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Michael Shank’s Ford Riley Leads Rolex24 At 6-Hour Mark

Daytona Beach, Fla. – Six hours into the running of the 49th Rolex24 at Daytona, the Michael Shank Ford Riley driven by Mark Blundell and co-drivers Mark Patterson, Martin Brundle and Zak Brown led the grueling event.

    Chip Ganassi and drivers Juan Pablo Montoya, Dario Franchitti, Jamie McMurray and Scott Dixon push their car to the starting line in a pre-race parade on pit road. [Joe Jennings Photo]

Second place was another Shank Ford piloted by A. J. Allmendinger, Justin Wilson and Michael McDowell. With Allmendinger behind the wheel, he powered into the lead shortly after the quarter-race mark was completed.

Sitting in third and fourth places were a pair of Porsche Riley’s with Max Papis and Buddy Rice the respective drivers.

Other favorites including the Ganassi BMWs, the Flying Lizard Porsche, the SunTrust Racing Chevrolet and the GAINSCO Chevrolet were slightly off the pace due to mechanical gremlins and off-course excursions.

One of the Ganassi cars suffered two flat tires, losing two laps and the other car lost a lap while changing a gear cluster. In spite of these difficulties, each car made up lost ground and was in contention at this point in the race.

The famed Brumos Porsche driven by Hurley Haywood and others led the GT class after six hours of competition.

Off-course excursions, bumping, banging and intense driving were common occurrences throughout the early stages of the race.

The race concludes Sunday afternoon at 3:30 p.m. ET and the final seven hours will be telecast by SPEED.

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