Racing's top dogs come out for the Daytona 24

As much as I dislike the Rolex Sportscar Series, there's no doubt that they've done a good job of rebuilding the Daytona 24 Hours after its decline in the late 90s and early 00s. These days the Rolex 24 is something akin to summer (winter?) camp for top drivers of all disciplines, primarily financed by the wealthy team and car owners along with pay drivers.

Although the Daytona Prototype cars are ugly and slow, and the GT cars significantly slower than their ALMS counterparts, the sheer size and quality of the entry helps ensure that it's an entertaining event.

Just take a look at this incredible who's who of racing on the entry list:

American sportscar racing
Scott Pruett
Memo Rojas
Allan McNish
Ian James
Guy Cosmo
Wayne Taylor
Max Angelelli
Bill Auberlen
Joey Hand
Pat Long
Andy Wallace
Darren Law
David Donohue
Hurley Haywood
Terry Borcheller
Colin Braun
Oliver Gavin
Nic Jonnson
Memo Gidley
Jim Matthews
Marc Goossens
Johnny O'Connell
Jon Fogarty
Alex Gurney
Andy Pilgrim
Kelly Collins
Jan Magnussen
Ralf Kelleners
David Empringham
Nathan Swartzbaugh
Randy Pobst
Gunnar Jeannette
Johannes van Overbeek
Romain Dumas
Andy Lally
Lonnie Pechnik
Craig Stanton
Max Papis
David Murry
Wolf Henzler
Sacha Maassen
Jorg Bergmeister
Dirk Werner
Dominik Farnbacher
Timo Bernhard

American open wheel
Scott Dixon
Dan Wheldon
Alex Lloyd
Alex Barron
Ed Carpenter
AJ Foyt
Vitor Meira
Stephan Gregoire
Ryan Briscoe
Helio Castroneves
Michael Valiante
Ryan Dalziel
Milka Duno
Buddy Rice
Justin Wilson
Graham Rahal
Andrew Ranger
Ryan Hunter-Reay
Jimmy Vasser
Robert Doornbos

Stock cars
Dario Franchitti
Juan-Pablo Montoya
Bill Lester
John Andretti
AJ Allmendinger
Kurt Busch
Jimmie Johnson
Boris Said

European sportscar racing
Lucas Luhr
Mike Rockenfeller
Harold Primat
Tomas Enge
Justin Bell
Derek Bell
Fabio Babini
Stephane Ortelli
Matteo Bobbi
Antonio Garcia
Mike Newton
Tommy Erdos
Tom Kimber-Smith
Joao Barbosa
Eric van de Poele
Darren Turner
Fabrizio Gollin
Gabriele Gardel
Johnny Mowlem
Thomas Biagi
Robin Liddell
Tim Sugden
Emmanuelle Collard
Richard Westbrook
Richard Lietz
Patrick Huisman
Tim Bergmeister
Pierre Kaffer
Frank Stippler

European open wheel
Salvador Duran
Ricardo Zonta