Reigning IndyCar champion Will Power has withdrawn from what would have been his first Daytona 24 Hours after his wife Liz suffered complications with a surgical procedure.
Power had been set to make his debut at the Daytona event alongside his old Formula Ford rival Kenny Habul in a Sun Energy1 Racing Mercedes AMG GT3.
“Liz has had a couple of complications after surgery this week and has a long recovery ahead of her,” Power said in a release.
“Obviously her health is my priority, and unfortunately, that means I have had to put Daytona on hold.”
Team regular Luca Stolz is replacing Power in Sun Racing1’s line-up for the IMSA SportsCar Championship season-opener.
Power’s IndyCar team-mates Scott McLaughlin and Josef Newgarden are contesting the event in the LMP2 category for Tower Motorsports.
None of the three Penske IndyCar drivers were picked to race the team’s new prototype developed by Porsche (pictured above). Penske’s picked established Porsche sportscar stars Mathieu Jaminet, Nick Tandy, Matt Campbell and Michael Christensen, plus Dane Cameron – who won the 2019 IMSA title alongside Juan Pablo Montoya with Penske’s old Acura sportscar programme – and Formula 1 driver turned IMSA champion Felipe Nasr.
But four other drivers from IndyCar will race the new GTP hybrid prototypes on the class’s debut at Daytona, with Helio Castroneves, Scott Dixon, Colton Herta, and Simon Pagenaud all taking part.
Power’s withdrawal follows news last week that Haas Formula 1 driver Kevin Magnussen was likely to have to drop his planned Daytona outing in a GT car alongside father Jan. The younger Magnussen has had to have a pre-season hand operation.
IndyCar drivers at the Daytona 24
GTP
Helio Castroneves – Meyer Shank
Scott Dixon – Cadillac Racing
Colton Herta – BMW M Team RLL
Simon Pagenaud – Meyer Shank
LMP2
Scott McLaughlin – Tower Motorsports
Josef Newgarden – Tower Motorsports
Rinus VeeKay – TDS Racing
GTD
Romain Grosjean – Iron Lynx
Kyle Kirkwood – Vasser Sullivan
