Rolex 24 Thursday Notebook

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In: Racing News
The promise is on the pole.  
 
When John Andretti was gravely ill with cancer in late 2019, his cousin Michael Andretti promised to look after the project John and his son Jarett had started together – building a prototype to compete in IMSA races.
 
The result is both inspiring and groundbreaking. Two years after John Andretti died, Jarett Andretti will start from the pole position Saturday in the Le Mans Prototype 3 (LMP3) class in the 60th Rolex 24 At Daytona.
 
It’s the realization of a dream and a first for Andretti Autosport, Michael’s wide-ranging motorsports team that has won the Indianapolis 500 six times and fields entries in IndyCar, Formula E, Indy Lights, Extreme E, Australian Supercars, Mexican Supercopa and the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship. 
 
“I’m really excited to be part of that first entry,” Jarett Andretti said after winning the LMP3 pole Sunday by finishing first in a qualifying race with teammate Josh Burdon. “Hopefully we can have a good one-for-one batting average when we leave here. … If I can be a small cog in the wheel, I’m happy to be a part of it and try to help as much as I can.”
 
The No. 36 Andretti Autosport Ligier JS P320 that Andretti will co-drive this weekend with Burdon, Gabby Chaves and Rasmus Lindh is the culmination of the family vow.
 
“I’m there to support him,” Michael Andretti said in an interview during the offseason. “I promised John I would support Jarett in whatever he was going to do. Also, it’s been good for us to learn for when we do get into the series in a bigger way.”
 
Michael Andretti has been pursuing partners to field an entry in the WeatherTech Championship’s LMDh program, which will debut next year as the series’ top class. The Andretti Autosport LMP3 operation, though, is Jarett’s project.
 
“He gets 100 percent credit for what’s being done there,” Michael said. “We’re trying to support it as much as we can, but it’s his baby.”
 
The car carries sponsorship from Window World, a longtime sponsor of John Andretti’s cars in NASCAR and IndyCar. It also carries a lifetime of memories of John and Aldo Andretti, Jarett’s grandfather who died in December 2020. 
   
“There are a lot of good feelings when you come back to Daytona,” Jarett Andretti said while recalling racing with his dad in the 2012 Rolex 24 in a GT entry fielded by Yellow Dragon Motorsports. It was John’s final professional race before retirement.
 
“They taught me the principles and the background,” Andretti said before racing last year in the Prototype Challenge at Daytona. “They didn’t so much give me a roadmap as they gave me the ability to follow the roadmap. They gave me the ability to make the right decisions — or at least feel like I’m making the right decisions — and surround myself with the right people.”
 
Keating Ready to Do Prototype Double
 
 
Ben Keating is about to step up in a very big way.
 
Last year, he won the Le Mans Prototype 2 (LMP2) championship with PR1 Mathiasen Motorsports. This weekend, he’ll compete at the top level – Daytona Prototype international (DPi) – while also competing in LMP2 in the Rolex 24.
 
He’s a bit nervous about it, to be honest, but the nerves heighten his awareness. And when you’re driving two race cars over the course of 24 hours, awareness is a good thing.
 
“I don’t think there’s much difference between being excited and being scared,” Keating said. “Whether it’s good or bad, it’s all stress on the body. That’s why I do this. I love the excitement of doing it. DPi is a new level of excitement for me.”
 
He’ll return to the No. 52 PR1 Mathiasen ORECA LMP2 07 in the LMP2 class with Mikkel Jensen, Scott Huffaker and Nicolas Lapierre while co-driving the No. 5 JDC-Miller MotorSports Cadillac DPi-V.R in DPi with Tristan Vautier, Richard Westbrook and Loic Duval.
 
He’s ready for it, too. Keating, 50, monitors his heart rate and other vitals by way of a fitness monitor worn on his wrist. His heart rate while driving a GT car is steady at 145 beats per minute. In a prototype, it’s 165 bpm.
 
“I’ve proven I can do well behind the wheel of an LMP2,” Keating said. “I expect to represent myself well behind the wheel of a DPi. That’s super important to me. I’m not just a 50-year-old car dealer from Texas who can afford to be in a DPi seat. I want to represent myself well. I want to do well. I want people to look out there and go, ‘Man, he belongs in that seat.’”
 
The No. 52 will start Saturday’s race on the LMP2 pole after Keating and Jensen won the class qualifying race. The No. 5 rolls off second overall and in DPi.
 
Keating’s atypical path to DPi didn’t start until he was 35 years old. His Keating Auto Group owns 28 car dealerships in Texas, and his racing exploits have included wins at Spa, Watkins Glen, Sebring, Laguna Seca and Daytona.
 
“How incredible is it to have an opportunity to race for an overall win?” Keating said. “It’s out of this world.” 
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