The historic race, the longest endurance race run in America, used to attract an international field, filled with big factory teams. The race has lost some stature since the 70s and 80s but it is still the 24 Hours of Daytona. Even in the cold and the pouring rain, the grandstands were full.
The 10 SunTrust Ford-Dallara started on the pole followed by the 60 and 06 Michael Shank Ford-Rileys.
Two Telmex-Chip Ganassi cars started fourth and fifth. The fourth-place Ganassi machine had an all-star crew: number one and two IndyCar drivers, Dario Franchitti and Scott Dixon, with NASCAR stars Juan Pablo Montoya and Jamie McMurray. The other car was driven by former series champions Scott Pruett and Memo Rojas, along with Max Papis and IndyCar star Justin Wilson.
Representing last year’s winning team, Brumos Racing, the 59 Brumos Porsche-Riley was co-piloted by 62-year-old Hurley Haywood, driving at Daytona for the possibly the last time. Haywood has won Sebring three times, Le Mans four times, and has won five times at Daytona. Haywood shared the driver’s seat with last year’s winning drive Dave Donohue, 2001 GT champion Darren Law, sports car veteran and 1994 winner Butch Leitzinger, and IndyCar racing star and 2008 GT winner Raphael Matos.
Starting fifteenth, was the defending series champion Gainsco #99 Chevrolet-Riley. NASCAR Sprint Cup champion Jimmie Johnson, guest driving, hit a slower car in practice on Thursday, destroying the car. The crew labored until the morning of the race to repair the car. They got the car ready, but since it didn’t qualify, it has to start last in the Daytona Prototype field.
The field was full of big-name drivers: Audi Le Mans drivers Lucas Luhr and Mike Rockenfeller, Porsche factory drivers Sascha Massen and Patrick Long, Peugeot Le Mans pilot Sebastien Bourdais, IndyCar drivers Ryan Hunter Reay and Darren Manning, NASCAR driver AJ Almendinger in the DP class, and more in GT. 
The Race Is On
After five laps under caution, the rain eased off and the racing began, and immediately a multi-car battle for the lead ensued.
Scott Pruett in the Telmex Ganassi car charged to the front of the pack from fifth, pole sitter Max Angellelli dropped to fourth, and Scott Tucker in the Crown Royal/NPN Racing BMW-Riley passed Scott Dixon in the 02 Telmex Ganassi.
After a pair of yellow flags, Scott Dixon in the 02 Ganassi had the lead, followed by Max Angellelli, Memo Gidley, Scott Tucker, and Ricardo Zonta in the fluorescent green Krohn Racing Lola-Ford.
Despite the terrible conditions, there werem not many collisions of off-track excursions. By lap 34, the track started drying somewhat and pit crews started laying out slicks.
On lap 35 Angellelli passed Dixon for the lead but a few laps later had to pit with a flat. Ricardo Zonta took off charging, moving into second on lap 37.
On lap 43 Zonta took the Krohn Lola into the lead
Angellelli flatted and had to pit from the lead, followed by Scott Pruett, Oswaldo Negri Jr, Alex Gurney, and David Donohue in the #59 Brumos Porsche. The drivers were racing like they were in a sprint race, not a 24-hour endurance race; all through the field, cars were dueling for position.
Zonta pitted for slicks, came out and spun into the tire wall on lap 50. The running order then was Scott Pruett, Oswaldo Negri Jr, Scott Tucker, Michael Valiante, and Buddy Rice in the Spirit of Daytona Racing Porsche-Coyote
By lap sixty the order was Scott Dixon, Alex Gurney in the 99 Gainsco car, and Burt Frisselle in the #60 Michael Shank Ford-Riley, followed by Scott Pruett.
Five laps later Michael Valiante in the #6 Shank car took fourth behind Pruett, while Frisselle fell to fifth. 
The Big Guns Running the Show
After three hours, the big Grand Am teams—Telmex Ganassi, Gainsco Stallings, Shank Racing—were leading the race.
On lap 81 With Dixon in the lead and turning fast laps on the drying track, #19 Ricardo Romagnoli spun, bringing out the fourth full-course caution.
When the race went green on lap 85, Dario Franchitti had taken over from IRL rival Scott Dixon, keeping the Ganassi car in the lead; Burt Frisselle moved up to second. NASCAR star Jimmie Johnson had the 99 Gainsco car in third, followed by Nic Jonson in the Krohn Lola and then Brian Frisselle in the 06 Shank car. Within three laps Brian Frisselle moved into third and Nic Jonson in the Krohn Lola into fourth.
On lap 94, the order was Franchitti, Burt Frisselle, Brian Frisselle, Nic Jonson, and NASCAR champ Jimmie Johnson in the Gainsco car he wrecked in practice. Johnson ran a few laps slowly, getting the feel of the track, and then attacked Jonson, taking fourth on lap 96.
One-and-a-half seconds covered the top three cars at this point.
On lap 103, Johnson got his foot stuck under the throttle coming off the banking and had to take the escape road. On the next lap the fifth full-course caution was called for debris on the track.
At four hours, the order Dario Franchitti, Brian Frisselle, Mike Rockenfeller in the #9 Action Express Racing Porsche-Riley, Nic Jonsson, and Richard Westbrook in the #95 Crown Royal/NPN Racing BMW-Riley.
After four hours the race had run under green for almost three hours; only 19 laps were run under caution, which was amazing considering the track was flooded for the first third of the race.
On lap 117, Mike Rockenfeller made a banzai move to pass Brian Frisselle in traffic, squeezing past and dodging a GT car on the damp track. No one had told the drivers that this was a 24-hour race apparently.
The GT Battle
As always, the battle in GT was intense and ongoing. Four different drivers held the lead in the first 22 laps: Jordan Taylor in the 30 Racers Edge Motorsports Mazda RX-8, then Patrick Long in the 67 TRG/Flying Lizard Motorsports Porsche GT3, Joey Hand in the 94 Turner Motorsport BMW M6-Riley, then Martin Ragginger in the 23 Alex Job Racing Porsche GT3. Ragginner started in 23rd, and moved up to 13th overall to take the lead.
By the three-hour mark, GT was also a battle of the big names, as Dominik Farnbacher in the Alex Job Porsche led Jorg Bergmeister in the TRG/Flying Lizard car, followed by Bill Auberlen’s BMW, and the two TRG Porsches driven by Timo Bernhard and Wolf Henzler.
After four hours Porsche had moved to the top of GT. The GT running order was Wolf Henzlerin the 66 TRG Porsche GT3, Porsche factory driver Romain Dumas in the 71 TRG Porsche GT3, Johannes van Overbeek in the 67 TRG/Flying Lizard Motorsports Porsche GT3, Dominik Farnbacher in the 23 Alex Job Racing Porsche GT3, and, in the only non-Porsche of the top five, Le Mans veteran Jan Magnussen in the brand-new Stevenson Motorsports Camaro GT.R.
With the race only one-sixth done, the tone was set: non-stop action, constant dueling, and everybody racing hard. The remaining sixteen hours? More excitement is a safe prediction.
