Chip Ganassi Racing secured their 200th win on Sunday as they finished first and second in the Rolex 24 at Daytona, with the two cars running virtually nose to tail for the duration of the event.
Ultimately, the #67 Ford GT of Ryan Briscoe, Richard Westbrook and Scott Dixon prevailed, winning by 11.180 seconds from the #66 of Joey Hand, Dirk Muller and Sebastien Bourdais, with the rest of the field two laps down or more.
Team owner Chip Ganassi says it was a great weekend at the Daytona International Speedway for both himself and the team, and he was happy that the race that was theirs to lose ultimately went their way.
“It’s obviously a great win and a great weekend,” said Ganassi. “In terms of the win, it was one of the most nerve-wracking races.
“You know, when you come out of the blocks like that and leading it after about three or four hours or something. After a certain amount of hours go around the clock a little bit, it’s your race to lose.
“It’s one thing not to win a race, it’s another to lose it. It was our race to lose and those are one of the worst races from my point of view, because everything is out of my control.”
Ganassi says everyone that contributed to the achievement deserves recognition for their work in preparing the two cars, and it is not just the drivers that deserve to be standing on the top two steps of the podium.
“My hats off to the team, the drivers, the engineers, the mechanics, the people that build the engines, and the people who built the cars,” said Ganassi.
“They’re the ones that deserve to be sitting up here along with the drivers and myself.”
