Roger Penske wins first Rolex 24 at Daytona since 1969 with Indy 500 winner Newgarden in lineup
Roger Penske snapped a 54-year losing streak at the Rolex 24 at Daytona when Felipe Nasr held off two-time defending race winner Tom Blomqvist in the final 45 minutes of the most prestigious endurance race in the United States
DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. (AP) — Roger Penske snapped a 54-year losing streak at the Rolex 24 at Daytona on Sunday when Felipe Nasr held off two-time defending race winner Tom Blomqvist in the final 45 minutes of the most prestigious endurance race in the United States.
The win for Team Penske at Daytona International Speedway was its first since “The Captain” restarted his sports car program in 2018, first with Acura and then last season as a two-car Porsche factory team. Penske's only other overall win at the Rolex came in 1969 with a lineup of Mark Donohue and Chuck Parsons, who was flown in the day before the race because regular driver Ronnie Bucknum fractured his finger in a motorcycle accident.
Team Penske also won the GT class in 1966, but he has chased the overall Rolex victory since ’69.
“To come back here and have both cars run for 24 hours, and then win the race, it's hard for me to believe,” Penske said. “This goes down as one of the biggest wins we've had."
