AT 10 PM EDT, and the end of six and a half hours, there was a fireworks show at the 47th anniversary of the Rolex 24 at Daytona. There was a lot about which to cheer. The race so far had been safe so far, no accidents or injuries.
At the end of hour six, the No.58 Brumos Porsche Riley Daytona Prototype was again leading. Brumos and Penske Racing No.16 Porsche Riley DP had swapped the lead back and forth during the first four hours. BUDDY RICE was driving at that point. After he got out of the car, he said there was a lot of debris on the track and dirt from cars going off track. He ran his stint, but wasn’t ready to go to sleep. “Maybe I’ll play some video games.”
In the fifth hour, A.J. ALLMENDINGER/No.6 Michael Shank Racing Ford Riley led for 14 laps. That came to naught as he coasted to a stop and was towed away. RYAN BRISCOE/N0.16 Penske Racing Porsche Riley assumed the lead, to then lose it to BRAD JAEGER in the Doran car who then took the lead. Then another new leader, BRIAN FRISSELLE in No.10 SunTrust Racing Ford Dallara DP, who then was passed by Rice. And so it went.
KEVIN DORAN, owner of Doran Racing, said Dallara bought the Doran chassis license. The car Kevin Doran is running is his 2007 race car with a 2008 body.
At the end of hour six, there had been 16 lead changes among 11 drivers in six cars.
Krohn Racing’s No.76 Ford Riley retired with a crank sensor problem.
CASEY MEARS/No.2 Childress-Howard Motorsports Pontiac Crawford DP, said the car had an electrical problem, lost its charge, and lost power while being driven by ROB FINLAY. The car had a frayed wire which was replaced. At the end of the sixth hour, the car was thirty-third overall, 24 laps down. Mears said the team was working around the problem of lesser horsepower. Their car just got left up on the banking. Everyone at Pontiac is working hard on the problem. Mears said he’s having fun. When he raced the Rolex, he used to feel like a road racer coming in from off-road racing. Now he feels like a NASCAR driver. He said he enjoyed the sports car, with its sequential gearbox and technology that NASCAR doesn’t have. “I miss those things.”