Celtic Speed took on the infamous Daytona race track last weekend for the inaugural running of the 24 Hour Classic.
Celtic Speed took on the infamous Daytona race track last weekend for the inaugural running of the 24 Hour Classic.
The Classic 24 hour race is a unique event made up of 6 different groups – the Porsche 962 was entered into Group C for similar cars built between 1983 and 1993. The final result would be determined by the aggregate of 4 separate races throughout the 24-hour period, in the case of Group C the first race was at 3pm on Saturday with subsequent races at 9pm, 3am & 9am.
The Daytona track was built in 1958 by NASCAR founder William France Sr. to host racing that was being held at the former Daytona Beach Road Course. His banked design permitted higher speeds and gave fans a better view of the cars. Lights were installed around the track in 1998, and today it is the third largest single lit outdoor sports facility.
Drivers, Tommy Dreelan and Aaron Scott were at the wheel of the ex Kremer Racing Leyton House Porsche 962.
This was the first time the team’s drivers had raced on a banked circuit; the banking is very steep at 31 degrees so it made for quite a spectacle with speeds around 200mph.
After a couple of practice sessions on the Wednesday, the team set about qualifying on Thursday and Aaron’s best lap time put them on pole position. During night practice Tommy also set the fastest lap time so the team looked to be in good shape for the race!
On Friday, there was a qualifying race during which the best lap time would set the grid for the race. Once again, Celtic Speed set the fastest lap time by some margin giving them pole position for the race.
The team dominated the event winning all 4 races to give them a stunning debut victory. It’s also believed that the fastest lap of the race, set by Aaron in the opening race is also the fastest lap ever recorded by a Group C car at Daytona.
Aaron said after the race, “It was a real privilege to race at Daytona in such an iconic car, the boys at Celtic Speed did an incredible job to give us a great car all week and we had no issues and were fast all week. Tommy drove really well – he was really quick and I’m so happy for him that we got the win!”
© Celtic Speed 2026
