Ganassi cars hold early lead in Rolex 24 at Daytona
DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. — Scott Dixon's best move happened at the very start of the race.
Dixon overtook Ozz Negri at the start of the 53rd running of the Rolex 24 and held the lead through his nearly three-hour race-opening shift Saturday in the No. 02 Chip Ganassi Racing with Felix Sabates Ford-powered Riley.
"Whenever we had someone catching us, we turned up the pace a little bit to see if they could respond," said Dixon, the 2008 Indianapolis 500 winner and three-time Verizon IndyCar Series champion. "It's a 24-hour race. There are different protocols for different manufacturers. Obviously this early you just want to stay clean and not destroy the car."
Dixon was replaced by NASCAR driver Jamie McMurray, the 2010 Daytona 500 winner, as sundown approached in the annual 24-hour sports car race on the Daytona International Speedway road course. Dixon led the No. 01 Ganassi Ford shared by Scott Pruett, Joey Hand, Charlie Kimball and Sage Karam at the time of the pit stop.
Karam, the 2013 Indy Lights champion, took over for Pruett at the handoff and quickly jumped to the front on lap 108 to keep a Ganassi team in the lead. Pruett, 54, who is competing in his 25th Rolex 24, is seeking a record sixth overall win. He currently shares the record with Hurley Haywood.
"There were some crazy antics out there," Pruett said of the early hours. "We had to take evasive action to avoid some stupid moves."
Other contenders at the three-hour mark included the No. 10 Wayne Taylor Racing Corvette DP driven by Jordon Taylor, Ricky Taylor and Max Angelelli,and the No. 5 Action Express Racing Corvette DP shared by Joao Barbosa, Christian Fittipaldi and Sebastien Bourdais.
Negri's car, the No. 60 Michael Shank Racing Honda-powered Ligier, remained in the top six at the three-hour mark with teammate John Pew driving.
"The car had some oversteer at the beginning of the race, but it the track was coming back to us," Negri said. "The team made an air pressure adjustment on the rear, and it was getting better and better. I felt pretty good, especially at the end of the stint."
Meanwhile, actor/race car driver Patrick Dempsey received an early penalty that put his Porsche team in a deep hole.
Dempsey was the second driver behind the wheel of the Porsche 911 GT, but he was flagged for improperly passing during a wave around.
Dempsey has kept a low profile at Daytona since he and wife Jillian Fink announced Friday night they were divorcing after 15 years of marriage. He had done some press interviews on Friday, but skipped Saturday's driver autograph session and wasn't on the starting grid with his teammates before the race.
The penalty on Dempsey dropped his team nine laps behind the leaders, but only six laps down in the GT class.
The opening hours were interrupted twice by full-course caution periods, including one when Damien Faulkner's Porsche 911 GT America went off course at Turn 1 a little more than an hour into the race. Faulkner re-fired the car, which had minor body damage, and drove it back to the pits.
The race will continue through the night around the 12-turn, 3.56-mile Daytona International Speedway road course until its scheduled conclusion shortly after 2 p.m. ET Sunday.
*****
2:10 p.m. ET start
Overnight rain that washed the rubber from the track was the primary concern among drivers Saturday before the start of 53rd Rolex 24, the annual 24-hour sports car race at Daytona International Speedway that kicks off the racing season.
A cold front moved through during the night, dropping temperatures about 15 degrees and creating rain that washed away rubber from two days of practice, qualifying and a support race. A 15 mph wind and a green track were concerns before the race, but bright sunshine greeted fans for the 2:10 p.m. ET start.
Scott Dixon, who started from the front row next to pole winner Ozz Negri, said the start of the race is always unpredictable.
"It's tough, mostly because this is the first race of the year and there's no holding back at the start," Dixon told Paste BN Sports. "Anything can happen."
Negri piloted the first stint in the No. 60 Michael Shank Racing Honda-powered Ligier co-driven by NASCAR driver AJ Allmendinger, John Pew and Matt McMurry.
Dixon drove the first stint in the No. 02 Chip Ganassi Racing with Felix Sabates Ford-powered Riley co-driven with Indianapolis 500 winner Tony Kanaan, NASCAR Sprint Cup Rookie of the Year Kyle Larson and Daytona 500 winner Jamie McMurray.
The second Ganassi entry — the No. 01 shared by five-time overall Rolex winner Scott Pruett, Joey Hand and IndyCar drivers Charlie Kimball and Sage Karam — started third, while the defending champion No. 5 Action Express Racing Corvette DP co-driven by Joao Barbosa, Christian Fittipaldi and IndyCar's Sebastien Bourdais started fourth.
Johnny Mowlen was behind the wheel of the fastest-qualifying Prototype Challenge car at the start of the race, while Oliver Gavin drove the lead GT Le Mans entry and James Davison drove the lead GT Daytona entry.
Contributing: The Associated Press
Follow Olson on Twitter @jeffolson77