Trawling Daytona: Three Days at the Rolex 24 [Video and Photos]

While spending three days at last weekend's Rolex 24 at Daytona, we learned two important things: First, the Grand-Am series appeared to be absolutely viable as a spectator-driven form of motorsport, and, second, skinny jeans have never been more in style. Particularly for the less-than-skinny. Indeed, the growing popularity of sports-car racing was evident from the moment we arrived. It was clear not only in the total amount of tickets sold (reportedly the highest total ever for a Grand-Am event at Daytona), but also by the sheer number of people who ponied up extra cash for garage-access privileges, in hopes of a chance encounter with their favorite driver. Still, there is an argument that racing is best enjoyed on television. There are no parking hassles and you get up-to-the-second coverage and replays—plus an absence of pathogen-incubating Porta Potties. But we joined the sunburned hordes shuffling through the humanity-clogged paddock and managed to capture a few items that illustrate why there's no substitute for being there. Equipped with a simple point-and-shoot camera and no media pass, we interacted with the stars as anybody would, and emerged with the video and photo gallery below. Oh—we tried some skinny jeans, too, but switched back to shorts after developing a nasty rash from the chafing. from Car and Driver Blog http://blog.caranddriver.com

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