Photo by: Eric Gilbert
Children’s Tumor Foundation/Racing4 Research Confirms Final Rolex 24 At Daytona Driver Lineup With Addition of Former GT2 World Champion and Le Mans Class Winner Justin Bell
Popular Driver and TV Host Joins Eversley, Graeff and Yarab; Will Serve as SPEED In-Race Reporter
NEW YORK, N.Y. (December 16, 2011) – The No. 4 Children’s Tumor Foundation/Racing4Research/Magnus Racing Porsche team has finalized its driver lineup for next month’s 50th Anniversary Rolex 24 At Daytona with the addition of champion sports car driver and popular television host Justin Bell who will co-drive with Ryan Eversley, Daniel Graeff and Ron Yarab.
Bell, who will be celebrating his 25th year of international motorsports competition in 2012, will also be the only driver in the Rolex 24 to serve as an in-race reporter for SPEED during the network’s ample hours of live race coverage. Bell, who is concluding his fourth year as a SPEED reporter, will give frequent live reports from inside the No. 4 CTF/Racing4Research Porsche during his driving stints in addition to reports from the pits and paddock when he is not at the wheel.
“I wanted to compete in the 50th Rolex 24 At Daytona from the moment I realized it was going to be the golden anniversary of this great event and my 25th year as a driver,” Bell said. “I never thought, however, I would also be able to work for SPEED and race at the same time. I am grateful to SPEED for helping to make this possible and, of course, to the Children’s Tumor Foundation and the Racing4Research program. Few top-tier teams and cars remained available when I finally decided to pursue a ride so I feel fortunate to have landed with the No. 4 team and the great cause that it supports.”
Racing4Research is a motorsports-based fundraising program developed by the CTF to find treatments and a cure for neurofibromatosis, or NF. The team is competing in the Rolex 24 At Daytona for the fourth consecutive year in 2012 with returning drivers Eversley, Graeff and Yarab who will be racing with Bell and Magnus for the first time.
Bell, who most recently competed in this year’s Petit Le Mans co-driving an AF Corse Ferrari F-430 to a third-place GTE-AM class finish, is an accomplished career sports car racing professional. Now living in Los Angeles, Bell grew up in England as the son of five-time Le Mans champion Derek Bell but soon made his own mark in the sport, winning the FIA GT2 World Championship in 1997 and scoring a class victory in the 24 Hours of Le Mans in 1998. He also has second-place finishes at Le Mans and in the Rolex 24 and a pair of SCCA Trans-Am victories.
In recent years, Bell has been best known for his television work, not only as a TV host and pit-lane reporter for SPEED but also as a correspondent for "Jay Leno's Garage." He also recently wrapped up the filming of the inaugural season of the eBay Motors and eBay Mobile “The World’s Fastest Car Show Hosted by Justin Bell,” a unique web, mobile and app-accessible show that premiered in September. Bell plans to film a future segment of the “World’s Fastest Car Show” at the Rolex 24 to be included in the program’s second-season run on eBay Motors and eBay Mobile next year.
Bell last competed in the Rolex 24 At Daytona in 2008, the same year he joined the on-air talent team at SPEED. The 2008 Rolex 24 also marked the debut of the CTF/Racing4Research program that has raised over $1.5 million in the last four runnings of the Rolex 24 At Daytona. The team will race for the first time with Magnus Racing in the 50th Anniversary running of the 24-hour classic, aligning CTF/Racing4Research with one of the top Porsche entrants in the GRAND-AM Rolex Sports Car Series. The team recently completed a successful two-day test at Daytona last week and returns for the annual Roar Before the Rolex 24 At Daytona Test Days, January 6 – 8, where Bell will join his CTF/Racing4Research teammates for the first time.
Eversley, the 2011 GRAND-AM Continental Tire Sports Car Challenge ST (Street Tuner) Championship runner-up, will compete for Racing4Research for the second-straight year in the Rolex 24 while Graeff and Yarab have been team drivers since the program’s inception.
Founded in 1978, the CTF is dedicated to improving the health and well being of the more than 2 million people around the world living with NF. The charity’s research program has played a key role in the discovery of the genes that cause NF, understanding the biology of NF, creation of the NF Clinic Network and preclinical screening of drug compounds that appear promising in treating the disorder. Donations can be made at http://racing4research.org.
The 50th Anniversary Rolex 24 At Daytona will be run at Daytona International Speedway (DIS) January 26 – 29.
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