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NASCAR’s Kyle Larson, Jamie McMurray Fail To Defend Rolex 24 Title

By Cole Mentzel

Jan 31, 2016; Daytona Beach, FL, USA; The Ford Chip Ganassi Racing Riley DP driven Scott Dixon, Tony Kanaan, Jamie McMurray and Kyle Larson (02) during the Rolex 24 at Daytona International Speedway. Mandatory Credit: Jasen Vinlove-USA TODAY Sports
Jan 31, 2016; Daytona Beach, FL, USA; The Ford Chip Ganassi Racing Riley DP driven Scott Dixon, Tony Kanaan, Jamie McMurray and Kyle Larson (02) during the Rolex 24 at Daytona International Speedway. Mandatory Credit: Jasen Vinlove-USA TODAY Sports /
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The Rolex 24 provided fans with plenty of thrills and surprises but a couple of NASCAR stars did not have as much success as they did in 2015.

The Rolex 24 is usually defined as the first major racing event of the year. As one of the coolest races all season, four classes of cars race around Daytona International Speedway, utilizing the infield road course, for 24 hours straight, alternating drivers every few hours.

Last year, a Chip Ganassi Racing team with drivers Scott Dixon, Tony Kanaan, Kyle Larson and Jamie McMurray won their class and finished in first place overall. In 2016, they came back together for another run as they looked to defend their 2015 title.

This season, the group of drivers competed in the No. 02 Ford EcoBoost Riley with a sweet red, white and blue paint scheme sponsored by Target and Claritin.

Early on in the race, the team looked like they were going to be solid contenders to win again. Dixon started the race and set the tone for his teammates. Later on, McMurray took over and eventually pulled the No. 02 up to the front of the pack.

At one point, McMurray attempted to go under Tommy Milner, racing in a Chevrolet Corvette C7.R, and ended up spinning. That was just the beginning of small issues for the team as the car would later go back to the garage for a full brake change. About six hours later, they were back in the garage with more issues.

Eventually, the car began to work it’s way back up into the pack, but their chances at making a full comeback were ultimately derailed when Larson entered a corner too fast and lost control, ending up in a tire barrier.

While Larson did not make any contact with other cars on the track, the result was devastating for the defending champs. He went on to say that the cause of the incident had to do with the brakes, which caused issues throughout the course of the race.

The No. 02 car ended up finishing in 13th place overall with a 7th place finish in it’s class. In addition to that, Chip Ganassi Racing also had three other entries in the event:

  • The No. 01 Ford EcoBoost Riley (P) with drivers Lance Stroll, Alex Wurz, Brendon Hartley and Andy Priaulx finished 5th overall and 5th in class.
  • The No. 66 Ford GT (GTLM) with drivers Joey Hand, Dirk Muller and Sebastien Bourdais finished 31st overall and 7th in class.
  • The No. 67 Ford GT (GTLM) with drivers Ryan Briscoe, Richard Westbrook and Stefan Mucke finished 40th overall and 9th in class.

The No. 01 car ran well all race long and was the lone bright spot for CGR while the Ford GT’s did not exactly have runs that lived up to their hype before the weekend began.

More racing: Kasey Kahne Has To Be Better In 2016

Overall, the No. 02 did not fare the way Chip Ganassi Racing had hoped, but it was still cool to see such a great group of drivers again. It will be interesting to see if any of them come back for the annual event in 2017.

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