The Watches And Racing Life Of Legendary Endurance Racer Scott Pruett

While Rolex and Daytona go back longer than the actual racetrack (Read HERE), the connection between the two has endured in the Rolex Daytona watches that have been given to the winning team’s drivers every year since 1992. All five of Pruett’s overall Rolex 24 at Daytona wins have come under Rolex’s title sponsorship, which means, you guessed it, he’s won FIVE Rolex Oyster Perpetual Cosmograph Daytona timepieces. On top of that, his five championships in Sports Cars have led to five more Daytonas being added to his collection.
 

During the Rolex 24 weekend, we had the special opportunity to sit with Pruett and experience his personal Rolex collection. Turns out, Pruett is quite the Rolex aficionado, he even refers to himself as a “Rolex nut.” 
 

Within the confines of the Daytona 500 club, that overlooks Daytona’s start/finish line and victory lane, Pruett brought out what he called “quite a box of Rolexes!” With eight victories at Daytona, five overall championships, and his Grand Marshall duties (for which he was also given a watch) Pruett has quite the collection indeed. Turns out, his collection goes beyond watches that he's won over the years, he’s also bought two Rolexes himself.
 

Rolex Submariner Two-Tone – Pruett boutght his Submariner Two-Tone in 1987 after making a deal with himself. After winning the Sports Car championship in 1986, Pruett was invited to do IROC (The International Race Of Champions), a series that pitted winning drivers from various categories for exhibition races. His deal with himself was that if he won the IROC, he would buy himself a Rolex. And he won. The IROC was racing at Riverside Speedway in California that year. During the race, Pruett made contact with Roberto Guerrero, but in the end, he took the victory. “That race means so much to me, my first IROC win, and the last race at the iconic Riverside track,” he said.  After the race, Pruett walked into a local Rolex boutique and, as he remembers, said “I just won a race, and I need to treat myself.”
 

Zenith Daytona – This stainless steel Daytona with a white dial was presented to Pruett after his first overall Rolex 24 win in 1994. It's referred to as a Zenith Daytona because it has a movement made by Zenith, as opposed to later Daytonas with Rolex movements. In 1994, he was driving for the factory Nissan team. During our conversation about the piece, Pruett said that he gave the watch to his oldest daughter for her 21st birthday. It's a family tradition. He allows each of his children to choose a Rolex for their 21^st birthday. His daughter is 30 now, and Pruett said that it was very hard to pry the watch away from her to bring it to Daytona.
 

Yellow Gold Yacht Master – This watch is another that Pruett bought for himself. In 1999, his last year of IndyCar, he challenged himself yet again. If he get a pole or won a race, he would buy himself a solid gold Rolex. Unfortunately, shortly after the season started, his dream of one day purchasing said watch took a massive hit. During testing, his team (Toyota’s Factory team) blew up 10 engines in two days. Pruett thought his dream of purchasing a watch for a successful season was over, but as the season went on, the team improved. At the last race of the season, he took pole position at Fontana raceway with a blistering speed of 247mph. Two decades later, Pruett is still crazy about the watch.“I love this watch, and I really love the dial. I love the memory it brings of my last race in IndyCar.” 
 

Championship Watches – From 2000 to 2013, Rolex sponsored the overall SportsCar series. Pruett won the championship an impressive five times, the first time in 2004 with Chip Ganassi's Lexus Grand Am team.

All five of his championship watches are especially meaningful for Pruett because they reward a team for its effort throughout the season, not just a single victory. Over the years, Rolex watches have become so emblematic of Chip Ganassi's organization that he gifts a Rolex to employees when they their 20 year anniversary at the company. According to Pruett, quite a few have reached this milestone and been richly rewarded. 
 

Grand Marshall Watch – Pruett was given a current model Stainless Steel Rolex Daytona with black ceramic bezel just before the 2019 Rolex 24. Featuring a unique ‘Grand Marshall 2019’ inscription on the caseback, Pruett’s latest acquisition didn’t leave his wrist throughout the weekend. Because of the relative scarcity of the watch, fellow drivers were stopping Pruett to ask how he got the watch, and Pruett just replied with a sly grin. The one thing you notice after spending any amount of time with Pruett is his humility. I asked him how he managed to stay so humble despite the decades of success and fan admiration, and he simply said, “I’m blessed man! I’ve gotten the opportunity to do what I absolutely love for so many years. So I always appreciate every day, every race, and every moment.”