Rolex 24 – Hours 19 – 21
Four In It – Then Three - Then Two - Then One
© Janos Wimpffen

Alex Job: "It was a long night. We spent most of the night trying to get the lap back that we lost earlier in the race. But, we finally got a break and got the lap back. Pat Long did a great job driving. He got us all the way back up to second after the pit stops. Unfortunately, it looked like the track was still wet enough and when we put Andy in [the car] we put wets on. It turned out that it was not wet enough, so we came back in and put drys on. It set us back a little bit, but we're in fifth on the lead and we've still got six hours to go. So, we are certainly within striking distance."

The track goes green and we have a near replay as Salvador Duran spins, yet again stalling the No. 02 Ganassi Riley. This time he slides off the banking and out of harm’s way. Earlier there were a set of spinners as the bunched field first headed into the infield.

The No. 74 Autometrics entry is another rather frazzled Porsche. It’s circulating with a variety of bent and patched panels.

Drama at the half-hour as Jimmy Vasser brings the No. 99 Riley into the garage. The team has jacked up the car and they are turning the wheels—appears to be a shifting issue. The pause in the garage is brief and the car is wheeled back to the pits. However, the erstwhile leader drops to at least 7th place and a loss of seven crucial laps.

Montoya has stopped to hand over to Franchitti. Thus the No. 01 falls to the rear of the lead lap during this routine exchange. The No. 6 MSR entry of Ian James now is in front. Joey Hand is some 15 seconds back in the No. 23 Crawford-Porsche. The Mazda has a full lap lead in GT.

Ten minutes later more drama as Ian James spins all by himself at the West Horseshoe. He quickly gets going again but now Joey Hand is in front.

At 18:45 we’ve got our record 19th caution period. The No. 29 Allegra Porsche has blown a tire, leading to a suspension collapse and a fair scattering of debris. Meanwhile, Johnny O’Connell brings the No. 91 works Riley in. It seems its shot at the front has ended. Many laps are lost with peeks at the engine—a continuation of cooling problems?
It was gears on both nineties Rileys: #99 lost one gear a while ago, and another now. #91 similarly, but also had overheating problems--big meltdown there.

We have four cars on the lead lap—pick your winner from these; No. 23 AJR Crawford-Porsche (Joey Hand), No. 59 Brumos Riley-Porsche (Joao Barbosa), No. 6 Shank Riley-Ford (Burt Frisselle), and No. 01 Ganassi Riley-Lexus (Memo Rojas). .Everyone else is several laps down.

Five Hours To Go
1 59 DP 1 Joao Barbosa 547 3:13.876 66.104 1:43.724 123.558 72 9 Brumos Racing Porsche / Riley
2 01 DP 2 JP Montoya 547 0.480 0.480 3:13.478 66.240 1:43.540 123.778 25 122 Chip Ganassi with Felix Sabates Lexus / Riley
3 6 DP 3 Burt Frisselle 547 1.210 0.730 3:13.525 66.224 1:43.071 124.341 36 102 Michael Shank Racing Ford / Riley
4 23 DP 4 Joey Hand 547 3.118 1.908 3:12.717 66.501 1:43.472 123.859 85 59 Alex Job Racing Porsche / Crawford
5 60 DP 5 Justin Wilson 542 5 LAPS 5 LAPS 3:12.683 66.513 1:43.155 124.240 25 14 Michael Shank Racing Ford / Riley
6 99 DP 6 Jimmy Vasser 542 5 LAPS 48.232 2:01.035 105.886 1:43.577 123.734 26 85 GAINSCO/ Bob Stallings Racing Pontiac / Riley
7 76 DP 7 Darren Turner 540 7 LAPS 2 LAPS 3:12.595 66.543 1:43.414 123.929 83 28 Krohn Racing Pontiac / Riley
8 9 DP 8 Ryan Briscoe 540 7 LAPS 1:08.892 1:56.735 109.787 1:43.507 123.817 534 10 Penske-Taylor Racing Pontiac / Riley
9 10 DP 9 Max Angelelli 535 12 LAPS 5 LAPS 1:56.584 109.929 1:42.884 124.567 132 9 SunTrust Racing Pontiac / Riley
10 91 DP 10 Johnny O'Connell 530 17 LAPS 5 LAPS 2:47.115 76.689 1:43.425 123.915 25 13 Bob Stallings/ Riley-Matthews Pontiac / Riley

Sylvain Tremblay’s Mazda still has a clear lap on the two TRG Porsches. “We are hanging in there,” Andy Lally said. “This TRG Porsche is running well and my teammates are doing a super job. We need to hope for the best, because this is a little bit of a toss-up here. You’ve got guys going off in all directions and coming on all directions. There have been some close calls out there. You’ve got to driver 95 percent and leave a little bit on the road for reaction time to get out of other people’s way. It wouldn’t be Daytona if it wasn’t like this. It’s just what we welcome every year. I hate it when I’m in there, because I’ve got the white knuckle deal going on the steering wheel. This is what makes it all worthwhile at the end of this.”

Dario Franchitti: “I think the race is about to start.”

Joao Barbosa is in trouble exiting NASCAR T4, bringing out the 20th caution. Something at the r/rear seemed to give way – big damage. Driver OK. Three to decide it – one of the Rileys or the Crawford?

Hour 20
It’s actually Montoya in the No. 01, now the leader as we remain under yellow for the Barbosa accident. Timing & Scoring has it wrong.

The No. 27 O’Connell Porsche has retired with crash damage, including a broken radiator. The No. 68 TRG Porsche and the No. 21 Connolly Pontiac are both in the garage repairing uprights.

The No. 60 MSR Riley appears to have a broken suspension and has stopped on course—yet another yellow. On the restart the No. 65 TRG Porsche spins and very nearly collects the barrier at the entrance to Turn 1.

Big drama at 3/4 through the hour as Joey Hand brings a very smoky Job Crawford into the pits. After about 5 minutes the car is pushed into the garage. That leaves but two cars on the lead lap, the leading Riley-Lexus and the No. 6 Shank entry. The Mazda lead in GT is up to two laps.

Hour 21
Another Farnbacher Loles agony—broken clutch (again) on the No. 86 car. The No. 50 Mustang becomes our first official zombie of 2008. It had been rusting-in-peace since early yesterday and has been reanimated by the crew.

Shane Lewis plows into the outfield wall, destroying the front of the No. 3 Southard entry, but fortunately he emerges unscathed. We go into our 22nd safety car interruption. No doubt the pace car has more laps than the last place running No. 50.

John Dagys of Motorsport.com reports that the No. 67 TRG Porsche has lost a cylinder, “they’re down to seven!” exclaimed the intrepid young reporter—hey, it’s late and maybe he’s dreaming of a Cayenne.

Montoya makes a routine stop under yellow and the lead passes to Frisselle. It’s cool and clearing. Laps are beginning to come down a bit.

At the 20:45 mark the race effectively ends. There is a massive puncture on No. 6 and Burt Frisselle staggers behind the wall. Michael Shank is furious.

Now the Ganassi crew can comfortably throttle back and enjoy their third consecutive win at the Daytona 24. Unless they have trouble?

Hour 21 Positions
1 01 DP 1 Juan Pablo Montoya 605   1:48.719 117.881 1:43.540 123.778 25 162 Chip Ganassi with Felix Sabates Lexus / Riley
2 99 DP 2 Fogarty/ Gurney/ Vasser/ Johnson 599 6 LAPS 6 LAPS 1:46.491 120.348 1:43.577 123.734 26 85 GAINSCO/ Bob Stallings Racing
Pontiac / Riley
3 76 DP 3 Darren Turner 598 7 LAPS 1 LAP 1:51.002 115.457 1:43.414 123.929 83 28 Krohn Racing Pontiac / Riley
4 9 DP 4 Kurt Busch 597 8 LAPS 1 LAP 1:46.357 120.499 1:43.526 123.794 36 10 Penske-Taylor Racing Pontiac / Riley
5 6 DP 5 Burt Frisselle 594 11 LAPS 3 LAPS 1:45.520 121.455 1:43.071 124.341 36 118 Michael Shank Racing Ford / Riley
6 10 DP 6 Ricky Taylor 592 13 LAPS 2 LAPS 1:45.277 121.735 1:42.884 124.567 132 9 SunTrust Racing Pontiac / Riley
7 60 DP 7 Graham Rahal 588 17 LAPS 4 LAPS 1:44.177 123.021 1:43.155 124.240 25 14 Michael Shank Racing Ford / Riley
8 91 DP 8 Marc Goossens 585 20 LAPS 3 LAPS 1:46.249 120.622 1:43.425 123.915 25 13 Bob Stallings/ Riley-Matthews Pontiac / Riley
9 75 DP 9 Eric van de Poele 584 21 LAPS 1 LAP 1:48.612 117.998 1:43.492 123.835 80 0 Krohn Racing Pontiac / Riley
10 70 GT 1 Nick Ham 577 28 LAPS 7 LAPS 1:57.196 109.355 1:51.660 114.777 125 0 SpeedSource Mazda RX-8
11 67 GT 2 Spencer Pumpelly 574 31 LAPS 3 LAPS 1:58.377 108.264 1:51.475 114.967 126 0 TRG Porsche GT3 Cup
12 66 GT 3 Ted Ballou 574 31 LAPS 5.462 1:59.566 107.187 1:51.619 114.819 124 0 TRG Porsche GT3 Cup
13 23 DP 10 Joey Hand 569 36 LAPS 5 LAPS 1:54.154 112.269 1:43.472 123.859 85 59 Alex Job Racing Porsche / Crawford
14 64 GT 4 Jim Pace 569 36 LAPS 10:00.435 1:53.529 112.887 1:52.431 113.989 39 0 TRG Porsche GT3 Cup
15 03 DP 11 Ed Carpenter 569 36 LAPS 15.682 1:47.784 118.904 1:44.711 122.394 41 0 Vision Racing Porsche / Crawford
16 80 GT 5 Jan Heylen 567 38 LAPS 2 LAPS 1:52.926 113.490 1:51.641 114.796 109 0 Synergy Racing Porsche GT3 Cup
17 69 GT 6 Jeff Segal 565 40 LAPS 2 LAPS 1:53.384 113.031 1:52.818 113.598 93 0 SpeedSource Mazda RX-8
18 09 DP 12 Michael McDowell 563 42 LAPS 2 LAPS 1:48.657 117.949 1:45.380 121.617 87 0 Spirit of Daytona Racing Porsche / FABCAR
19 87 GT 7 Dirk Werner 560 45 LAPS 3 LAPS 1:54.917 111.523 1:51.791 114.642 7 0 Farnbacher Loles Porsche GT3 Cup
20 07 GT 8 Paul Edwards 559 46 LAPS 1 LAP 1:54.329 112.097 1:51.843 114.589 120 0 Banner Racing Pontiac GXP.R
21 57 GT 9 Robin Liddell 559 46 LAPS 44.735 1:54.817 111.621 1:52.322 114.100 24 0 Stevenson Motorsports Pontiac GXP.R
22 30 GT 10 Craig Stone 556 49 LAPS 3 LAPS 1:53.974 112.446 1:51.796 114.637 7 0 Racers Edge Motorsports Mazda RX-8
23 74 GT 11 David Murry 556 49 LAPS 22.833 1:55.656 110.811 1:52.251 114.172 21 0 Autometrics Motorsports Porsche GT3 Cup
24 59 DP 13 Joao Barbosa 549 56 LAPS 7 LAPS 3:20.843 63.811 1:43.724 123.558 72 11 Brumos Racing Porsche / Riley
25 88 GT 12 Greg Wilkins 549 56 LAPS 56:06.964 1:56.015 110.468 1:52.293 114.129 7 0 Farnbacher Loles Porsche GT3 Cup
26 84 GT 13 Don Pickering 541 64 LAPS 8 LAPS 2:09.361 99.071 1:54.843 111.595 22 0 Farnbacher Loles Porsche GT3 Cup
27 44 GT 14 Steve Paquette 532 73 LAPS 9 LAPS 4:59.834 42.743 1:55.901 110.577 36 0 Bullet Racing Porsche GT3 Cup
28 3 DP 14 Shane Lewis 527 78 LAPS 5 LAPS 1:47.859 118.821 1:44.932 122.136 25 0 Southard Motorsports Lexus / Riley
29 17 GT 15 Jordan Taylor 522 83 LAPS 5 LAPS 1:54.836 111.602 1:53.983 112.437 32 0 Terra Firma Motorsports Porsche GT3 Cup
30 58 DP 15 Darren Law 519 86 LAPS 3 LAPS 1:44.398 122.760 1:42.860 124.596 88 5 Brumos Racing Porsche / Riley
31 14 GT 16 Ralf Kelleners 518 87 LAPS 1 LAP 1:54.844 111.594 1:52.871 113.545 123 0 Autometrics Motorsports Porsche GT3 Cup
32 02 DP 16 Alex Lloyd 515 90 LAPS 3 LAPS 3:12.746 66.491 1:42.802 124.666 75 34 Chip Ganassi with Felix Sabates Lexus / Riley
33 7 DP 17 Matt Plumb 514 91 LAPS 1 LAP 1:45.946 120.967 1:43.746 123.532 24 16 Sigalsport BMW / Riley
34 62 GT 17 Jack Baldwin 511 94 LAPS 3 LAPS 1:54.667 111.767 1:51.803 114.630 22 0 TRG Porsche GT3 Cup
35 34 GT 18 Tom Papadopoulos 507 98 LAPS 4 LAPS 1:57.527 109.047 1:52.714 113.703 9 0 Orbit Porsche GT3 Cup
36 86 GT 19 Jorg Bergmeister 505 100 LAPS 2 LAPS 1:55.186 111.263 1:51.658 114.779 40 0 Farnbacher Loles Porsche GT3 Cup
37 72 GT 20 Tim Lewis Jr 502 103 LAPS 3 LAPS 1:54.518 111.912 1:52.989 113.426 75 0 Autohaus Motorsports Pontiac GXP.R
38 65 GT 21 Russ Oasis 502 103 LAPS 1:19.770 1:58.406 108.237 1:52.672 113.746 24 0 TRG Porsche GT3 Cup
39 52 GT 22 Joe Castellano 500 105 LAPS 2 LAPS 1:59.060 107.643 1:53.095 113.320 25 0 Mastercar Ferrari 430 Challenge
40 81 GT 23 Steve Johnson 500 105 LAPS 19.450 1:56.520 109.989 1:52.027 114.400 23 0 Synergy Racing Porsche GT3 Cup
41 40 GT 24 Charles Espenlaub 491 114 LAPS 9 LAPS 1:54.725 111.710 1:53.276 113.139 8 0 Hyper Sport Mazda RX-8
42 85 GT 25 Steve Miller 489 116 LAPS 2 LAPS 1:56.453 110.052 1:53.552 112.864 7 0 Farnbacher Loles Porsche GT3 Cup
43 06 GT 26 Marc Bunting 488 117 LAPS 1 LAP 1:57.182 109.368 1:52.857 113.559 42 0 Banner Racing Pontiac GXP.R
44 77 DP 18 Memo Gidley 475 130 LAPS 13 LAPS 1:44.456 122.692 1:43.613 123.691 39 2 Doran Racing Ford / Doran
45 27 GT 27 Kris Wilson 473 132 LAPS 2 LAPS 1:58.194 108.431 1:51.930 114.500 30 0 O'Connell Racing Porsche GT3 Cup
46 68 GT 28 Brent Milner 468 137 LAPS 5 LAPS 1:59.262 107.460 1:53.678 112.739 76 0 TRG Porsche GT3 Cup
47 61 DP 19 Andrew Ranger 448 157 LAPS 20 LAPS 2:13.757 95.815 1:43.020 124.403 71 38 AIM Autosport Ford / Riley
48 21 GT 29 Karl Reindler 429 176 LAPS 19 LAPS 1:53.931 112.489 1:52.484 113.936 7 0 Matt Connolly Motorsports Pontiac GTO.R
49 29 GT 30 Jake Rosenzweig 418 187 LAPS 11 LAPS 1:56.704 109.816 1:54.016 112.405 44 0 Alegra Motorsports Porsche GT3 Cup
50 43 GT 31 Joe Nonnamaker 401 204 LAPS 17 LAPS 3:39.317 58.435 1:55.586 110.878 32 0 Team Sahlen Corvette
51 83 GT 32 Ben McCrackin 397 208 LAPS 4 LAPS 2:06.197 101.555 1:54.334 112.092 21 0 Farnbacher Loles Porsche GT3 Cup
52 26 GT 33 Jim Michaelian 364 241 LAPS 33 LAPS 2:38.442 80.887 1:56.084 110.402 34 0 Gotham Competition Porsche GT3 Cup
53 89 GT 34 Giacomo Petrobelli 284 321 LAPS 80 LAPS 1:55.971 110.510 1:52.208 114.216 10 0 Farnbacher Loles Porsche GT3 Cup
54 2 DP 20 Allan McNish 233 372 LAPS 51 LAPS 6:51.146 31.171 1:43.281 124.088 119 0 SAMAX Pontiac / Riley
55 31 DP 21 Mirco Schultis 231 374 LAPS 2 LAPS 6:24.849 33.301 1:48.813 117.780 23 0 Matt Connolly Motorsports Pontiac / Chase
56 50 GT 35 John Farano 194 411 LAPS 37 LAPS 1:57.654 108.929 1:53.796 112.622 5 0 Blackforest Motorsports Ford Mustang
57 15 GT 36 Tom Nastasi 177 428 LAPS 17 LAPS 1:56.903 109.629 1:53.106 113.309 85 0 Blackforest Motorsports Ford Mustang
58 16 DP 22 Matteo Bobbi 170 435 LAPS 7 LAPS 1:50.769 115.700 1:43.980 123.254 34 0 Cheever Racing Pontiac / Coyote
59 90 GT 37 Tom Long 163 442 LAPS 7 LAPS 2:04.269 103.131 1:52.818 113.598 22 0 Automatic Racing BMW M6 / Riley
60 22 GT 38 Patrick Pilet 149 456 LAPS 14 LAPS 1:54.957 111.485 1:52.277 114.146 6 0 Alegra Motorsports Porsche GT3 Cup
61 11 DP 23 Tomas Enge 97 508 LAPS 52 LAPS 1:48.444 118.180 1:43.865 123.390 33 0 SAMAX Pontiac / Riley
62 08 GT 39 Jim Meassick 83 522 LAPS 14 LAPS 20:23.186 10.477 1:59.850 106.933 21 0 Goldin Brothers Racing Mazda RX-8
63 12 DP 24 Justin Bell 65 540 LAPS 18 LAPS 3:12.117 66.709 1:44.492 122.650 44 0 RVO Motorsports Pontiac / Riley
64 56 GT 40 Matthew Marsh 55 550 LAPS 10 LAPS 1:58.901 107.787 1:52.853 113.563 4 0 Mastercar Ferrari 430 Challenge
65 51 DP 25 Tommy Erdos 45 560 LAPS 10 LAPS 2:12.141 96.987 1:46.290 120.575 44 0 Cheever Racing Pontiac / Coyote
66 63 GT 41 Hima Maher 31 574 LAPS 14 LAPS 1:58.218 108.409 1:54.065 112.356 6 0 TRG Porsche GT3 Cup