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GRAND-AM: Varsha To Lead SPEED’s Rolex 24 At Daytona Coverage
Bob Varsha leads 10-person broadcast team At season-opening endurance classic. SPEED.com to stream multiple in-car cameras for entire 24 hours.
Erik Arneson  |  Posted December 18, 2012  
Bob Varsha will helm SPEED's Rolex 24 At Daytona coverage as the 2013 GRAND-AM Rolex Series season kicks off on January 26-27 live on SPEED. (Photo: SPEED)
Bob Varsha takes the reins this season as host of Grand-Am Rolex Sports Car Series race coverage on SPEED, beginning with the network’s live coverage of the famed Rolex 24 at Daytona on Jan. 26 at 3 p.m. ET.

“We are fortunate to have Bob leading our Grand-Am broadcast team this year,” said Frank Wilson, SPEED VP of Production and executive producer. “His predecessor, Leigh Diffey, is a tremendous talent and did great things for our coverage, and now with Bob, we are in a position to elevate the Rolex Sports Car series even further. I have worked with Bob for 13 years now and he is among the very best at what he does. He truly is one of the elite voices in all of motorsport, not just at SPEED, but anywhere in the world.”

Joining Varsha in the booth for the Rolex 24 at Daytona are Brian Till (play x play), Calvin Fish (analyst), Dorsey Schroeder (analyst), Tommy Kendall (analyst) and Justin Bell (analyst/roving reporter). In the pits, SPEED will have Chris Neville, Jamie Howe, Matt Yocum and Andrew Marriott.

"Joining the SPEED broadcast team for the full Grand-Am season is something of a homecoming for me," Varsha said. "I began my career with the old Camel GT sports car series, and the Rolex 24 was the first major international racing event I covered for television. Making it even better is the fact that I'll be at the tracks on race weekends once again. It's no secret that much of our international racing coverage originates from the studio these days, so I'm really looking forward to speaking with people, kicking tires and enjoying the sights, sounds and smells of racing cars again."

Producing SPEED coverage of the iconic endurance race for the 12th time, coordinating producer Greg Oldham returns to Daytona for the 25th time since 1986.

SPEED.com, which streams multiple on-board cameras throughout the entire 24 hours, takes over live-event coverage during the overnight hours. In addition, SPEED.com auto racing editor Marshall Pruett and sports car reporter John Dagys will provide trackside reports, photo galleries, Web video features and blog updates throughout the race.

SPEED and SPEED.com broadcast schedule for the Rolex 24 at Daytona (All times Eastern and subject to change):

o Jan. 26 from 3 p.m. to 11 p.m. live on SPEED
o Jan. 26/27 from 11 p.m. to 9 a.m. on SPEED.com
o Jan. 27 from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. on SPEED

Following the race in Daytona, Varsha leads the SPEED Grand-Am team of Schroeder, Fish, Till and Neville to the exciting new Circuit of the Americas in Austin, Texas, for race No. 2 on the schedule March 2.

In addition, SPEED will air a one-hour special entitled Continental Tire Presents: The 24 Hours of Daytona on Jan. 20 at 9 p.m. ET. The program chronicles last year’s 50th running of the Rolex 24 at Daytona.
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