HURLEY'S LAST HURRAH? NOT QUITE; 58-year-old Hurley Haywood isn't ready to give up his seat.(Motorsports)

Byline: STEVEN COLE SMITH

Barely four hours into the 45th Rolex 24 at Daytona, Hurley Haywood is in his bus, getting his right hand taped up. His shifting hand is already blistered. "You shift a lot out there,'' he says.

How many times Haywood has shifted gears at Daytona is anyone's guess. This is his 34th Rolex 24-the 1974 race was canceled because of the gas crisis, and he missed the 1988 race, when Audi would not let him out of a scheduled European test date when he was driving a Quattro in the Trans-Am series.

Haywood is arguably the best endurance driver in history. He won the Rolex 24 five times overall, six times in class. He won the 24 Hours of Le Mans three times and the 12 Hours of Sebring twice. But rumors swirled prior to this season that it would be Haywood's last-that this spring, when his age will match his car number, 59, it would be a good time to step out of his Porsche's cockpit.

Not yet, he says. While 2007 will be his last full season, he still plans to run some Grand-Am series endurance races for at least another few years. He would, after all, love to get that sixth overall win at the Rolex 24.

And this year, he and his teammates-drivers J.C. France (yes, one of those NASCAR Frances; he's the son of Jim France), Joao Barbosa and Roberto Moreno-came awfully close. They finished fourth, just one lap down. It was invigorating for Haywood and the Brumos Porsche team, saddled until late last season with the Fabcar chassis that they could never quite dial in. This year, the Riley chassis and the Porsche engine, though strangled a bit since last year by Grand-Am's level-playing-field regulations, was as fast as any car on the track and even led.

Despite his experience, Haywood remains as charged as ever by the Rolex 24, aided by its stellar driver lineup this year, which included four NASCAR Nextel Cup champions, plus open-wheel veterans such as Juan Pablo Montoya, Sam Hornish Jr., Helio Castroneves and Paul Tracy.