Rolex 24 Hour 20: Montoya has 14-second lead

The No. 01 Chip Ganassi Racing entry is poised for a win. Just four hours from the finish, Juan Pablo Montoya in the No. 01 TELMEX Chip Ganassi with Felix Sabates Lexus / Riley held a 14-second lead over Burt Frisselle in the No. 6 Michael Shank Racing Ford / Riley.

The skies cleared, the track dried, but the air remained chilly as the 46th edition of the Rolex 24 At Daytona at Daytona International Speedway neared its end on the historic 3.56-mile, 12-turn road course.

Joey Hand in the No. 23 Alex Job Racing Porsche Crawford placed third behind Montoya and Frisselle.

Joao Barbosa in the No. 59 Brumos Racing Porsche / Riley, hoping to hand teammate and sportscar legend Hurley Haywood his 6th Rolex 24 At Daytona title, held the lead in the 18th hour but relinquished it with single-car incident in NASCAR Turn 4 on lap 550 just after 8:30 a.m. bringing out the 20th full-course caution of the event.

Said Haywood, “We were running the perfect race. We got securely into first place. A tie rod broke, a bolt that holds it on, and sat him (Barbosa) right into the wall. You want to cry almost."

In the GT Division, Sylvain Tremblay in the No. 70 SpeedSource Mazda RX-8 (13th overall), led the GT Class followed by Spencer Pumpelly in the No. 67 TRG Porsche GT3 Cup (14th overall).