DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. — The 10th Running of the Historic Sportscar Racing Classic Daytona 24 Hour Presented by Mission Foods came to a close and competitive conclusion Sunday at Daytona Int’l Speedway.
A stout entry of more than 140 teams, drivers and cars from around the world raced in six different Run Groups on the DIS road course in a twice-around-the-clock succession of 24 back-to-back segments to celebrate the 10th running of the Rolex 24 At Daytona tribute race that began in 2014.
Each Run Group – from A through F – took to the track four different times over the course of the two-day event. In the end, five first time and one repeat overall Run Group winners emerged in a competitively appropriate milestone running for the flagship event in the HSR Classic Endurance Championship, Presented by Mission Foods.
In Saturday’s pre-race ceremonies, longtime HSR competitor Gray Gregory, and his co-drivers Randy Buck and Ethan Shippert, were honored as the top team in the first decade of HSR Classic competition. Gregory and his teammates won a record seven different HSR Classic races since the Classic 24 kicked off HSR’s premier lineup of endurance races in 2014.Â
Part of the Gregory team’s successful run was the distinction of being the first to win all three of the current HSR Classic races at Daytona, Sebring and Watkins Glen with the same team, car and driver lineup. Records in a sanctioning body as competitive as HSR rarely go unchallenged, however, and this weekend at Daytona another top HSR competitor stepped up to match Gregory’s HSR Classic triple sweep.
Run Group F
Driving the Matador Motorsports No. 02 Cadillac DPi with co-driver Eric Foss, Pierce Marshall finally broke through for his first HSR Classic 24 Hour victory with one of the most dominating wins of the race in Run Group F. With HSR Classic Run Group awards from Sebring (2022) and Watkins Glen (N.Y.) this year already on the shelf, Marshall and Foss convincingly captured a Classic 24 win after nearly a decade of trying.Â
Run Group B
Another strong run to victory lane was delivered by Jim Norman and Scooter Gabel in Run Group B. The duo drove Norman’s Alegra Motorsports prepared 1980 No. 00 Interscope Porsche 935 K3. Norman, Gabel and the European-supported Alegra team were well in control at the halfway mark and never let up through Sunday’s final two segments. The Group win was the first for Norman in HSR Classic competition and the second for Gabel and Alegra after they combined for a Group D victory in 2020. The victory was also the first for a Porsche 935 in 10 years of HSR Classic competition.Â
Run Group A
The third relatively trouble-free and convincing performance of the weekend produced the only back-to-back and repeat winner of this year’s HSR Classic 24. In Run Group A, defending race winners Gérard Lopez and former professional sports car racing World Endurance Champion Marcel Fassler scored a second-consecutive victory in the Iconic Racing 1969 No. 60 Lola T70 Mk III. Lopez and Fassler maintained a 40 second lead at the halfway mark and then cruised to the win in Sunday’s final segments to build a several lap cushion that was the largest margin of victory of the race. Fassler is now a perfect two-for-two in Group A after making his HSR debut in last year’s Classic 24 while Lopez secured his third Group A crown to go with previous victories last year and in 2017.
While the Group A, B and F winners turned in largely trouble-free runs to the finish, the other half of the 10th Classic 24 run order delivered the more familiar drama and close fights to the finish.
Run Group D
The drama dropped in Run Group D where what appeared to be an easy run to the win for Todd Sloan in his ex-Michael Shank Racing 2006 No. 601 Riley XX Daytona Prototype was almost a near miss. Sloan was in control and closing out the laps in Sunday’s fourth and final round only to be called to the pits for an inspection. Priceless time was lost as Sloan’s team and HSR officials examined the rear of the car and found nothing wrong. Sloan returned to the race with a great deal of his lead gone, but before anyone could really tell how much ground was lost, the No. 601’s nearest challenger came to a stop on track. The big bore R&R Motorsports 2002 No. 96 Ford Mustang AGT of Ray Bonthron and Darin Brassfield was a little over two minutes behind Sloan’s Riley heading into the fourth round but slowed with apparent mechanical issues just as the opportunity to make a move presented itself.
Run Group E
Run Group E, which had the honor of starting the HSR Classic 24 Hour on Saturday, proved to be the closest contest of the race with more than 30 pristinely prepared GT cars literally taking it down to the wire in Sunday morning’s group finale. The British duo of Mike Jordan and his son Andrew Jordan held the lead at halfway and going into the race’s fourth and final segment in their Jordan Racing Team 2011 No. 77 Porsche 997.2 GT3 Cup.
With the Jordans holding only just over a four-second gap on the closest challenger, however, a half dozen competitors went into the fourth and final round with a shot at the win. The Jordan’s fought to the finish with a second-place final segment run but were nipped for the victory and ultimately overall Group honors by the 2018 No. 898 Charles Wicht Racing Porsche 991.2 Cup of Michael Merritt and Steve Dunn. The No. 898 team led only the closing stages of the fourth segment, but that was enough for Dunn to take the checkered flag 11.342 seconds ahead of the Jordans for the closest finish of the 10th Anniversary HSR Classic Daytona 24 Hour Presented by Mission Foods.
Run Group C
Longtime historic and vintage racing team Autometrics and solo team driver Cory Friedman prevailed in another non-stop GT battle for their first overall HSR Classic race win with a Run Group C victory in the 1995 No. 14 Autometrics Porsche 993 RSR. The Porsche was the same one the Autometrics team campaigned in the 2001 Rolex 24 At Daytona as the only air-cooled, normally aspirated Porsche competing that year, and one of the last ever of that legendary type and generation to run in the Rolex 24.
All overall Run Group winners, and the top GT or Prototype finishers in each group, were presented with all-new and custom-made Wall Clocks from B.R.M. Chronographes. Displaying the same dial design as B.R.M.’s unique time pieces, the big clocks were once again a big hit with the 11 winners that each took one home.