Corvette blew it with under an hour to go. Too aggressive too soon. Should have given it a lap or two.
Photograph by David S. Wallens
60 cars, 24 hours, four classes, over six hours spent under full course caution–the longest in the race’s history, we’re told–and a really nice Rolex watch for the winning drivers.
The race opened with a hectic start that soon saw the Porsche Penske GTPs pull away from the rest of the field in the opening hours of the race.
Fog rolled in as the sun went down, slowly reducing visibility until not even the top of the grandstands could be seen through the mist from the infield–only the bright lights scattering light across the chilled track–resulting in a full course caution that offered little opportunity to overtake, aside from pit strategy.
While we wouldn’t see the green flag until over six and half hours later, sunrise quickly burned through the heavy fog and racing resumed.
In true Rolex 24 fashion, some of the race’s most thrilling battles were saved for the final minutes of the race, with leaders in each class trading place–and paint–all the way up until the bitter end.
When the checkered flag finally waved, it would first be for the No. 7 Porsche Penske, followed closely by the No. 31 Cadillac with a No. 24 BMW rounding out the top three overall.
LMP2 saw the No. 04 Crowdstrike finish ahead of the rest of the LMP2 field, with the pair of Inter Europol rounding out the top three–No. 43 in second and No. 343 in third.
Paul Miller’s No. 1 BMW took the GTD Pro win, followed by two separate Mercedes-AMG GT3s, the No. 75 of 75 Express and the No. 48 of Winward Racing in second and third, respectively.
GTD hosted one of the most heated late-race battles that ended with the No. 57 Winward Racing Mercedes-AMG GT3 narrowly securing the class win, followed (very) closely by the No. 44 Magnus Racing Aston Martin Vantage GT3 Evo in second and the No. 27 Heart of Racing Aston Martin Vantage GT3 Evo.
2026 Rolex 24 At Daytona Results
Corvette blew it with under an hour to go. Too aggressive too soon. Should have given it a lap or two.
That said, the Aston and Merc were fun to watch.
Some really great battles this year.
vwcorvette (Forum Supporter) said:Corvette blew it with under an hour to go. Too aggressive too soon. Should have given it a lap or two.
They didn’t quite have the same car after they got forced off track with about three hours left.
hobiercr said:Some really great battles this year.
It was a fun one–and the weather was perfect. Was this the warmest Rolex ever?
David S. Wallens said:hobiercr said:Some really great battles this year.
It was a fun one–and the weather was perfect. Was this the warmest Rolex ever?
Not at all. I remember many summer weather ones in the 00s
vwcorvette (Forum Supporter) said:That said, the Aston and Merc were fun to watch.
There was a second when both cars touched as they approached the start/finish line, and I was certain they were going to go flying into walls.
In reply to Colin Wood :
And I had a ring-side seat for that one–getting sideways at a buck-80 or whatever.
David S. Wallens said:In reply to Colin Wood :
And I had a ring-side seat for that one–getting sideways at a buck-80 or whatever.
My son and I replayed that 3 times.
I've routinely gotten a car that sideways at 100-105mph range (no big deal) and I've gotten a couple of my single seat cars that sideways at 115-120mph (Hello) but Hooooooooooooly Cow!
Doing that at 175-180mph must have been a saucer eyed moment!
In reply to Tom1200 :
I really, really, really thought we were going to see a ton of smashed carbon.
My vantage point for the closing laps:
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