Daytona Diaries: The community and culture of the Rolex 24

The Building Speed team had an incredible time at the 24 Hours of Daytona last weekend.

The sense of community and camaraderie was palpable all weekend; this was of course helped by the good weather and great racing. Take good weather with a grain of salt, however, because despite the team getting a few sunburns, matching checkered-flag blankets did have to be purchased in order to stave off the cold. The action on track was almost as exciting as Amanda, Cat, and Megan’s off-track activities. On Friday, the team was able to meet many of the drivers participating in the race, both at autograph tables and just around the track. This speaks to the high levels of access which race fans receive on IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship race weekends. The team conducted several interviews throughout the weekend with incredible women in Motorsport, including influencers, writers, and team staff. These women include, but are not limited to, Elana Scherr, a senior writer for Car and Driver; Brooke Bond, who is in motorsports operations and marketing with Bosch USA; and Sarah Bergfelt, a motorsports influencer who goes by “ThePaddockPrincess” on Instagram. With Elana, the team was lucky enough to visit the media control room multiple times, which led to them meeting Jamie Chadwick and Marshall Pruett. Jamie and Marshall were incredibly kind and happy to speak with us, further proof of the great community we are apart of in the motorsports world.

With Brooke Bond, the team was able to grab a behind-the-scenes look at Bosch’s operations, and even visited and toured the race control room. After touring race control, the team went with Brooke to the roof of the grandstands and got to watch the race restart from there. How cool! While in the Bosch truck, the team gained valuable insight on just how much data and software is required to run a successful race weekend, thanks to the guidance of Alex Simone, a senior software engineer with Bosch. The team also reunited with friends Cindy Sisson and Lyn St. James of Women in Motorsports North America, thanks to the WIMNA “snack break” networking event. While there, the team caugh up with friends from the Laguna Seca WeatherTech Raceway and the Virginia International Raceway. These connections have been fostered and strengthened by WIMNA’s continued efforts, which the team is incredibly grateful for. While Megan and Cat explored the track, Amanda was off to the pits with Lauren Citkowski, a program engineer with Ford Performance. Amanda was taken to each team during the Michelin Challenge race which Ford supports, and introduced to drivers, other engineers, and personnel.

Amanda also secured a hot lap thanks to Lauren, and is looking forward to working with Lauren during her rotations at Ford Performance starting in August. Go Amanda! On Saturday, the team participated in a meet-up with female race fans and influencers, including Sarah Offenbach, otherwise known as “offey_on_track” on Instagram. Sarah brings fans and drivers together each race weekend she attends with her friendship bracelets and infectious energy. Overall, the team had an unforgettable time. From meeting in Indianapolis as competitors last year to becoming best friends and business partners, Amanda, Megan, and Cat could not be more excited for their next race weekend together.