Truex’s spotter guides Rolex 24 car to top of lineup – Nascar

DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. — Clayton Hughes stood in the Daytona International Speedway garage Saturday morning looking and feeling a little in awe of the crowded, busy realm of onlookers and race teams readying to put cars on the starting grid for the Rolex 24 at Daytona.

In a couple of hours Hughes — whose full-time job is spotting for Martin Truex Jr. in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series — and his co-spotter for the team this weekend, Earl Barban — spotter for Jimmie Johnson — would be heading up to the track’s new spotter area to help guide the No. 912 Porsche around the 3.56-mile infield road course for the next two revolutions of the clock.

But as exciting as the experience was for the Rolex rookie Hughes, the most compelling element is that he was jumping into duty for his good friend, Chris Osborne, who spots for Matt Kenseth in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series and had planned to spot this weekend for the Porsche.

Osborne and his family were in a serious traffic accident before Christmas and while he is still healing, Osborne asked Hughes if he would fill-in on the spotter’s stand.

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“I went to visit him in the hospital and he asked me if there was any way I could do him a huge favor,” Hughes recalled. “And of course, I said ‘yes.’ That’s the way we are in NASCAR, we’re a family. He asked me if I would come because this team wanted Cup spotters for the experience. I would never say no.”

The Rolex experience for Hughes has been full-on. A massively crowded garage and people driving golf carts and four-wheelers around spectators and dining tables was a full-sensory time to get used to.

“The cars and just the excitement and the people,” Hughes said stepping aside from a parade of golf carts whizzing through the paddock. “Obviously NASCAR has the best fans in the world, but this series is full of just nice people too.”

The GT-class No. 912 Porsche 911 RSR Hughes is guiding won the rainy qualifying session on Thursday and will start tops among class.

“I’m lucky on that one, we’re starting on the front row,” Hughes said. “The biggest advice everyone’s given me is ‘don’t freak out when you lose the car, because you’re going to lose it during the night.’

“My biggest thing is at night, I’m looking for a Duke-blue light on the roof,” he said smiling.

Another major adjustment he expects will be communicating with the eclectic group of drivers — Earl Bamber, of New Zealand, Michael Christensen, of Denmark and Frederic Makowiecki, of France. He is hopeful his Southern drawl will mesh with the international flavor of this cockpit.

“We just go with it,” Hughes said smiling. “You know, ‘he said, ’10-4.’ “

Hughes figures there may be at least 20 NASCAR spotters helping out this weekend at the Rolex 24 and there has been a very beneficial bonus for them all. The speedway is sporting a huge, new drivers stand area and for those here this weekend, it was first-come, first-serve.

“This is an experience I’m so glad I got to do,” Hughes said. “And for the NASCAR side, this is all new here and we got a brand new spotter’s stand and it’s like the whole length of the tower. We have room, we’re not standing on top of each other and I’ve actually already gotten my spot marked off for the Daytona 500.

“This whole week has been fun. This is awesome.”