By John Goolsby, Prep Sports Editor
DAYTONA BEACH – American horsepower was on display as the 2024 racing calendar got underway at Daytona International Speedway this past weekend.
Two familiar names in motor racing brought home the overall victory in the 62nd Rolex 24 at Daytona.
Felipe Nasr, in the #7 Porsche Penske 963, held off the #31 Whelen Engineering Racing Cadillac V-Series.R of Tom Blomqvist, a two-time and defending race winner.
Porsche Penske’s #7 takes the win. Credit: LAT Images/Jake Galstad
The two drivers fiercely battled with one another the last half hour before the Porsche emerged victorious over the Cadillac by 2.112 seconds.
The finish was not without confusion, as race control called for the white flag with two-and-a-half minutes remaining.
Americans Dane Cameron and Josef Newgarde, with Australian Matt Campbell, earned their first overall Rolex 24 win with Nasr.
“I just showed up,” said 2023 Indy 500 winner Josef Newgarden. “That’s all I did. I don’t know what to say.”
“It was all Porsche and Team Penske. They delivered the biggest result. The way Felipe drove at the end, Matt Campbell, these guys won this race. I was just happy to be here. What an unbelievable group. They are going to cherish this for the longest time. You need to talk to RP (Roger Penske), I think he was crying up on the pit stand.”
American Roger Penske and Porsche have a long history dating back to 1972. In fact, the Penske team set a closed-course speed record at Talladega Superspeedway with a Porsche 917 in 1975.
Mark Donohue in a Penske Porsche 917 at Talladega in 1975. Credit: Team Penske
The most recent iteration of the partnership came together in 2023 in the form of the Porsche Penske Motorsports team that competes in the IMSA series. The team is headquartered in Mooresville, North Carolina.
“We entered into this partnership with Porsche, they’ve been our partner in automotive and racing for many years,’”said Roger Penske. ‘This is one, last year at Le Mans we stumbled and we had some good runs last year, but to come back here and have both cars run for 24 hours and then win the race, it’s hard for me to believe it.”
“I’ll tell ya, this goes down as one of the biggest wins we’ve had. Now we have to go for the big one at Le Mans, you know that!”
The German manufacturer’s last Daytona win came in 2010, and its last overall win came in 2003.
Porsche claimed its 23rd Daytona win and a record 19th overall Daytona 24-hour victory.
The win was the first for Penske at the 24 since 1969 and the first win for the Porsche 963.
Rounding out the GTP podium was the #40 Wayne Taylor Racing with Andretti Acura ARX-06 of Louis Deletraz, Jordan Taylor, Jenson Button and Colton Herta.
Along with Cadillac in the series top class, four Chevrolet Corvettes and two Ford Mustangs, marking Ford’s return to IMSA, competed in the GTD Pro class.
The #18 Era Motorsport Oreca claimed the win in LMP2 category.
The #04 Crowdstrike Racing by APR ORECA finished a close second.
The #74 Riley ORECA came home third, after an intense battle with the #52 Inter Europol PR1 and #8 Tower 07 Gibsons.
Risi Competizione’s #62 Ferrari 296 GT3 took the GTD Pro class vistory.
The #77 AO Racing Porsche took second while the #1 Paul Miller BMW finished third.
