After 24 hours of racing in the Rolex 24 at Daytona, a confusing final two laps lead to Porsche Penske winning overall and in GTP. There appeared to still be time on the clock when the white flag came out, and it was unclear when the race had ended.
Even as the Porsche Penske team watched from the pit area, they weren’t sure if they were able to celebrate yet. Matt Campbell, Dane Cameron, and Josef Newgarden watched nervously as Felipe Nasr drove away from the Whelen No. 31 car, driven by Tom Blomqvist.
The quest for a third-straight Rolex 24 at Daytona didn’t pan out for Blomqvist. Instead, it is the Penske team that will be celebrating. Newgarden adds a Rolex 24 win to his Indy 500 victory from 2023. A fantastic year for the IndyCar star.
Here is the moment the race went from two to go to checkered flag, as confusion spread throughout the broadcast booth and pit road.
This race came down to about a second difference between the No. 7 and No. 31. Tom Blomqvist put all he had into making the comeback against the Porsche Penske car, but it wasn’t meant to be.
Although, Blomqvist had a pass with about 80 minutes to go in the race that was outstanding. It really came down to losing to the Penske team on the final pit stop of the day.
The end of the Rolex 24 at Daytona was strange, to say the least. However, it was great racing and even if there was another lap or two in this race, Blomqvist just didn’t have enough to catch Nasr.
Rolex 24 at Daytona puts on a show in front of record crowd
Porsche Penske won overall and in the GTP class, Era Motorsport won LMP2, Ferrari won the GTD Pro class with Mercedes-AMG Motorsport taking the GTD class win. There were close finishes throughout all four categories for a record-breaking crowd to watch.
Among the highlights is Newgarden’s big win. Christian Rasmussen, incoming IndyCar rookie and Indy NXT champion was teammates with Trackhouse Racing’s Connor Zilisch in the LMP2 car.
Let’s just talk about the last two years that Penske has had. Winning the Indy 500, winning the Coca-Cola 600, winning back-to-back Cup Series championships, an IndyCar championship, and now a Rolex 24 at Daytona victory. It’s been a great two years for the organization and The Captain, Roger Penske.
If you didn’t watch the Rolex 24 at Daytona you missed a great race. It was full of action, the start and finish were just as chaotic as they could possibly be. We had wrecks, fires, restarts, and talented drivers battling hard for the win and a brand-new watch. The 2024 racing season is here and it started off with a bang.
The Daytona 500 is just weeks away. When NASCAR kicks off will we see the same enthusiasm we saw with the IMSA opener?
More must-reads: