DAYTONA BEACH — The No. 5 Action Express Racing Cadillac DPi dominated the Rolex 24 At Daytona, setting records for most laps and longest distance, but the last six hours were nothing short of nerve-racking because of engine overheating.
“The steering wheel was lighting up like a Christmas tree,” said Filipe Albuquerque, who brought the Prototype to the checkered flag before 40,000 spectators at Daytona International Speedway on Sunday.
“It was the [...]
DAYTONA BEACH — The No. 5 Action Express Racing Cadillac DPi dominated the Rolex 24 At Daytona, setting records for most laps and longest distance, but the last six hours were nothing short of nerve-racking because of engine overheating.
“The steering wheel was lighting up like a Christmas tree,” said Filipe Albuquerque, who brought the Prototype to the checkered flag before 40,000 spectators at Daytona International Speedway on Sunday.
“It was the longest six hours of my life,” said Joao Barbosa, who co-drove the winning Cadillac along with Christian Fittipaldi.
The winning car, which is owned by local businessman Bob Johnson and prepped in North Carolina, set records for most laps (808) over the 3.56-mile road course and longest distance (2,876.48 miles) ever recorded in this twice-around-the-clock classic.
“It worked out, but it was tense at the end,” said Johnson, who has won this race three times since 2010. “We didn’t know for sure what was going on.
“The last 20 minutes I was looking at the (engine) temperatures going up and at that point, it was too late to come in. We just prayed it would get to the end. The temperature would spike up and come back a little bit.”
The winning engine was built at Earnhardt Childress Racing in Welcome, North Carolina. Johnson said the engine will go back to ECR for a tear down to find the problem.
This victory also served as a recovery for Albuquerque, who was shoved out of the way by Ricky Taylor with seven minutes left to lose the race in 2017.
“Last year was devastating for Filipe,” Johnson said. “He took it very, very hard and blamed himself for all that. We never blamed him. We don’t do that.”
Second place went to the No. 31 Cadillac, a sister car to the No. 5, followed by the No. 54 ORECA LMP2 machine.
Eric Curran said a pit stop, which lasted two laps Sunday morning, put the No. 31 so far behind, it could not make up the gap.
“There were very few cautions (four), a lot of green-flag driving and a few little issues that pulled us back,” Curran said. “It knocked us back just enough, with no cautions and we were behind the No. 5 car for hours on end.”
The top 3 cars were the only ones to finish on the lead lap.
The four Cadillacs, which dotted the 20-car Prototype field, led the way including a strong run by the No. 10 Wayne Taylor Racing entry, which dropped out with a variety of mechanical issues. Taylor Racing won the 2017 marathon.
The No. 10 suffered five tire failures before packing up and heading back to Apopka.
“Based on the issues we had throughout the night and the early morning part of the race, and multiple ways of trying to fix it with no positive results, we had to retire the car with nothing to gain by keeping the drivers and the car out there while we had everything to lose,” team manager Travis Houge said.
Car owner Chip Ganassi made history when his No. 67 Ford GT scored the GT Le Mans class victory. It marked Ganassi’s 200th victory as a car owner in a variety of motorsports series.
“In terms of the 200 wins, I think there's a time and a place to talk about that,” said Ganassi, whose No. 66 Ford GT finished second. “We're the kind of team that we just focus on trying to do the best we can.”
Formula One driver Fernando Alonso, who helped wheel the No. 23 Ligier LMP2, finished a distant 38th, but enjoyed the Rolex 24 experience.
“Positive feeling,” the popular, two-time World Champion said. “Despite the issues and the reliability, it was a very nice experience, the whole event, the test and the quality, the restarts, the stints, the fatigue at night and the transition from night to day, that it was one of my stints where it was very nice, being on the track at that time.”
The No. 11 Lamborghini Huracan GT3 made history becoming the first Lamborghini to win a 24-hour class anywhere in the world. The No. 11 topped the GT Daytona class. The car was 21st overall.
This Rolex 24 was Scott Pruett’s swansong. He helped drive the No. 15 3GT Racing Lexus RC, which finished ninth in class, 29th overall.
Pruett, 57, has been racing 50 years and scored a record-tying five Rolex 24 overall victories during his long career.
“I think it's going to be in a week or two it's going to hit, especially as we look toward going to the test at Sebring and the race at Sebring,” Pruett said wistfully. “And I won't be packing my bags and going."