The winning car of Montoya, Pruett, Rojas and Franchitti

DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. – Chip Ganassi Racing with Felix Sabates continued their dominance of the Rolex 24 sports car race winning their third straight overall victory on Sunday at Daytona International Speedway.

The team of Juan Pablo Montoya, Scott Pruett, Memo Rojas and Dario Franchitti in the No. 01 TELMEX Chip Ganassi Racing Lexus Riley won the 46th anniversary of the Rolex 24 by a margin of three laps.

Chip Ganassi Racing’s win is the first time a team has won the overall Rolex 24 in three consecutive years. Peter Gregg and Brumos Racing won three Rolex 24s in a row in 1973, 1975 and 1976 but they were not in consecutive years because the Rolex 24 wasn’t held in 1974 due to the energy crisis.

While it’s a third straight victory for Ganassi, it’s the second straight Rolex 24 win for Montoya and Pruett and the third career overall Rolex 24 win for Pruett.

The 2nd place No. 99 car

Two-time defending NASCAR Sprint Cup Series champion and 2006 Daytona 500 champion Jimmie Johnson came close to that elusive first Rolex 24 win again finishing second in the No. 99 Lowe’s/GAINSCO Pontiac Riley with co-drivers Alex Gurney, Jon Fogarty and Jimmy Vasser.

Rounding out the podium was the No. 9 Penske-Taylor Racing Pontiac Riley with drivers Helio Castroneves, Kurt Busch and Ryan Briscoe.

The competition was tight throughout the Rolex 24. There were a record 15 different leaders and 695 laps were completed in the race.

The finish was shaping up to be a special one for the No. 59 Brumos Porsche team. With just under five hours remaining in the race and Joao Barbosa behind the wheel with the overall lead, the rear suspension failed coming off NASCAR Turn 4. The car spun out, made contact with the inside retaining wall and caused significant front end damage to the car.

“Joao had a great restart and going around the banking coming out of (NASCAR Turn) 4, the lower tie rod broke,” No. 59 co-driver and five-time Rolex 24 champion Hurley Haywood. “The bolt that holds it on broke and it just sent him right into the wall. There was nothing he could do about it. You want to cry almost.”

Patrick Dempsey, star of the hit ABC show Grey’s Anatomy, made his first career start in the Rolex 24 finishing 39th overall co-driving Charles Espenlaub, Joe Foster, Romeo Kapudija and Scott Maxwell.

“We had a lot of bad luck but the team has really rallied to keep the car out there,” Dempsey said. “We wanted to finish this race. We had a great time and I can’t wait to do it again.”

The pole winner of the Rolex 24 – the No. 60 Michael Shank Racing Ford Riley driven by Oswaldo Negri – led the 66-car field to the green flag on Saturday afternoon and finished sixth overall.

In the GT class, the No. 70 SpeedSource Mazda with drivers Sylvain Tremblay, David Haskell, Nick Ham and Raphael Matos finished ninth overall and captured the class victory by a margin of seven laps.

Before the Rolex 24 went green on Saturday afternoon, the crowd was treated to a flyover by three Navy F-5 Tigers based out of Key West and Rolex 24 Grand Marshal Dan Gurney’s starting command, “Drivers, start your engines.”

Final Results

POS	NO.	CLASS	CLPOS.	DRIVER	TEAM/CAR	LAPS	SPONSORS
1	01	DP	1	Franchitti / Montoya / Pruett / Rojas	Chip Ganassi with Felix Sabates / Lexus Riley	695	TELMEX
2	99	DP	2	Fogarty / Gurney / Johnson / Vasser	GAINSCO/ Bob Stallings Racing / Pontiac Riley	693	Lowe's / GAINSCO Auto Insurance
3	9	DP	3	Briscoe / Busch / Castroneves	Penske-Taylor Racing / Pontiac Riley	689	Toshiba
4	76	DP	4	Jonsson / Turner / Zonta	Krohn Racing / Pontiac Riley	688
5	10	DP	5	Angelelli / Taylor / Taylor / Valiante	SunTrust Racing / Pontiac Riley	687	SunTrust
6	60	DP	6	Negri / Patterson / Rahal / Wilson	Michael Shank Racing / Ford Riley	680
7	75	DP	7	Gavin / Krohn / van de Poele	Krohn Racing / Pontiac Riley	678
8	91	DP	8	Goossens / Hunter-Reay / Matthews / O'Connell	Bob Stallings/ Riley-Matthews / Pontiac Riley	676	Riley-Matthews Motorsports
9	70	GT	1	Ham / Haskell / Matos / Tremblay	SpeedSource / Mazda RX-8	664	Castrol Syntec/ Mazda/ Mazdaspeed
10	66	GT	2	Ballou / Lally / Miller / Westbrook	TRG / Porsche GT3 Cup	657	Marquis Jet / Resorts International/ Mitchell Rubber / Total Lubricants / IPC
11	67	GT	3	Collard / Dumas / George Jr / Pumpelly / Sellers	TRG / Porsche GT3 Cup	657	TRG
12	64	GT	4	Lowe / Pace / Sugden / Valentine / van Overbeek	TRG / Porsche GT3 Cup	656	Globus / Adopt A Pig / CRG / Maxter / Rotax / MBA Grp / F1 Air / SRS / NMT
13	69	GT	5	Assentato / Longhi / Pechnik / Segal	SpeedSource / Mazda RX-8	653	FXDD
14	6	DP	9	Allmendinger / Frisselle / James / Pew	Michael Shank Racing / Ford Riley	652
15	09	DP	10	Camirand / Cosmo / McDowell	Spirit of Daytona Racing / Porsche FABCAR	652
16	80	GT	6	Arnold / Faulkner / Greenberg / Heylen	Synergy Racing / Porsche GT3 Cup	651	EMC Mechanical / Gamewell Mechanical / NETTTS
17	07	GT	7	Collins / Edwards / Magnussen / Pilgrim	Banner Racing / Pontiac GXP.R	647	Banner
18	87	GT	8	Bernhard / Ehret / Farnbacher / Werner	Farnbacher Loles / Porsche GT3 Cup	646	Farnbacher Loles Motorsports
19	57	GT	9	Davis / Jeannette / Liddell / Pobst	Stevenson Motorsports / Pontiac GXP.R	644	Stevenson Automotive / BryanMark Financial
20	30	GT	10	Dobson / Staveley / Stone / Thorne	Racers Edge Motorsports / Mazda RX-8	642	Guardian Edge Technologies/ Bumper to Bumper Auto Parts/ Philadelphia Style Magazine
21	74	GT	11	Hamblin / Murry / Patch / Rosenzweig / Skea	Autometrics Motorsports / Porsche GT3 Cup	638	Churchill Transport Group/ BL Patch & Associates
22	88	GT	12	Curran / Kaffer / Lacey / Stippler / Wilkins	Farnbacher Loles / Porsche GT3 Cup	637	Farnbacher Loles Motorsports
23	59	DP	11	Barbosa / Borcheller / France / Haywood	Brumos Racing / Porsche Riley	622	Brumos Porsche/Kendall
24	84	GT	13	Bentley / Kitch Jr / Miller / Pallis	Farnbacher Loles / Porsche GT3 Cup	619	Farnbacher Loles Motorsports
25	03	DP	12	Andretti / Carpenter / Foyt / George / Meira	Vision Racing / Porsche Crawford	615
26	44	GT	14	Arnold / Nixon / Paquette / Van Zanten Jr	Bullet Racing / Porsche GT3 Cup	615	MB Euromotors Inc. / Wardman Financial Corp.
27	58	DP	13	Donohue / Law / Rice	Brumos Racing / Porsche Riley	611	Brumos Porsche
28	7	DP	14	Cullin / Gregoire / Plumb / Shovlin / Wahl	Sigalsport / BMW Riley	601	HIGH CO/ CINTAS / GRW.com.mx / CARECO
29	17	GT	15	Jensen / Jensen / Taylor / Zitza	Terra Firma Motorsports / Porsche GT3 Cup	599	Millenia Fine Art
30	72	GT	16	Aschenbach / Lewis Jr / Papis / Stanton	Autohaus Motorsports / Pontiac GXP.R	590	Autohaus Motorsports
31	34	GT	17	Fitzgerald / Mowlem / Papadopoulos / Willsey	Orbit / Porsche GT3 Cup	589	PositiveOutput.com
32	65	GT	18	Atherton / Daskalos / Oasis / Stout	TRG / Porsche GT3 Cup	585	Lavender Bridal Salon
33	86	GT	19	Bergmeister / Henzler / Keen / Lux / Maassen	Farnbacher Loles / Porsche GT3 Cup	580	Farnbacher Loles Motorsports
34	52	GT	20	Castellano / Chi Min / Machado / Ragazzi / Scapini	Mastercar / Ferrari 430 Challenge	578
35	85	GT	21	Bingham / Cotter / Pennington / Pickering	Farnbacher Loles / Porsche GT3 Cup	572	Farnbacher Loles Motorsports
36	23	DP	15	Auberlen / Hand / Long / Wallace	Alex Job Racing / Porsche Crawford	569	Ruby Tuesday
37	06	GT	22	Bunting / Nearn / Pilgrim / Reese	Banner Racing / Pontiac GXP.R	564	Banner
38	81	GT	23	Doornbos / Huisman / Johnson / Lietz	Synergy Racing / Porsche GT3 Cup	558	EMC Mechanical / Gamewell Mechanical / Lowes / FED-EX Kinkos
39	40	GT	24	Dempsey / Espenlaub / Foster / Kapudija / Maxwell	Hyper Sport / Mazda RX-8	552	SoBe
40	68	GT	25	Auriemma / Gomez / Mayes / Milner / Schroeder	TRG / Porsche GT3 Cup	550	ACG Motorsports/ Cohen Financial/ Thomas Weisel Partner/ Muffin Top Racing
41	77	DP	16	Gardel / Gidley / Gollin / Jaeger	Doran Racing / Ford Doran	546	Kodak
42	3	DP	17	Barron / Christopher / Lester / Lewis	Southard Motorsports / Lexus Riley	527	Southard Motorsports
43	14	GT	26	Friedman / Kelleners / Lazzaro / McGehee	Autometrics Motorsports / Porsche GT3 Cup	524	Mac Papers / Mac Business Products
44	02	DP	18	Dixon / Duran / Lloyd / Wheldon	Chip Ganassi with Felix Sabates / Lexus Riley	515	Target
45	21	GT	27	Alessi / Prewitt / Reindler / Rice / Trenery	Matt Connolly Motorsports / Pontiac GTO.R	513	CityDeals.com/ Novus Capital/ National Tyres/ P1 Groupe/ Festivals of Speed
46	62	GT	28	Baldwin / Burtin / Ragginger / Tucker / Zabinski	TRG / Porsche GT3 Cup	511	Burtin Engineering / Foametix / Westfund.com
47	27	GT	29	O'Connell / Plumb / Roush / Wilson	O'Connell Racing / Porsche GT3 Cup	473	General Environmental Management / Taleo Grill
48	61	DP	19	Braun / Frisselle / Ranger / Wilkins	AIM Autosport / Ford Riley	448	Exchange Traded Gold/ Barrick Gold
49	29	GT	30	Dumoulin / Gabel / Gleason / Rosenzweig / Woodman	Alegra Motorsports / Porsche GT3 Cup	418	Gatorade / TodayMD.com
50	43	GT	31	Nonnamaker / Nonnamaker / Nonnamaker / Sahlen	Team Sahlen / Corvette	401	HRPworld.com
51	83	GT	32	Bergmeister / Crews / Ludwig / McCrackin / Walker	Farnbacher Loles / Porsche GT3 Cup	397
52	26	GT	33	Gabel / Jacalone / Jacalone / Michaelian / Michaelian	Gotham Competition / Porsche GT3 Cup	364	Gotham Competition Inc / Ocean Grove RV / Shopzilla.com
53	89	GT	34	Drudi / Giammaria / Hardt / Petrobelli / Rosa	Farnbacher Loles / Porsche GT3 Cup	284	Farnbacher Loles Motorsports / Rose Island / Rofinco
54	50	GT	35	Bradley / Cloud / Farano / Jensen / Said	Blackforest Motorsports / Ford Mustang	255	Tower Events and Grandstand Seating / Optical Mania / 3M Products / Race-Cars.com
55	2	DP	20	Luhr / McNish / Rockenfeller / Zogaib	SAMAX / Pontiac Riley	233	Florida Children's Hospital
56	31	DP	21	Contini / Frost / Konopka / Shultis	Matt Connolly Motorsports / Pontiac Chase	231	Dress-for-less.com/ Vision Investment and Development/ Allied North America/ Black Flag Gear/ P1 Groupe
57	15	GT	36	Dumoulin / Empringham / Nastasi / Said	Blackforest Motorsports / Ford Mustang	177	USG Sheetrock/ DeWalt Tools/ Ames Taping Tools/ Gary Yeomans Ford
58	16	DP	22	Babini / Bobbi / Garcia / Ortelli	Cheever Racing / Pontiac Coyote	170	Crown Royal Cask No. 16
59	90	GT	37	Long / Russell / Thornton / Varde	Automatic Racing / BMW M6 Riley	163	TBA
60	22	GT	38	Basseng / de Quesada / Pilet / Swartzbaugh	Alegra Motorsports / Porsche GT3 Cup	149	Gatorade/ TodayMD.com/ Tornos
61	11	DP	23	Dalziel / Duno / Enge / Primat	SAMAX / Pontiac Riley	97	VOIS.com/ CANTV
62	08	GT	39	Goldin / Goldin / Kennedy / Meassick	Goldin Brothers Racing / Mazda RX-8	83	CCM Cellular
63	12	DP	24	Bell / Bell / Dallenbach / Kasemets / Schramm	RVO Motorsports / Pontiac Riley	65	Rock Valley Oil & Chemical Co
64	56	GT	40	Biagi / Marsh / Montanari / Monzon / Venier	Mastercar / Ferrari 430 Challenge	55
65	51	DP	25	Erdos / Kimber-Smith / Mayer / Newton / Sherman	Cheever Racing / Pontiac Coyote	45	QPS Companies./ Netvu
66	63	GT	41	Bourque / Ende / Maher / Yarab Jr.	TRG / Porsche GT3 Cup	31	The DigiTrust Grp / Mike Wiegele Helicopter Skiing / Impremedia / Reigel Tuning / Adam's Polishes / La Vi
67*	48	GT	0	Drummond / Grupp / Mandeville / Spencer / Spencer	Team Spencer Motorsports / Mazda RX-8	0	Trench Shoring Services
68*	42	GT	0	Nonnamaker / Nonnamaker / Nonnamaker / Sahlen	Team Sahlen / Corvette	0	HRPworld.com