F3 Cup star Aaron Steele will take on the infamous Daytona Speedway in the race of his life on Friday as a reward for securing the Sunoco Grand Am 200 Challenge last season.

The 23-year-old from Rochester, dominated the MSVR-run F3 Cup in 2011 winning an impressive 14 of the 18 races, netting enough points to win the Sunoco Grand Am 200 Challenge and a fully funded drive in the GRAND-AM 200 race at America’s Daytona Speedway. The former Formula Palmer Audi driver now faces the biggest challenge of his racing life as he prepares to tackle one of the world’s most famous circuits in a potentially life changing event

Speaking ahead of the race, Steele said: “I’m looking forward to not only the race, but also the 50th anniversary event as a whole. Daytona is rapidly approaching; it only seems like yesterday I was racing in the rain at Brands Hatch, and in less than a week’s time I’ll be on the banks of Daytona, it’s mad.”

The challenge ahead of Steele is quite a daunting one as he lines up against a field of more than 100 drivers for a 200 mile race. The event will support the 50th running of the Daytona 24 Hours endurance race featuring drives such as ex-F1 star Juan Pablo Montoya and Indycar legend Dario Franchitti. He will also swap his F3 single seater for a heavy Chevrolet Camaro GT car to add to what will already be a daunting experience in front of thousands of spectators. However, to aid his race preparation, he took part in a test day at the circuit earlier this month to familiarise himself with both the car and the track, which proved successful.

He said: “The nerves are starting and the excitement is growing. It was an added bonus to be able to test with the team at Daytona a few weeks ago and doing so has really helped to build my confidence up in driving on such a big circuit and in a completely different type of race car.”

Steele is not the only driver from an MSVR championship competing at the event, with the F3 Cup star joined by 2011 MINI Challenge champion Chris Knox on the grid.

The GRAND-AM 200 race at Daytona will begin at 1:30 pm US time.

To keep up to date with Steele’s progress at Daytona log on to www.msvracing.co.uk and www.f3cup.co.uk. Follow updates from the race on twitter @msvracing.