Franklin Park auto racer Kris Wright recently faced the biggest test of his career.

Wright, 24, competed in the Rolex 24 at Daytona race Jan. 24-27 in Daytona Beach, Fla. His first endurance race, it lasted 24 hours over two days at the Daytona International Speedway circuit.

Wright drove the Performance Tech Motorsports ORECA LeMans Prototype 2 with three others drivers: two Americans and a Canadian. One of 47 teams, they placed seventh overall and second of four in their class with a lap of 1 minute, 38.745 seconds.

They did 578 laps on the 3.56-mile banked circuit.

“This was by far the biggest race and hardest race I’ve ever competed in,” said Wright, the 2018 International Motor Sports Association Prototype Challenge series LMP3 class champion and an IMSA driver since 2016. “I’m very happy with how I drove and, more importantly, how everyone on the team executed their job.

“No one could have done anything different or better to change our result.”

Nic Jonsson, Wright’s coach, said it is difficult to prepare for the race. He said you get up at two o’clock, it is raining and you have to jump in that car and go.

He said it was a great result that shows how Wright is progressing.

“(It) gave him experience of real endurance,” said Jonsson, who lives in Atlanta.

Wright, whose family owns the Wright Automotive Group dealerships in Wexford and Baden, said the race made him appreciate shorter distances.

“For sprint races, I’m usually driving on a good night’s rest,” he said.

It was Wright’s fourth season competing at the fabled track.

In 2018, he placed third in the IMSA Prototype Challenge race. He competed in the IMSA Continental Tire SportsCar Challenge in 2016 and 2017.

His goals are to race in the British Racing Drivers’ Club British Formula 3 Championship and get sponsorship for endurance racing in the United States.

“(He is) steadily going in the right direction,” Jonsson said.

Karen Kadilak is a freelance writer.

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