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Daytona 24 Hour 2004

Rolex

01/02/2004

Pontiac Wins The Rolex 24

Pontiac Wins The Rolex 24 At Daytona

Dramatic Last Laps Seal Victory For Borcheller, Pilgrim, Barber And Fittipaldi

In one of the most dramatic finishes in recent American sports car racing history, the General Motors’ Pontiac-powered No.54 Doran Daytona Prototype claimed an overall victory at the Rolex 24 at Daytona. Drivers Terry Borcheller, Andy Pilgrim, Forest Barber and Christian Fittipaldi won for Pontiac in the final minutes, taking control of the race from the No.2 Chevrolet Crawford of Andy Wallace, Tony Stewart and Dale Earnhardt, Jr.

“This is an historic day for Pontiac and GM Racing,” said Gary Claudio, marketing manager for GM Racing. “We had three of the top cars battling for the lead throughout the 24-hour event and we’re looking forward to Pontiac doing great things in the Rolex Series.”

GM-powered Daytona Prototypes were the class of the field, with the Chevrolet and Pontiac-powered cars leading the majority of the race. After No.10 Pontiac Riley driver Max Angelelli grabbed the pole position with a record time of 1:46:095, Terry Borcheller quickly took the lead at the very first corner in his No.54 Pontiac Doran. Although the lead changed hands dozens of times during the 24 hours, Pontiac and Chevy-powered Daytona Prototypes managed to stay in front.

The rain-soaked race ran at reduced speeds under a double-yellow caution flag and was eventually red-flagged to a stop during the morning hours. Racing resumed at 10:30 a.m. on Sunday and the No.2 Chevrolet Crawford held on to a three lap lead until roughly 20 minutes left in the race. Tony Stewart’s rear suspension failed and the team wedged blocks of wood in the suspension in order to keep the car from bottoming out; Stewart showed a deft hand by keeping his prototype in the lead almost until the very end, albeit on three wheels under braking.

“A spring was breaking on the right rear corner and kept getting worse,” said Stewart. “Eventually I got out of the gas on the back stretch and the wheel came off and I spun the car, without the rocker on that right rear, it was basically a flat bottom and none of the rear tyres were on the ground. In the end I have to say that this was a neat package this weekend with General Motors and the Crawford family and having Dale Junior and Andy Wallace as team-mates.”

While many expected the No.2 Chevrolet Crawford to capture victory after holding on to a considerable lead, the No.54 Bell Motorsports Pontiac Doran kept close on the Chevy’s heels and was poised to take over when opportunity knocked just minutes before the end of the 24-hour race. Driver Andy Pilgrim passed Stewart and brought the victory home for Pontiac.

“Winning at Daytona means a lot to me and especially for Pontiac,” said Pilgrim. “We had our share of problems but the Bell Motorsports crew kept this thing going throughout and it is a 24-hour race, after all. Between the four drivers and the crew working overtime, we were very happy to win this race.”

The historic first victory for Pontiac also proves to be GM’s third overall win at the 24 Hours of Daytona. Mark Donohue and Chuck Parsons won the 1969 event in a Chevrolet-powered Lola T70 prototype; Ron Fellows, Johnny O’Connell, Chris Kneifel and Franck Freon won the race in 2001 behind the wheel of the factory Corvette C5-R.