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By JENNA FRYER
DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. (AP) — Chip Ganassi and Jimmie Johnson were both out of contention at the 24 Hours of Rolex at sunrise Sunday of the twice-round-the clock endurance race.
It left only four cars running for the overall victory with about six hours remaining at Daytona International Speedway. Among those still in contention were Wayne Taylor Racing, seeking a record fourth consecutive Rolex win, and Meyer Shank Racing on the 10th anniversary of its victory.
The two Chip Ganassi Racing “star cars” both had mechanical issues that eliminated the Cadillacs from racing for the win. Johnson, in a rival Cadillac for Action Express Racing, drove the No. 48 to the garage with damage from contact with a GTD Pro car from a lower class.
The No. 01 for Ganassi had a problem with its alternator about 12 hours into the race; the Cadillac is headlined by full-time drivers Renger van der Zande, Sebastien Bourdais, IndyCar champion Alex Palou and six-time IndyCar champion Scott Dixon in his 19th consecutive start.
The sister No. 02 car remained in contention until sunrise Sunday morning when Earl Bamber took it to the garage with a fuel pump problem. That lineup consisted of first-year Ganassi sports car drivers Bamber and Alex Lynn, as well as former Formula 1 driver Kevin Magnussen and IndyCar driver Marcus Ericsson.
The 60th running of North America’s most prestigious sports car race featured 12 drivers from the IndyCar Series and several in contention for victory. Both Helio Castroneves and Simon Pagenaud were in the Shank car and Alexander Rossi was seeking a second Rolex with Wayne Taylor.
In the LMP2 class, a car driven by Rinus VeeKay was racing for the win, as well as a car that featured the IndyCar trio of Colton Herta, Pato O’Ward and rookie Devlin DeFrancesco. Herta helped the DragonSpeed entry come from four laps down back into contention for class victory.
Andretti Autosport had a problem right before sunrise that knocked it from the lead lap in the LMP3 class. The entry marks the first in race history for an Andretti Autosport car, although multiple members of the racing dynasty have competed at Daytona over the years. The LMP3
Father and son launched the sports car program in 2019 with an eye on taking it to IMSA’s top WeatherTech Series and racing in the Rolex. Jarett Andretti started from the pole and was hoping to score the class win on the two-year anniversary of his father’s death from colon cancer.
The new GTD Pro class was up for grabs with five cars still in contention, among them a Porsche driven by reigning IMSA champion Felipe Nasr and a Mercedes driven by NASCAR rookie Austin Cindric.
The final stretch of the 24-hour race was expected to be in better conditions following one of the coldest days in race history. It was a brisk 46 degrees when the race began and temperatures dropped into the low 30s overnight.
The forecast predicted it would be 55 degrees when the checkered flag ended the race.
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