Action Express races to victory at Rolex 24 at Daytona

In the final stint, Joao Barbosa of Action Express held off Max Angelelli of Wayne Taylor Racing to win the 24-hour race by just 1.461 seconds
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DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. — Gary Nelson has another Daytona trophy for his mantel.

Nelson, who was crew chief for Bobby Allison and Geoff Bodine for Daytona 500 victories in the 1980s, added the Rolex 24 to his list of accomplishments at Daytona International Speedway when the team he manages, Action Express Racing, won the 52nd running of the 24-hour sports car race Sunday.

Joao Barbosa kept the No. 5 Action Express Corvette DP ahead of the No. 10 Wayne Taylor Racing Corvette driven by Max Angelelli at the end, giving Barbosa and co-drivers Sebastien Bourdais, Christian Fittipaldi and Burt Frisselle the victory and giving Nelson another DIS win.

With little more than an hour remaining in the race, the leading cars stopped simultaneously for a driver change, with Barbosa replacing Bourdais in the No. 5 car and Max Angelelli taking over the No. 10 car from Jordan Taylor. Angelelli, a two-time champion with 26 wins, tried his best to chase down Barbosa, a two-time Rolex 24 winner, but couldn't close the gap in the final hour.

The final margin was just 1.461 seconds.

Scott Pruett was denied a record sixth career Rolex 24 win when his No. 01 Chip Ganassi Racing Ford broke down in the final hour of the race. Pruett is tied with Hurley Haywood with five victories in the race.

The race was the first for the TUDOR United SportsCar Championship, the NASCAR-backed series that brings together two sports car series, Grand-Am and the American Le Mans Series.

Other class winners Sunday were Patrick Pilet, Nick Tandy and Richard Lietz in a Porsche 911 RSR in the GTLM class; Colin Braun, Mark Wilkins, Jon Bennett and James Gue in an Oreca FLM09 in the Prototype Challenge class, and Markus Winkelhock, Tim Pappas, Spedncer Pumpelly and Nelson Canache Jr. in an Audi R8 LMS in the GTD class.

The series resumes March 15 with the 12 Hours of Sebring at Sebring International Raceway in Sebring, Fla.

http://www.usatoday.com/story/sports...nship/4914263/

CLASS WINNERS – 2014 ROLEX 24 AT DAYTONA
Prototype/Overall: No. 5 Action Express Racing Corvette DP (Joao Barbosa/Christian Fittipaldi/Sebastien Bourdais)
Prototype Challenge: No. 54 CORE Autosport ORECA FLM09 (Colin Braun/Mark Wilkins/James Gue/Jon Bennett)
GT Le Mans: No. 911 Porsche North America Porsche 911 RSR (Patrick Pilet/Richard Lietz/Nick Tandy)
GT Daytona: No. 45 Flying Lizard Motorsports Audi R8 (Markus Winkelhock/Spencer Pumpelly/Tim Pappas/Nelson Canache)

The most exciting battle at the end involved the GTD class as the No. 555 Level 5 Motorsports Ferrari of Alessandro Pier Guidi and the No. 45 Flying Lizard Motorsports Audi of Markus Winkelhock battled for the class win.

On the final lap, Pier Guidi and Winkelhock went side-by-side through the infield course’s kink section before Winkelhock went off-course. Pier Guidi crossed the start/finish line first, but IMSA delivered a stop-and-75-second time penalty for avoidable contact to the No. 555, giving Winkelhock and Flying Lizard the victory.

However, multiple TV replays appeared not to show any contact between the Level 5 and Flying Lizard cars as they went side-by-side.

“It was hard, tough racing,” said Winkelhock. “But I left [Pier Guidi] some space at turn-in and in the exit of the corner, he tried to push me a little bit out in the grass. Then I lost my position there.”

One of Pier Guidi’s teammates, Townsend Bell, was decidedly frustrated about having the win taken from Level 5′s grasp.

“I’m just gutted for [Pier Guidi] and our entire team,” Bell said. “I just don’t understand the logic. I think the fans want an answer for how a call comes through like that when the video evidence is so obvious…I feel like we deserve this one.”