Photo by: Eric Gilbert
The No. 5 Action Express Racing Corvette Daytona Prototype (DP) led the way for Chevrolet bringing home a fifth-place finish in the 50th running of the Rolex 24 Hour at Daytona. In Grand Touring (GT), the No. 57 Stevenson Motorsports Camaro GT.R was the top finisher for Chevrolet crossing the line in fourth place in class and 14th overall. The No. 90 Spirit of Daytona Racing Corvette DP finished eighth, with the No. 9 Action Express Racing Corvette DP crossing the finish line in ninth place. The No. 88 Autohaus Motorsports Camaro GT.R made a hard charge at the end to grab the ninth finishing position in the GT class and 20th overall.
DARREN LAW, CO-DRIVER WITH DAVID DONOHUE AND CHRISTIAN FITTIPALDI, NO. 5 ACTION EXPRESS RACING CORVETTE DP, FINISHED 5TH IN CLASS AND OVERALL: ON THE RACE: “You know what, that was probably one of the toughest 24 Hour I have done. We had a lot of adversity. We had some engine issues prior to the race; we had to miss qualifying. The first probably eight hours of the race, we had an electrical misfire, which really cut the motor back and we struggled. But, the guys worked really hard – Action Express, Chevrolet, Corvette – they all did a great job. I’m proud of the car. I’m proud of the team. You know, I mean, we didn’t get the win, that was what we really wanted. But the other thing I am very proud of is that we were the very first Chevrolet out of all the group out there. A top-five is a good start to the season and we are happy to finish it.”
DID YOU SEE A LOT OF PROMISE FOR THE FUTURE WITH THE NEW CORVETTE DP? “Yes, for sure. There is so much potential in this car. We literally got this car delivered to us the first of December so we barely had any time on it. For us to be in the top-five and run as well as we did; we see a lot of potential.”
YOUR ORGANIZATION HAD TO MAKE HUGE CHANGES TO GO INTO THIS SEASON: “Yes. I would say we’ve got the most adversity out of all the Corvette teams because we shifted chassis, engines and bodywork. Most the guys are just switching over bodywork. We still have a lot to learn, but we are competitive with everybody so we are happy with that.”
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JOHN EDWARDS, CO-DRIVER WITH ROBIN LIDDELL AND RONNIE BREMER, NO. 57 STEVENSON MOTORSPORTS CAMARO GT.R, FINISHED 4TH IN CLASS AND 14TH OVERALL: A FOURTH-PLACE FINISH IS A VERY GOOD WAY TO START THE SEASON, ISN’T IT? “Yeah, absolutely, especially with the endurance championship that’s going on later in the year. We got some good points for that, but it’s always hard to go through a 24-hour race, be chasing down a podium, but not quite get it. We knew this race we weren’t going to out-race the Porsches, but we tried to out-strategize them a little bit. We cut our fuel close, didn’t have to splash at the end, but in the end we still couldn’t get around or catch up to any of the top three Porsches.”
FOR THE MOST PART, IT SEEMED LIKE A PRETTY CONSISTENT RUN FOR THE TEAM THIS WEEKEND. WAS THAT THE CASE? “It was for the most part, but we actually had an incident shortly after sunrise when I was going around a lapped car in turn one. I drafted by him on the banking and left him room into one, but he must’ve missed a downshift and spun. I saw him spinning and tried to go out wide and not get hit, but he was accelerating across the wrong way of the track for me to avoid him. So, we did get hit and lost a lap from that, but we got our lap back later on.”
THE RACE SEEMED TO BE PRETTY INTENSE FROM START TO FINISH: “There’s always a different mindset in the middle of the night at Daytona or at the start of the first day than there is at the end, so the last stint that I drove was basically like a sprint race, as I was trying to pull away from the Ferrari behind me and catch up to the Porsche in front of me. So that intensity the same as a sprint race. But there is a different mindset to driving and you’re just trying to log laps and stay on the lead lap: You don’t take as many chances in traffic and you’re nicer to the car. We were saving fuel on a lot of stints. But the intensity of hitting your marks and staying focused is always at its peak.”
CAN YOU CARRY ANY MOMENTUM FROM THE RACE TO THE NEXT? “Well, the 24 is a very different race because it is 24 hours and the rest of them are less than three, so I think it’s important to have momentum and keep that going, but a lot of it depends on the tracks, depends on how we can get the car set up at certain tracks and how it’ll suit our car at different places. This track at Daytona is obviously, you know, a Porsche track, it always has been, kind of their place with the high banks and the extra horsepower they have on the straightaways. So a lot of tracks that are a tighter will suit us a little better. I think the street course in Detroit is going to suit us better, which is great because that’s where Pratt and Miller and Chevrolet is based. So, I think we’ll do well at certain places, but we always struggle to keep up at the high banks at Daytona.”
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