DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. — The HSR Prototype Challenge presented by Michelin 90-minute race brought down the curtain on nearly 12 hours of on track activity Friday at Daytona International Speedway as excitement continues to build for the HSR Daytona Classic 24 Hour presented by Mission Foods.
The full Friday slate also included hour-long Michelin GT Challenge presented by Pirelli and BRM Legacy Enduro races, a handful of support sprints, and qualifying for all six run groups for the Classic 24, including the spotlight collection of 20 Sixties Endurance cars participating at Daytona as part of HSR’s collaboration with France’s Peter Auto.
The trio of Friday feature races created the perfect appetizer for the weekend’s main course – the HSR Classic Daytona 24, which flags off at 2 p.m. EST Saturday for 24 consecutive hours of competition, led off by the Peter Auto Sixties Endurance group.
Thursday morning opened with back-to-back one-hour endurance races, beginning with the Mission GT Challenge presented by Pirelli.
A full-course yellow eight minutes into the race prompted early pit stops and forced teams to adjust their strategies for the remainder of the contest.
Ben Myers made the most of the altered strategy, capitalizing on a late pit stop with fewer than 20 minutes remaining to charge to the front in his 901 Shop-prepared 2017 No. 29 Porsche 991.2 GT3 Cup. Myers went on to secure the overall and GT3 class victories.
The battle for second overall and in GT3 came down to the closing 10 minutes, with Jackson Dunn defending against Jon Manship in his 2019 No. 216 Porsche 991.2 GT3 R. Contact between the two brought the race to an early conclusion, but Dunn was credited with second overall and in GT3, while Manship completed the class podium in third.
In GT4, Kevin Clayton took control of the class when Kingpin Racing teammate John Eddlemon made a late pit stop in his 2024 No. 22 Porsche 718 Cayman GT4 Clubsport. Clayton drove his 2020 No. 03 Mercedes-AMG GT4 to the class victory.
Zach Bradford also gained ground following Eddlemon’s stop, securing second in the 2023 No. 14 Porsche 718 GT4 RS Clubsport shared with starting driver Ryan Camp. Jordan Bortolotti completed the GT4 podium in his 2023 No. 84 Porsche 718 Cayman GT4 CS after climbing from fifth in class and 17th overall at the start.
David Ward charged from 27th early in the race to finish ninth overall and claim the GT2 class victory in his 2019 No. 11 Audi R8 LMS GT2. Dana Blackhurst finished second in the 2025 No. 30 Toyota Camry TA2, with Joseph Viola rounding out the class podium in the 2026 No. 50 Ford Mustang TA2.
The B.R.M Chronographs Legacy endurance race followed, with a pair of early full-course yellows setting the stage for a one-hour contest that saw several changes in position before the final order was settled.
Angus Rogers inherited the lead following the second restart and controlled the remainder of the race in his KMW Motorsports 1973 No. 15 Porsche 911 RSR, securing victories overall and in Historic. The result came after a transmission change during Thursday night practice and followed Rogers’ victory the previous day in the SascoSports International-American Challenge presented by Hoosier, the opening race of the HSR Daytona Historics weekend.
Todd Treffert moved ahead of Barry Waddell in the 1992 No. 21 Porsche 964 Carrera Cup in his red 901 Shop-prepared 1972 No. 141 Porsche 911 S/T to secure second overall and the Vintage class victory. Waddell, sharing his Porsche with Alan Benjamin, finished third overall and second in Historic.
John Spiers continued his strong debut at Daytona International Speedway, completing the Historic podium in his 1967 No. 28 Ford Mustang.
David Agretelis added another podium finish for 901 Shop with second in Vintage aboard the 1972 No. 66 Porsche 911 S/T, following the team’s decision to change a second transmission during Wednesday’s practice. Teammate Craig Watkins recovered from a mid-race pit stop to finish third in Vintage, completing the class podium in his 1968 No. 46 Porsche 911 S/T.
The day shifted into night and the final race to conclude Friday’s on-track activities with the 90-minute HSR Prototype Challenge race.
Pierce Marshall and Eric Foss dominated in the 2017 No. 01 Cadillac Dallara DPi prepared by Matador Motorsports to cap off the day, leading all but two laps during the first of two mandatory 5-minute pit stops. The Cadillac DPi was the only entry competing in the P1 class, but it suffered a late scare with rising temperatures that will require an engine change prior to the Classic 24.
There was a spirited battle for second place overall and top honors among the 17 LMP3 class contestants. In the closing stages, Cole Gamma in the 2022 No. 95 Ligier JS P320 pulled away to prevail over Daniel Fortin in the 2023 No. 38 Ligier JS P 320. Both entries were fielded by Performance Tech Motorsports. Michael Schmitz and Dylan Murry were fortunate to claim third in the CS Motorsports-prepared 2019 No. 30 Norma M30 after running out of fuel during the cooldown lap.
Special mention goes to Mark Drain and Alfie Briggs, who led a pair of pit strategy-driven laps while piloting Drain’s 2016 No. 39 Honda ARX-04b to the P2 class triumph in the car’s maiden HSR appearance. In fact, this was the very first outing for one of the two existent ARX-04s since the only race the model ever contested – the 2015 Rolex 24 at Daytona. WA Motorsport prepared the car for its historic racing debut.
