In a knock-out drag-out battle over the last half hour of the 2021 Rolex 24 at Daytona, Felipe Albuquerque, in the No. 10 Wayne Taylor Racing Acura DPi, was able to hold off Renger Van Der Zande, in the No. 01 Chip Ganassi Racing DPi for the lead. When Van Der Zande suffered a cut tire with just over seven minutes remaining, Albuquerque just needed to coast home for the win.
The winning team of drivers were: Albuquerque, Ricky Taylor, Alexander Rossi and Helio Castroneves.
This marks Wayne Taylor Racing’s third victory in a row in the Rolex 24, and it’s their fourth win in the last five editions of the iconic endurance event.
Kamui Kobayashi brought home the Action Express Racing No. 48 Ally Racing DPi home in second-place and was just 4.7-seconds behind after 24-hours of racing action.
Kobayashi’s team also featured seven-time NASCAR Cup Series champion Jimmie Johnson. Johnson was attempting the Rolex 24 for the eighth time and just missed out on his first win in the event.
This is Johnson’s third second-place finish in the Rolex 24.
Harry Tincknell brought home the No. 55 Mazda Racing DPi in third, while Juan Pablo Montoya finsihed fourth in the Meyer Shank No. 60 Acura DPi.
Montoya’s team also featured current NASCAR driver AJ Allmendinger.
The Chip Ganassi Racing No. 01 team finished a heartbreaking fifth after the late tire failure.
Chase Elliott’s Action Express Racing No. 31 Whelen Engineering team finished eighth overall, 25 laps off the pace. The No. 31 was in the mix for the win until mechanical issues doomed their chances with under six hours remaining in the event.
The No. 51 Rick Ware Racing LMP2 team featuring Cody Ware and Austin Dillon, finished fourth in the LMP2 class and were 10th overall in the race.
