DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. — Saturday afternoon’s Rolex 24 at Daytona starting grid was not only a huge mass of sports car fans, but a very respectful showing of NASCAR personnel eager to be a part of racing’s great annual season-opener at Daytona International Speedway.





NASCAR President Mike Helton took in the scene on pit road as did Sprint Cup driver Denny Hamlin, who at one point was set to drive in this year’s 24-hour event. Hamlin stopped by one of Chip Ganassi’s prototypes on pit road to speak with NASCAR drivers Jamie McMurray and Kyle Larson — defending champions of the Rolex. Hamlin had surgery on Nov. 30 to repair damage to the ACL in his right knee.





“Never been to the race,” Hamlin said, smiling, shaking hands and greeting people up and down the starting grid.





“I definitely was planning on running this race, but unfortunately my knee didn’t heal in time to do it, so I have two extra weeks to keep working on it (in time for NASCAR’s portion of Speedweeks).”





RELATED: Hamlin hopes knee pain is ‘non-issue’ at Daytona





Hamlin, who drives the No. 11 FedEx Toyota for Joe Gibbs Racing, was almost as much a star attraction on the grid as were the cars and drivers. He acknowledged the event was on his bucket list and hoped to be able to make a start next year.





“The atmosphere is awesome and reminds me of a NASCAR race really,” Hamlin said. “Just seeing the whole grid and multiple drivers and it’s really more about the team than one individual driver though.”





“I’ve got to find out the best place to watch it.





“I still want to see the new Daytona project and I have my bus here, parked in the infield so I’m just going to enjoy the weekend.”