DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. (AP) — Felipe Nasr’s time in Formula 1 had ended after two underwhelming seasons and the Brazilian was left with little to do as an open-wheel racing driver.
He migrated to sports cars and spent four seasons driving for the team owned by NASCAR chairman Jim France. Then came an opportunity he couldn’t turn down: a clandestine meeting with Roger Penske to discuss developing a new sports car program with the factory backing of Porsche.
They met in a parking lot and Penske was immediately impressed.
“He showed up in a blue suit and I said, ‘That’s my kind of guy,’” the 88-year-old team owner said Sunday.
Team Penske opened the 60th anniversary of its organization with a win in the first race of the year — a three-peat, no less — in the Rolex 24 at Daytona.
“The driving he’s done for us, at the end, that was probably one of the best drives I’ve ever seen,” Penske said.
The Penske squad became the third team in the 64-year history of the most prestigious endurance race in the United States to win three in a row. His Porsche Penske Motorsports team joined Chip Ganassi Racing and Wayne Taylor Racing as the only teams to win three straight sports car races at Daytona International Speedway.
It was the fifth overall Rolex victory in the event for Porsche and the 46th overall IMSA victory for Penske.
What’s most impressive for Penske is that the team has won three years in a row with three different lineups; Nasr, the Penske closer, is the only mainstay on all three entries, and he was openly weeping in victory lane.
“It’s a moment I dreamed of — the desire to win is what makes you go beyond and further,” Nasr said. “I love this sport, I love this series, and the 24-hour (race) being decided in the last few minutes is just incredible.”
Nasr’s feat makes it six consecutive years that a Brazilian driver has been part of the winning team. Four-time Indianapolis 500 winner Helio Castroneves was part of the winning team in 2021, ‘22 and ’23.
“The Penske was in a good form from beginning to end,” Nasr said. “The winning feeling — they are special — it’s hard to pick a favorite one. I have no words to describe it, it’s just a unique feeling.”
Nasr actually has four Rolex titles — except his fourth was not in the top class.
This one didn’t come easy for Nasr, driving in front of what Daytona officials called the largest Rolex crowd in race history, as he held off his former team, the Cadillac from Action Express Racing, over the final hour to win the overall title. The Action Express car originally won the pole but was disqualified in post-qualifying inspection.
That forced the No. 31 Cadillac to start last in class, and the lineup of Jack Aitken, Earl Bamber, Mercedes Formula 1 driver Fred Vesti and NASCAR rising star Connor Zilisch weaved their way to second over the 24 hours.
Nasr and Aitken closed the races for their respective teams and Aitken got several good looks at passing Nasr for the win in the final 25 minutes, but Nasr closed the door on him at every chance.
Nasr cruised to victory in an overhauled No. 7 Porsche 963 with teammates Julien Andlauer and Laurin Heinrich. The Porsche beat the Cadillac by 1 minute, .569 seconds.
The No. 24 BMW M Team WRT finished third in the top GTP class with the quartet of Sheldon van der Linde, Dries Vanthoor, Robin Frijns and Rene Rast.
The caution was thrown for foggy conditions shortly before 1 a.m. and lasted for a race-record 6 hours, 33 minutes, 25 seconds covering 120 laps. The caution was so long that Penske, who prides himself on staying awake and on the pit stand the entire 24 hours, actually took a midrace break.
The Rolex marks the unofficial start of the motorsports season, and this year’s race featured 60 cars from 12 different automakers, 228 drivers from 32 countries and no clear favorite aside from the two-car Penske effort.
LMP2 winners
Crowdstrike Racing by APR won in an Oreca LMP2 07 with the lineup of George Kurtz, Alex Quinn, Toby Sowery and Malthe Jakobsen.
Interpol Europol Competition was second and third in a pair of Oreca LMP2 07s.
GTD Pro winners
Paul Miller Racing won the GTD Pro class in a BMW M4 GT3 EVO.
75 Express — an all-Australian team that featured IndyCar star Will Power in his Rolex debut — finished second in a Mercedes-AMG GT3. Winward Racing in a Mercedes-AMG GT3 was third.
GTD winners
Winward Racing in a Mercedes-AMG GT3 won the GTD class.
Magnus Racing in an Aston Martin Vantage GT3 EVO was second, followed by Heart of Racing Team in another Aston Martin rounding out the podium.
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