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NASCAR star Tony Stewart will co-drive with sports car champion Andy Wallace in the Paul Revere 250 next month at Daytona and again in the Grand American Rolex Sports Car Series in August.
"I really feel like it will help me be a better road racer when it comes time to go to road course races with Cup this year," said Stewart, the 2002 Cup champion. "We learn so much from the guys who are professional road racers. You pick up little things here and there."
Stewart and Wallace combined with Dale Earnhardt Jr. in February at Daytona to finish fifth in the 24-hour race. Wallace is a former winner in the 24 Hours of Le Mans, the Rolex 24 at Daytona and the 12 Hours of Sebring.
AROUND THE CLOCK: Fourteen Americans are among 144 drivers from around the world who will compete in this weekend's 72nd running of the 24 Hours of Le Mans, the world's most famous endurance race.
Americans have gained an overall victory at Le Mans 12 times, but interest from U.S. drivers in the French race waned until the American Le Mans Series began competition in 1999. The ALMS uses the same rules and many of the same drivers and cars that compete at Le Mans.
Among the 48 cars that will start the race Saturday, 11 regularly compete in the ALMA and 20 were in the field for the 12 Hours of Sebring in March.
The last American driver to be part of the winning team at Le Mans was Davy Jones in 1996. Among the U.S. drivers participating this year are 1985 Indianapolis 500 winner Danny Sullivan and sports car veteran Johnny O'Connell.
"I've raced at Indy and I've raced at Le Mans, and to me there is no question" that Le Mans is the greatest race in the world, O'Connell said. "Le Mans presents so many challenges. You're racing through the night, through the rain sometimes. It is the ultimate test of the car, and of the drivers as athletes."
TOO BUSY: Rookie Johnny Sauter will skip two of the next three Nextel Cup races because of conflicts with his Busch Series schedule.
Sauter, trying to drive in both series full time this season, will miss Sunday's race at Pocono Raceway and the June 27 Cup event at Infineon Raceway in Sonoma, Calif.
He will race in the Busch events Saturday night in Nashville, Tenn., and again June 26 at the Milwaukee Mile in West Allis, Wis.
Former Cup regular Dave Blaney will sub for Sauter at Pocono. Jim Inglebright, a NASCAR Southwest Series veteran, will drive the No. 30 Chevrolet in California.
Sauter is off to a slow start in his first Cup season. He is 28th in points after 13 races and has no top-10 finishes.