DAYTONA BEACH, Fla — The heavy fog that settled over Daytona International Speedway Saturday night (Jan. 24) ultimately triggered a full course caution at 12:45 a.m. ET. That was just the beginning of the interruption.
The caution ended up being six hours, 33 minutes and 25 seconds, a full 120 laps behind the safety car. It is an all-time record for the event.
The worst of the fog moved through around 4:30 a.m. ET. It was thick enough that you couldn’t see the tower in the tri-oval from turn 4 and the cloud was nearly down to ground level.
A little before 7 a.m. ET, conditions improved dramatically in Daytona Beach. That allowed for the race to finally resume after a full round of pit stops. There is still some fog around, but nowhere near as much as there was.
Through 18 hours, Porsche Penske Motorsport’s Laurin Heinrich was leading overall by 2.307 seconds over teammate Matt Campbell. BMW M Team WRT’s Kevin Magnussen was third, then Wayne Taylor Racing’s Louis Deletraz. Meyer Shank Racing with Curb-Agajanian’s Colin Braun was fifth.
In LMP2, Tower Motorsport’s Sebastien Bourdais was leading by .820 seconds over Inter Europol Competition’s Nick Cassidy. Tom Dillmann in the second Inter Europol entry was third, followed by United Autosports’ Gregoire Saucy. AO Racing’s Dane Cameron was fifth.
Corvette Racing by Pratt Miller Motorsports’ Tommy Milner was leading with six hours to go in GTD Pro by 2.019 seconds over teammate Antonio Garcia. Ford Racing’s Ben Barker was third, followed by Bartone Bros./GetSpeed’s Jules Gounon. 75 Express’ Maro Engel was fifth.
Finally, Turner Motorsport’s Robby Foley led GTD by 3.630 seconds over AF Corse’s Lilou Wadoux. Winward Racing’s Russell Ward was third, then Vasser Sullivan’s Aaron Telitz and DXDT Racing’s Charlie Eastwood.
IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship Rolex 24 at Daytona Running Order After 18 Hours
Phil Allaway has three primary roles at Frontstretch. He's the manager of the Frontstretch email newsletter that publishes Monday-Friday and occasionally on weekends. He keeps TV broadcasters honest with weekly editions of Couch Potato Tuesday and serves as the Frontstretch Sports Car racing editor.
Outside of Frontstretch, Phil is the press officer for Lebanon Valley Speedway in West Lebanon, N.Y. He covers all the action on the high-banked dirt track from regular DIRTcar Modified racing to occasional visits from touring series such as the Super DIRTcar Series.