History was in the making this weekend and that was achieved. Scott Pruett becomes only the 2nd driver in history to win the Rolex 24 at Daytona 5 times. The only other driver to accomplish that feat was the Grand Marshal of this year's race, Hurley Haywood.
Pruett, co-driving with Memo Rojas, NASCAR star Juan Pablo Montoya and IndyCar driver Charlie Kimball, dominated the 24-hour event, putting the #01 Chip Ganassi Racing TELMEX/Target BMW Riley on pole and led the majority of the race. When the green-flag was dropped, the 01 was out front and that's where the car was most of the race. The #10 Wayne Taylor Racing entry (formerly SunTrust Racing) featuring 2012 IndyCar champion Ryan Hunter-Reay, Jordan Taylor & Max Angelelli finished dead-last in last year's race, was this year's runner-up. The #60 Michael Shank Racing entry, driven by NASCAR drivers Marcos Ambrose & A.J. Allmendinger, IndyCar driver Justin Wilson, Trans-Am driver John Pew & Oswaldo Negri started the race off with mechanical issues, which forced them to go 7 laps down, made all their laps back thanks to yellows (including a nearly 2-hour caution due to fog) and finshed on the 3rd step of the podium.
Also in the DP (Daytona Prototype) class, the Action Express #9 finished 4th, the Spirit of Daytona #90 was fifth and the #2 Starworks Motorsports entry (featuring Sebastien Bourdais, multi-time Le Mans winner Allan McNish & Ryan Dalziel) was 6th. The other Chip Ganassi entry, the #02 car, featuring IndyCar drivers Scott Dixon & Dario Franchitti and 2010 Daytona 500 winner Jamie McMurray finished 37th overall, and was forced to retire from the race due to gearbox problems with over 3 hours to go.
History was also in the making for the GT class as Audi Sport Racing car #24 won the class, featuring Dion von Moltke & Filipe Albuquerque. Ferrari also had a good showing in the GT class with the #69 AIM Autosport machine featuring Emil Assentato & Mark Wilkins finishing on the podium in 3rd place. The #44 Magnus Racing entry, which won the 2012 North American Endurance Challenge, led most of the race, but finished 5th in a tough division. However, there were surprises as AF Waltrip (featuring Michael Waltrip & Clint Bowyer) finished 8th in GT, showed great runs and was competitive all event.
This year, as this is a transition year, looking ahead to the 2014 merger w/ the American Le Mans Series, features a new class, called GX. With 6 entries, SpeedSource #70 looked to be the favorite, but had mechanical issues early in the race and retired. The new favorite was the eventful winner, the #16 Napleton Racing entry featuring David Donahue, Shane Lewis & Nelson Canache, dominated & won the class, finishing 26th overall.
Great race, but it was all about Ganassi & Pruett's 5th win. The Rolex Sports Car series is off until the beginning of March, when they visit the Circuit of the Americas in Austin, Texas.
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