DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. — Roger Penske’s cars were running first and second a third of the way through the Rolex 24 at Daytona.
Penske has a pair of Acuras in the endurance race and both have run at the front of the field over the first eight hours of the event. Juan Pablo Montoya was credited with the lead at the mark.
Penske has promised to stay awake for both trips around the clock as he supports his sports car program. The team owner will be inducted into the NASCAR Hall of Fame next Friday night and turns 82 next month. His stamina and commitment to his race cars awed his drivers.
The race for the overall victory shrunk seven hours into the event when the No. 77 Mazda DPi caught fire because of a fuel leak. The car had started on the pole and broke a 26-year-old Daytona International Speedway qualifying record before its race came to a sudden halt. Minutes earlier, its sister car had the same problem, but Team Joest was able to repair the damage and send the car back on track.
DragonSpeed had the lead in LMP2 class eight hours into the race, while the Ferrari from Risi Competizione led the GT Le Mans class.
Riley Motorsports led the GT Daytona class in a Mercedes-AMG GT3.
The team Alex Zanardi is driving for was still climbing back from the six-lap deficit the team fell into when Zanardi’s steering wheel caused an electrical problem with the BMW.
http://www.espn.com/racing/story/_/id/25860537/team-penske-front-8-hours-rolex-24
