Kevin Magnussen is so excited about being a part of sports car racing and the fact that he is not under the same level of pressure as Formula 1. Now, Thomas Merrill leads LMP2, Antonio Garcia leading GTLM, Stevan McAleer leads LMP3, and Matteo Cressoni leads GT Daytona. Pit stop time for the #48 Action Express Racing Cadillac. Fuel and tires, but a double stint for Jimmie Johnson, gunning the motor and doing a burnout as he leaves the pit lane. Presumably he is running on sticker Michelin tires. We also watch the #6 Muehlner Motorsports America LMP3 car. This again is the Hoerr/Kranz/Koch/McAleer machine. Stevan McAleer is leading in LMP3. McAleer leads LMP3 over Joao Barbosa and Oliver Askew. An incident is under review by Race Control as the #5 Mustang Sampling JDC-Miller Motorsports Cadillac back to the garage which was presumably hit by Patrick Long in the #16 Wright Motorsports Porsche 911 GT3R.
Trent Hindman was drafted into the car after Ryan Hardwick's accident. On the left side of the Porsche there was a mega sized hole in front of the left rear wheel. The #5 JDC-Miller Motorsports Cadillac is being repaired but they will also have to serve a drive through penalty for incident responsibility with the Wright Motorsports Porsche. In replay, was see both cars spinning backwards into corner number one and actually out onto the infield grass by he tri oval. There's suspension damage and the whole undertray of the Cadillac will have to be replaced. The left side sidepod is also damaged as well.
The rear wing is missing an endplate. So, heavy damage for the JDC-Miller team. Patrick Long has raced all over the world for Porsche. Patrick Long is on the ragged edge, leading for his class and he can't just push the disappear button. Tristan Vautier, Loic Duval, and Sebastien Bourdais's race has gone to pieces. Meanwhile, the #01 Cadillac pits for Chip Ganassi Racing. Tires are being changed and fuel is added. No driver change on that car that we can see. He is down and away, back into the motor race. Pit stop time as well for the Wright Motorsports Porsche and for the #60 Meyer Shank Racing Acura ARX-05.
In the meantime, work continues on the JDC-Miller Motorsports Cadillac, frantically working on the #5 car. Not a pretty scene for those chaps. Jan Heylen was at the wheel of the #16 when Tristan Vautier plowed into him. Patrick Long is getting set to get into the car. Jan Heylen wonders what on earth that mess was all about. We watch the sole Mazda RT24P in this race and also the #52 PR1/Mathiasen Motorsports Wynn's liveried LMP2 Oreca making a pit stop. That car being shared by Americans Ben Keating, and Scott Huffaker, Mikkel Jensen of Denmark, and Frenchman Nicolas Lapierre.
It is now Sunday morning. Midnight or so, the witching hour. There was another car, in that incident between Jan Heylen and Tristan Vautier. The #9 Pfaff Motorsports Porsche 911 GT3R did spin out into turn one. It sounds like the #9 may have tagged the other cars. Jan Heylen gave the DPi car the space, but Zacharie Robichon could easily have hit the #16 machine. Race Control has other cameras that the TV staff at NBC Sports does not have. Cadillac #5 will have a drive through penalty if they come back out, but it could be their race is over. However, if it was not their fault, it could be a penalty for the Pfaff Motorsports Porsche.
Jan Heylen believes he was hit by the #9 car. The #9 boys did apologize to Wright Motorsports. The #5 Mustang Sampling JDC-Miller Cadillac was an innocent bystander. The #5 car was not at fault, and good sportsmanship too on the part of the #9 team. A couple of major contenders have been impacted in their classes. Cadillac looks to make it five in a row at the Rolex 24, but which team will it be? Will it be Chip Ganassi Racing? Will it be Action Express? Pit stop time too for the #3 Chevrolet Corvette C8.R for fuel, tires, and a driver change. Jordan Taylor looks to be in the car now.
Fourteen and a half hours still remain in the race. We won't be at the halfway mark for another hour and a half yet. Renger van der Zande leads Jimmie Johnson by 5.2 seconds. From Race Control, we have news. It sounds like they've spoken to Wright Motorsports and JDC-Miller Motorsports. The #5 Cadillac will not serve a penalty when they get back out on the course. Oliver Askew is really beginning to apply the blowtorch to Moritz Kranz in LMP3. Goodness gracious. Askew is a very, very quick driver. Riley Motorsports, has a top team and a top lineup, and their sister car #91 was running well, too, until they had their issues earlier in the motor race. Spencer Pigot and Oliver Askew sharing with Gar Robinson and Scott Andrews.
#74 is in the lane. Riley Motorsports are running a couple of Ligier's in LMP3. Also in the lane, the #48 Ally Bank Cadillac. Jimmie Johnson out, and now, Simon Pagenaud is back into the car for the real night shift and he will be able to uncork some really fast laps in the cool of the night. They have done a number of pit stops on that car, unfortunately. The car that has the advantage, or so it seems, is the #10 Acura, Alexander Rossi at the wheel of it. Acura #10 is in the pit lane for service. Alexander Rossi will get out of the car. Not sure who will get in. Is it Ricky Taylor, Filipe Albuquerque, or Helio Castroneves?
It is Filipe Albuquerque into the car. Renger van der Zande still leads the motor race with Dane Cameron the new second place man aboard the #60 Meyer Shank Racing Acura ARX-05 DPi. A spot of bother through the Bus Stop for the #6 LMP3 car again. That's the Muehlner Motorsports America car we mentioned earlier. A battle developing in GTLM as well with the #25 BMW M8 GTE for BMW Team RLL and the beleaguered #79 WeatherTech Racing Porsche 911 RSR-19. Jimmie Johnson says AXR is trying to balance tire life, pace, and traffic. Into the lane now, the #01 Chip Ganassi Cadillac. Night racing is very difficult and mentally taxing for the drivers. The drivers' vision is definitely affecting and sleep management is a major deal.
More off-track excursions for the #6 LMP3 car that we've seen in the wars throughout this motor race. Moritz Kranz amazingly maintains the advantage in LMP3. He was being pressured by other cars in other classes and overshoots the braking zone. Lance Willsey has moved up to second in the #33 Sean Creech Motorsports entry while Filipe Albuquerque runs second in DPi and everything went dark in their pit lane. Something was going on with their generator, their power source. Kevin Magnussen continues to lead the motor race. Magnussen is back aboard the #01 Ganassi Racing Cadillac with the two Action Express cars in third and fourth.
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