Daytona call for Mowlem and Stewart

The duo will share the Judd-powered prototype sportscar of US-based constructor Crawford in the US round-the-clock classic on February 2-3, which forms the opening round of the Grand-Am sportscar series.

The race will mark Winston Cup runner-up Stewart's debut in a major road racing event. The project is also Porsche GT ace Mowlem's first chance to compete in a prototype sportscar.

The stellar driver line-up aboard the works-run Crawford SSC2K will be completed by former Daytona 24 Hours winner Jan Lammers.

Car owner Max Crawford, a long-time sportscar engineer who became a constructor under his own name last year, had links with Stewart going back to a meeting at Daytona a few years ago.

He met Mowlem when the Briton was testing the MG-Lola EX257 sportscar at Sebring recently, and was persuaded to sign him up because "he deserves this kind of a break to land a factory prototype drive."

Mowlem said: "Max likes to give up-and-coming drivers a chance, he likes to take a bit of a risk. It's one of the biggest breaks of my career, because to land top prototype drives you have to have experience. This will give me that chance."