Wayne Taylor Racing, Jeff Gordon score controversial Rolex 24 win

Wayne Taylor Racing No. 10 Cadillac dominated the Rolex 24 at Daytona, but it took an aggressive and controversial pass by Ricky Taylor to secure victory in the twice-around-the-clock, four-class race for himself and co-drivers Max Angelelli, Jeff Gordon, and Jordan Taylor.

Ricky Taylor was trailing the leading No. 5 Action Express Racing Cadillac driven by Filipe Albuquerque with under 10 minutes remaining when Taylor boldly drove to the inside of Albuquerque as they entered Turn 1. Albuquerque attempted to close the hole but Taylor was already alongside and the resulting contact sent Albuquerque spinning.

Race officials immediately reviewed the incident and determined no penalty would be issued.

“I wanted to win terribly,” Ricky Taylor said. “We were either going to make a move and win or sit there in second and wait for ‑‑ wait until next year, basically. I didn’t want to do that.”

The victory was the first for WTR since 2005 and the first for brothers Jordan and Ricky Taylor, whose father owns the team, in the prestigious sports car race. It was also Gordon’s first win in the four-time NASCAR Cup Series champion’s second Rolex 24 start. Gordon joins Mario Andretti, A.J. Foyt, and Jamie McMurray as the only drivers to win both the Rolex 24 and Daytona 500. Angelelli was part of WTR’s winning lineup in 2005.

“This is very surreal to me, this whole experience and moment, to have this on my résumé, it’s a very elite group that’s won the Daytona 500 and the Rolex 24 together,” Gordon said. “That’s something I’m very, very proud of.”

Competing in his first sports car race in 10 years, Gordon took the wheel of the No. 10 Cadillac only twice, for a total of three stints. Because of steady rain throughout the evening, WTR leaned on the experience of the Taylors and Angelelli to navigate the precarious conditions.

Albuquerque and co-drivers Joao Barbosa and Christian Fittipaldi finished second, 0.671 of a second behind.

Chip Ganassi Racing’s No. 66 Ford entry won the GT Le Mans class, with Performance Tech Motorsports taking top honors in the Prototype Challenge class, and Alegra Motorsports in the GT Daytona class.

“It was a good fight until I got hit, to be honest. There is not much to say,” Albuquerque said. “I had some GTs ahead of me so I could not brake so late, and I closed the door, but then I got spun.”