Chip Ganassi Racing took overall top honors in the Rolex 24 Hours at Daytona on Sunday. The victory was the team’s record-breaking sixth in the twice around the clock endurance race at Daytona International Speedway.
Chip Ganassi Racing earns record 6th Rolex 24 Hours at Daytona win
Drivers Scott Dixon, Tony Kanaan, Jamie McMurray and Kyle Larson teamed to win the sports car endurance race.
Jerry Markland/Getty Images
The Ganassi No. 02 Ford-powered entry with co-drivers Scott Dixon, Tony Kanaan, Jamie McMurray and Kyle Larson bested the No. 5 Action Express car and Wayne Taylor Racing. WTR was running second and in position to challenge for victory late until a miscalculation necessitated a pit stop and driver change with approximately 15 minutes remaining.
Avoiding mechanical failures or incidents on the track, the race was fairly uneventful for the No. 02 car. Relieving Larson, Dixon drove the final three hours and 32 minutes, and was in the car just over seven hours overall.
“It’s such a team effort,” Dixon told Fox Sports in Victory Lane. “We kept the car clean and tried to look after it as much as possible. Such a big thank you to my teammates. It was awesome.”
The win was the second Daytona for Dixon and the first for Kanaan, McMurray and Larson. Dixon and Kanaan are Ganassi IndyCar teammates, while McMurray and Larson are drivers for Ganassi’s NASCAR operation. With the win McMurray joins A.J. Foyt and Mario Andretti as the only drivers to win the 24-hour classic and the Daytona 500. Dixon and Kanaan are former Indianapolis 500 champions.
“Really, it’s about Scott Dixon for me, today,” McMurray said. “He got in with three-and-a-half hours to go and really did an amazing job. I’m just so proud of him.”
Ganassi’s second entry was in contention until a broken clutch sent the No. 01 car to the garage with less than two hours on the clock.
PR1/Mathiasen Motorsports scored a surprise victory in the PC class. Core Autosport had dominated for almost the entirety of the race, but in the final 30 minutes its car went off course and erupted into flames. Driver Colin Braun escaped without injury.
Corvette Racing was the GTLM class winners. Riley Motorsports won the GTD class.
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