First-Year Porsche Team Bests Ganassi BMWs in Rolex 24

DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. -- It wasn't the team with the biggest budget, most famous driver lineup or highest pre-race expectations.

But after 24 hours of steady, careful, pedal-to-the-metal effort, the first-year, first-race Action Express Racing team led the mighty TELMEX Chip Ganassi Racing team across the finish line by less than a minute to claim the Rolex 24 at Daytona trophy on Sunday afternoon.

Action Express driver Mike Rockenfeller took the lead in the No. 9 Porsche-V8 Riley when Ganassi driver Justin Wilson pitted unexpectedly with less than three hours remaining, convinced there was a problem with the team's No. 01 BMW Riley. After a five-minute once-over in the Daytona International Speedway garage, the team couldn't find anything obviously wrong and sent the car back on track -- two laps down and forced to try to play catch-up.

It's the second consecutive runner-up effort in the Grand Am Series sportscar season-opener for the Ganassi team, which won three straight from 2006-2008. Including the 52-second differential on Sunday, the team has lost the last two Rolex 24-hour races by less than a minute."I've always said you want to be in the mix at the end,'' owner Chip Ganassi said. "So to be here the last five years and not be below second place, that's pretty rewarding.

"I don't think we would have done anything differently. We just got beat by a little bit over a long period of time.''

The SpeedSource team of Floridians David Haskell, Sylvain Tremblay, Californian Jonathan Bomarito and veteran Nick Ham, of Colorado co-drove a Mazda RX-8 to victory in the GT production-based class, besting the five-car TRG operation which claimed second and third place. TRG, which also fields a NASCAR Sprint Cup team, has put at least two cars on the Rolex GT podium for the past three years.

So for all the pre-race hype about star drivers -- Indy 500 winners and the NASCAR regulars who filled out team rosters -- it wasn't a famous driver but a former NASCAR official, Gary Nelson, who pulled off the victory as team manager for Action Express.

While the team Nelson guides is new, that fact is a bit deceiving considering the experienced driver lineup includes a past overall Rolex winner (2004) in American Terry Borcheller, a former runner-up finisher (2007) in Ryan Dalziel, of Scotland, and a former GT class podium finisher (2006) in Rockenfeller, of Germany. Lead driver Joao Barbosa, of Portugal, finished third overall last year.

And the crew is mostly comprised of last year's winning Brumos Porsche team.

"I have to say, when I came here to Daytona, I didn't expect to be in the first spot now,'' Rockenfeller said.

"We were struggling in practice and changed everything about the set-up just before the race. But the car was perfect to drive.''

Despite the late race detour, the Ganassi team felt their BMW equally up to the task. Wilson, a regular in the IZOD IndyCar Series said he heard what sounded like a small explosion under the car as he was exiting the "bus stop" chicane on the back straightaway of the 3.56-mile road course.

"It was very strange and very frustrating,'' Wilson said. "The car started shaking around and I had like five seconds to decided what to do. Do I run another lap or go straight into the pits and get it checked out?

"I had a split-second to decide and I felt like I had to be cautious.''

And, Wilson's co-driver Max Papis reminded, "We win as a team and we lose as a team. We did not lose because of Justin's decision.''

Added Dalziel very strongly, "Regardless of what happened to other cars, we were flawless, there were no problems with the car or in the pits. I don't think there was a scratch on the car.

"All of us went in as a major unknown but the one thing we knew, was our car's reliability.

"It makes this a little sweeter (to win) as the underdogs.''



Even Ganassi driver Scott Pruett, who frantically chased the winning Porsche, had to applaud the Action Express effort.

"It just talks volumes about the quality of the teams,'' Pruett said. "Every year, the cars get more refined, more robust, more durable. ... so unfortunately little things happen but get overshadowed. I think it just shows the level of competition.''

As is typical of this grueling 24-hour experience, bad weather, attrition and night-time gremlins all factored in to the outcome.

The pole-winning SunTrust Ford was out of contention just after nightfall Saturday but clawed back for a sixth-place showing. The second Ganassi BMW, co-driven by Indy 500 winners Dario Franchitti, Scott Dixon, Juan Pablo Montoya and NASCAR regular Jamie McMurray, led 139 of of the first 250 laps but went out after midnight with a terminal engine problem.

The reigning Grand-Am Series champion GAINSCO/Bob Stallings team finally retired with a gearbox problem with only three hours remaining in a race weekend that included a complete re-build after four-time NASCAR champion Jimmie Johnson crashed in opening practice. GAINSCO full time drivers Alex Gurney and Jon Fogarty will start defense of their drivers championship with an eighth place finish in the prototype class, 21st overall.

"The extra work I put on the team on Thursday I feel terrible about, but we really overcame that and it wasn't an issue in the race,'' said Johnson, who has two runner-up finishes in six Rolex starts.

"We had a very competitive car and I love being down here and being a part of it.

"This race is as prestigious as it is because it is so difficult to win. And not winning is not going to deter me and keep me from racing. It only makes me want to come back some more.''

Perhaps the most emotional moment of the race came from the defending race winning Brumos Porsche team, whose legendary driver Hurley Haywood made his final professional race start.

The only five-time Rolex 24 winner, Haywood climbed out of the famous red-white-and-blue No. 58 Porsche after his last driving shift and was greeted with applause. Minutes later the car retired with engine problems.

"I was more emotional when I knew getting in it would be my last professional stint,'' said the 61-year old Haywood, who also has four victories in the 12 Hours of Sebring and three in the 24 Hours of LeMans.

"When you're driving you don't think about those things, at least I don't.

"When I got out of the car, people were crying and there were tears in their eyes. It will get more emotional for me as I know I'll never be in a race car professionally again.

For the others, the lure of "next year" is too powerful.

"It's a shame I have to leave with a plastic watch this time, but I will be back,'' Papis promised with a grin.