That is all we have time for IMSA Radio for Peacock viewers. We rejoin with NBC Sports and NASCAR Productions. Swap over to USA or stay on Peacock, ladies and gentlemen. Dave Burns, Brian Till, and Steve Letarte, we are rejoining them. The sun comes up over the speedway wall and it is a magical feeling. It means a ton. We've made it through the hardest part of the race. The tension thickens building to the final stint. Start pushing the limits and setting up the chessboard. Our weather has no real rain and it is still warm with a northernly wind at nine miles an hour. Dave Burns, Brian Till, and Steve Letarte are our commentators for the morning stint.
Action Express still leading the motor race. I am late to the party for the 17th hour here. I was still in the 16th hour. With AXR, well, Whelen Racing love the trophy hunt. In 1965, Dave Clark Five had a song called "Catch Me If You Can" and that is what AXR has been doing. There slight damage on the back of the car but it is obviously of no real consequence currently. No news is good news and that is the same deal for the #57 Winward Racing Mercedes. In LMP2 as we check in on them, Connor Zilisch is barely ahead of Toby Sowery. Pato O'Ward, Tom Dillmann, and others are still in the fight. The top six are all in contention.
Toby Sowery and Connor Zilisch are both rookies, but they are really showing their talents. The LMP2 cars are in an odd speed bracket. GTP and LMP2 chasing down the two GT Daytona classes, Pro and regular. LMP2 cars are faster than the GTD and much slower than the GTP cars. Connor Zilisch is a rising star. The #80 Lone Star Racing Mercedes with Australian Scott Andrews at the controls, sharing with Rui Andrade, Salih Yoluc, and Adam Christodoulou. Andrews, 33 years old, from Victoria, Australia.
Still just under seven and a half hours to go. Crewmen sleeping on benches and on piles of tires. This is the end of zombie land, but we are getting the espresso machines working for breakfast in a wee while. The crew members are totally exhausted though. A few GTP teams with IndyCar teams have extra pit crews. There is an A team and a B team. Jordan Taylor aboard the #40 WTR Andretti Acura in sixth spot after running second and holding station with Pipo Derani. Keep an eye on the mirror and stay out of trouble.
We go onboard with Fredric Vervisch in the #65 Ford Mustang GT3. The FIA WEC rules are slightly different to IMSA. Nick Tandy seems to be reeling in Pipo Derani, again. Philip Ellis leads GT Dyatona and Neil Verhagen leads GT Daytona Pro. Paul Miller Racing showed Pro level pace last year in 2023. Madison Snow is now a BMW factory driver as well. Winward Racing leads GT Daytona and they have had ups and downs. Lucas Auer had a huge practice crash and had trouble during the race as well and they had a whole new tub for the car. Good to see them having a smoother race in 2024. They have won this race before.
Bryce Ward, Russell's dad, runs in Michelin Pilot Challenge as well. Daniel Morad is getting set to get back in the car. No espresso yet. The race car is the caffeine. The sun will rise soon. We still have seven hours of racing remaining. We'll have a full length of the 6 Hours of Watkins Glen or a World Endurance race coming up in just over ten minutes. We are glad you are with us here at Daytona on this Sunday morning in the wee small hours. Smoke emanating from the Corvette with a burnt out taillamp and there's trouble, maybe. This is car #3. There is discoloration on the rear bumper.
The car is still smoking. If they stop leaking you are out of fluid and your engine or transmission goes bang. There's fire in the engine compartment. A small oil leak for Antonio Garcia. A mist of oil onto the headers. There is a leak in the top of the motor with the flames out the taillamp assembly. This car is a new build of course. Nick Tandy is now running only 8/10ths of a second down on Pipo Derani. One Cadillac vs. a sea of Porsche's in GTP. No fire out the taillamp this lap for the Corvette. They have an idea from telemetry. There is a leak someplace. Strategize how to fix it on a routine stop.
The #04 APR CrowdStrike car is in the pit lane and so is the #8 Tower Motorsports entry. We are closing in on the end of the 17th hour. A Full Course Yellow would help the Corvette but be a hindrance to the top two in GTP. Connor Zilisch third in LMP2 and could cycle back to the front in his first endurance race and his IMSA debut. Connor Zilisch is a stock car driver. He was recommended by an engineer on the team. He is a stock car driver and he is doing very well. He has a developmental deal with Trackhouse Racing.
The sun is about to rise, in a half hour, breaking through the clouds. It is gorgeous.
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