DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. — Wayne Taylor was noticeably emotional atop the pit box Sunday as Kamui Kobayashi guided his No. 10 Konica Minolta Cadillac DPi-V.R across the start-finish line to win the overall Rolex 24 at Daytona International Speedway – the second straight for Wayne Taylor Racing and the fourth total for the team.
And the first without one of Taylor’s sons in the driver rotation.
Kobayashi, Ryan Briscoe, Scott Dixon and Renger van der Zande filled out the Cadillac’s lineup with Ricky Taylor racing for class rival Acura Team Penske and Jordan Taylor making the move to the GT Le Mans (GTLM) class with Corvette Racing this season.
“I can’t explain it,” Wayne Taylor exclaimed when asked what the win meant to him.
The team became the first to repeat as overall Rolex 24 winners since Chip Ganassi Racing won three straight Rolex 24s between 2006 and 2008. Dixon was part of the winning lineup for that 2006 victory, which was his first in the twice-around-the-clock.
“When they come into this little team of ours, they are just so focused, and so passionate about winning,” Taylor said. “And unfortunately, we are really bad losers. So, when we win like this… I have got to talk about Scott Dixon, Ryan Briscoe, van der Zande. Kobayashi – I mean, the guy is a superstar.”
Only van der Zande and Kobayashi returned from the race-winning effort the year before, which also included two-time Formula One World Champion Fernando Alonso and Jordan Taylor.
Kobayashi was as effusive as Taylor in his praise for the team.
“We worked together to build the car,” he said. “We focused in the race, we came back from the Roar, we found something good so we bring it back for race weekend. And once we rolled out, it was fast. This win is all about people helping each other, bringing the speed, bringing the car together. I think the team really felt like family.”
Following the midway point in the race, it appeared to be clear sailing for the reigning race winners as they led at the hour mark for the next six hours. But Briscoe’s final turn in the car proved to be a true test for the team.
“That was a roller coaster,” he said.
After taking over for van der Zande in the 18th hour, Briscoe faced mechanical issues that caused a loss in power steering as he navigated the bus stop. He was able to pull to the apron, recycle the electronics and avoid pitting to stay in the lead.
But while pitting from the lead under caution at just over 18 and a half hours into the race, Briscoe missed the red light on pit road upon exiting his pit box, landing the team a stop plus 60 seconds penalty.
That put the No. 10 a lap down when Loic Duval in the No. 5 Mustang Sampling Racing Cadillac DPi overtook Briscoe as he was leaving pit road after serving the penalty. Briscoe was relegated fourth place overall with a little more than five hours remaining in the race.
Briscoe said the proximity of the team’s pit box to the red light on pit road contributed to the miscue.
“I actually left the pit box and we’re right down at the end there, so the red light is over to the left as soon as I pull out of my pit box,” he said after finishing his final stint. “And when I pulled out, I was actually checking my mirrors to see where the competition was. It’s my bad, I just didn’t see it.
“Thankfully, we had a couple yellows fall our way, we were able to get back on the lead lap and just go to work.”
It was Briscoe who regained the lead from Mustang Sampling, with Joao Barbosa behind the wheel, just minutes after the clock turned to 20 hours completed. And other than a brief trading of the lead during final pit stops, the team never looked back as it drove to a dominating win.
Although the pole-sitting team of Oliver Jarvis, Tristan Nunez and Olivier Pla in the No. 77 Mazda Team Joest Mazda DPi held the lead after the opening two hours of the race, they didn’t lead at an hour mark after the eighth. And, ultimately, they couldn’t break the streak of Rolex 24 wins by the Cadillacs since the start of the DPi era (2017) as they finished second.
Barbosa, Duval and Sebastian Bourdais were the other main challengers in the No. 5 Mustang Sampling Cadillac, finishing third in the race.
The race was a record-breaker. The previous lap record of 808 (set in 2018) was bettered by 25 laps for a total of 833 laps and 2,965.48 miles.
SAME TEAM, NEW LOOK FOR LMP2 WINNERS DRAGONSPEED USA
The saying “change is good” rang true for the Le Mans Prototype 2 (LMP2) winners of the Rolex 24 at Daytona as DragonSpeed USA won the season opener for the second consecutive season – but with a very different look from 2019.
IMSA
A year ago, DragonSpeed held the prestigious watches aloft with the No. 18 driven by Roberto Gonzalez, Pastor Maldonado, Sebastian Saavedra and Ryan Cullen. Two of the drivers from this year’s winning team – Ben Hanley and Henrik Hedman – joined them on the podium but watched the celebration from a bit of a distance as they finished third in the race.
This time, it was their turn to shine.
The No. 81 ORECA LMP2 07 entry piloted by Hanley, Hedman, Colin Braun and Harrison Newey led the final 212 laps of the race to take the victory. It was the first IMSA victory of any kind for Hanley, Hedman and Newey and – alongside Chaz Mostert (GTLM) and Andrea Caldarelli (GTD) – helped IMSA reach the 1,000-driver mark regarding number of drivers who have recorded at least one win in the highest level of racing sanctioned by the governing body. Prior to the start of the Rolex 24, 997 different drivers had stood atop the podium in the top-tier series. The mark now stands at 1,002 drivers.
The battle was intense atop the LMP2 leaderboard for most of the race, and only two teams ever holding the lead – the race-winning DragonSpeed entry and the pole-sitting No. 52 PR1 Mathiasen Motorsports ORECA LMP2 07 piloted by Ben Keating, Simon Trummer, Nick Boulle and Gabriel Aubry.
BMW OUTLASTS PORSCHE ONSLAUGHT FOR BACK-TO-BACK GTLM CLASS WINS
It took every hour of the Rolex 24 at Daytona to determine who would be declared the victor in the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship GT Le Mans (GTLM) class.
IMSA
From the start, the strongest contenders appeared to be the two Porsche GT Team Porsche 911 RSR-19 entries – the car’s official IMSA debut – versus the two BMW M8 GTEs for BMW Team RLL. However, Corvette Racing and Risi Competizione took turns in the top three as well.
In the final hours of the race, a blanket could have been thrown over the Porsches and the No. 24 BMW of Jesse Krohn, John Edwards, Augusto Farfus and Chaz Mostert. Edwards handed the car over to Krohn in the lead with two hours remaining, but Nick Tandy in the No. 911 Porsche was able to pass the BMW fairly quickly after the stop.
Krohn lost ground but valiantly fought back to get bumper to bumper with Tandy with less than an hour remaining. The Finn pulled his BMW on the outside of the Porsche down the front stretch heading into Turn 1 but was initially unable to complete the “over-under” pass.
However, if you don’t succeed, try and try again.
Just a few minutes later, Krohn pulled the same move on the front stretch and, with momentum, swung from the outside to the inside of Tandy’s Porsche heading towards the International Horseshoe. He stuck the BMW to complete the pass and didn’t relinquish the lead for the remaining 45 minutes.
NO. 48 PAUL MILLER LAMBORGHINI TEAM CELEBRATES FIRST ROLEX WIN
After one of the most intensely competitive battles in the Rolex 24 at Daytona field, the No. 48 Paul Miller Racing Lamborghini edged the No. 44 GRT Magnus Lamborghini by a mere 21 seconds to earn the GT Daytona (GTD) Class victory in the classic endurance twice-around-the-clock race on Daytona’s infield road course.
From green flag to checkered flag the two Lamborghinis fought each other for the storied race victory. After taking the lead for the last time during a pit stop only 50 minutes before the checkered flag flew, Italian Andrea Caldarelli held off the field and brought the No. 48 Paul Miller Racing Lamborghini Huracan GT3 to the checkered flag – best in class.
Americans Madison Snow, Corey Lewis and Bryan Sellers rounded out the driving lineup. It’s the first win for all four drivers and for Miller, the long-time team owner and former IMSA driver. The victory was the third consecutive GTD Rolex 24 At Daytona victory for the Italian manufacturer.
Reigning NASCAR Cup Series champion Kyle Busch closed out the race ninth in the GTD class and 26th overall with the No. 14 AIM Vasser Sullivan Lexus RC-F GT3. His teammates were Jack Hawksworth, Michael De Quesada and Parker Chase. This was Busch’s first Rolex 24.
DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. — The event ran under clear skies, comfortable temperatures and a star-studded entry list that also featured newly-crowned NASCAR Cup Series champion Kyle Busch in a GTD class AIM Vasser Sullivan Lexus RC F GT3.
It was Busch’s Rolex 24 debut, and although his car finished ninth in the 18-car class field, he was impressive behind the wheel – completing four driving stints for more than six hours total. He was fast enough to make up laps on track, and up until the last driver change, he had the fastest lap in the car moving up the field even after several mechanical challenges so typical in the grueling ‘round-the-clock race.
“There was a lot going on and a lot to learn and kind of pick up on and figure out,” Busch said. “Overall, it was good. We had a lot of fun, I enjoyed it. Just being able to get back in a race car again, kind of my season warm-up if you will, and to be able to go out there and run a ton of laps and have a good go of it.
“Unfortunately, we just got a little behind with the brake change there, had some issues on the right-front caliper. I guess that got us a little bit further back than we wanted to be. We just didn’t have the long run pace.”
His team owner this weekend, former IndyCar Series champion Jimmy Vasser, was all smiles on pit lane as Busch drove the team’s No. 14 Lexus across the finish line. Obviously disappointed to miss a podium finish, Vasser remained optimistic about his team’s IMSA season and glad to have had Busch behind the wheel for this renowned race.
“A great team effort,” Vasser said. “With the troubles we had, nobody gave up, everybody pitched in. And speaking on Kyle, he impressed.
“I’m not sure why he impressed. He’s a NASCAR champion. He’s won more NASCAR races in the modern day than anybody, but it takes a lot of confidence and guts to jump into a discipline that he’d never really done before and he did it with ease.
“He was really, really impressive. He was running times of the top sports car pros. It was a joy to have him. He’s a very serious guy, but he was a joy to have on the team and really added a lot for our people to see how a true professional works. Not that we don’t have them here, but he’s a great champion and a true champion.”
Busch said he remains open to making a second Rolex start but insisted he wanted to evaluate the weekend before making any firm plans.
“Too soon to say,” Busch said. “I think I will digest all of this and figure it all out. I enjoyed the experience and being able to get out there and do it.”
DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. — From executives at the driver’s meeting to drivers on pit road to competitors handing television duty, there was a broad NASCAR presence at the Rolex 24 Saturday morning as teams awaited the green flag.
Four-time NASCAR Cup Series champion Jeff Gordon was pit side checking in with the Wayne Taylor Racing team, with whom he won the 2017 Rolex 24 race. Former NASCAR Cup Series driver and Xfinity Series champion Brian Vickers was on pit road catching up with friends as was driver David Ragan, who said this was the first Rolex 24 he ever attended and he would be open to competing in a future race.
Reigning NASCAR Cup Series champion Kyle Busch is entered in the GTD Class No. 14 AIM Vasser Sullivan Acura and former Cup Series driver AJ Allmendinger, who is driving the No. 57 Acura NSX for Michael Shank Racing.
NASCAR on NBC’s Dale Earnhardt Jr. and Steve Letarte manned the NBC broadcast.
“I’ll drive with Junior and maybe we could get Jimmie Johnson or Tony Stewart,” Gordon told Earnhardt and Letarte on the NBC Sports broadcast, joking about coming back to the Rolex 24 and running the race again with a NASCAR lineup.
“My number one goal when I was here, whether it was testing, whether back at shop doing pit practice or here in the race, don’t be the weak link,’’ Gordon said of his experience a couple seasons ago. “Unfortunately, first time I got in the car, I was the weak link. “I had to restart the car and we were leading under caution. I went into Turn 2 in the horseshoe and hit a guy and I hadn’t even been in the car five minutes. Luckily, I made up for that and the rest of my race went really well and I wasn’t the weak link.”
DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. – With six hours remaining in the Rolex 24 at Daytona International Speedway, Renger van der Zande led the way in the No. 10 Konica Minolta Cadillac DPi-V.R at what could be a record pace. He was 17.509 seconds ahead of Loic Duval in the No. 5 Mustang Sampling Cadillac DPi-V.R.
Van der Zande and the No. 10 team that includes Kamui Kobayashi, Ryan Briscoe and Scott Dixon completed 631 laps through 18 hours. The current record, set two years ago by Joao Barbosa, Filipe Albuquerque and Christian Fittipaldi in the No. 5 Action Express Racing Cadillac DPi, is 808 laps.
The No. 10 team’s lead at 18 hours also enabled it to extend its lead in the IMSA Michelin Endurance Cup standings to three, 14-11, after three of the four scoring segments in the Rolex 24.
Running third, more than 48 seconds behind the leader was Tristan Nunez in the No. 77 Mazda Team Joest RT-24P. There were three Daytona Prototype international (DPi) cars still on the lead lap. One lap behind was Ryan Hunter-Reay in fourth place driving in the No. 77 Mazda. Pipo Derani was fifth in the No. 31 Whelen Engineering Cadillac DPi, three laps behind the leader.
In the LMP2 class, Henrik Hedman led the way in the No. 81 DragonSpeed USA ORECA with a three-lap advantage over Ben Keating in the No. 52 PR1 Mathiasen Motorsports ORECA. The No. 52 team dominated much of the of the race but lost three laps late in the 18th hour for a brake change.
That put the DragonSpeed team in a strong position to win its second consecutive Rolex 24 with a different set of co-drivers in Hedman, Ben Hanley, Colin Braun and Harrison Newey. However, the No. 52 team continues to lead the Michelin Endurance Cup standings with a two-point advantage, 14-12, over the No. 81 team through three scoring intervals.
There were three cars on the GT Le Mans (GTLM) class lead lap after 18 hours led by 2019 IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship GTLM champion Earl Bamber in the No. 912 Porsche GT Team 911 RSR. Bamber – who is sharing the car with Laurens Vanthoor and Mathieu Jaminet – led a 1-2 sweep for the team by 12.505 seconds over Nick Tandy in the No. 911 Porsche.
Looking for his second consecutive Rolex 24 victory, Augusto Farfus was running third in the No. 24 BMW Team RLL M8 GTE, also on the lead lap. The top three cars have controlled most of the first 18 hours among them.
The No. 912 and the No. 24 teams are tied atop the Michelin Endurance Cup standings with 13 points apiece.
It’s a Lamborghini-Audi battle in the GT Daytona (GTD) class with six hours to go, with a few others still lurking.
Heading the field was Corey Lewis in the No. 48 Paul Miller Racing Lamborghini Huracán GT3 by 8.535 seconds over Dries Vanthoor in the No. 88 WRT Speedstar Audi Sport R8 LMS GT3. They were the only two cars on the lead lap in GTD, but two more cars, the No. 44 GRT Magnus Lamborghini in third and the No. 16 Wright Motorsports Porsche 911 GT3 R, were just one lap behind with six hours to go.
In addition to leading the race, the No. 48 team of Lewis, Bryan Sellers, Andrea Caldarelli and Madison Snow also took over sole possession of the Michelin Endurance Cup lead by two points, 13-11, over Andy Lally, John Potter, Spencer Pumpelly and Marco Mapelli in the No. 44 Lamborghini.
Live television coverage of the Rolex 24 continues on NBCSN until 12 p.m. ET, when NBC network coverage takes over for the finish. The race can also be streamed on TrackPass on NBC Sports Gold and the NBC Sports App with authentication. IMSA Radio has complete coverage at IMSARadio.com, RadioLeMans.com and on SiriusXM.
NOTES • A costly penalty for the No. 77 Mazda Team Joest Mazda DPi dropped it from the lead to the bottom of the DPi class charts about 10 hours through the race. Tristan Nunez was deemed to have made a pass under a yellow flag, mandating a drive-through penalty. Making impressive gains, the No. 77 was up to third at the 12-hour mark.
• The yellow flag that led to Nunez’s penalty was a result of the No. 19 GEAR Racing powered by GRT Grasser running slow and stopping in Speedway Turn 4. The car was towed back to the garage with the team believing the issue was related to fuel pressure. The car returned to track during the 11th hour of the race.
• An incident in the bus stop between Harry Tincknell in the No. 55 Mazda Team Joest DPi and Helio Castroneves in the No. 7 Acura DPi in the fourth hour sent the No. 7 into the tire barrier. Castroneves subsequently brought the car into the garage for lengthy repairs, while Tincknell continued but was given a drive-through penalty for incident responsibility. Castroneves eventually rejoined the race after losing 23 laps to the leader.
• The race’s first full course caution came out in the fifth hour of the race for an incident involving the GTD cars of Eric Lux in the No. 47 Precision Performance Motorsports Lamborghini and Alex Riberas in the No. 23 Heart of Racing Aston Martin. The cars made contact near the pit entry and both slid through the infield grass. Lux got the No. 47 running and made his way into the pits, but the No. 23 suffered substantial front-end damage and could not be driven back and later retired from the race.
• There will be no three-peat for the No. 11 GRT Grasser Racing Team Lamborghini squad as the car went to the garage for an extended stay with mechanical issues in the fourth hour. Franck Perera, who won this race with the team two years ago, brought the car in with fuel pressure problems just four laps after a pit stop.
DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. – Riley Motorsports knows endurance racing.
Not only has the team won three consecutive IMSA Michelin Endurance Cups from 2017 – 2019 in the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship, but they are now back-to-back endurance race winners in the IMSA Michelin Pilot Challenge.
Following the four-hour BMW Endurance Challenge at Daytona International Speedway to open the season, the No. 35 Mercedes-AMG GT4 of Dylan Murry, Jim Cox and Jeroen Bleekemolen crossed the finish line first to claim the Grand Sport (GS) victory. The same trio of drivers also won last summer’s four-hour race at Watkins Glen International – and Murry and Cox also won November’s four-hour Michelin IMSA SportsCar Encore at Sebring.
“We’re petitioning IMSA to make all races four hours now,” said Cox.
However, the Mercedes-AMG didn’t cross the finish line at normal race pace. The yellow flag came out with 15 minutes left on the clock after Scott Maxwell’s No. 19 Ford Mustang GT4 slid across the grass in the bus stop and rear-first into the tire barrier. The car flipped upside down after the incident, but Maxwell was not injured.
The win for the Riley Motorsports trio is the second of their Pilot Challenge careers. The first was that race at Watkins Glen.
“I think the whole Riley team has done well with pit stop strategy and preparation,” said Bleekemolen, who has been a part of the team for each of the endurance accomplishments. “That’s definitely a big part of it, and then obviously Jim and Dylan also drove well, so it’s the whole thing together. I’ve ran a lot with this team, also in the [Rolex] 24, and we’ve always been leading the races here, sometimes even most of the race just because they have a good car, they know how to do it.”
Murry held a decent gap over another Mercedes-AMG, the No. 57 of Philip Ellis for Winward Racing before the caution came out, but that wasn’t always the case. Stalking from second place, Ellis gained on Murry and wound up leading two laps as the final pit-stop sequence occurred. However, Riley Motorsports’ work in the pits cycled Murry back into the lead for the remainder of the race.
“To be able to drive at Daytona is one thing, to be able to win here is an entirely different level, different world,” said Murry. “I can’t describe the emotions I’m going through right now. My dad has raced here, I grew up coming to this 24-hour race all my life watching my dad race, go around, and I finally get to stand on victory lane. It’s touching and special to me. I always said if I could win one race it would be Daytona and it’s come true and it’s exciting.”
Ellis and co-driver Bryce Ward held on for the runner-up finish while their sister car, the No. 4 shared by Indy Dontje and Russell Ward, made it a podium sweep for the German manufacturer.
The BMW Endurance Challenge race broadcast will air on NBCSN at 1 p.m. ET on Thursday, February 6. It is also available on-demand on TrackPass on NBC Sports Gold.
Road Shagger Racing Audi Clinches Memorable TCR Victory
While the race anticlimactically ended under caution, the thrill and excitement from Gavin Ernstone was as palpable as ever as he watched the No. 61 Road Shagger Racing Audi RS3 LMS come to the checkered flag, watching his co-driver, Jon Morley, cross the finish line first among the TCR class cars, Ernstone stood on the pit wall reveling in the fact they had just won on the 3.56-mile circuit at the World Center of Racing.
While they’ve experienced victory once before (at WeatherTech Raceway Laguna Seca last year) during the team’s inaugural season, it’s clear this one will be long remembered.
“It was extremely emotional for me,” said Ernstone. “Daytona is legendary all around the world. We can say we won at Daytona. I was sobbing like a baby. I couldn’t watch the last 45 minutes of the race. (It was certainly) emotional for me, I’m sure for Jon too, it was huge and one of the biggest days of my life for sure.”
The No. 61 Audi started 11th on the grid, but slowly worked its way through the field. During the final pit stop of the race, Morley came within inches of the No. 32 Speed Syndicate Motorsports Audi of Mikey Taylor. In similar fashion to the GS class winners, a clutch pit stop kept the Road Shagger machine a fraction ahead of Taylor as the two cars left pit lane nose-to-tail, but Morley kept Taylor’s Audi at bay.
Taylor and co-driver William Tally finished second, while Stephen Simpson and Michael Johnson in the No. 54 machine for JDC-Miller Motorsports finished third, making it an all-Audi podium.
“I settled in following three other Audis all with incredible drivers in them,” said Morley. “We were helping each other, drafting, I could hang with them, I’d catch them every once and awhile. It didn’t feel like I had a distinct advantage on them, but there was a lot of time left. If I stuck with them, I knew my crew would get me by them and they did.”
The second race of the 2020 IMSA Michelin Pilot Challenge season takes place at Sebring International Raceway during the SuperSebring weekend on March 18 – 21. The two-hour Alan Jay Automotive Network 120 goes green on Thursday, March 19 at 3:50 p.m. ET. That race is available live on TrackPass on NBC Sports Gold. Tickets can be purchased at SebringRaceway.com.
DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. — Popular NASCAR driver turned commentator Dale Earnhardt Jr., and his former Hendrick Motorsports crew chief Steve Letarte, will broadcast their second Rolex 24 At Daytona this weekend. They met with the media Friday morning along with on-air talent Calvin Fish and Leigh Diffey as part of the NBC Sports team covering that is covering the race.
NBC Sports’ coverage of the Rolex 24 starts live on the NBC network Saturday at 1:30 p.m. ET, with NBC network coverage of the finish airing at 12 p.m. ET Sunday. In addition to the network windows on Saturday and Sunday, additional Rolex 24 Coverage includes windows on NBCSN and the NBC Sports App and the race in its entirety on TrackPass on NBC Sports Gold.
Fish, a former driver and longtime IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship announcer, spoke about the extended benefits of having the NASCAR pair on the broadcast team for the Rolex 24 for a second consecutive year.
“I think we just have a great mix,” Fish said. “It’s great to be back, and I think last year working with Dale and Steve up there on the pit box, they come at the sport from a different angle so they’re very curious about a lot of things and I think that opens you up to look at it differently yourself.
“I think that was great for the fans.”
Earnhardt was similarly enthused to be trackside for the annual twice-around-the-clock classic endurance race. He competed in the race twice, scoring a memorable runner-up finish in 2001, co-driving a GTO-class Chevrolet Corvette with his father, seven-time NASCAR Cup Series champion Dale Earnhardt and sports car champion Andy Pilgrim.
He finished fifth overall and third in the marquee Daytona Prototype class in the 2004 Rolex 24 co-driving with NASCAR champion Tony Stewart and sports car great Andy Wallace. The team led 345 of 519 laps, only to suffer a suspension problem in the closing laps.
“I have to remind myself that I even ran this race a couple times because we come here as the NASCAR guys. When you sit on the [NBC Sports] pit box you really do kind of fall into that fandom sort of experience watching the race and seeing who the underdogs are and who the guys to beat are,” Earnhardt said smiling.
“It’s an incredible experience from a fan perspective.”
Earnhardt joked that he and Letarte were enjoying their Rolex experience so much, they should field a team and compete themselves one day soon. Earnhardt said Letarte would be the designated “gentlemen” driver, he would be the 50-plus driver because he’d probably be 50 years old before they could make this attempt.
“Then we’d have to have someone really really fast to save us,” Earnhardt said. “Every time we daydream about it’s a different driver.”
Both Earnhardt and Letarte said they fully expected Kyle Busch would not only enjoy his first 24-hour race experience but fully expected the reigning Cup champ to be competitive in his driving stints. There wasn’t much advice Earnhardt felt he could give the recently crowned two-time NASCAR Cup Series champion Busch at this point.
“Kyle’s got a great team around him and great drivers that he’s working with and his experience will be completely different from mine,” Earnhardt said. “It was so long ago that I don’t know that I could help him a whole lot.
“It will be fun to watch him experience it. He’s such a talented driver. He’s going to be so prepared mentally and knows exactly what he needs to do to do the job right.”
DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. — Kyle Busch conceded there have been some definite “lessons” preparing for his first Rolex 24 At Daytona start. But the reigning NASCAR Cup Series champion was quite optimistic about his No. 14 AIM Vasser Sullivan Lexus RC F GT3 and the challenge that awaited the team.
The car will start 16th among the 18 GTD cars. The team did not make a qualifying run after an eventful pre-qualifying session when the car went over a raised speed bump-type section of the bus stop turn entering the NASCAR Speedway Turn 3.
The team repaired the damage from the heavy hit, changed the engine and had limited practice Thursday evening. Busch insisted the team recovered well, and that he and driver Jack Hawksworth, who drives the car full time, were back to quicker lap times by Friday morning.
“We’d love to get that better and feel a little more competitive, but we’re also trying to make sure we stay on track and complete all 24 hours,” Busch told reporters on Friday. “Got some good laps last night and some good laps this morning. I think I ran the quickest of our cars this morning,” adding with a grin, “I’m not sure what that means.”
The team handed out driving assignments on Friday and Busch said he is tentatively scheduled to drive from 6-9 p.m. on Saturday, overnight from 2-4:30 a.m. and then again Sunday morning, 7-9 a.m. Of course the schedule changes – in lineup and timeframe – as the twice-around-the-clock event goes on.
The Daytona 500. The biggest race on the NASCAR calendar. You win it and your name is etched in history forever.
Seven drivers enter the 2020 Daytona 500 at Daytona International Speedway (Feb. 16, 2:30 p.m. ET on FOX) having already won “The Great American Race:” Denny Hamlin and Jimmie Johnson have each won twice, while Austin Dillon, Kurt Busch, Joey Logano, Ryan Newman and Kevin Harvick have all won this race once.
Which driver is most likely to repeat as a Daytona 500 winner come February? NASCAR.com’s Zack Albert and RJ Kraft debate the possibilities.
KRAFT: This is likely the obvious choice on the list given his superspeedway success, but it’s hard for me to see how Joey Logano would not be the first choice to notch another Daytona 500 victory. The Team Penske driver has four superspeedway wins in his career. He also has finished in the top six in the past five Daytona 500s – the only driver to do so. The 29-year-old has a knack for being at the front when it’s go time at these types of races.
Team Penske’s superspeedway strength is an additional reason I view Logano as the most likely repeat winner – he’s the only Penske driver on the potential repeat winner list. Logano’s teammates Brad Keselowski and Ryan Blaney are strong superspeedway racers, and the trio have a knack for finding a way to work together at this type of racing. Add in Ford’s strength in numbers as well, and that’s an added recipe for success to Logano adding another Harley J. Earl Trophy to his collection.
ALBERT: Obvious choice? If we’re keeping the discussion to former winners, let’s not dig all that far back into the history books and go with a recent Joey Logano foil who already has multiple 500 crowns: Denny Hamlin.
Hamlin has three wins at a similar track called Talladega Superspeedway in the last five years, but his Daytona 500 statistics rate even more highly when it comes to consistency. In the last six Daytona 500s, the Joe Gibbs Racing driver has a stellar average finish of 4.67 (a hair better than Logano’s 5.33). Perhaps more impressively, Hamlin has gone his whole career (a span of 14 starts) without a Daytona 500 DNF.
JGR-affiliated cars led more than half of last year’s running of “The Great American Race” (116 of 207 laps) and wound up with a 1-2-3 finish, so their ability to make teamwork click is a relatively fresh concept. Don’t be surprised if it’s Hamlin leading that charge again.
Editor’s note: Today’s Germain Racing preview continues NASCAR.com’s countdown of team previews for the NASCAR Cup Series season, ranked in order of best finish in last year’s owner standings.
GERMAIN RACING
Manufacturer: Chevrolet
Engine: ECR
Driver: Ty Dillon
Crew Chief: Matt Borland
What’s new: It appears to be more of the same for Germain Racing and driver Dillon for the 2020 season. Crew chief Matt Borland will be back at the helm for the No. 13 crew, signing a multi-year deal back in 2018. Dillon and GEICO also signed a multi-year contract back in 2017, set to be featured as the primary sponsor for 32 races this year.
Team strength: Superspeedway racing is Germain Racing’s strong suit. Dillon and team are tied with Hendrick Motorsports for the longest active streak of races at Daytona with at least one top-10 finish (three straight races). Dillon earned three top-10 finishes in 2019, coming at both Daytona races and Talladega in the fall.
The Action Network Best Bet:Ty Dillon was sneaky good at the superspeedways in 2019, finishing sixth, 17th, fourth and 10th. In fact, both of those top-six runs came at Daytona, making him a nice target for both driver matchups and top-10 props at the Daytona 500. – PJ Walsh
TY DILLON: NO. 13 CHEVROLET
2019 Stats: One top five, three top 10s; 20.6 average finish with 99.2 percent of laps completed 2020 Championship Odds: 5000-1 Racing Insights Number to Know: Five. Their five best finishes came at Daytona, including a fourth-place finish in July and a sixth there in February. Fantasy Live Picks: Talladega, Daytona, Phoenix Outlook: Heading into his fourth full-time NASCAR Cup Series season with Germain Racing, Dillon doesn’t have the stellar finishes, but he does know how to take care of equipment. The 27-year-old driver completed the 2019 season with a goose egg in the DNF column, which is a huge accomplishment for a smaller, one-car team in the field. If Dillon can keep that going, plus get a few more stage wins like he did in Stage 1 at Bristol last spring by edging out Clint Bowyer, the upward trend has all the potential to continue going into 2020.
Jan. 20: Teams outside the top 30 Jan. 21: Go Fas Racing Jan. 22: Front Row Motorsports Jan. 23: Richard Petty Motorsports Jan. 24: Germain Racing Jan. 27: Leavine Family Racing Jan. 28: Richard Childress Racing Jan. 29: JTG Daugherty Racing Jan. 30: Wood Brothers Racing Jan. 31: Roush Fenway Racing Feb. 3: Hendrick Motorsports Feb. 4: Chip Ganassi Racing Feb. 5: Team Penske Feb. 6: Stewart-Haas Racing Feb. 7: Joe Gibbs Racing
