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Grand Am
ROLEX 24: Action Express Wins Torrid 24
In one of the fastest Rolex 24 events of the modern era, Action Express Racing wins the biggest race of the year on their GRAND-AM debut. Mazda wins Rolex GT.
SPEED Staff  |  Posted January 31, 2010   Daytona Beach, FL

The Un-usual Suspects Win GRAND-AM's Biggest Prize By Marshall Pruett

For a race start started out as slow, wet and treacherous, the 2010 Rolex 24 at Daytona International Speedway quickly turned into an event that will long be remembered for its torrid and unrelenting pace.
Action Express Racing defied the odds and won on their series debut. (Marshall Pruett)

For fans of Cinderella stories, the 2010 Rolex 24 will be remembered as a race where a new team won with an unproven engine and a group of somewhat forgotten drivers.

While new in many ways, Action Express was formed with the 2009 Brumos racing crew and much of its knowledge to field a Riley-Porsche Cayenne V8 for Portugal’s Joao Barbosa, Germany’s Mike Rockenfeller, Scotland’s Ryan Dalziel and American Terry Borcheller.

All four men, while incredibly accomplished – some are even past winners of major international sportscar events – weren’t necessarily the top choices by the elite teams. But rather than wait for a call from a Ganassi or GAINSCO that might never come, the four pilots used the Action Express opportunity to re-establish their names as some of the best in the game.

Action Express also broke ranks with the proven Rolex 24 script by choosing the privately-developed and privately-built Porsche V8, taken from the Cayenne SUV. Rather than opt for Porsche’s traditional flat-6 engine that won the 2009 Rolex 24, and like their choice of drivers, the team went a different route to achieve success.

Action Express owner bob johnson gambled on drivers and engines to run their first race, and the bold move paid off better than he could have hoped.

The race started under yellow as GRAND-AM ran the cars in single-file formation for the first six laps to help displace the large amounts of standing water. A green flag on Lap 7 would see the pole sitting SunTrust Dallara-Ford lead into Turn 1, but a fast starting Juan Pablo Montoya used the outside line to take the early lead.

A variety of rainmeisters took the lead during the first few hours – Scott Dixon in the #02 Ganassi car, Dane Cameron in the Beyer Racing Crawford, and most impressively, Memo Gidley in the McDonald’s Dallara.

Moving up from 11th on the grid, Gidley was commanding in the wet and held the point while the track was still damp, but as conditions approved, the usual suspects filled the top spots. Both Ganassi entries, Gainsco/Bob Stallings Racing, SunTrust Racing, Michael Shank Racing and Brumos Racing fought amongst each other like they were locked in a battle for pole position.

The flat-out pace seemed to be too much, too soon, and by the end of the race, only the #01 Ganassi Riley-BMW would finish without major drama. The BMW engine in the sister #02 Ganassi car would expire 6 hours into the race with Juan Pablo Montoya behind the wheel, GAINSCO would soon encounter gearbox issues, SunTrust’s Pedro Lamy would clout the pit exit wall and derange his right front suspension, driveline issues struck Brumos, and the #60 MSR entry would need attention to its gearbox.

Just past midnight, the Rolex 24 had just three Daytona Prototypes on the lead lap, with the #01 Ganassi car leading the surprising Action Express Racing Riley-Porsche by 30 seconds, and the #95 NPN Riley-BMW close behind them.

By 2 a.m., Mike Rockenfeller had chased down the TELMEX/Target car to take the lead and proceeded to take control of the race. As so often happens in 24-hour races, a major move was made in the early hours – while teams and drivers struggle most to remain crisp and focused – that set the stage for the rest of the race.

Action Express wasn’t expected to feature in the 2010 Rolex 24, but with savvy drives by Joao Barbosa, Ryan Dalziel and Terry Borcheller, Rockenfeller was able to drive on the extreme limit for his entire pre-dawn stint.

From the Action Express/Ganassi duel in the early morning, the two teams raced to the sunrise locked in a private war of their own. As drivers were cycled through both cars, the only setback amongst the two teams came when Borcheller came down with flu-like symptoms, reducing their driver rotation to three.
Germany's Mike Rockenfeller, Scotland's Ryan Dalziel, Portugal's Joao Barbosa, and American Terry Borcheller formed an unusual driver line-up that out-ran and out-performed all of the big teams on the way to victory. (GRAND-AM)

The #01 and #9 continued a torrid battle after Pruett handed off the Ganassi car to Justin Wilson, and Borcheller have the reins to Mike Rockenfeller. While the TELMEX/Target car was initially maintaining its lead, 'Rocky' put in what must be the performance of his young endurance racing career, pushing the Porsche Cayenne V8-engined Riley to new and ridiculous heights. Once past Wilson, Rocky pulled out a slight lead until it was his turn to step out, giving Scotsman Ryan Dalziel a chance to lead the race. Memo Rojas replaced Wilson, and stared at a 22sec deficit to the #9 just after 5 a.m. once the two drivers got their own battle under way.

Action Express led much of the early morning through 11 a.m., as the #9 Riley-Porsche fought for almost 9 hours with the #01 Ganassi Riley-BMW, but as Ryan Dalziel took over for Mike Rockenfeller, Scott Pruett hunted down the Scotsman, passing him and initially motoring away. Dalziel brought the lead down to 1.5sec and held it in that vicinity, but the swagger the #9 displayed for more than a third of the race was noticeably absent.

The #9 car seemed to struggle dealing with the frigid temperatures, causing their drivers to be especially cautious on new slicks. As the Gary Pennison-led Action Express crew adjusted tire pressures on subsequent pit stops, the problem was lessened, which allowed them to reclaim the edge Barbosa, Dalziel and Rockenfeller had after midnight.

As the DP competition continued to falter, the Action Express and Ganassi battle intensified with the #09’s lead staying at 5 seconds or less most of the time. Action Express was finally allowed to exhale when Justin Wilson in the #01 pitted for what was believed to be an engine problem. Nothing was found to be wrong, but the short call to the garage left the team with too much time to recover in the final two hours of the race.

“We just had one hiccup,” Wilson said. “I came out of the bus stop and heard a large clunk. I thought I’d blown a tire and I dove into the pits, but they told me it was all OK. Maybe it was just some debris on the track.”

Without the pressure of the Ganassi Riley-BMW on their heels, Joao Barbosa drove the final stint with a healthy gap and executed each lap flawlessly. Amazingly, the Action express Riley-BMW was the only Daytona Prototype that did not require repairs or require a visit to their garage during the race.

Barbosa won the last GRAND-AM race of 2009 at Homestead-Miami -- his first in the series -- and has now followed it up with the most prestigious victory in Rolex competition.

"I have been racing in American for more than 15 years, and this is the big endurance victory every driver wants. I have to thank my team; they are so incredible and gave us the right car to win," said Barbosa.

Action Express won by 52.3 seconds over the #01 Ganassi car, followed by the #95 NPN Riley-BMW four laps behind in third, the Krohn Racing Lola 20 laps behind in fourth, and the #60 MSR Riley-Ford 29 laps behind the winners in fifth.

It was a race of stirring Daytona Prototype drives -- Memo Gidley, AJ Allmendinger, Juan Pablo Montoya and Richard Westbrook, especially – but none more than what the Action Express drivers delivered from start to finish.

The look of dejection on the faces of the #01 TELMEX/Target drivers was obvious -- Pruett came close to his fourth overall win -- but with an eye on the 2010 DP championship, settling for second-place points was the one consolation prize after a hard loss. “I can’t say enough about the guys and my teammates,” Pruett said. “It was a tough 24-hour. We just had one little miscue. You can’t flower up. It’s heartbreaking. We’ve been up on top. That’s the way the Ganassi team rolls. If you’re not on top, it’s not where you want to be.”

Ryan Hunter-Reay, finishing driver for the third-placed #95 car, lamented a small miscue that like the #01, robbed them of a possibly victory. "I feel great; I’ve been up for two days, but I can keep going. We had a piece of tape stick in a seat belt which slowed us and we lost 2 laps. Something as simple as belts can hold you back in this race, but I’m happy to be on the podium here in a Riley. We didn’t have the straightline speed, but we were really fast in the infield.”

Behind the podium finishers, most of the pre-race favorites in Daytona Prototype had long tales to tell of hardship and disappointment.

Krohn Racing took fourth, 20 laps behind Action Express, and showed great potential during the race.

GAINSCO’s hopes to finally win the elusive Rolex 24 were seemingly dashed with Jimmie Johnson’s massive crash during practice on Thursday. The car was repaired and qualified on Friday, running blindingly fast laps, but as has almost become customary for the team, the ‘Red Dragon’ was soon felled by a variety of mechanical woes during the race.
Jimmie Johnson and the GAINSCO/Bob Stallings Racing showed most of the field the view from behind into the early morning, but gearbox, then engine troubles stalled their efforts to capture the Rolex 24. (Marshall Pruett)

A second gearbox problem in as many years lost the team just 12 minutes in the early morning, and despite the rapid fix, the it took the team out of contention for the win. Their aspirations to kick off their DP title defense with a full compliment of points was undone when their Chevrolet V8 lost oil pressure just past noon, forcing their immediate retirement in what would be come 21st place. Johnson showed his talent in setting strings of fast laps throughout the race, as did his teammates, but the Dallas-based bob Stallings team continues to be snakebit at the Rolex 24.

In spite of the many setbacks, the 4-time sprint cup champion says he'll leave the race with an eye to return for another shot at victory. “I am proud to drive for this team and proud to be a part of it. The extra work I put on the team on Thursday I feel terrible about, but we really overcame that and it wasn’t an issue in the race. We had a very competitive car, I love racing with the team and I love being down here and being a part of it. I look forward to the future. There are so many aspects of this race that I really, really enjoy. Of course we want to win, but this race is as prestigious as it is because of how difficult it is to win. That’s what keeps guys coming back for years, and years and years."

Michael Shank Racing saw both Riley-Fords encounter a number of maladies, with the #60 Crown Royal car sidelined for the least amount of time for a clutch replacement, placing fifth, 29 laps behind the winner. The #6 MSR car, and particularly with Sprint cup star AJ Allmendinger at the controls, matched the race-winning Action Express car for much of the Rolex 24. They would finish in seventh, 48 laps arrears, with an engine problem.

Polesitting SunTrust Racing had an equal share of problems, with their rapid Dallara-Ford requiring bodywork and suspension replacement after Lamy's crash, and later major internal surgery on the Italian car's gearbox. While they crossed the finish line in sixth, they came home 44 laps down.
Brumos Racing's bid to win two consecutive Rolex 24 races went up in smoke on Sunday. (John Dagys)

Brumos Racing looked like a candidate to repeat their 2009 Rolex 24 win in the early stages of the race, but their chance to 'do the double' went up in smoke after an axle failure, and then engine failure halted their charge. The sad end to their race was only tempered by the historic end to the career of Brumos' most tenured endurance racing driver.

Hurley Haywood, the winningest Rolex 24 driver with five victories, closed the final chapter on a legendary at 11:17 a.m. after posting a rapid 1:42.2sec lap on his final tour before handing over the controls to Raphael Matos. The trouble-filled day for Brumos Racing ended 7 minutes later as the lone Porsche flat-6-powered prototype in the field expired, making Haywood’s final stint the last full outing completed by the #59.

“It’s not the way I wanted to end my career," said Haywood, "but I can feel proud of the work my team did.”

The 2010 Rolex 24 had a high rate of attrition, high drama and ever-changing weather, but as fans witnessed today, none of those things could stop GRAND-AM's newest team from beating an odds-on favorite like Target Chip Ganassi Racing to the checkered flag.

Visit Page 3 for the full 2010 Rolex 24 Race Results

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