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Grand Am
GRAND-AM: Michael Shank Racing Wins Gripping 50th Rolex 24
No. 60 Riley of AJ Allmendinger, Justin Wilson, Ozz Negri and John Pew lead Ford 1-2-3 in DP; Magnus Racing takes highly contested GT win...
John Dagys  |  Posted January 29, 2012   Daytona Beach, FL
After years of trying and countless heartbreaks on the Florida high banks, Michael Shank Racing’s fortunes turned to gold Sunday, as the GRAND-AM stalwarts scored a thrilling victory in the 50th Rolex 24 at Daytona.

In what was one of the hardest-fought endurance races in recent memory, an impressive closing triple stint by open-wheel turned NASCAR star AJ Allmendinger put the team’s brand-new Riley-Ford out front ahead of the similarly prepared Starworks Motorsport entry of Ryan Dalziel.

The two squads, both dark horse picks for the race, fought tooth-and-nail throughout the twice-around-the-clock endurance classic, which came down to a series of late-race caution periods, a costly mistake by the Starworks squad and the unlikely demise of defending winners Chip Ganassi Racing.
Despite being one of GRAND-AM's new-generation Daytona Prototypes, Michael Shank Racing's Riley-Ford enjoyed a flawless run (Photo: John Dagys)

Allmendinger, who teamed with IndyCar star Justin Wilson, making his driving comeback after a season-ending back injury, and MSR season regulars Ozz Negri and John Pew, took a narrow 5.198-second victory over the No. 8 Starworks machine of Dalziel, who was unable to match the newly signed Penske Racing driver in the closing laps.

"It was just flat out," Allmendinger said. "[Team owner Mike Shank] did a good job. He changed the driver lineup and said I was going to be in the car last and gave me seven, eight hours to rest while Ozz and Justin had to do all the work in the middle of the night and into the morning. I knew those last three hours, I was going to have to go flat out because the 8 car, the 01, at that point, were really fast."

Allmendinger held off the rapid Scot, who along with co-drivers Allan McNish, Lucas Luhr, Enzo Potolicchio and Alex Popow, arguably had the car to beat, leading the most laps and posting the quickest time of the race. However, their hopes were dashed in the 17th hour with an off-course excursion by Luhr, which damaged the Riley-Ford's rear-end and put the new-gen Riley at an aero disadvantage.

"It was almost a fairy tale ending to a difficult couple of days for us," Dalziel said. "We qualified on pole, we clearly had the best car for the first half of the race and it just kind of fell away from us. It's hard to be overly disappointed based on where Starworks has come from and even where Enzo and Alex have come from."

Allmendinger and McNish were locked in an intense battle for the lead with three hours to go. The two cars swapped paint in the heated fight for the win, which ended up being the highlight of the race.

McNish settled for his third runner-up finish at Daytona, no doubt a disappointment, as an overall Rolex 24 victory still eludes him.

"At the end of the day it was hard, but everybody wants to win the race," McNish said. "I think it was probably a good example of how important the race was for AJ [Allmendinger] and the team as it was for us at Starworks as well. At the time, I was a little bit surprised about [the move], but that's the way it is."

Shank's No. 60 Riley-Ford, one of four new-generation Riley Daytona Prototypes in the field, completed a DP-era record 761 laps, or 2,700 miles, over the course of the 24-hour marathon.

After nine years of trying, team owner Shank was relieved to have finally earned his first Rolex 24 victory.

'It's everything we've worked for," Shank said. "I feel like we deserved it, to be honest. I think we worked hard, I don't make any excuses for that. We paid our dues for sure and hope it can take us to new, cool places in Daytona Prototype in the coming years."

Negri added: "Being with Mike for such a long time, what makes it special is that he wants to win as bad as I do. We did our homework for this race and talked a lot about how we wanted the car for the race. We made it happen."

It ended up being a double podium finish for MSR, and a Ford-powered 1-2-3, as the team's second-generation No. 6 Riley-Ford of young guns Michael McDowell, Felipe Nasr, Jorge Goncalvez and Gustavo Yacaman scored a surprise third place result following the surprise late demise of defending winners and reigning Rolex Series champions, Chip Ganassi Racing.

The No. 01 Telmex Riley-BMW of Scott Pruett, Memo Rojas, Graham Rahal and Joey Hand found themselves in prime position by sunrise, in the midst of a three-way fight for the lead with the Shank and Starworks entries, despite its BMW powerplant struggling to match the top-end speed from the 5.0-liter Roush-Yates V8s.

However, disaster struck during Pruett's second-to-last scheduled pit stop, when the four-time Rolex Series champion lost first and second gear when exiting pit lane. A costly subsequent stop to replace the gear cluster dropped them four laps behind and en route to a disappointing sixth place result.

With the sister No. 02 Ganassi machine of Dario Franchitti, Scott Dixon, Juan Pablo Montoya and Jamie McMurray finishing fourth after a broken shifter during the night, it resulted in the first-ever time a Ganassi entry hasn't reached the Rolex 24 podium since the team's debut in 2005.
The No. 02 Target Riley-BMW ended up being the highest-placed Ganassi machine after late-race gearbox woes for the No. 01 car. (Photo: John Dagys)

"Once again we had a great team and a great effort, but could never quite make up the time we lost with the gear shift lever problem in the middle of the night," McMurray said. "The 01 car was strong as well and they had their challenges too at the end of the race which prevented them from on what looked to be a podium finish."

The highly anticipated debut of Corvette’s DP failed to live up to the hype, with all five of its cars running into various setbacks. The No. 5 Action Express Racing machine of Darren Law, David Donohue and Christian Fittipaldi overcame early race electrical gremlins to finish fifth.

Spirit of Daytona’s Coyote-chassied Corvette, featuring an all-factory driver lineup of Antonio Garcia, Richard Westbrook, Oliver Gavin and Jan Magnussen, came home eighth after overnight driveshaft failure put the pre-race favorites 14 laps behind.

The sister Action Express machine, which made multiple trips to the garage for suspension and other mechanical issues, wound up ninth in the hands of Joao Barbosa, Terry Borcheller, Max Papis and J.C. France.

Both GAINSCO/Bob Stallings Racing and SunTrust Racing, the other two Corvette entries, had miserable fortunes, with the Dallara-chassied SunTrust entry managing only 14 laps before suffering engine failure in the opening hour.

While Alex Gurney, Jon Fogarty and Memo Gidley took the checkered flag in 33rd overall. it was after a severely delayed run, marred by a radiator change, water pump failure and mid-race accident.

Another notable finisher was the No. 77 Doran Racing Dallara-Ford of Burt and Brian Frisselle, Jim Lowe, Paul Tracy and late sub Billy Johnson, who soldiered home in seventh overall after a reliable run with its second-gen DP.

In addition to their Rolex 24 win, the No. 60 crew from Michael Shank Racing take the DP lead in the inaugural North American Endurance Championship, which kicked off this weekend. Negri, Pew, Allmendinger and Wilson enter the SIx Hours of The Glen, the second of the three-round championship, with 16 points. The No. 8 Starworks team is second with 14 and the No. 01 Ganassi team third with 12 points.

PHOTOS: Click Here or on the image below to view GRAND-AM: Rolex 24 At Daytona 2012



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