IMSA: Rolex 24 Finish Stands Despite Early Checkered
Felipe Nasr took the checkered flag to cement the overall victory in the 62nd Rolex 24 at Daytona Sunday. (IMSA photo)
DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. – International Motorsports Ass’n officials confirmed Monday evening that there was, indeed, an officiating error at the conclusion of the 62nd Rolex 24 at Daytona.
Monday’s announcement from IMSA confirmed confusion from the NBC broadcast, as well as assumptive reporting from Motorsports Hotspot after the race Sunday, that a mistake had occurred.
The miscue led to the race-winning No. 7 Porsche Penske Motorsport entry – co-driven by Felipe Nasr, Matt Campbell, Dane Cameron, and Josef Newgarden – seeing the checkered flag roughly 90 seconds before the 24-hour clock officially expired at Daytona Int’l Speedway.
“Due to an officiating error in race control, IMSA inadvertently announced and subsequently displayed the white flag with under three minutes remaining in Sunday’s race,” read a statement from IMSA. “At the end of the lap, the race-leading No. 7 GTP car then received the checkered flag with 1 minute, 35.277 seconds still remaining, ending the race short of the planned 24 hours by effectively one lap.”
Despite the premature end to the twice-around-the-clock endurance classic, the IMSA statement noted that no adjustments would be made to the final results, in accordance with the IMSA Rule Book.
“Based on Article 49 of the 2024 IMSA Sporting Regulations and Standard Supplementary Regulations, should the checkered flag be inadvertently or otherwise displayed before the leading car completes the scheduled number of laps or before the prescribed time has been completed, the race is nevertheless deemed ended when the flag is displayed,” the statement concluded.
The Whelen Action Express Racing No. 31 Cadillac of Tom Blomqvist, Pipo Derani, and Jack Aitken trailed the race-winning Penske Porsche 963 by 2.112 seconds at the flagged distance.
Third overall and in the GTP class was the No. 40 Wayne Taylor Racing with Andretti Acura co-driven by Jenson Button, Louis Deletraz, Colton Herta, and Jordan Taylor.
The IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship season continues March 13-16 with the Mobil 1 12 Hours of Sebring at Sebring (Fla.) Int’l Raceway.
Attention Drivers and Race Teams!
Do you need to rev up your brand? At Victory Lane Design, we specialize in one thing, getting you noticed!
It's time to accelerate your brand into the fast lane with Victory Lane Design.
Where Winning Counts!
