3 IndyCar Stars Rendered Ride-less for Rolex 24

IndyCar stars Tony Kanaan, Ryan Hunter-Reay and E.J. Viso will be forced to merely spectate at this weekend’s Rolex 24 at Daytona. The three were set to drive the No. 2 Starworks Motorsports Ford-powered Daytona Prototype. Due to a last minute withdrawal of funding from the team’s sponsor, however, Starworks has pulled their entry from competition.

Team owner, Peter Baron, spoke to Speed.com about the situation. “The funding was supposed to come through for (the Rolex 24), we were waiting for as long as possible and holding out hope,” he said. Remorsefully, Baron continued, “but it all fell through at the last moment and we can’t funds things out of our own pocket.”

All three drivers took to Twitter to announce the disappointing news. “This will be the first time I have missed the 24hrs of Daytona since 2006! Good news is I’ll be back in the IndyCar Monday in Sebring,” announced Hunter-Reay. Kanaan mirrored that sentiment, “Guys, unfortunately I will not race at the Daytona 24H this Saturday. The funding that the Starworks Motorsports team had went away,” he said before bouncing back with optimism: “On the other hand, I will be testing my #11 KV Racing IndyCar on Monday again!”

After a tweet mentioned all three drivers, calling the team’s actions “classless” to pull their entry mere days prior to the event, Viso took to the team’s defense. “It has nothing to do with the team. They did all they where suppose to,” Viso proclaimed.

Baron, meanwhile, is left to figure out revisions to his other DP entry. As of this posting, that situation remains unclear. Baron did expect to release a statement to the press sometime Wednesday to explain the direction of the team for the Rolex 24.