Ganassi repeats in close one.

Sunday, 28th January 2007

In one of the most spectacular finishes in the 45-race history of the Rolex 24, the #01 TELMEX/Target Chip Ganassi Racing Lexus Riley trio of Scott Pruett, Juan Pablo Montoya and Salvador Duran emerged on top in a three-car battle over the final hours of the 2007 race.

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One year after claiming the overall Rolex 24 victory, IndyCar champions Scott Dixon and Dan Wheldon, as well as #02 Target/TELMEX Lexus Riley co-driver Memo Rojas, were frontrunners through the 20-hour mark, with Dixon leading seven laps. Unfortunately for the team, Rojas slid off-course in turn one just four minutes into the 21st hour and made hard contact with the tyre barrier. The team was forced to retire as a result of the damage and was credited with 41st overall and 21st in the Daytona Prototype class.

After starting from the pole position in the #99 GAINSCO/Bob Stallings Racing Pontiac Riley, Alex Gurney led the first three laps of the race in the car he was sharing with Jon Fogarty, Jimmy Vasser and Bob Stallings. Disaster struck for the team just ten minutes into the race, however, as Gurney collected the #42 Team Sahlen Porsche GT3 of Michael Auriemma, when the hood flew up on the Porsche in NASCAR turn four. The resulting damage, and subsequent other mechanical issues, left the #99 team 46th overall and 22nd in the Daytona Prototype class.

The #20 machine, which Wallace shared with Butch Leitzinger and two-time NASCAR Cup champion Tony Stewart, was battling mechanical problems even before the contact with the #91 and wound up 48th overall and 24th in the Daytona Prototype class. Bill Auberlen led two laps in the #05 Luggage Express/Team Sigalsport BMW Riley he shared with Karl Wendlinger, Matthew Alhadeff and Gene Sigal and the car was also an early frontrunner that succumbed to mechanical problems, eventually being credited with 52nd overall and 25th in the Daytona Prototype class.

The race was slowed 13 times by full-course caution for a total of 82 laps and also included the first red-flag stoppage since 2004. As the race approached the halfway point, Chris Pallis' #82 Synergy Racing Team Seattle Porsche GT3 damaged the guardrail on the inside of turn one. Pallis escaped injury, but the guardrail repairs required a 78-minute stoppage.