and never let off pace, battled with the GTR 99, No. 99 2018 BMW M4GT4, and Thunder Bunny Racing’s No. 111 2021 Toyota Supra.
Automatic Racing truly had what looked like the car of the weekend, but due to some stoppages on track in part due to having to restart the electronics in the car, their No. 909 Aston Martin Vantage lost a handful of spots, finishing just outside the top, not being able to pick up where they left off, which was showing dominant speed all weekend.
Beyond the actual racing on-track, WRL had its own version of a Garage 56 entry as Team Chandler School brought out their mid-2000s Kyle Petty Wells Fargo NASCAR stock car.
While it may be just a tad bit different than what NASCAR had on track at Le Mans, not featuring all the fancy amenities, the car held up quite well, finishing the majority of the race, although not keeping up pace with the other GTO cars in the field.
Final Thoughts
Overall, while it always feels good to grab a podium and finish at the top of the class, the true goal for many of these drivers was experience and opportunity.
For many, a weekend to race at Daytona is something that only a handful of drivers get to do, and in a series like the World Racing League, where it gives drivers a chance to drive in pro-style racing, it was truly a great chance for drivers and teams to showcase their skills and equipment on-track.
For the actual racing, there may not have been as much bumping as you would sometimes see in the Rolex 24 at Daytona for the WRL’s 14 Hours of Daytona. However, there was some strategy, especially when pitting, that truly allowed some of the GT and GP classes to be quite close towards the end before the race was halted.
Nevertheless, the World Racing League provided an incredible weekend and fluid race.
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