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Filed under: Daytona Int'l Speedway

DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. -- It wasn't the team with the biggest budget, most famous driver lineup or highest pre-race expectations.

But after 24 hours of steady, careful, pedal-to-the-metal effort, the first-year, first-race Action Express Racing team led the mighty TELMEX Chip Ganassi Racing team across the finish line by less than a minute to claim the Rolex 24 at Daytona trophy on Sunday afternoon.

Action Express driver Mike Rockenfeller took the lead in the No. 9 Porsche-V8 Riley when Ganassi driver Justin Wilson pitted unexpectedly with less than three hours remaining, convinced there was a problem with the team's No. 01 BMW Riley. After a five-minute once-over in the Daytona International Speedway garage, the team couldn't find anything obviously wrong and sent the car back on track -- two laps down and forced to try to play catch-up.

It's the second consecutive runner-up effort in the Grand Am Series sportscar season-opener for the Ganassi team, which won three straight from 2006-2008. Including the 52-second differential on Sunday, the team has lost the last two Rolex 24-hour races by less than a minute.

 

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Filed under: Jimmie Johnson, Juan Pablo Montoya, Daytona Int'l Speedway

DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. -- The leaderboard at Daytona International Speedway looked very familiar in the early hours of this weekend's Rolex 24 at Daytona sports car season-opener.

While Fords dominated the qualifying session and led the 44-car field to the green flag, a couple of of former winning teams quickly found their way through the steady rain and puddled 3.56-mile road course to establish the early pace of the race.

Chip Ganassi Racing with Felix Sabates, which won an unprecedented three consecutive Rolex 24s from 2006-2008, held the point at the six-hour mark.

 

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After coming off last year where Jamie McMurray won the Sprint Cup Series’ 2009 Amp Energy 500, the 34-year-old driver has moved back to Earnhardt Ganassi Racing and is preparing for the 2010 season. The driver of the #1 Bass Pro Shops Chevorolet Impala SS has been quite busy this off season testing race cars, competeing in go-karting, and getting to know his new team mate Juan Pablo Montoya. The two will compete in the Rolex 24 at Daytona as part of four man EGR team. McMurray is happy to back with the racing team that he left four years ago for Rousch Fenway Racing. McMurray says its nice to working with people he knows and with race cars that have a high level of craftmanship. With McMurray and Montoya driving in the Sprint Cup Series, 2010 should be a very intersting year for Earnhardt Ganassi Racing.