Stock-car racers learn to drive in rainy weather

Darkness falls on the leader Christian Fittipaldi in the Bell Motorsports Pontiac Doran during the running of the Rolex 24-hour race in Daytona, Florida, Saturday. PHOTO: REUTERS

NASCAR Tony Stewart and Dale Earnhardt Jr. combined with sports car ace Andy Wallace to hold the lead in heavy rain nearing the halfway point in the Rolex 24 endurance race.

"It was fun," Stewart said after a late-night stint Saturday in the team's Chevrolet-powered Crawford Daytona Prototype. "I was pretty nervous. I knew Dale was running good times and I knew the car was capable of going fast. I just didn't know what to expect."

NASCAR's cars, with their slick tires and racing mostly on ovals, don't run when it gets wet. Stewart laughed when asked if he has any experience driving in the rain.

"Driving to the grocery store and back," the 2002 Winston Cup champion said.

Earnhardt a spin in the rain but lost very little ground. He said he gave Stewart a few tips about the worst parts of the wet course but added, "He's a natural. you could dump snow out here and he'd probably get around here better than any of us."

As for his own drive in the rain, Earnhardt said he was having fun.

"Once I got comfortable, I just felt pretty good," he said.

Daytona Prototypes, in only their second year of Rolex Series competition, held down the top six spots as the wet Sunday morning began in the twice-around-the-clock event. They were separated by nine laps on the 5.89km Daytona International Speedway road course.

There were only six of the new prototypes entered here in 2003 and a GT class car won the event when most of the prototypes had mechanical problems. This year, there are 17 prototypes and it is anticipated that one of them will win.

Second, two laps behind, was the pole-winning Lexus Riley of reigning Trans-Am champion Scott Pruett, Max Papis and defending Indy Racing League champion Scott Dixon, with the Pontiac Doran of defending prototype series champion Terry Borcheller, Andy Pilgrim, Christian Fittipaldi and Forest Barber on the same lap.

Jimmie Johnson, another NASCAR Nextel Cup star, and teammates Butch Leitzinger, Elliott Forbes-Robinson and David Brules were fourth in another Chevrolet Crawford.

The rain began early in the third hour of the race and sometimes fell in windblown sheets.