2025 HSR Daytona Classic 24/Daytona Historics, Day 2

2025 HSR Daytona Classic 24/Daytona Historics
Qualifying and Sprint Races, Friday, 07 November 2025

B.R.M. GTC/H/V Endurance Race

I arrived just in time to catch the first of the two B.R.M Chronographes Endurance Challenge races. This race showcased an eighteen-car field with a 41-year vintage spread. The oldest was Ken Greenburg’s 1964 Morgan 4/4. The youngest was the 2005 SCCA Enterprises SRF-3 of Richard Baldwin / Richard Kulach. I was working from the bleacher stands close to turn 3. I moved further down later to catch the end of the race. 

Angus Rogers and Kevin Wheeler took top spot on the podium in the #15 1973 Porsche 911 Carrera RSR/3.0. Just behind were Dean DeSantis and Josh Tuggle in their 1973 Porsche 911 RSR. The 1970 Porsche 914/6 GT of Jamie Busby finished third.  Ken Greenberg put that Morgan in eleventh, which belies just fast that car really is.

Prototype Challenge, Race 1

I was on the move along the fenceline, heading toward the slightly angled turn 4.  In this location the prototypes are very fast. A 1/200th shutter is sufficient to capture a decent pan shot with enough blur to portray speed. Pierce Marshall and Eric Foss were at the top of the podium, completing 15 laps. They beat out Bob Neapole and Guy Cosmo for first, but not by much.  The Cadillac is fast, but so is that Acura.

HSR Group Sprint Races

The remainder of the afternoon schedule consisted of the HSR group sprint races, starting with Groups 5 and 8.  Terry Mathis took the win in his 2006 Chevrolet Impala SS NASCAR. Following closely was Jeff McKee, who had a quicker best lap time in the 1998 Ford Taurus.  Rounding out the top finishing spots was Ray Webb, putting the 2016 Chevrolet Camaro NASCAR in P3. 

For Groups 6 and 7, the top podium step went to James Matthews. Second went to Brian Tyler a few seconds back in a 2005 C&R Lightning Crown. Lawrence Huang secured third driving a 2025 Radical SR10. 

The next race was the Mission GT Challenge for Groups 9/10/11. I was still shooting from the spectator bleachers as the sun lumbered across the scene. Sitting lower in the sky now, it was ready to give that “golden hour” of light.  While Group 6/7 was small, the GT Challenge race held 66 entries, one of the largest fields of the weekend. Jerome Jacalone and Mike Skeen put the #82 2019 Porsche 991.2 GT2 RS/CS on top of the podium. Vincent Barletta and Robby Foley followed suit in a 2016 BMW M6 three seconds back. The field was mostly Porsches but there were some others, including a Bentley. 

The Group 2/3 sprint race was the final set before the dinner break. P1 went to Robert Spence in the #63 1972 Porsche 911 S/T. The second place car, also a 1972 Porsche 911 S/T, was driven by Brady Refenning/Jack Refenning/Juan Lopez-Santini. Only 6 of the 9 laps were scored, and then there was a 1-hour, 10-minute break. 

Images from the HSR Sprint Races

Daytona Classic 24 Qualifying Races

Now it was time to set the Classic 24 starting order. As a classic race, this was not run in the same manner as the Rolex 24 Hour race.  These are vintage racing cars, so they cannot be treated like a 2025 Penske Porsche 963. The 24 hour race is set up in heats. Each of the 6 groups get 4, 1-hour racing sessions. Each session is 42 minutes of track time with an 18-minute break in between) to make up the 24 hours.

Group G

Group G kicked things off.  Steve Denton crossed my viewfinder first in a 2014 Porsche 991.1 GT3 Cup. Following him was the #581 2025 Porsche 718 GT4 RS/CS of Mark Cook.  I was in the turn 6 area, not at the apex but closer to the corner marshall’s post. Andrew Bishay took the win, in his white and blue striped 2012 Porsche 997.2 GT3 Cup/3.8.  During the race I experimented with the 1/60th shutter speed, catching a few good ones. 

Group F

Once the Prototypes of Group F showed up, I knocked it back up to 1/100th.  All three Cadillac Dallaras took the top spots. Gerard Lopez and Marcel Faessler qualified first in the 2019, Pierce Marshall / Eric Foss were second in the 2017, and Juan Gonzalez / Roberto Gonzalez / Butch Leitzinger put the other 2017 in third.

I stopped after the prototypes finished. I needed some rest before the next days action and I knew that if I stayed much longer that I risked missing the latter part of the 24 race, something that I wasn’t willing to trade.

Images from Friday’s Qualifying Sessions

My next report will detail the HSR Daytona Classic 24/Daytona Historics Race Day.  You can find my Day 1 report below. Please have a look at this and my other reports. You can check out my website as well in the link below.

---

---