Daytona Beach -- 12:30 a.m. Update
The Daytona Beach-based Spirit of Daytona entry in the Rolex 24, the No. 90 Cadillac, has withdrawn from the race, after concluding the misfire in the engine couldn't be repaired in the garage. That dashes the teams hopes of a third podium in the race.
In another major development, the race leader in the GTD class, the No. 29 Audi, was required by IMSA to serve a five minute penalty on pit road for a Balance of Performance issue. The Balance of Performance rules are set by IMSA to ensure there's a competitive playing field among the cars.
IMSA spokesman Nate Siebens said the 29 "displayed a level of performance outside the acceptable tolerance."
Daytona Beach — 12 a.m. Update
IMSA says the 2018 Rolex 24 at Daytona is on a record pace.
At the nine-hour mark, leaders had completed 306 laps in a relatively caution-free affair.
Joao Barbosa has the No. 5 Cadillac DPi of Mustang Sampling in front, followed by Ricky Taylor in the No. 7 Acura. The No. 31 Cadillac team is running third, and Juan Pablo Montoya sits fourth in the No. 6 Acura.
The No. 66 Ford continues to hold the lead in the GTLM class, and the No. 29 Audi paces the GTD class.
Nick Tandy lost control of the Porsche No. 911 GT Le Mans, crashing into a tire barrier in the bus stop. The 911, which had been in third place in its class, suffered damage on both sides in addition to its rear wing, and immediately went behind the wall.
The No. 90 Spirit of Daytona is in the garage, as the crew works to track down and repair an engine misfire.
11:15 p.m. update
The race leaders as the fireworks show concluded over the Rolex 24 hours of Daytona were the No. 5 Cadillac of Mustang Sampling, the No. 7 Acura of Team Penske and the No. 10 Cadillac of Wayne Taylor Racing.
However the No. 10 has incurrred damage and limped to pit road leaking fluid. The No. 10 started earlier Saturday on the pole and won the race last year.
At the front Felipe Albuquerque has gained a 40 second lead over the No. 7 Acura.
In the GTLM Class, the No. 66 Ford of Chip Ganassi Racing continues to hold on to the lead. The teammates of the 66 are one position behind in the No. 67 Ford. The Porsche 911 is in third in that class.
The Montaplast No. 29 Audi continues its comfortable lead in the GTD class. The second position in that class is the No. 86 Acura NSX of Michael Shank Racing.
Daytona Beach - 10:45 p.m. Update
Felipe Albuquerque and Helio Castroneves had been trading leads in the Rolex 24, but as the race enters its ninth hour Albuquerque is gaining on Castroneves.
After 272 laps, Albuquerque, in the No. 5 Cadillac of Mustang Sampling, leads the No. 7 Acura of Team Penske by about 24 seconds.
Two cars have had tire issues coming out of the bus stop in the last 45 minutes or so. The No. 23 of United Autosports suffered body damage after an issue and underwent repairs in the pit.
Jordan Taylor had a tire issue shortly before that in the No. 10 Cadillac of Wayne Taylor Racing.
"In this race so many elements can come into play," said Taylor, who drove a three hour stint. "Something can go wrong quickly."
Daytona Beach - 10 p.m. Update
Five cars remain on the lead lap in the Rolex 24, with Helio Castroneves leading the field in the No. 7 Acura of Team Penske. Castroneves is gaining seconds on the No. 5 Cadillac of Mustang Sampling, about seven seconds behind.
The polesitter, the No. 10 Cadillac of Wayne Taylor Racing, and the No. 23 Ligier of United Autosports, are a lap behind.
The No. 66 Ford of Chip Ganassi Racing leads the GTLM class, while the No. 29 Audi of Montaplast is still tops in the GTD class.
Daytona Beach - 9:30 p.m. Update
As the No. 31 Cadillac DPi team switched drivers, there's another lead change at the Rolex 24.
Filipe Albuquerque drove the No. 5 DPi past Helio Castroneves in the No. 7 Acura to take the lead. It's the 32nd lead change already as the race nears the 7-hour mark.
Sebastien Bourdais and the No. 66 Ford team maintain the lead in the GTLM class. The No. 29 Audi is still tops in the GTD class.
9 p.m. update
Mike Conway still has the No. 31 Cadillac DPi team out in front, opening up a nearly 6-second lead over Helio Castroneves and the No. 7 Acura team.
The No. 5 DPi, the No. 23 Ligier and the No. 6 Acura round out the top five among the Prototype class.
Sebastien Bourdais has wheeled the No. 66 Ford into the lead among the GTLMs. The No. 29 Audi is still first in the GTD class.
8:30 p.m. update
As expected, the rain was brief at Daytona International Speedway, and subsided shortly after 8 p.m. With the track still wet, the No. 25 GTLM machine cut a right front tire and smashed the wall down the backstretch. After limping back to pit road, the crew decided to bring the car to the garage for further repair.
Despite the incident, the field stayed green, and regularly scheduled pit stops began. After everyone cycled through, the No. 31 Cadillac DPi was scored the leader, followed by the No. 5 DPi, No. 7 Acura and No. 10 Wayne Taylor Cadillac.
The 911 Porsche leads the GTLM class, while the No. 29 Audi leads the GTD class.
8 p.m. update
Uh-oh.
A few rain drops began to fall at Daytona at 7:40 p.m. and a few minutes later the 3.56-mile road course was in a downpour.
Some of the 50 cars came in for a rain-tire change while others gambled and stayed out on slicks.
It had no affect on the leader, the No. 5 Cadillac DPi, which continues to show the way.
Nicolas Lapierre, who was at least three laps down, ran the fastest lap of the race so far, 1 minute and 37.570 seconds, in the No. 22 Nissan DPi before the rain slowed the pace.
Daytona Beach - 7:30 p.m. update
The No. 5 Action Express Racing Cadillac remains the class of the Rolex 24 At Daytona field.
The DPi has led the bulk of laps with the defending race champion No. 10 Wayne Taylor Racing Cadillac giving chase.
The Prototypes dominate the leader board as they negotiate through 30 GT class sports cars.
Keeping with a long, Rolex 24 tradition, the Prototype drivers are complaining about the GTs and the GT drivers get a bit testy when talking about Prototype behavior.
“There a lot of people in the Prototype cars, who should not be in the Prototype cars,” said Katherine Legge, a well-decorated pro driver, wheeling the No. 86 Acura NSX GT3, a GTD class entry.
“We got stuck behind a Prototype going very, very slowly because he was on cold tires and he was all over the place."
Daytona Beach - 7 p.m. update
The No. 5 Action Express Racing Cadillac led a big chunk of laps in the third and fourth hours with Ormond Beach’s Joao Barbosa behind the wheel.
“We’ve had a good steady pace,” he said. “The Cadillac has been strong on the long runs. This car is a lot of fun to drive.
“When the night was coming down, you could see a couple of different cars and ... that they were uncomfortable. The GT cars were trying to stay high or low.”
When Barbosa went to the pits for service, the No. 90 Spirit of Daytona Cadillac briefly took the lead.
When the No. 90 pitted, the No. 5 jumped back to the top of the board with Christian Fittipaldi in the cockpit.
Daytona Beach - 6:30 p.m. update
Joao Barbosa, wheeling the No. 5 Cadillac DPi, continued a torrid pace as race leader as the Rolex 24 entered its fifth hour of competition.
There have been several minor incidents as darkness fell over the 3.56-mile road course.
Competitors keep talking about the possibility of rain entering into play at some point tonight.
Rain would help some, handcuff others.
"I've got my rain dancers scattered around the track," said Katherine Legge, who co-drives the No. 86 Acura NSX GT3.
Daytona Beach - 6 p.m. update
It’s still Joao Barbosa out front in his No. 5 Cadillac DPi.
Three-plus hours into the Rolex 24, Barbosa has built up a lead of nearly 30 seconds over Scott Sharp and the No. 2 Nissan. Stuart Middleton (No. 31 Cadillac) is battling for third with Graham Rahal (No. 7 Acura).
Chip Ganassi’s No. 66 Ford GT leads the GT Le Mans class with Dirk Mueller behind the wheel. Antonio Garcia, in the NO. 3 Corvette, is close on his heels.
Luca Stolz (No. 33 Mercedes-AMG) leads GT Daytona by 8 seconds over Christopher Mies (No. 29 Audi).
Daytona Beach - 5:30 p.m. update
Ten Prototypes remain on the lead lap as a full-field caution bunched the field in the third hour.
Joao Barbosa, in the No. 5 Cadillac, now leads by under 2 seconds over Pipo Derani, in the No. 22 Nissan. Ryan Hunter-Reay, in the No. 10 Cadillac, is battling for third with Simon Pagenaud and his No. 6 Acura.
Dirk Mueller, in the No. 66 Ford GT, leads GT LeMans. Luca Stolz (No. 33 Mercedes-AMG) leads GT Daytona.
After two-plus hours of repairs in the garage, the No. 58 GTD Porsche returned to the track. The car crashed into the wall between Turns 4 and 5 before the green flag.
Driver Robert Renauer told the team he wasn’t sure what happened and the team was unable to determine what happened.
Daytona Beach - 5 p.m. update
Joao Barbosa, in a Cadillac prototype, continues to lead the way in the Rolex 24, which has remained caution-free nearly 2½ hours into the fray.
Another Caddy is next, with Matthew McMurry behind the wheel of the No. 90 entry, while Pipo Derani, in the No. 22 Nissan prototype, is running third.
Joey Hand continues leading GT Le Mans in his Ford GT, while Jeffrey Schmidt still leads GT Daytona in an Audi.
Daytona Beach - 4:30 Update
The No. 5 Cadillac DPi of Action Express Racing maintains its comfortable lead of 17 seconds over the No. 90 Spirit of Daytona Cadillac. Joao Barbosa is currently behind the wheel of the No. 5.
A dozen cars are on the lead lap.
Joey Hand continues to lead GTLM in one of Chip Ganassi's Fords, while Jeffrey Schmidt leads the GTD class in an Audi.
Daytona Beach - 4:00 p.m. update
With 50 laps turned in the Rolex 24 at Daytona, Felipe Albuquerque hangs on to the lead in the No. 5 Cadillac of Mustang Sampling.
But the fastest lap of the race so far was put down by Felipe Nasr in the No. 31 Cadillac of Whelen Engineering Racing. Nasr's best time was 1:33.357.
Joey Hand remains in the lead in the No. 66 Ford in the GTLM class.
Daytona Beach - 3:30 p.m. update
Felipe Albuquerque has taken the lead in the Rolex 24 in the No. 5 Cadillac DPi of Mustang Sampling, followed within a half-second by the No. 10, wheeled by Renger Van der Zande for Wayne Taylor Racing.
With 29 laps in, Felipe Nasr is in third in the No. 31 Cadillac of Whelen Engineering Racing and Tristan Vautier is fourth in the No. 90 Spirit of Daytona Cadillac.
Joey Hand is in the lead for the GT LeMans class in the No. 66 Ford of Chip Ganassi Racing.
Cameron Lawrence in the No. 96 BMW of Turner Motorsports is leading the GT Daytona class.
The No. 58 Porsche 911 of Wright Motorsports, which experienced a problem on the track on the warm up laps before the green flag is still in the garage.
Daytona Beach — 3 p.m. update
This Rolex 24 doesn't look like a twice-around-the-clock but more like a trophy dash.
The Prototype class is mixing it up like they were running the last laps to the checkered flag, with dicing and side by side racing.
Three of the four Cadillac DPi entries topped the leader board led by the pole-sitting No. 10 Wayne Taylor Racing entry.
The infield, paddock and garage are full to the brim with race fans.
Daytona Beach — 2:41 p.m. update
The wait is over at Daytona International Speedway, the Rolex 24 is underway and Renger Van Der Zande and the Konica Cadilliac team lead after two laps.
.
Daytona Beach — 1:30 p.m. update
Driver introductions have begun at Daytona International Speedway after a packed autograph session with the drivers who will compete in the Rolex 24 at Daytona.
The grid, infield and UNOH Fanzone are packed as fans crowd in for the start of the 24-hour endurance race.
Fernando Alonso, the Formula One driver from Spain, attracted a huge crowd, who chanted and sang out his name as he departed the autograph session.
"He's the best," insisted a group of Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University students from Spain who are attending the race to cheer on their favorite driver.
Jason Hay of Alberta, Canada flew in for this weekend's race just to see Alonso.
"I hope he does well," said Hay.
Daytona Beach — 10:30 a.m. update
Peter Ludwig has won Race 2 of the Ferrari Challenge, holding off Friday’s Race 1 victor Cooper MacNeil for the win.
Ludwig’s best lap was 1:48.090. James Weiland finished third.
Twenty-three of the 41 cars completed all 17 laps.
The Rolex 24 driver's meeting has begun at the track.
An autograph session will take place at noon in the UNOH Fanzone in the infield at Daytona International Speedway.
Daytona Beach — The second Ferrari Challenge race of the weekend is underway at Daytona International Speedway as the excitement level builds across the infield for the main event.
The green flag for the Rolext 24 at Daytona is scheduled to drop at 2:40 p.m.
In the front position for the Rolex 24 is the No. 10 Cadillac DPi of Wayne Taylor Racing, last year's race champions.
Also on the front row is the No. 7 Acura of Team Penske.
Fifty cars will compete in the 24-hour endurance race that starts the 2018 WeatherTech SportsCar Championship.
A blustery day is forecast at the track, mostly cloudy with a high of 72. A 20 percent chance of showers is forecast, with wind gusts as high as 20 mph.
The overnight low is forecast at 60 degrees.
While tickets are still available for the race, all infield parking and camping has been sold out.