Scott Dixon continues to build on his already impressive resume. He scored his second victory in the Rolex 24 at Daytona on Sunday, driving for Chip Ganassi. IndyCar teammate Tony Kanaan and NASCAR drivers Kyle Larson and Jamie McMurray also helped get the 02 Ford EcoBoost DP into victory lane. Sebastien Bourdais was part of Action Express Racing, which finished in second after winning last year. The margin of victory was just 1.333 seconds.
This is the sixth win for Ganassi, in nine attempts in this event. It was the first for Kanaan, who was really looking forward to his Rolex watch. “I’ve always bought them,” Kanaan said. “Now I get one for free.” McMurray joined the elite company of AJ Foyt and Mario Andretti as the only three drivers to have won the Daytona 500 and the Rolex 24.
“It’s such a team effort here,” said Dixon. “The whole last part of the race is so horrible because you’re thinking something is going to go wrong, is going to break.” With the win, Kanaan joins Dixon, Dario Franchitti, AJ Foyt, and Mario Andretti as the only drivers to win the Indianapolis 500 and the Rolex 24.
The 53rd Rolex 24 has had plenty of IndyCar star power, especially in recent years. In fact, a Verizon IndyCar Series driver has co-driven the winning overall entry in each of the past five years.
Charlie Kimball and Sage Karam were driving in the other Ganassi car, which finished seventh in the Prototype class. Defending Indy 500 champion Ryan Hunter-Reay and James Hinchcliffe finished 39th and 49th after suffering mechanical issues and retiring early. Ryan Briscoe was part of the winning team in the GT Le Mans class. Simon Pagenaud finished third in class (eighth overall) and Graham Rahal finished fourth in class (16th overall).
Townsend Bell finished sixth in GT Daytona, while James Davison finished 13th in the same class. Jack Hawksworth finished 36th overall in Prototype Challenge. Martin Plowman was 42nd overall, with Gabby Chaves and Katherine Legge finishing 53rd after a clutch problem in the DeltaWing.
Full results of the entire Rolex 24 event are below, with IndyCar drivers in bold.
1. Scott Dixon/Tony Kanaan/Kyle Larson/Jamie McMurray, Riley DP Ford EcoBoost
2. Joao Barbosa/Sebastien Bourdais/Christian Fittipaldi, Corvette DP
3. Ricky Taylor/Jordan Taylor/Max Angelelli, Corvette DP
4. Richard Westbrook/Michael Valiante/Mike Rockenfeller/Guy Cosmo, Corvette DP
5. Jan Magnussen/Ryan Briscoe/Antonio Garcia, Chevrolet Corvette C7.R
6. Bill Auberlen/Dirk Werner/Augusto Farfus/Bruno Spengler, BMW Z4 GTE
7. Max Papis/Phil Keen/Eric Curran/Dane Cameron, Corvette DP
8. Oliver Gavin/Tommy Milner/Simon Pagenaud, Chevrolet Corvette C7.R
9. Tom Kimber-Smith/Michael Guasch/Andrew Novich/Andrew Palmer, Oreca FLM 09 Chevrolet
10. Johnny Mowlem/Tom Papadopoulos/Tomy Drissi/Brian Alder/Martin Plowman, Oreca FLM 09 Chevrolet
11. Oswaldo Negri Jr/AJ Allmendinger/Matt McMurry/John Pew, Ligier JS P2 Honda
12. Colin Braun/Mark Wilkins/James Gue/Jon Bennett, Oreca FLM 09 Chevrolet
13. Kuno Wittmer/Cameron Lawrence/Ben Keating/Dominik Farnbacher/Al Carter, Dodge Viper SRT
14. Leh Keen/Andrew Davis/Shane van Gisbergen/Cooper MacNeil, Porsche 911 GT America
15. Jan Heylen/Patrick Dempsey/Philipp Eng/Madison Snow, Porsche 911 GT America
16. John Edwards/Lucas Luhr/Jens Klingmann/Graham Rahal, BMW Z4 GTE
17. Stephen Simpson/Mikhail Goikhberg/Rusty Mitchell/Chris Miller/Tristan Vautier, Oreca FLM 09 Chevrolet
18. Matt Griffin/Pasin Lathouras/Michele Rugulo/Rui Aguas, Ferrari F458 Italia
19. Christopher Haase/Bryce Miller/Dion von Moltke/Rene Rast, Audi R8 LMS
20. Townsend Bell/Anthony Lazzaro/Jeff Segal/Bill Sweedler/Jeff Westphal, Ferrari F458 Italia
21. Damien Faulkner/Jakub Giermaziak/Mike Skeen/Rory Butcher/Michael Avenatti, Porsche 911 GT America,
22. Derek DeBoer/Max Riddle/Eliseo Salazar/Kris Wilson/Brandon Davis, Aston Martin V12 Vantage
23. Joeren Bleekemolen/Al Carter/Marc Goossens/Sebastiaan Bleekemolen/Ben Keating, Dodge Viper SRT
24. Markus Winkelhock/Robert Thorne/Satoshi Hoshino/Tomonobu Fujii, Audi R8 LMS
25. Scott Pruett/Joey Hand/Charlie Kimball/Sage Karam, Riley DP Ford EcoBoost
26. Shane Lewis/Mark Kvamme/David Cheng/Robert Gewirtz, Riley DP BMW
27. Nick Tandy/Patrick Pilet/Marc Lieb/Michael Christensen, Porsche 911 RSR
28. Pedro Lamy/Paul Dalla Lana/Darren Turner/Stefan Mucke/Matthias Lauda, Aston Martin Vantage V8
29. Andy Lally/Marco Seefried/Martin Ragginger/John Potter, Porsche 911 GT America
30. Markus Palttala/Andy Priaulx/Boris Said/Michael Marsal, BMW Z4
31. James Davison/Christoffer Nygaard/Brandon Davis/Christina Nielsen, Aston Martin V12 Vantage
32. Jim Pace/Bryon DeFor/David Hinton/Dorsey Schroeder/Doug Smith, Riley DP BMW
33. Frederic Makowiecki/Michael Christensen/Jorg Bergmeister/Earl Bamber, Porsche 911 RSR
34. Daniel Serra/Marcos Gomes/Andrea Bertolini/Francisco Longo, Ferrari F458 Italia
35. Marc Basseng/Connor De Phillippi/Nikolaus Mayr-Melnhof/Darryl O’Young/Matteo Beretta, Porsche 911 GT America
36. Chris Cumming/Bruno Junqueira/Jack Hawksworth/Gustavo Menezes, Oreca FLM 09 Chevrolet
37. Spencer Pumpelly/Jim Norman/Kevin Estre/Patrick Lindsey/Nelson Canache, Jr, Porsche 911 GT America
38. Bryan Sellers/Patrick Long/Wolf Henzler, Porsche 991 RSR
39. Rubens Barrichello/Ryan Hunter-Reay/Tor Graves/Scott Mayer/Brendon Hartley, Riley MK XX Dinan BMW
40. Connor De Phillippi/Ricardo Flores/Jim Michaelian/Nikolaus Mayr-Melnhof/Michael Lira, Porsche 911 GT America
41. Ryan Dalziel/David Heinemeier Hansson/Scott Sharp, HPD ARX
42. Martin Plowman/Marc Drumwright/Remo Ruscitti/Shelby Blackstock/Ivo Breukers, Oreca FLM 09 Chevrolet
43. Tom Long/Ben Devlin/Sylvain Tremblay/Joel Miller, Mazda
44. Pierre Kaffer/Giancarlo Fisichella /Olivier Beretta/David Rigon, Ferrari F458 Italia
45. Renger van der Zande/Alex Popow/Mike Hedlund/Filipe Albuquerque/Mirco Schultis, Oreca FLM 09 Chevrolet
46. James French/James Vance/Jerome Mee/Sean Johnston, Oreca FLM 09 Chevrolet
47. Mario Farnbacher/Ian James/Alex Riberas, Porsche 911 GT America
48. Gianmaria Bruni/Toni Vilander/Francois Perrodo/Emmanuel Collard, Ferrari F458 Italia
49. Jonathon Bomarito/Tristan Nunez/James Hinchcliffe/Sylvain Tremblay, Mazda
50. Christopher Zoechling/Christian Engelhart/Lance Willsey/Rolf Ineichen/Klaus Bachler, Porsche 911 GT America
51. Olivier Pla/Nic Jonsson/Alex Brundle/Tracy Krohn, Ligier JS P2 Judd
52. Johannes van Overbeek/Jon Fogarty/Ed Brown, HPD ARX
53. Andy Meyrick/Katherine Legge/Memo Rojas/Gabby Chaves, DeltaWing DWC13
Fastest 33 