DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. – As part of NBC Sports’ “Racing Week in America” series on NBCSN, race fans will have two opportunities this weekend to catch the final hour of January’s 58th Rolex 24 At Daytona.
The first showing wraps up NBCSN’s all-day showcase of events at Daytona International Speedway – dubbed “Daytona Speed Day” by the network – airing at 2 a.m. ET Saturday morning (11 p.m. PT Friday). The second will air at 3 p.m. ET (12 p.m. PT) on Sunday.
Here are five things to watch for during the telecast:
No. 10 Konica Minolta Cadillac DPi Team Wins Third in Four Years; Sets Distance Record
Daytona has been especially kind to Wayne Taylor Racing and the No. 10 Konica Minolta Cadillac DPi-V.R team recently as the team picked up its third Rolex 24 At Daytona overall victory in four years.
Co-drivers Renger van der Zande, Ryan Briscoe, Scott Dixon and Kamui Kobayashi overcame a Sunday morning penalty that took them from the lead of the race to a lap down and went on to set a new, all-time Rolex 24 distance record of 833 laps (2,965.48 miles)
DragonSpeed USA Wins LMP2 for Second Consecutive Year with All-New Lineup
The No. 81 DragonSpeed USA ORECA LMP2 squad of Henrik Hedman, Colin Braun, Ben Hanley and Rolex 24 rookie Harrison Newey delivered a second-consecutive Rolex 24 win for the Elton Julian-owned squad, albeit with an entirely different quartet of drivers than last year’s winners.
The team overcame a setback caused by a cut tire and won a war of attrition, primarily with the No. 52 PR1-Mathiasen Motorsports team
BMW Team RLL Doubles Down Too After Stellar GTLM Battle with Porsche
It was the most protracted and intense battle of the 2020 Rolex 24, pitting the No. 24 BMW Team RLL M8 GTE against both Porsche GT Team 911 RSR entries. It went on for hours, but in the end, John Edwards, Jesse Krohn, Chaz Mostert and Augusto Farfus emerged victorious for the BMW squad.
It was the second consecutive Rolex 24 GTLM win for BMW Team RLL with last year’s win earned by the team’s No. 25 entry. Only Farfus was a member of that lineup.
Paul Miller Racing Runs Lamborghini’s 36 Hours of Florida Win Streak to Five
A Lamborghini pulled into Daytona’s victory lane for the third consecutive year, but it was the No. 48 Paul Miller Racing squad of Bryan Sellers, Madison Snow, Corey Lewis and Andrea Caldarelli doing the honors after prevailing in a battle with the GRT Grasser Racing Team squad that had won the previous two years.
Those three Daytona victories join 2018 and 2019 victories in the Mobil 1 Twelve Hours of Sebring Presented by Advance Auto Parts to extend Lamborghini’s streak of 36 Hours of Florida victories to five.
Castroneves Fumes Following Early Incident
A lasting memory from the 2020 Rolex 24 At Daytona was an animated Helio Castroneves following his early race incident with Harry Tincknell’s No. 55 Mazda DPi in the Bus Stop. The incident removed Castroneves’ No. 7 Acura Team Penske ARX-05 DPi from contention for the victory, dropping it 22 laps behind the leaders before repairs were completed.
The No. 7 ended up finishing the race 22 laps behind the winners in eighth place overall, suggesting that Castroneves and co-drivers Ricky Taylor and Alexander Rossi might have contended for the victory had it not been for the incident.