SEBRING, FL (Pittsburgh Racing Now) – Things were looking promising for Cadillac Chip Ganassi Racing through the first eight hours of the 71st running of the 12-Hours of Sebring endurance race but disaster struck in hour nine.

Sebastien Bourdais was leading the field when things started going wrong on the No. 01 Cadillac V-Series.R forcing the car to pit road.  Smoke and flames could be seen coming out from underneath the bodywork as the car came down pit road.

“The No. 01 Cadillac V-Series.R experienced a fuel distribution system issue,” Cadillac Racing said in a statement. “It is the first time we have seen it in testing — including a successful 24-hour test at Sebring International Raceway in November and two days of testing at the track in February — and race conditions. Cadillac Racing will figure out the root cause and prepare for the next race.”

“The team has worked hard to prepare for this race,” said Mike O’Gara, CGR Director of Operations. “We proved we have a fast race car and great pit stops. Some things happen that are out of your control, but that’s racing. I’m proud of the effort from the entire team, and I know we’ll keep at it and continue chasing this championship.”

The No. 01 Caddy started from the front row and led 120-laps in the race before the retirement with Bourdais grabbing the lead after just over an hour.

“It’s obviously pretty disappointing for everybody,” said Bourdais, a two-time 12-Hour winner.  “The car was quick. Cadillac seems to have something that works pretty well at Sebring, so that’s really encouraging. I think we made some great progress from Daytona in performance, so that’s also encouraging for the rest of the season after finishing on the podium. It’s great to see the program heading in the right direction and everyone at Chip Ganassi Racing and Cadillac are working very hard to make progress.”

6-time NTT INDYCAR SERIES Champion Scott Dixon added to the lead following the first driver change, building a 47-second lead before turning over the driving duties to Renger van der Zande following the fourth pit-stop, 4-hours and 7-minutes into the race.

“It was quite the race,” said Dixon. “The car was really fast and I felt like everybody on the team did a tremendous job. We had some ups and downs, but ultimately, we were top-three most of the race and led a good majority of it. Just bummed that it ended the way it did, and we didn’t win the race. It’s one that’s eluded me, and it would have been great to take this one. But, we had great speed, great teamwork and everybody did a hell of a job.”

van der Zande was just as quick, setting the fastest lap of the race (1:48.311) on lap 165.

“Sebring is a special one, and it’s a shame that it didn’t fall in our direction,” said van der Zande. “We had a strong Cadillac car here and while we’ve been testing all over, we’re still trying to improve things across the board. We’re still learning. We go deep to try to optimize performance. It’s just an unfortunate end to the race after showing so much speed.”

The No. 01 Cadillac crew will compete in their next IMSA race on April 15 in Long Beach, California.

DAYTONA, FL (Pittsburgh Racing Now) – Meyer Shank Racing kicked off a new era of IMSA racing by winning their second straight Rolex 24 at Daytona, the twice around the clock endurance classic that kicks off the annual Motorsports calendar in the United States.

Tom Blomqvist drove the pole-winning No. 60 MSR Acura ARX-06 to a 4.190-second victory ahead of Filipe Albuquerque in the No. 10 Konica Minolta Acura ARX-06 from Wayne Taylor Racing with Andretti Autosport, to capture the Grand Touring Prototype (GTP) class win in the first race with hybrid-powered prototypes. It was the second consecutive and third overall Rolex 24 victory for the MSR, which led a race-best 365 of the 783 laps.

“What a car we’ve built and I’m so grateful to be able to drive that and be trusted with the duty to take it to the finish,” said Blomqvist.  “Amazing, I was a bit nervous because the (No.) 10 car was definitely the second fastest car when it came down to it. But yeah, we held it off and had to take it to another level to secure this victory. I just have to say, a massive ‘well done’ to everyone who’s been a part of this project.”

Ricky Taylor finished second in the No. 10 Wayne Taylor Racing with Andretti Autosport Acura.

“First of all, it was an amazing job by Acura and HPD for giving us two cars to fight for the win,” said Taylor.  “I don’t think it can be overstated how amazing that accomplishment is when considering the likes of Porsche and BMW and the struggles they had. Our cars ran flawlessly. To our team, this accomplishment of consecutive top-two finishes is really unprecedented, especially considering it persists through different car manufacturers and specifications. This is our ninth top two since 2013, and I don’t think any other team in the world has that type of consistency in 24-hour races.”

Chip Ganassi Racing came home in third and fourth with Renger van der Zane brining the No. 01 Cadillac V-LMDh home in third place followed by teammate Earl Bamber in the No. 02 Caddy in fourth.

“Yeah, finishing second or third is not what we came for, but hey it’s the first time and we got points for podium to start the season off with Ganassi,” said van der Zande. “At the end of the day, we didn’t have the pace to win, and we didn’t have the speed on the straights to win. It’s time to collect and see where we can improve as a team. I think it’s a tribute to GM and to Dallara and Ganassi to build a car that lasts for 24 hours. I think that is an amazing thing and yeah, congrats to the winners.”

“I think just an all-around good job by Chip Ganassi Racing and Cadillac to come out and run 24 hours and have both cars on the lead lap, have both cars with potential to be on the podium,” said Bamber. “Missed a little bit of pace to Acura and hate we missed out on the podium, but its good points in the championship. Now we can go on to Sebring and WEC.”

Proton Competition took the victory in the Le Mans Prototype 2 (LMP2) category in a photo finish as James Allen eked out the narrowest of victories by just 0.016 seconds over Ben Hanley in the No. 04 Crowdstrike by APR ORECA.

The No. 17 AWA Duqueine D08 turned the Le Mans Prototype (LMP3) class race into a 24-hour romp as drivers Anthony Mantella, Wayne Boyd, Nico Varrone and Thomas Merrill dominated at Daytona.  Most other cars in the class faced mechanical or other issues during the race. The margin of victory for the No. 17 AWA Duqueine over the second-place No. 33 Sean Creech Motorsport Ligier JS P320 was a whopping 12 laps.

In the GT Daytona Pro (GTD PRO) Class, Cooper MacNeil co-drove the No. 79 WeatherTech Racing Mercedes-AMG GT3 to the class victory alongside Mercedes factory drivers Maro Engel, Daniel Juncadella and Jules Gounon in MacNeil’s last start as an IMSA WeatherTech SportCar driver.

The next race for the IMSA WeatherTech Sport Car Championship is the 12-Hours of Sebring March 15-18 at Sebring International Raceway.

Sunday’s Racing Notebook has the lineups for the NTT INDYCAR SERIES race at the Mid-Ohio Sports Car Complex, IMSA’s race at the Canadian Tire Motorsports Park plus NASCAR at Road America and SRX at Stafford.

O’Ward Wins INDYCAR Mid-Ohio Pole:

• Arrow McLaren SP’s Patricio O’Ward is on the pole position for Sunday’s NTT INDYCAR SERIES race at the Mid-Ohio Sports Car Complex.  O’Ward’s fast lap of of 1 minute, 6.7054 seconds in the No. 5 Chevrolet edged Team Penske’s Scott McLaughlin, who will start second after a fast lap of 1:06.8382 in the No. 3 Chevrolet.  Andretti Autosport’s Colton Herta will start third (1:07.0262) with O’Ward’s teammate Felix Rosenqvist alongside in fourth (1:07.2163).  Scott Dixon led Chip Ganassi Racing with a fast lap of 1:07.4047 in the No. 9 PNC Bank Honda.  Dixon’s CGR teammates Alex Palou starts seventh, Indy 500 winner Marcus Ericsson starts 13th and Jimmie Johnson starts 27th. IndyCar Mid Ohio Lineup

Blomqvist Puts Acura on CTMP IMSA Pole:

• Tom Blomqvist set an IMSA record in the No. 60 Acura around the iconic 2.459-mile, 10-corner Canadian Tire Motorsports Park road course in 1 minute, 4.394 seconds for an average speed of 137.472 mph. The fastest previous lap, ironically, was set by Blomqvist’s current teammate Oliver Jarvis in 2019 at Daytona International Speedway (136.792 mph).  Ricky Taylor and Filipe Albuquerque will start second in the No. 10 Acura.  The JDC Miller Cadillac lines up third followed by the No. 02 Chip Ganassi Racing Cadillac.  The No. 01 CGR Caddy will start sixth. IMSA CTMP Lineup

Elliott On NASCAR Cup Series Road America Pole:

• Hendrick Motorsports Chase Elliott is on the NASCAR Cup Series pole position for Sunday’s road course race at Road America.  Elliott’s fast lap of 134.427-seconds (108.407 mph) was a tick faster than Stewart Haas Racing’s Chase Briscoe, who will start second (108.376 mph).  Elliott’s HMS teammate Kyle Larson starts third (108.21mph) with Richard Childress Racing’s Tyler Reddick fourth (108.155mph), and Team Penske’s Austin Cindric fifth (108.123mph). Cup Series Road America Lineup

Gibbs Takes Xfinity Win At Road America:

• Joe Gibbs Racing’s Ty Gibbs passed Hendrick Motorsports Kyle Larson on the final lap of NASCAR Overtime to win Saturday’s NASCAR Xfinity Series race at Road America. Larson was leading as he passed under white flag, but Gibbs drafted Larson down the frontstretch, took advantage of an opening to the inside in Turn 3 and powered his No. 54 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota past Larson for the lead and the win.

Newman Bumps Andretti For First SRX Win:

• Ryan Newman used the bump-and-run to pass Marco Andretti for the Superstar Racing Experience (SRX) victory at Stafford Motor Speedway.  Andretti held off Paul Tracy for second.  Tony Stewart finished fourth and Bobby Labonte rounded out the Top 5. Ryan Hunter-Reay won Heat 1 and Labonte won Heat 2. Next up for the Camping World SRX Series is the Nashville Fairgrounds on Saturday, July 9.