Roger Diez
It’s not just the NFL that’s been embarrassed by officiating errors recently. No, the officials at the Rolex 24 at Daytona also committed a humiliating booboo last Sunday. Or should I say the Rolex 23:58:25 instead of the 24? Yes, the checkered flag came out one lap too early, ending the race just over a minute and a half short of its scheduled completion time. The result was, however, declared official based on the rulebook which fortunately covered the situation. In any event, Phillipe Nasr in the No. 7 Penske GTP Porsche was first to take the checker, 2.112 seconds ahead of the No. 31 Whelen GTP Cadillac Racing entry driven by Tom Blomqvist. The finish ended a 55-year drought for Roger Penske, whose team last won the Rolex 24 in 1969 with a Chevy-powered Lola T70 driven by Mark Donohue and Chuck Parsons. This year’s driver lineup included Nasr, Dane Cameron, Matt Campbell, and 2023 Indy 500 winner Josef Newgarden. Newgarden became the 10th driver to win both the Indy 500 and the Rolex 24, joining A.J. Foyt, Mario Andretti, Al Unser Jr., the late Dan Wheldon, Juan Pablo Montoya, Scott Dixon, Helio Castroneves, Simon Pagenaud, and Tony Kanaan in capturing two of racing’s crown jewels.
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Other class winners were the Era Motorsport LMP2 winner driven by Christian Rasmussen, Dwight Merriman, Ryan Dalziel, and 17-year-old Connor Zilisch. The Risi Competizione Ferrari 296 GT3 topped the GTD Pro category with Alessandro Pier Guidi, James Calado, Daniel Serra, and Davide Rigon sharing the driving duties. And the GT Daytona winning car was the Winward Racing Mercedes AMG GT3 driven by Daniel Morad, Russell Ward, Philip Ellis, and Indy Dontje. The winning GTP car completed 791 laps and 2,815.96 miles. The winner in LMP2 covered 2,730.52 miles and 767 laps, while the GTD Pro victor went 733 laps for 2,609.48 miles. And the GT Daytona winning car traveled 2,602.36 miles in 731 laps. The next race for the IMSA Weathertech series will be the 12 Hours of Sebring on March 16.
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The NASCAR Cup series kicks off its 2024 season this weekend with the third visit to the Los Angeles Coliseum for the Busch Clash. Joey Logano’s Team Penske Ford won the inaugural race in 2022 and Martin Truex Jr. took the checker last year in his Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota. So, will this be Chevy’s year? Chevrolets from the Richard Childress and Hendrick Racing teams finished second through fourth in 2023, and the oddsmakers’ favorite for Sunday’s edition of the Clash is Hendrick driver Kyle Larson at 17-2 odds, tied with defending winner Truex. William Byron in another Hendrick Chevy is tied for third-favorite with Childress pilot Kyle Busch at 9-1. 2023 NASCAR Cup champion Ryan Blaney is at 10-1 with Penske teammate Logano 11-1, tied with Gibbs Racings’ Denny Hamlin.
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Saturday’s action will air on FS1 with NASCAR Mexico qualifying 1:30 p.m. and the four Clash heat races from 3 p.m. to 7 p.m. The NASCAR Mexico race broadcast begins at 1:30 p.m. Sunday on FS1, with the NASCAR Cup Last Chance Qualifier airing on Fox at 3:30 p.m. and the Busch Clash race also on Fox at 5 p.m.
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The Daytona 500 is next up on February 18, preceded by the Duel qualifying races on Feb. 15. There will be a break in the racing action next weekend due to some football game. (Just kidding — go Niners!)