Photo for Headlin Surfer / Scott Pruett wheels the 01 Chip Ganassi car to victory in the Rolex 24 at Daytona International Speedway on Jan. 20, in one of the closest races ever with four cars finishing on the lead lap where endurance is the name of the game in the overnight race. / YouTube video download / Final lsaps in the 2012 Rolex 24 at Daytona.
DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. -- The Rolex 24 ended up being a cake walk the Chip Ganassi racing teams which finished 1-2 in the Rolex 24 at DaytonaInternational Speedway.
Scott Pruett, in the 01 Daytona Prototype, outdistanced the 02 sister car of Chip Ganassi Racing with Felix Sabates in a mad dash to the finish for the completed "Chip Slam," to give the ownership team consecutive victories in the Daytona 500, Indianapolis 500, Brickyard 400 and, in January, of course the Rolex 24.
It was the fourth career overall Rolex 24 victory for Pruett and second for co-driver Memo Rojas while Graham Rahal and Joey Hand earned their first coveted Rolex watches.
In addition to his 2012 win, Ganassi won three Rolex 24s between 2006-'08, and has earned runner-up finishes each of the past two years.
"I don't drive the cars, I don't change the tires, I don't work on the engines," Ganassi said. "There are lots of people, lots of great competitors that it takes to make up a team, and I'm just the guy that gets to stand up there and talk about it."
In addition to his 2012 win, Chip Ganassi won three Rolex 24s between 2006-'08, and has earned runner-up finishes each of the past two years.
"I don't drive the cars, I don't change the tires, I don't work on the engines," Ganassi said. "There are lots of people, lots of great competitors that it takes to make up a team, and I'm just the guy that gets to stand up there and talk about it."
Rounding out the top three was the runner-up No. 02 Ganassi Racing entry with Dixon, Indy car racer Dario Franchitti, Sprint Cup driver Juan Pablo Montoya and 2010 Daytona 500 champion Jamie McMurray.
Third-place honors went to the No. 9 Action Express Racing Porsche Riley and drivers Max Papis, Christian Fittipaldi, JC France, Joao Barbosa and Terry Borcheller.
The No. 67 TRG Porsche GT3, driven by Andy Lally, NASCAR driver Brendan Gaughan, Spencer Pumpelly, Wolf Henzler and Steven Bertheau, overcame a broken clutch to take GT class honors.
Five-time NASCAR Sprint Cup Series champion Jimmie Johnson joined two-time DP champs Alex Gurney and Jon Fogarty in the No. 99 GAINSCO Auto Chevrolet/Riley, but the trio fell out of contention late Saturday evening with brake problems.
"I spent a lot of time in the car and learned a lot. it went well," Johnson said. "There was some good race, but a few other situations. I wish I knew who some of those guys are so I could go and talk to them. For me, every lap is helpful and I learn every time I'm out on the track. It's good to be out there."
The highly competitive race featured 52 lead changes among 27 drivers. Twelve of the 18 Daytona Prototypes in the field led at some point. The race was slowed 23 times for 141 laps.
While there were no major incidents, early morning fog led to two hours and 47 minutes, resulting in 57 laps of caution.
The winning No. 01 entry covered 721 laps, 2,566.76 miles, equivalent of a trip from Daytona Beach to Los Angeles.