British rocker and amateur racer Rick Parfitt Jr.’s determined to enjoy every minute of his first trip to Daytona International Speedway.

“The sheer enthusiasm from everyone is just wonderful,” said Parfitt, who will take to the world’s most famous racing stage Friday. "From the way everyone says hello at the gate, it’s just lovely the way everyone is. I have really taken this place to heart.”

Parfitt, the 43-year-old winner of two British GT championships, qualified for a ride in the BMW Endurance Challenge by winning the Sunoco 240 challenge last year, while earning his second GT championship.

He and teammates, Cameron Lawrence of Windermere and Daren Jorgenson of Austin, Texas, will start fourth in the No. 13 Audi R8 GT4 of GMG Racing. On Thursday, Parfitt posted the fourth-fastest time in qualifying.

The Sunoco Challenges assign points to weekly performances of eligible drivers who compete in races across Europe and awards weekly average scores. The challenges were the brainchild of Jim France, chairman of the International Motor Sports Association and of International Speedway Corp., and Anders Hilderbrand, managing director of Anglo American Fuels, as a way to increase the profile of the Rolex 24 Hours at Daytona in Europe, Hilderbrand said. They launched the competition in 2009. 

Today, the Sunoco Challenges average 200 participating racers a year and are up to a total of 1,000 overall participants. “The footprint is massive and now everybody knows what the Rolex 24 is,” he said. “The race itself has grown amazingly over the last 10 years.”

In 2016, Parfitt’s teammate in Bentley’s Continental GT3, Seb Morris, won the challenge for the best professional driver, and competed in the Rolex 24 Hour. Last year, he returned the favor, helping Parfitt to win the challenge for the best amateur driver.

Racing in Daytona is a dream come true for Parfitt, who’s more widely associated with his popular event band and his father, the late rocker Rick Parfitt, of the internationally known British band Status Quo.

In fact racing was almost an afterthought for the lanky blonde with a ready supply of humorous stories.

In the past he had raced Karts but not cars.

But in 2010, his band, the RPJ Band, was playing an event that included a celebrity race. He was invited to participate and won the race.

After that he was hooked. With the help of his wife and business partner, Rachel, he set up a company and found sponsorships to begin racing. He won his first British GT Championship in 2013.

In the beginning, he was known as the rock singer who “races a bit.” But after seven years, “I’m taken quite seriously now,” he said with a chuckle.

Still, he’s matter of fact about his amateur status.

“I get in a car seven times a year,” he said. “I’ve always said I’m a musician first.”

He was surrounded by music pretty much from birth, thanks to his famous father. But, given his dad’s affinity for sports cars, he also had early exposure to some of the world’s “amazing” vehicles.

“He had a fire breathing red Corvette and at least 16 or 17 Porsches over the years," he said. "He tended to crash them.”

Parfitt said he’s often asked if there are parallels between music and racing. He said the two activities are both "very competitive by nature."

He started the cover band as “a really kick-ass band that brings a real concert experience to corporate events.”

But, the band has become so successful that the lines are blurring between being an event band and a commercial rock band, he said. Now they play festivals all over the world.

“That’s the same way I approach getting in a race car,” he said, “whatever the results, I can’t have done any better. If that means winning, great.”

Parfitt’s success in the music world and in racing has helped him to spread the word about a charity that is close to his heart, “Crohn’s and Colitis UK.”

Afflicted with the debilitating disease when he was 9 years old, Parfitt has endured 13 surgeries and still collapses on the floor sometimes “in absolutely agony.”

“The racing is something whereby I wanted to prove even with a debilitating illness you can still go out and achieve your dream.”

His 2017 season was “amazing," even though it was an emotionally challenging year because of his father's death and continuing struggles with his illness.

But, in addition to the Championship, he and Morris received a number of trophies and special accolades.

The Sunoco Challenge victory “was absolutely the cherry on the cake,” he said. “You don’t quite realize the enormity of the prize until you come here and you get here and it sinks in."

“There’s a lot to learn,” said Parfitt. But the Brit offered this cheeky strategy for the race. “I’m going to latch on to someone who’s faster, learn all his tricks and then overtake him.”

Parfitt still has racing goals he’d like to accomplish. He hopes to return to Daytona and compete in the Rolex 24 Hours at Daytona. And, he’d also like to compete at Le Mans.

“All I’ve wanted to do was to make my dad proud, and make my family proud and make my wife proud, and I really feel like I’m achieving that now.”

.embed-container { position: relative; padding-bottom: 56.25%; height: 0; overflow: hidden; max-width: 100%; } .embed-container iframe, .embed-container object, .embed-container embed { position: absolute; top: 0; left: 0; width: 100%; height: 100%; }