2008 Daytona - 24-Hour

2008 marked the ninth year for the Grand American Road Racing Championship (Grand Am). The fifteen-race season opened in Daytona with the Rolex 24. With the exception of New Jersey Motorsports Park teams competed at the same venues as the previous year. Most races were 250-miles in length with a 2-hour and 45-minute time limit. The exceptions were the 24-hour event at Daytona, Sahlen’s Six Hours at Watkins Glen and the season finale at Miller Motorsports Park which was 1,000-km.

Teams and drivers competed in the Daytona Prototype or Grand Touring category for class honours:

Daytona Prototype (DP) – These sports racing cars were designed to compete in the Grand Am series. The concept of an affordable prototype for privateer teams was introduced in 2003. Rules were created so that the cars could be produced for less than $400,000. Additionally, the prototypes had to be approved by the series and new cars could not be introduced for 5-years. The flat-bottomed, closed cockpit prototype was constructed with a complete frame and a mid-engine location. The cars were powered by motors from production cars. Manufacturers providing engines included: Lexus, Pontiac, Chevrolet, Ford, BMW and Porsche. The 2008 season saw the introduction of the Generation 2 Daytona Prototypes.
Grand Touring (GT) – After a number of seasons with multiple GT classes a single category was introduced in 2005. The GT division was for production-based vehicles. Cars racing in this group included the: Pontiac GXP.R, Porsche GT3 Cup, Chevrolet Corvette, BMW 6 and Mazda RX-8. To equalize performance among the different brands, rules were implemented that included adjusting the vehicle’s weight and limiting tire size and engine RPMs.

The 46th Rolex 24 at Daytona took place on the weekend of January 26 and 27. Entries were slightly down over the previous year – 70-cars in 2007 versus 66-cars (25-Daytona Prototypes and 41-Grand Touring). Drivers would compete for 24-hours on the 12-turn, 3.56-mile track which utilized an infield road course and almost the entire tri-oval.

By the end of this race, a number of new records were established for the Rolex 24. There were sixty lead changes among fifteen cars and twenty-five drivers.

A strong field of forty-one Grand Touring cars receives the Starter’s green flag for the 46th Rolex 24 at Daytona. On the pole is the Mazda RX-8 from the SpeedSource team with team principal, Sylvain Tremblay behind the wheel. On the outside of the front row, to the surprise of many GT competitors, is the Mastercar Ferrari F430 driven by Christian Montanari.

Chip Ganassi Racing entered two Lexus-powered Rileys. Joining last year’s winners, Scott Pruett and Juan Pablo Montoya in the No. 01 Riley were Dario Franchitti and Memo Rojas. Pruett performed the qualifying honours and was the sixth quickest. The team had a relatively clean race – they never fell out of the top five after the fifth hour of the race and led the final 101 laps to earn Chip Ganassi Racing their third consecutive victory.

After qualifying, it appeared that the most potent combination was a Riley chassis powered by a Roush Yates Ford engine – both entries were on the front row. The No. 60 car was qualified by Oswaldo Negri who set a new lap record. Sharing the car with Negri were Mark Patterson, Justin Wilson and Graham Rahal. During the race, the car suffered a myriad of problems but a mistake by Wilson resulted in a lengthy stop for repairs. With the car fixed the team finished sixth.

The No. 70 SpeedSource team had a remarkable event. It began when the lead driver, Sylvain Tremblay was the fastest qualifier. Starting from the pole, Tremblay and his teammates – David Haskell, Nick Ham and Raphael Matos dominated the contest. They had many spins during the wet conditions but their biggest setback was to fix a broken taillight. They won the Grand Touring category by a margin of five laps.

Scoring a decisive Grand Touring category victory was the SpeedSource team. From left to right are David Haskell, Raphael Matos, team owner Sylvain Tremblay and Nick Ham. The team led a total 323 of the overall 664 GT laps completed. This was Mazda's first class victory since 2001 when a Mazda-powered Sportsracing Prototype won its class.

Sharing the No. 6 Michael Shank Racing Riley was John Pew, Ian James, A.J. Allmendinger and Burt Frisselle. For most of the event, the team was able to avoid the challenges encountered by the second Shank entry. Sunday morning, they were trading first place with the eventual winners but a problem with the bell housing ended a great run. They were classified fourteenth overall and ninth in the DP class.

The No. 66 The Racer’s Group Porsche GT3 Cup was co-driven by Bryce Miller, Ted Ballou, Andy Lally and Porsche factory driver, Richard Westbrook. Miller qualified the Porsche thirty-sixth overall and eleventh in the GT category. The car led several times throughout the race and was a contender but a faulty radiator forced the team to run a conservative pace in the final hours. When the checkered flag flew, they were tenth overall and second in class.

Surprising the Grand Am regulars, in qualifying, was the speed of the No. 56 Mastercar Ferrari F430. Mastercar entered their first Rolex 24 in 2001 and had their best finish, a twenty-fourth, in 2005. By the end of qualifying, Christian Montanari was second quickest. The Ferrari was also driven by Matthew Marsh, Thomas Biagi, Luis Monzon and Fabio Venier. Unfortunately, they retired after 55 laps.

It is Saturday afternoon and twenty-five Daytona Prototypes are the first group to receive the green flag for the start of the 46th Rolex 24 at Daytona. The fastest qualifier is Oswaldo Negri in the Michael Shank Racing Riley. Next to Negri is his Shank Racing teammate A.J. Allmendinger also driving a Ford-powered Riley. Of the twenty-five Daytona Prototype starters, eleven entries would be running at the finish.

After qualifying the quickest of The Racer’s Group entries was the No. 67 Porsche GT3 Cup which started twenty-eighth overall and third in the GT category. Spencer Pumpelly qualified the Porsche which he shared with Tim George, Jr., Bryan Sellers, Emmanuel Collard and Romain Dumas. This car took turns leading the class but rising water and oil temperatures forced the team to slow down. They finished eleventh overall and third in the GT class.

After two years of bad luck, the fortunes of the Bob Stallings team turned around. Co-driving with series regulars Alex Gurney and Jon Fogarty were Jimmy Vasser and Jimmie Johnson. Gurney qualified the No. 99 Riley eleventh overall. The race was going well until early Sunday morning when the transmission developed problems. The crew made repairs and the team was back on track in ten minutes. The drivers fought their way back to a second place finish.

The No. 9 Riley MK XI was entered by Penske-Taylor Racing. Piloting this car for twenty-four hours would be Ryan Briscoe, Helio Castroneves and Kurt Busch. Castroneves’ time in qualifying put the Riley thirteenth on the grid. In the race, Castroneves lost a lap in the first hour when he suffered a flat tire and body damage. Some clever race strategy moved the car back among the leaders. At the end of the contest, they were third overall.

Marc Goossens recorded a time in qualifying that placed the Riley-Matthews Motorsports Riley MK XX third on the starting grid. Joining Goossens for the race would be Ryan Hunter-Reay, Johnny O’Connell and team owner, Jim Matthews. The car ran in the top five until the fifteenth hour when the Riley experienced engine and transmission problems. The team soldiered on and finished eighth.

From left to right are Scott Pruett, Juan Pablo Montoya, Dario Franchitti and Memo Rojas. This was Franchitti and Rojas’ first Rolex 24 victory but the second consecutive overall and Daytona Prototype class win for Pruett and Montoya. The last back to back wins were logged by Derek Bell, Al Holbert and Al Unser, Jr. in 1986 and 1987. Montoya also became the first driver to be triumphant in his first two Rolex 24 starts.

POS.	CLASS	DRIVERS	CAR	LAPS	RETIREMENTS
1	DP	Pruett / Rojas / Montoya / Franchitti	Riley Mk XI Lexus	695	-
2	DP	Gurney / Fogarty / Vasser / Johnson	Riley Mk XI Pontiac	693	-
3	DP	Briscoe / Castroneves / Busch	Riley Mk XI Pontiac	689	-
4	DP	Jönsson / Zonta / Turner	Riley Mk XI Pontiac	688	-
5	DP	Taylor / Angelelli / Valiante / Taylor	Riley Mk XI Pontiac	687	-
6	DP	Patterson / Negri / Wilson / Rahal	Riley Mk XX Ford	680	-
7	DP	Krohn / van de Poele / Gavin	Riley Mk XI Pontiac	678	-
8	DP	Matthews / Goossens / O'Connell / Hunter-Reay	Riley Mk XX Pontiac	676	-
9	GT	Haskell / Tremblay / Ham / Matos	Mazda RX-8	664	-
10	GT	Miller / Ballou / Lally / Westbrook	Porsche GT3 Cup	657	-
11	GT	Pumpelly / Collard / Sellers / Dumas / George, Jr.	Porsche GT3 Cup	657	-
12	GT	Lowe / Pace / Van Overbeek / Sugden / Valentine	Porsche GT3 Cup	656	-
13	GT	Assentato / Segal / Longhi / Pechnik	Mazda RX-8	653	-
14	DP	Pew / James / Allmendinger / Frisselle	Riley Mk XX Ford	652	-
15	DP	Cosmo / Camirand / McDowell	Fabcar FDSC/03 Porsche	652	-
16	GT	Greenberg / Faulkner / Heylen / Arnold	Porsche GT3 Cup	651	-
17	GT	Edwards / Collins / Magnussen	Pontiac GXP.R	647	-
18	GT	Farnbacher / Ehret / Bernhard / Werner	Porsche GT3 Cup	646	-
19	GT	Liddell / Davis / Pobst / Jeannette	Pontiac GXP.R	644	-
20	GT	Dobson / Thorne / Staveley / Stone	Mazda RX-8	642	-
21	GT	Skea / Patch / Hamblin / Safina / Murry	Porsche GT3 Cup	638	-
22	GT	Lacey / Wilkins / Kaffer / Stippler / Curran	Porsche GT3 Cup	637	-
23	DP	France / Barbosa / Borcheller / Haywood	Riley Mk XI Porsche	622	-
24	GT	Bingham / Pickering / Cotter / Pennington	Porsche GT3 Cup	619	Did Not Finish
25	DP	Carpenter / Foyt / Meira / Andretti	Crawford DP03 Porsche	615	Did Not Finish
26	GT	Paquette / Nixon / Arnold / Van Zanten, Jr.	Porsche GT3 Cup	615	-
27	DP	Law / Donohue / Rice	Riley Mk XI Porsche	611	-
28	DP	Plumb / Wahl / Grégoire / Cullen / Shovlin	Riley Mk XI BMW	601	-
29	GT	Zitza / Jensen / Jensen / Taylor	Porsche GT3 Cup	599	-
30	GT	Aschenbach / Lewis, Jr. / Stanton / Papis	Pontiac GXP.R	590	-
31	GT	Willsley / Papadopoulos / Fitzgerald / Mowlem	Porsche GT3 Cup	589	-
32	GT	Oasis / Atherton / Stout / Daskalos / Archer	Porsche GT3 Cup	585	-
33	GT	Henzler / Lux / Keen / Maassen / Bergmeister	Porsche GT3 Cup	580	-
34	GT	Ragazzi / Min Effiniz / Bertuzzi / Castellano / Machado	Ferrari F430	578	-
35	GT	Kitch / Bentley / Miller / Pallis	Porsche GT3 Cup	572	-
36	DP	Auberlen / Hand / Long / Wallace	Crawford DP03 Porsche	569	Engine
37	GT	Reese / Nearn / Pilgrim / Bunting	Pontiac GXP.R	564	-
38	GT	Johnson / Doornbos / Lietz / Huisman	Porsche GT3 Cup	558	-
39	GT	Foster / Espenlaub / Dempsey / Kapudija / Maxwell	Mazda RX-8	552	-
40	GT	Gomez / Auriemma / Mayes / Schroeder / Milner	Porsche GT3 Cup	550	-
41	DP	Gidley / Jaeger / Gollin / Gardel	Doran JE4 Ford	546	-
42	DP	Lewis / Lester / Christopher / Barron	Riley Mk XI Lexus	527	Accident
43	GT	Friedman / McGehee / Lazzaro / Kelleners	Porsche GT3 Cup	524	Did Not Finish
44	DP	Dixon / Wheldon / Duran / Lloyd	Riley Mk XI Lexus	515	Did Not Finish
45	GT	Reindler / Alessi / Prewitt / Trenery / Rice	Pontiac GTO.R	513	-
46	GT	Ragginger / Burtin / Baldwin / Tucker / Zabinski	Porsche GT3 Cup	511	Did Not Finish
47	GT	O'Connell / Roush / Plumb / Wilson	Porsche GT3 Cup	473	Accident
48	DP	Frisselle / Wilkins / Ranger / Braun	Riley Mk XX Ford	448	Did Not Finish
49	GT	Rosenzweig / Woodman / Gabel / Dumoulin	Porsche GT3 Cup	418	Did Not Finish
50	GT	Sahlen / Nonnamaker / Nonnamaker / Nonnamaker	Chevrolet Corvette	401	Suspension
51	GT	Crews / Walker / Ludwig / McCrackin / Bergmeister	Porsche GT3 Cup	397	Did Not Finish
52	GT	Jacalone / Jacalone / Michaelian / Michaelian	Porsche GT3 Cup	364	Transmission
53	GT	Drudi / Giammaria / Rosa / Hardt / Petrobelli	Porsche GT3 Cup	284	Did Not Finish
54	GT	Farano / Jensen / Cloud / Said / Bradley	Ford Mustang	255	Transaxle
55	DP	Rockenfeller / McNish / Luhr	Riley Mk XI Pontiac	233	Engine
56	DP	Ingham / Schultis / Contini / Frost / Konopka	Chase CCE-001 Pontiac	231	Accident
57	GT	Nastasi / Empringham / Dumoulin / Said	Ford Mustang	177	Engine
58	DP	Garcia / Bobbi / Babini / Ortelli	Coyote CC/08 Pontiac	170	Did Not Finish
59	GT	Thornton / Long / Varde / Russell	BMW M6	163	Did Not Finish
60	GT	DeQuesada / Basseng / Swartzbaugh / Pilet	Porsche GT3 Cup	149	Transmission
61	DP	Dalziel / Enge / Primat / Duno	Riley Mk XI Pontiac	97	Did Not Finish
62	GT	Goldin / Goldin / Meassick / Kennedy	Mazda RX-8	83	Driveshaft
63	DP	Bell / Kasemets / Bell / Dallenbach / Schramm	Riley Mk XI Pontiac	65	Suspension
64	GT	Marsh / Montanari / Biagi / Monzon / Venier	Ferrari F430	55	Accident
65	DP	Newton / Erdos / Kimber-Smith / Mayer / Sherman	Coyote CC/08 Pontiac	45	Fire
66	GT	Ende / Maher / Bourque / Yarab, Jr.	Porsche GT3 Cup	31	Transmission

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