Commentary
IMSA
The Rolex 24 presented by NASCAR
What went on with the call at the end of the Rolex 24?
Covy Moore
Edited: Jan 26, 2014, 10:13 PM
Copy link
Share on Viber
I described my emotion concerning the start of the 2014 racing season in North America earlier this week.
My feelings have turned however.
I am needing sleep, lunch, and to turn my tv off, but I watched almost all this year’s edition of the Rolex 24 at Daytona.
The race was great. It had everything. Great battles, close competition, attrition…what else can you ask for?
But as the race winded down, the battle on track for the overall win between the two Action Express cars and the Wayne Taylor Racing car was heating up, when all of a sudden the caution came out.
Now, I don’t know what exactly was happening at the track outside of what television was showing me, but something felt really fishy.
The Alex Job Racing Porsche found itself against the tire barriers at the International Horseshoe. The car quickly turned around and moved on after the contact. But yet, a full course caution came out.
Race action at night
Photo by: Trevor Horn
Cars touched walls, spun out and stalled for 23 hours and 40 minutes prior, with race officials never deciding to throw the caution, unless there was true danger. But with 20 minutes left they found it necessary to toss out the yellow laundry, for a routine "local" incident.
I suppose having two drivers in hospital after a very scary accident in the second hour, an incident caused by a slow(ing) car, maybe they thought something really bad might happen…but it never made them make the call at any point earlier in the race…
Either way, the move stacked up the field. Brought the Wayne Taylor and Action Express entries together for an 7 minute battle to the checkers.
I am all for close battles to the flag. That is one of the best parts of racing, that pure excitement that flows through your veins when your favorite driver is pushing for a win with only laps left. But not when it feels this artificial.
The real loser in the whole situation has to be the Level 5 Ferrari guys. They were battling extremely cleanly with the Flying Lizard number 45 entry. Coming through the kink on the final circuit, side by side was not going to work and the Audi took to the grass without any contact with the Ferrari team.
The officials immediately applied a 75-second penalty to the Level 5 team, despite them crossing the finish line first.
When Grand-Am (NASCAR) came together with ALMS. Much of the racing world was ecstatic. But in each one of our minds, knowing that there would be a big chunk of that NASCAR sanctioning body behind the new series we all had concerns.
Today we saw the first step the TUDOR United SportsCar Championship took in the NASCAR-ization of the series. Let’s hope it was a one off occurance…
We want your opinion!
What would you like to see on Motorsport.com?
Take our 5 minute survey.
- The Motorsport.com Team
Read and post comments
Read also :
Share Or Save This Story
Copy link
Share on Viber
Previous article All Ford EcoBoost teams lead laps at Daytona
Next article WeatherTech Racing finishes eighth at Daytona
Top Comments
There are no comments at the moment. Would you like to write one?
View More & Comment
More from
Covy Moore
Track limits at Austin: where is the line?
IMSA
IMSA
Austin
Track limits at Austin: where is the line?
Guy Martin still wants to race after huge shunt at Ulster
Other bike
Other bike
Ulster GP
Guy Martin still wants to race after huge shunt at Ulster
Beyond the limit: Experiencing the Ulster Grand Prix
Other bike
Other bike
Ulster GP
Beyond the limit: Experiencing the Ulster Grand Prix
More from
Wayne Taylor
Bourdais, Moss headline second batch of Sebring's 75 all-time greatest drivers
IMSA
IMSA
Bourdais, Moss headline second batch of Sebring's 75 all-time greatest drivers
Wayne Taylor can't stop winning
IMSA
IMSA
Daytona 24 Hours
Wayne Taylor can't stop winning
Jenson Button, Marcus Ericsson complete WTR Andretti roster for Daytona
IMSA
IMSA
Petit Le Mans Road Atlanta
Jenson Button, Marcus Ericsson complete WTR Andretti roster for Daytona
More from
Alex Job Racing
Alex Job Racing quits pro racing to focus on historics
IMSA
IMSA
Alex Job Racing quits pro racing to focus on historics
WeatherTech Racing switches to PWC
SRO America
SRO America
WeatherTech Racing switches to PWC
Bomarito takes brilliant pole for Mazda
IMSA
IMSA
Road America
Bomarito takes brilliant pole for Mazda
Latest news
George Russell: F1 2026 season a test of "character and resilience"
Formula 1
F1 Formula 1
United States GP
55 min
George Russell: F1 2026 season a test of "character and resilience"
Marc Marquez: ‘Jorge Martin rides on instinct; he just attacks, and that’s his strength’
MotoGP
MGP MotoGP
Australian GP
1 h
Marc Marquez: ‘Jorge Martin rides on instinct; he just attacks, and that’s his strength’
Lamborghini Super Trofeo | North America, Race 2: Bamber dominates to take the win
Lamborghini Super Trofeo
LBST Lamborghini Super Trofeo
World Finals - Monza 2026
1 h
Lamborghini Super Trofeo | North America, Race 2: Bamber dominates to take the win
Belgian firm to take over Renault/Alpine engine facility in Viry
WEC
WEC WEC 2 h
Belgian firm to take over Renault/Alpine engine facility in Viry
Subscribe and access Motorsport.com with your ad-blocker.
From Formula 1 to MotoGP we report straight from the paddock because we love our sport, just like you. In order to keep delivering our expert journalism, our website uses advertising. Still, we want to give you the opportunity to enjoy an ad-free and tracker-free website and to continue using your adblocker.
You have 2 options:
- Become a subscriber.
- Disable your adblocker.
Subscribe now Already subscribed? Sign in here
Already disabled your adblocker?
Reload page
Manage Alerts
Subscribe