Five-time Daytona 24 Hours winner Scott Pruett has confirmed that this month's edition of the race will be his final outing as a professional racing driver.
Pruett, 57, is one of North America's most successful sportscar drivers, having won 60 IMSA races and seven championships across a career spanning more than 30 years.
His final race will be with the 3GT Racing Lexus team at the Daytona 24 Hours in three weeks' time, with team-mates Dominik Farnbacher, Jack Hawksworth and David Heinemeier Hansson.
“As an athlete if you’re fortunate enough to have a long and successful career and lucky enough to come to the end on your terms then you are truly blessed, and I truly am,’’ said Pruett.
“Today, after 50 years of racing, the 2018 Rolex 24 at Daytona will be my last race."
“It’s a magical place and I love it and what better way to say goodbye to a sport I love than at this revered place surrounded by my respected peers and diehard fans."
"I’m so excited about the next chapter of my life and getting on with the Rolex 24 here in the next few weeks.’’
Pruett's storied career includes a ten-year stint in IndyCar, during which he achieved 14 podiums and two victories.
In the 2000s he also made appearances in the NASCAR Sprint Cup and Nationwide Series.
But Pruett is perhaps best known for his longevity on the sportscar racing scene, where he established himself as a consistent high performer and a fan favourite during the '80s in IMSA and Trans-Am.
In 1986 he claimed his first IMSA title in a GTO-class Ford Mustang, before clinching his maiden outright win at the Daytona 24 Hours driving a Cunningham Racing Nissan eight years later.
Pruett's most recent Daytona triumph came in 2013, when he shared a Ganassi-run Riley-Ford DP with Juan Pablo Montoya, Charlie Kimball and long-time Grand-Am team-mate Memo Rojas.
Speaking at the official Daytona test on Friday, Pruett said:
“Overall, people long past when I’m gone, I think will remember me for sports cars. Even though I have achievements in other forms, by far, sports cars are my love."
“More so than anything else I’d like to go out and just have an incredible race in my final 24."
“My wife and I were looking… My first race was when I was 24 and I believe this is my 24th time doing the 24, so maybe all those wonderful 24s will come together in the coming weeks here at Daytona.’’
IMSA presiden Scott Atherton added:
“Scott Pruett is a legend of sports car racing. It is a word and a description that is often over-used, but in this instance it is a statement of fact."
"He became a household name among race fans through his versatility, and while he also enjoyed success in IndyCar and NASCAR, his sports car racing résumé is what made him a hall of famer."
"It has truly been an honor and a privilege to have him represent IMSA for decades."
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