Chip Ganassi Racing Wins 200th Race with No. 67 Ford GT in IMSA Rolex 24 at Daytona
Both GTs two laps ahead of GT field.
Chip Ganassi gave the starting command for the weekend’s Rolex 24 at Daytona on Saturday and a day later hoisted a trophy in victory lane courtesy of a phenomenal performance and GT Le Mans (GTLM) class sweep for his two-car team in the historical race. His cars led all but nine of the 783 laps completed.
It was a nice bookend for the championship team owner and good way to start the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship racing season -- giving Ganassi his 200th victory in major league auto racing. It the team’s record eighth win in the Rolex 24 -- the second straight in class.
Ganassi’s No. 67 Ford GT driven by Ryan Briscoe, Richard Westbrook and former Indy 500 winner Scott Dixon led its team car, the No. 66 Ford GT, across the finish line for the victory by 11.180 seconds.
The third-place No. 3 Chevrolet Corvette C7.R finished two laps behind the Fords. And it all made for exciting close-quarter racing during the record-setting event won overall by the No. 5 Action Express Racing Cadillac.
“No team orders, just 24 hours of intense racing,’’ Ganassi driver Westbrook told FOX Sports television with a huge grin as the pits emptied in celebration.
Dixon, who has two overall victories in addition to Sunday’s class win, summed up his feelings with a smile as well. “Pretty sweet,’’ he said.
It was also pretty intense -- especially in the final couple hours.
The defending Rolex 24 GTLM class champion No. 66 -- driven by Joey Hand, Dirk Mueller and Sebastien Bourdais -- led the bulk of the race and was listed as the lead class car for 21 of the first 24 hourly results.
But a pit stop for the final driver change – Bourdais to Hand -- took a few seconds longer than normal with a slight hiccup getting the car from neutral into first gear. That was enough to give the team’s other car the opportunity to seize the advantage and change the competitive dynamic on track.
The cars were so close for so long, that pit strategy may have ultimately decided the running order.
And as each Ganassi driver confirmed following the race, there were no team orders.
“There was a little bit of strategy playing out between the two teams which was really cool - just to witness the whole thing,’’ said Westbrook, who earned his first Rolex watch.
“Everyone was trying to outsmart one another. We chose to short-fill and they put me out on a nice clean track with new tires, I was able to push and had a nice clean out-lap and built up a lead. That sort of took the pressure off.
“They tried to react to that and do the short-fill next time as you obviously would, but by that point we were on the front and had pretty much sewn it up by then.’’
Hand, a defending winner of the race, was happy for the Ganassi team although also understandably disappointed as he stood on pit lane following the checkered flag.
“You always want to be the one that wins for the team but man, we still had a great day,’’ Hand said. “The car led a lot of this race and as far as the team goes we’ve got two cars and finished and first and second. You can’t do better than that.
“For Chip Ganassi and Ford Racing, it was a great day and this Ford GT ran flawlessly.
“I’m definitely bummed because I thought we had a good car all day and then had our worst car at the end, unfortunately. The 67 car was really good at the end and we were really good at the beginning.”
Everyone on the Ganassi team agreed that keeping the trophy in-house was a tremendous accomplishment and shows how well Ganassi leads the team. It was an exciting and challenging race – just the kind of day, just the kind of important race that makes earning a 200th trophy here extra special.
“It’s simple,’’ Dixon said. “We come here each weekend to win. There’s no thinking about finishing second. Everyone thrives on the winning culture here. Chip, through many [racing] disciplines has proven that.’’
And as historic as the win was, Ganassi reminded everyone after spraying champagne and hoisting hardware that he isn’t ready to talk about 200 wins yet. He’s ready to collect more.
“We’re just the type of team, as [Team Manager] Mike Hull says ‘Let’s try to do the best job we can do today. What can we do about what’s in front of us today?’
“That’s how we approach things. Today’s win is about here at Daytona, about the Rolex, about these three guys up here."
And, he added, “I think in terms of the 200 wins, there’s a time and place to talk about that. We’re the kind of team, we just focus on trying to do the best we can today.’’
SOURCE: AUTOWEEK
AUTHOR: IMSA Wire Service