Montoya won Daytona 24hs

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Montoya, Ganassi team savor victory in Daytona's 24-hour race

DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. — Don't be fooled by Sunday's finish of the Rolex 24 at Daytona being the third-closest in the race's 45-year history. After 24 hours, 668 laps and 2,378 miles, the results can be summed up in one word: domination.

The Chip Ganassi Racing trio of Scott Pruett, Juan Pablo Montoya and Salavador Duran, co-driving the No. 02 Lexus Riley, won by 1 minute, 15.842 seconds at Daytona International Speedway. It was a performance that saw them in the top three for the final 21 hours and run at the point for the final 2 hours and 43 minutes, or 91 laps.

Ryan Dalziel, Patrick Carpentier and Milka Duno finished second in the No. 11 SAMAX Citgo Pontiac Riley Prototype. Duno's finish was the best ever for a woman in the 24-hour race and the best finish ever by a woman in a major automobile race at Daytona.

The victory also was historic for Pruett. It was his seventh Rolex 24 triumph in class, setting a race record. The overall triumph also was his second, the first coming in 1994, and was his 13th in the Grand-Am Series as a whole, tying James Weaver. Pruett also is the winningest driver in Prototype history with 13.

Montoya is now in elite company. He and racing great Mario Andretti are the only drivers to have won the Indianapolis 500, an American open-wheel championship, a Formula One race and — the Colombian's latest conquest — a sports car endurance race at Daytona International Speedway.

A Porsche Fabcar prototype driven by Formula One test driver Gaston Mazzacane of Argentina slid off track and hit a barrier protecting a light pole in the infield portion of the 3.56-mile road circuit Saturday night.

Mazzacane was briefly unconscious and spent the night under observation at a hospital. Officials said he had no serious injuries and was expected to be released Sunday.

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Results

1. (01) Scott Pruett; Salvador Duran; Juan Pablo Montoya; DP, TELMEX/Target Chip Ganassi with Felix Sabates Lexus Riley, 668.

2. (11) Milka Duno; Patrick Carpentier; Darren Manning; Ryan Dalziel; DP, CITGO/SAMAX Pontiac Riley 668.

3. (10) Wayne Taylor; Max Angelelli; Jeff Gordon; Jan Magnussen; DP, SunTrust Racing Pontiac Riley, 666.

4. (59) Hurley Haywood; JC France; Joao Barbosa; Roberto Moreno; David Donohue; DP, Brumos Racing Porsche Riley, 662.

5. (61) Brian Frisselle; Mark Wilkins; Burt Frisselle; David Empringham; DP, AIM Autosport Lexus Riley, 657.

6. (7) Chris Festa; Roger Yasukawa; Kris Szekeres; DP, SAMAX Pontiac Riley, 655.

7. (77) Memo Gidley; Fabrizio Gollin; Michel Jourdain; Oriol Servia; DP, Kodak Feeds The Need/Doran Racing Ford Doran, 655.

8. (47) Charles Morgan; Rob Morgan; Timo Bernhard; BJ Zacharias; DP, TruSpeed Motorsports Porsche Riley, 636.

9. (60) Mark Patterson; Oswaldo Negri Jr.; Helio Castroneves; Sam Hornish Jr.; DP, Michael Shank Racing/Fresh From Florida Lexus Riley, 628.

10. (19) Rob Finlay; Michael Valiante; Bobby Labonte; Michael McDowell; DP, Z-Line/Make-A-Wish/Finlay Motorsports Ford Crawford, 627.

11. (22) Carlos de Quesada; Jean-Francois Dumoulin; Scooter Gabel; Marc Basseng; GT, Alegra Motorsports/Fiorano Racing Porsche GT3, 626.

12. (07) Paul Edwards; Kelly Collins; Andy Pilgrim; Johnny O'Connell; GT, Banner Racing Pontiac GXP.R, 626.

13. (64) Jim Lowe; Jim Pace; Johannes van Overbeek; Ralf Kelleners; GT, TRG Porsche GT3, 625.

14. (06) Leighton Reese; Tim Lewis Jr.; Johnny O'Connell; Paul Edwards; GT, Banner Racing Pontiac GXP.R, 624.

15. (70) David Haskell; Sylvain Tremblay; Nick Ham; Randy Pobst; GT, SpeedSource Mazda RX-8, 624.

16. (73) Lars Eric Nielsen; Dieter Quester; Brent Martini; Philipp Peter; GT, Tafel Racing Porsche GT3, 617.

17. (75) Colin Braun; Max Papis; JJ Lehto; DP, Krohn Racing Pontiac Riley, 615.

18. (23) Patrick Long; Jorg Bergmeister; Romain Dumas; DP, Ruby Tuesday Championship Racing Porsche Crawford, 615.

19. (69) Emil Assentato; Nick Longhi; Jeff Segal; Matt Plumb; GT, SpeedSource Mazda RX-8, 612.

20. (17) Dave Lacey; Greg Wilkins; Johnny Mowlem; Tom Papadopoulos; Lance Arnold; GT, Doncaster Racing Porsche GT3, 611.

21. (76) Tracy Krohn; Nic Jonsson; Boris Said; DP, Krohn Racing Ford Riley, 607.

22. (35) Tommy Constantine; Mike Borkowski; David Murry; Hal Prewitt; GT, Playboy Racing/Unitech Porsche GT3, 606.

23. (27) Kevin O'Connell; Mike Speakman; Jason Bowles; Kevin Roush; Lonnie Pechnik; GT, Taleo Grill Racing Porsche GT3, 605.

24. (39) Christian Fittipaldi; Eddie Cheever Jr.; Emmanuel Collard; Sascha Maassen; DP, Crown Royal Special Reserve/Cheever Racing Porsche Crawford, 601.

25. (84) George Robinson; Wally Dallenbach; Paul Dallenbach; Katherine Legge; DP, Robinson Racing Pontiac Riley, 596.

26. (6) Henri Zogaib; Ian James; Paul Tracy; A.J. Allmendinger; DP, Michael Shank Racing Lexus Riley, 595.

27. (81) Steve Johnson; Patrick Huisman; Richard Westbrook; Richard Lietz; GT, Synergy Racing Porsche GT3, 590.

28. (67) Tom Cloet; Pierre Bourque; Mike Solley; Auston Harris; GT, TRG Porsche GT3, 588.

29. (00) Ed Carpenter; Tomas Scheckter; Tony George; Anthony Foyt; Stephan Gregoire; DP, Vision Racing Porsche Crawford, 587.

30. (65) Murray Marden; Brent Milner; John Peterson; Michael Gomez; GT, TRG Porsche GT3, 583.

31. (85) Leh Keen; Pierre Ehret; Dirk Werner; Jorg Hardt; GT, Farnbacher Loles Motorsports Porsche GT3, 579.

32. (51) Mike Newton; Tommy Erdos; Harrison Brix; Eddie Cheever Jr.; DP, NetVu Video/Cheever Racing Porsche Fabcar, 579.

33. (68) Ted Ballou; Rocco DeSimone II; Brad Jaeger; Chris Gleason; GT, TRG Porsche GT3, 578.

34. (14) Bransen Patch; Mac McGehee; Wes Allen; Jim Hamblin; Cory Friedman; GT, Autometrics Motorsports Porsche GT3, 572.

35. (66) RJ Valentine; Andy Lally; Spencer Pumpelly; Mark Greenberg; Kevin Buckler; GT, TRG Porsche GT3, 563.

36. (91) Jim Matthews; Marc Goossens; Jimmie Johnson; Ryan Hunter-Reay; DP, Lowe's Riley-Matthews Motorsports Pontiac Riley, 560.

37. (72) Andrew Davis; Nathan Swartzbaugh; Robin Liddell; Dirk Muller; Jim Tafel; GT, Tafel Racing Porsche GT3, 555.

38. (87) Christian Zugel; John Burke; Gunnar Jeannette; Ryan Eversley; GT, Farnbacher Loles Motorsports Porsche GT3, 545.

39. (74) Eric Lux; Wolf Henzler; Dominik Farnbacher; Jim Tafel; GT, Rembrandt Charms Tafel Racing Porsche GT3, 544.

40. (58) David Donohue; Darren Law; Buddy Rice; Scott Sharp; Hurley Haywood; DP, Red Bull/Brumos Racing Porsche Riley, 542.

41. (02) Scott Dixon; Dan Wheldon; Memo Rojas; DP, Target/TELMEX Target Chip Ganassi with Felix Sabates Lexus Riley, 538.

42. (43) Joe Sahlen; Joe Non-namaker; Wayne Non-namaker; Will Non-namaker; GT, Team Sahlen Chevrolet Corvette, 530.

43. (42) Michael Auriemma; John Mayes; Matt Varsha; GT, Team Sahlen Porsche GT3, 514.

44. (89) Fraser Wellon; Barry Ellis; Frank Rossi; Michael Grande; Owen Trinkler; GT, Hop-A-Jet Worldwide Jet Charter, 512.

45. (83) David Gaylord; Don Pickering; Hal Hilton; Ben McCrackin; GT, Team Seattle Synergy Racing Porsche GT3, 508.

46. (99) Jon Fogarty; Alex Gurney; Jimmy Vasser; DP, Gainsco/Bob Stallings Racing Pontiac Riley, 493.

47. (12) Roger Schramm; Jack Baldwin; Bill Lester; Justin Bell; John Heinricy; DP, RVO Motorsports Pontiac Riley, 458.

48. (20) Andy Wallace; Butch Leitzinger; Tony Stewart; DP, Jackson Hewitt/SUBWAY Howard Motorsports Pontiac Crawford, 450.

49. (57) Dominic Cicero II; Marc Bunting; James Gue; John Stevenson; Lou Gigliotti; GT, Stevenson Motorsports Chevrolet Corvette, 444.

50. (88) Craig Stanton; Bryce Miller; Justin Jackson; Tom Pank; GT, Farnbacher Loles Motorsports Porsche GT3, 434.

51. (97) Vic Rice; Tommy Riggins; John Stevenson; Spencer Trenery; Lou Gigliotti; GT, Stevenson Motorsports Chevrolet Corvette, 414.

52. (05) Bill Auberlen; Matthew Alhadeff; Gene Sigal; Karl Wendlinger; DP, Luggage Express Team Sigalsport BMW Riley, 367.

53. (30) Lawson Aschenbach; Justin Lofton; Ross Smith; Mark Pavan; GT, Racers Edge Motorsports Pontiac GXP.R, 359.

54. (41) Robb Brent; Tom Malloy; Jim Michaelian; Bob Michaelian; Ernie Becker; GT, Team Sahlen Porsche GT3, 316

55. (16) Chris Dyson; Rob Dyson; Guy Smith; Oliver Gavin; DP, Thetford/Norcold Howard Motorsports Porsche Crawford, 295.

56. (24) Mike Pickett; Bill Cotter; Mark Montgomery; Todd Hanson; Rich Walker; GT, Matt Connolly Motorsports BMW M3, 276.

57. (82) Don Kitch Jr.; Chris Pennington; Chris Pallis; Tony Bawcutt; GT, Team Seattle Synergy Racing Porsche GT3, 250.

58. (18) Uwe Alzen; Robert Renauer; Terry Borcheller; DP, XM Satellite Radio VICI Racing Porsche Fabcar, 240.

59. (15) Tom Nastasi; Alex Tagliani; Guy Cosmo; Valerie Limoges; GT, Blackforest Motorsports Ford Mustang Cobra GT, 235.

60. (86) Larry Bowman; Don Bell; Lance Willsey; Shawn Price; GT, Farnbacher Loles Motorsports Porsche GT3, 232.

61. (45) Rob Wilson; John Lewis; Bryan Sellers; Joey Hand; GT, Howard Motorsports Infiniti G35, 230.

62. (3) Shane Lewis; Randy Ruhlman; Graham Rahal; Elliott Forbes-Robinson; DP, Southard Motorsports Lexus Riley, 214.

63. (28) Ian Baas; Joel Feinberg; Bruce McQuiston; Joe Safina; GT, At Speed Motorsports Porsche GT3, 196.

64. (46) Michael Baughman; Bryan Collyer; John Connolly; Mike Yeakle; Frank Del Vecchio; GT, Michael Baughman Racing Chevrolet Corvette, 186.

65. (08) Steve Goldin; Keith Goldin; John Finger; Ron Zitza; GT, Goldin Brothers Racing Mazda RX-8, 163.

66. (21) Matt Connolly; Adam Pecorari; Jason Workman; Ray Mason; Romeo Kapudija; GT, Matt Connolly Motorsports BMW M3, 153.

67. (48) Hans Hauser; Robert Dubler; Ed Magner; Michael DeFontes; GT, WTF Engineering Chevrolet Corvette, 89.

68. (52) Luca Drudi; Gabrio Rosa; Andrea Ceccato; Pier Angelo Masselli; Andrea Montermini; GT, Mastercar Ferrari 360 GT, 83.

69. (63) Dennis Spencer; Scott Spencer; Richard Grupp; Gary Drummond; Charles Espenlaub; GT, Team Spencer Motorsports Mazda RX-8, 74.

Race statistics

Time of race: 24 hours, 0:55.002 seconds.

Distance: 668 laps, 2378.08 miles.

Average speed: 99.020 mph.

Margin of victory: 1 minute, 15:842 seconds.

[Bruce]

A lot of ex F1 drivers
Too bad Mazzaccane, I hope he is ok now.

[Catriel]

Well done Juan Pablo!

Here we all were concerned about Mazzacane, but he is fine now. It seems it was a hard accident, he crashed a wall, just when he had to give the car to a team mate.