Team owner Chip Ganassi stands with his winning drivers, Juan Pablo Montoya, Scott Pruett, and Salvador Duran. Photo courtesy of www.grand-am.com
It was a strenuous day for all teams competing in the 2007 Rolex 24 Hours of Daytona, but after day turned to night, and then day again, after the rain had fallen and then dried, when the engines were shut off and the smoke cleared, it was the Chip Ganassi Racing team with drivers Juan Pablo Montoya, Scott Pruett, and Salvador Duran standing atop the podium.
Earning both the overall race victory as well as a Daytona Prototype class victory, the No. 01 TELMEX/Target Lexus-Riley car led 468 of 668 laps and unlike many other contenders, finished the event with virtually no damage. The victory was Chip Ganassi Racing's second consecutive Daytona win.
The victory marked Pruett's seventh class win at the Rolex 24 as well as his second overall race win. The No. 11 CITGO/SAMAX team of Ryan Dalziel, Patrick Carpentier, Darren Manning and Milka Duno finished second, with the No. 10 SunTrust Pontiac Riley team of Max Angelelli, Jan Magnussen, Wayne Taylor and Jeff Gordon coming from several laps down to finish third.
The winning TELMEX/Target Lexus-Riley takes the checkered flag at the 2007 Rolex 24 Hours of Daytona. Photo courtesy of www.grand-am.com
"The job that this TELMEX team did today was just outstanding, and the car performed flawlessly," said Pruett after the race yesterday.
The victory earned Montoya a couple of new milestones as well. He is now the first driver to have won both the Indy 500 and the Rolex 24 in his first attempt and with the same team (his Indy 500 win came with Chip Ganassi Racing's Champ Car effort). He has also joined racing legend Mario Andretti as the only other driver to win a Champ Car title, the Indy 500, the Rolex 24, and a Formula One race in his career.
Montoya will be looking to add a NASCAR victory to his impressive resume when he returns to Daytona to compete in next month's Daytona 500. Montoya will be piloting a Chip Ganassi Racing Nextel Cup car for the 2007 season.
"This is a great win for the team and I look forward to running for Chip and Felix in the upcoming NASCAR season," said Montoya.
The Alegra Motorsports Porsche 911 GT3 Cup fends off the competition for its GT class win. Photo courtesy of www.grand-am.com
In one of the closer finishes in Rolex 24 history, the Alegra Motorsports Porsche 911 GT3 Cup finished just seven seconds ahead of its nearest competitor to win the GT class. Driven by the four-man team of Carlos de Quesada, Scooter Gabel, Marc Basseng, and Jean-Francois Dumoulin, the Porsche overcame cooling problems late in the race to hold off the second place No. 07 Banner Racing Pontiac GXP.R piloted by Paul Edwards, Kelly Collins, Andy Pilgrim and Johnny O'Connell. Jim Lowe, Jim Pace, Johannes van Overbeek and Ralf Kelleners finished third in the No. 64 TRG Porsche GT3.
The race ran 82 laps over the Daytona circuit, utilizing both the banked oval as well as the inner road course section.