NASCAR Notebook

Associated Press

The NASCAR Notebook ...

DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. — Chip Ganassi hopes to improve on last year’s 24-hour race at Daytona International Speedway.

It hardly seems possible. Ganassi’s two-car team finished first and second in the twice-around-the-clock event, sweeping the prestigious endurance race at the hallowed track.

Two-time defending Grand-Am Series champions Scott Pruett and Memo Rojas, along with Joey Hand and Graham Rahal, ended up in Victory Lane after a one-lap sprint to the checkered flag. IndyCar stars Scott Dixon and Dario Franchitti and NASCAR drivers Juan Pablo Montoya and Jamie McMurray celebrated alongside them after settling for second.

Pruett’s team will try to repeat when the 24-hour race begins Saturday afternoon. Dixon’s crew will try to flip the script.

“We want to be at the very front again, no question,” Ganassi said. “It’s going to be tough to top last year, but we can certainly try. That’s what we’re here to do. It’s as simple as that.”

• DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. — A.J. Foyt has been hospitalized in Houston for complications from knee surgery and will skip the 50th anniversary of the Rolex 24 at Daytona.

ANNETT IN NATIONWIDE

CONCORD — Richard Petty Motorsports has formed a Nationwide Series team for Michael Annett. His car will be sponsored by Pilot Flying J and will run for the Nationwide championship.

Annett spent last season with Rusty Wallace, Inc. He had 13 top-10 finishes and was ninth in the final championship standings. RWI announced earlier this month it does not have the sponsorship to race this season.

RPM fields cars in the elite Sprint Cup Series for Aric Almirola and Marcos Ambrose.

Annett began racing in the ARCA Series in 2007 and won at Talladega in only his fourth start. He moved to the Nationwide Series in 2009 with Germain Racing and spent two seasons there before joining RWI.

RADIO LAWSUIT

CONCORD, N.H. — A judge has thrown out a verdict that would have required New Hampshire Motor Speedway to pay nearly $1 million to cancel its contract with Motor Racing Network.

A jury awarded MRN $993,724 last September because New Hampshire did not meet a three-year notice of termination when Speedway Motorsports Inc. bought the track in 2008. SMI wanted its radio network — the Performance Racing Network — to broadcast NASCAR events at the track.

OBIT

CHARLOTTE — Joseph Mattioli, the founder and chairman of Pocono Raceway, has died following a lengthy illness, NASCAR officials announced Thursday during a preseason press conference at the NASCAR Hall of Fame.

He was 86.