Trouble comes early in the Rolex 24 at Daytona

Several top teams experienced problems less than an hour into the 51st Rolex 24 at Daytona International Speedway.

First, Nick Tandy, the GT class pole sitter, slid off the track, causing extensive damage to the right side of the No. 32 Konrad Motorsport/Orbit Porsche. Tandy’s team fixed the damage, with the assistance of a new door. But the car is well down the running order only 30 minutes into the race.

Around the same time that Tandy left the pits, the No 3. 8Star Motorsports Corvette DP came rolling down the other end of the pit lane with gear box trouble. The team surveyed the damage and decided to push the car behind the wall to complete the necessary repairs. The car, in the hands of Stephen Sarrazin, started ninth in the 17-car Daytona Prototype field.

Just past the half-hour mark, AJ Allmendinger suffered a broken tie rod on the left front of the No. 60 Michael Shank Racing Ford Riley, last year’s race winning car. It was replaced and Allmendinger returned to the track

Scott Pruett led the race after starting from the pole in the Ganassi Racing BMW Riley. The leaders are just starting to make their first pit stops.