DAYTONA BEACH, Fla.—Scott Pruett and his Telmex-Ganassi co-drivers would very much like to get Scott his fifth Rolex 24 win—tomorrow afternoon, if possible.
The team is well on its way towards that goal after nine hours of racing at Daytona International Speedway—Pruett leads the race in his #01 Telmex-Ganassi Rley-BMW, and Scott Dixon is a few feet behind him in the #02 car.
The pair have a three-second lead over Christian Fitipaldi in the #5 Action Express Coyote-Corvette; Fittipaldi is five seconds ahead of Mike Rockenfeller in the #9 Action Express in fourth. After nine hours of racing, the top four are within nine seconds of each other.
The Telmex-Ganssi cars have led most of the race: 188 laps for the #01, 14 for the #02. Only the #2 Starworks Riley-Ford and Velocity WW Dallara-Corvette have even cracked double figures, 46 for Starworks, and 10 for the Velocity machine.
Telmex-Ganassi is always excellently prepared and drilled—pit stops are flawless, brake changes are almost as quick as tire changes. Add to that the five-mph edge the BMW-powered cars have inb top end, and it seems likely that Mr. Pruett will get his fifth very soon.
It’s not a done deal, of course. Last year looked like number five until the Riley-BMW dumped its transmission while leaving the pits after a routine stop. In a 24-hour race, any number of crazy things could happen.
Crazy things are about all the other teams can hope for now, though. The BMW-powered Telmex-Ganassi are just faster. Maybe some of it is preparation, maybe some of it balance of performance. Either way, The Telmex-Ganassi cars are still in front.
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