Hurley Haywood, the most successful driver in the history of the Daytona 24 Hours has paid tribute to the Brumos Racing crew for its 1-3 finish in the 47th running of the event.

Haywood was part of the #59 Brumos Racing crew that took third in the race as he joined forces with JC France, Joao Barbosa and Terry Borcheller for the round the clock event. Having battled for the lead in the closing stages, Barbosa would ultimately see traffic cost him the chance to win as he finished just over five seconds behind the sister car, which took a dramatic win in the hands of Darren Law, David Donohue, Buddy Rice and Antonio Garcia.

The win capped a stunning start to the season for the Jacksonville-based crew, and marked the first overall win for Brumos in the Rolex since 1978.

The win also came less than two years after the death of Brumos president Bob Snodgrass and only a month after popular Porsche figure Bob Carlson lost his battle with cancer – with the victory being dedicated to both figures after the race.

“Bob Snodgrass was our spearhead,” Haywood reflected. “He led us and gave us encouragement and made it all possible for us to compete in this great series.

“It's a combination of a lot of work over a long period of time. We were competitive that first year that we raced in 2003, and then we just had a big gap before we got competitive again. Last year, both cars were very competitive. Jamie France, who was my team-mate right from the start, really matured a lot. I was very proud of the job he did last year, and he was teamed with Barbosa, who is just an absolute brilliant driver. So we're very lucky.

“This is a win that is shared by everybody. I know that Bob Snodgrass is smiling from above, because he would really love to be here.”