DAYTONA BEACH, Fla — The Rolex 24 is often portrayed as a refined and gentlemanly competition of both endurance and speed.
Try saying that to the garages of both the Pratt Miller Corvette and Paul Miller BMW teams. A 24-hour race of endurance for them ended as a high-stakes Demolition Derby.
Within just the final three hours of this Daytona International Speedway crown jewel for IMSA, both teams clashed on the track on multiple occasions. The result was bent, burnt sheet metal along with some hurt feelings.
“It’s embarrassing on [BMW’s] part to race like that,” Corvette racer Tommy Milner told Frontstretch. “It’s a shame that that’s how they want to race … If they want to continue the race like that, I don’t think IMSA is going to take too kindly to it.”
The issues began when the No. 4 Corvette entry driven by Milner was leading in the GTD Pro class with around three hours left in the 24-hour race. Trailing close behind him was the No. 1 Paul Miller BMW entry driven by Madison Snow in second.
However, ahead of Milner was the lapped traffic of Augusto Farfus, driver of the No. 48 BMW and Snow’s teammate.
The BMW ahead of Milner stayed ahead of the class leader for as long as he could. It appeared to be an attempt to hinder the Corvette, assisting teammate Snow.
As the lapped car raced the Corvette hard, frustration swelled.
“The No. 48 BMW that’s laps down, whether it’s the driver, the team, or BMW themselves clearly gave him orders to hold me up,” Milner continued. “To basically slow me down enough so that the car can get by is just a poor standard of driving … BMW should be embarrassed.”
The No. 48 eventually swerved in front of the No. 4 and blocked him, taking notice of IMSA race control. Farfus was handed a drive-through penalty as a result.
However, things only got worse.
In the international horseshoe on the next lap, Farfus slowed down to leisurely speeds and impeded Milner. The result was contact between the Nos. 4 and 1, slicing the right-rear fender nearly off.
Tommy Milner is NOT HAPPY. 🐦
— NBC Sports (@NBCSports) January 26, 2025
📺: Peacock | #Rolex24 pic.twitter.com/dMaK58o8NJ
Milner was livid.
“For sure, I’m frustrated in the moment,” Milner said. “I can’t change anything now. Obviously, it is what it is. I had a lot of respect for Augusto in the past, and I’ve lost a lot today, unfortunately … The 48 should be pulled from the race if that’s how they’re going to use that.
“You can’t wait for a guy on the racetrack. You can’t slow him down to let your teammate go by. You can’t block. You can’t brake check. I mean, everything that you could possibly think of he did to try to keep me [from passing]. It’s just wrong.”
That wasn’t the end of it, either.
The final 30 laps came down to an all-out brawl between four different teams in the GTD Pro class. With only minutes left in the race, it was the No. 1 BMW of Kelvin van der Linde that was sitting in third, pushing to overtake the second-place No. 3 Corvette driven by Alexander Sims. In fourth was the No. 4, still battered from its earlier contact with the No. 48. Now, it was driven by Argentinian driver Nico Varrone.
With 11 minutes to go, the trio sailed into turn 1 with only a handful of laps left in the endurance race when Varrone believed he saw a gap under the No. 1 and went for it.
Nico Varrone terminó 7° en su categoría y 23° en general en las 24hs de Daytona!
— 43 ★ (@ColapintoFiles) January 26, 2025
Venía segundo hasta que esta maniobra le jugó una mala pasada en los últimos 10 minutos y recibió una sanción (y se vengó ;) ).
HIZO PATRIA 🇦🇷🌟 pic.twitter.com/LqsAgW0PMq
The No. 1 spun around as a result of the contact and, while the damage wasn’t severe and the No. 4 was penalized for it, the crash caused the BMW to miss out on the GTD Pro podium.
Many speculated the incident was undoubtedly payback for the earlier scuffle between Milner and Farfus. However, Varrone denied it wholeheartedly.
“I thought he was going to go wide to prepare for the exit, and I went on the inside, and we made contact,” a bloodshot-eyed Varrone told Frontstretch. “Sorry for that. I didn’t mean to do it. I tried to go for the gap for the podium. It was a bad move. Sorry.”
The South African van der Linde was understandably frustrated with the result, but upon hearing Varrone’s apology, he accepted it immediately.
“Well, if he apologized, then there’s nothing really to talk about,” van der Linde told Frontstretch. “Respect to him for apologizing, and yeah, we move on.”
The overall result was the No. 3 Corvette – which was the only car not involved in an accident in the feud between the two teams – still finishing on the class podium in second.
It’s unclear where the relationship between the two factory teams stands at the moment, but it certainly isn’t better than it was 24 hours ago.
The manufacturers now have to stew on these incidents for almost two months until the next IMSA race at the 12 Hours of Sebring in March. How both the BMW and Corvettes will race each other on the bumpy flat road course remains to be seen.
Follow Dalton Hopkins on X @PitLaneCPT
Dalton Hopkins began writing for Frontstretch in April 2021. Currently, he is the lead writer for the weekly Thinkin' Out Loud column, co-host of the Frontstretch Happy Hour podcast, and one of our lead reporters. Beforehand, he wrote for IMSA shortly after graduating from Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University in 2019. Simultaneously, he also serves as a Captain in the US Army.
Follow Dalton on Twitter @PitLaneCPT