Rolex 24 At Daytona Hour 15: Allmendinger sittin’ pretty

No. 6 of AJ Allmendinger leads the No. 10 Sun Trust car

As the rain pelted historic Daytona International Speedway 15 hours into the prestigious Rolex 24 At Daytona, AJ Allmendinger piloted his No. 6 Michael Shank Racing Ford / Riley to the front of the pack in the 46th running of the prestigious Rolex 24 At Daytona.

NASCAR rookie Dario Franchitti in the No. 01 Chip Ganassi with Felix Sabates Lexus / Riley was a mere 6.2 seconds behind Allmendinger with Marc Goossens in the No. 91 Bob Stallings/ Riley-Matthews Pontiac / Riley third.

Jon Fogarty in the No. 99 GAINSCO / Bob Stallings Racing Pontiac / Riley was the only other car on the lead lap. with 438 laps in the books.

Pole winner, the No. 60 Oswaldo Negri Jr. in the Michael Shank Racing Ford / Riley sat in 8th place overall.

The GT Series saw Nick Ham in the No. 70 SpeedSource Mazda RX-8 (13th overall), Richard Westbrook in the No. 66 TRG Porsche GT3 Cup (14th overall) and Spencer Pumpelly in his No. 67 TRG Porsche GT3 Cup, one lap down (15th overall) rounded out the top 3 in the GT Division.

The France family's copy of the 24 Hours of LeMans Ferris Wheel

Hour 14
NASCAR made its mark in the early morning of the Rolex 24 At Daytona with the top three positions held by Sprint Cup regulars.

The 14th hour saw Jimmie Johnson in the No. 99 GAINSCO / Bob Stallings Racing Pontiac / Riley, Dario Franchitti in the No. 01 Chip Ganassi with Felix Sabates Lexus / Riley and AJ Allmendinger in the No. 6 Michael Shank Racing Ford / Riley in the top three positions.

Daytona Prototypes held the top 13 positions with 10 hours to go in the prestigious event with Spencer Pumpelly in his No. 67 TRG Porsche GT3 Cup leading the GT Class, 14th overall.

Hour 13
Juan Pablo Montoya in the No. 01 TELMEX Chip Ganassi with Felix Sabates Lexus Riley overtook Alex Gurney, in the No. 99 GAINSCO / Bob Stallings Racing Pontiac / Riley in the 13th hour to capture the lead at the 46th running of the Rolex 24 At Daytona.

With just over 11 hours to go in the twice around the clock classic, five DP’s set the pace on the lead lap, led by Montoya who held a 13.9-second lead over Gurney, whose father Dan served as the race’s Grand Marshal.

Burt Frisselle in the No. 6 Michael Shank Racing Ford / Riley continued to place third.

Bryan Sellers in the No. 67 TRG Porsche GT3 Cup led the field in the GT class, 16th overall, followed by Andy Lally behind the wheel of the No. 66 TRG Porsche GT3 Cup (17th) and Sylvain Tremblay in the No. 70 SpeedSource Mazda RX-8 (18th).

Hour 12

The No. 99 GAINSCO/ Bob Stallings Racing Pontiac / Riley is halfway home.

Alex Gurney, whose father Dan served as the race’s Grand Marshal, led the field halfway home early Sunday morning at sportscars’ most prestigious race – The Rolex 24 At Daytona.

Twelve hours into it, Gurney, in the NO. 99 GAINSCO/ Bob Stallings Racing Pontiac / Riley.

led the five prototypes on the lead lap at Daytona International Speedway, outpacing Juan Pablo Montoya in the No. 01 TELMEX Chip Ganassi with Felix Sabates Lexus Riley. Burt Frisselle in the No. 6 Michael Shank Racing Ford / Riley placed third 19 seconds behind.

Paul Edwards leads the field in the GT class in his No. 07 Banner Racing Pontiac GXP.R. The No. 17 TRG Porsche GT3 Cup, piloted by Domain Dumas stood in second as the twice-around-the-clock challenge continued.

Hour 10

The Rolex 24 is in its 10th hour and is approaching 300 laps.

The twice-around-the-clock challenge has lived up to its expectations with 15 different leaders and six Daytona Prototypes on the same lap.

Jon Fogarty in the No. 99 Lowe’s/GAINSCO Pontiac Riley is at the point with the consistently strong No. 6 Michael Shank Racing Ford Riley of Ian James close behind.

Michael Shank Racing, which switched from Lexus power to Ford powerplants, continues to post a strong effort with its second entry — the pole winning No. 60 car — in seventh place.

The No. 59 Brumos Porsche team, which is co-driven by five-time Rolex 24 winner Hurley Haywood, is also having a good Rolex 24 currently sitting in fifth place.

The No. 61 AIM Autosport Ford Riley, which was a leader early on, did run into some problems. They went off track briefly with a mechanical issue, took a spin and now is eight laps back in 14th.

Both of the Cheever Racing entries have now dropped out of the event. The Crown Royal Cask No. 16 Coyote Cars was forced to retire in the seventh hour with mechanical problems while the other Cheever Racing entry – the No. 51 RML AD Racing Group – was forced to withdraw after two hours of competition due to engine complications.

The GT class is also featured tough competition. There are currently five GT class cars on the same lap battling for the lead with the No. 70 SpeedSource Mazda and David Haskell in the lead.

Hour 15 Standings