Following a one-year hiatus, the annual Rolex 24 At Daytona Heritage Exhibition returned to the 3.56-mile Daytona International Speedway (DIS) road course today and several HSR competitors and their notable race cars joined the celebration.

COVID-19 safety protocols prevented the on-track portion of the weekend-long Rolex 24 At Daytona Heritage Exhibition last year, but the green flag returned for 2022 and HSR is once again well represented.

The HSR presence at IMSA's annual season-opening weekend of competition at DIS takes on added significance this year following Thursday's announcement that HSR’s popular events and iconic, vintage and historic sports cars from throughout more than 50 years of IMSA and beyond are now part of the IMSA portfolio.

Among the HSR standouts in this year's Heritage Exhibition are a sleek Jaguar coupe from the 1960s, a current Corvette Racing GTD Pro driver's first winning ride and a pair of Porsches representing two different eras of 911-based GT success.

The oldest pure race car in the Heritage Exhibition is the beautiful blue 1962 No. 2 Jaguar XKE of Steven Davison (pictured above) that has made numerous HSR appearances at Road America, the HSR Classic 24 Daytona and the Daytona Historics. A pristine and original example of a Jaguar “Low Drag Coupe,” the aerodynamic modifications to the shape of this fast cat made the already striking Ferrari GTO and Aston Martin DB4 fighter even more impressive.

Dr. Mike Smith has wowed HSR fans and competitors alike for years with his trio of immaculate Porsche 935s, and the car of choice for this year's Heritage Exhibition is his 1979 Blue Coral Porsche 935 K3 (pictured at top). Kremer-built K3 935 Porsches won every major endurance race and sports car championship in the world between 1979 and 1983. Smith's Blue Coral beauty was primarily campaigned in the British GT Championship with victories at Silverstone, Brands Hatch, Oulton Park and Donington in 1981.

Fans of big bore Detroit iron will want to check out the the 2010 No. 88 Chevrolet Camaro GT.R (pictured below) of multiple HSR champion and race winner Henri Sicotte. This Pratt-Miller built car debuted at the 2010 Rolex 24 as a Pontiac GXP.R but was rebodied for 2011 in its current Camaro GT.R configuration. A then up-and-coming Jordan Taylor was part of the Camaro's Rolex 24 driving squads in both 2011 and 2012. He co-drove the Camaro to his first professional race win with Bill Lester at VIR in 2011.

Another multiple HSR champion participating in the Heritage Exhibition is Don Ondrejcak in his ex-TRG 2007 No. 65 Porsche 997.1 GT3 Cup. A Grand Am-specification factory racing car, the Porsche was raced by The Racer’s Group (TRG) during the 2007 Grand American Road racing Championship season.

The 2022 HSR racing season begins with the HSR Spring Fling at Sebring International Raceway, April 6 – 8, and information on competitor registration, tickets and the event schedule can be found at www.HSRRace.com.

The HSR Classic Daytona presented by IMSA returns to the “World Center of Racing” for the eighth running of the classic 24-hour race this November 2 – 6 .

About HSR: Now an International Motor Sports Association (IMSA) property, Historic Sportscar Racing (HSR) was formed in the mid-1970s with an event at Road Atlanta. There was one goal then and it remains true today: to celebrate the race cars from the past. As a "time machine" of sights and sounds, HSR provides a venue for competitors and spectators alike to share in the wonderful history and excitement created by the cars that competed at race tracks around the world. HSR currently sanctions eight vintage and historic racing events at some of the world's most renowned race tracks, including Road Atlanta, Sebring International Raceway, Daytona International Speedway and more.