Robby Gordon second in Rolex 24

By Dave Rodman, Turner Sports Interactive
February 3, 2002
3:00 PM EST (1500 GMT)

DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. -- Kevin Doran, who got his start racing short track stock cars on dirt and spent three years as a NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series owner, won his fifth Rolex 24 At Daytona on Sunday, the opening event of Speedweeks 2002 at Daytona International Speedway.

NASCAR's broad representation in the race had a successful weekend. Full-time Winston Cup driver Robby Gordon finished second overall driving the No. 36 Elan Riley & Scott Mk. IIIC. Drivers with some NASCAR events in their past won three of the five classes contested in the 24-hour event on Daytona's 3.56-mile road course.

The sun sets on the Rolex 24 at Daytona.

Doran, who was crew chief on the late Al Holbert's two 24-hour winning teams in 1986 and 1987, also worked for Jim Busby when current Winston Cup driver John Andretti won the Rolex 24 for him in 1989. He masterminded the victory by the No. 27 Doran Lista Judd Dallara driven from the pole position by Didier Theys, team co-owner Fredy Lienhard, Max Papis and Mauro Baldi.

Gordon, who drove his car into the lead in the race's fifth hour on his first stint at the wheel, saw his team's effort slowed by a variety of technical issues that knocked it six laps behind the race winner. In the middle of the night, Gordon battled wheel to wheel with some of the fastest cars in the race.

"We just had to battle a bunch of little gremlins," Gordon said of electrical problems, a broken header and some broken body panels that cost his four-man team, he estimated, more than 20 laps. "I did about eight hours of driving, which obviously was a lot of fun."

Anthony Lazzaro, who had a short-lived NASCAR career with PPI Motorsports but maintained his close ties with team owner Cal Wells III thanks in part to his championship winning open-wheel background with Wells, finished third overall as part of the Sports Racing Prototype II class winning team.

The No. 90 Corvette used by Kevin Harvick's team.

Lazzaro, who tested a PPI Ford Taurus last week at Talladega for PPI's regular Winston Cup driver Ricky Craven, won the class pole position in the No. 8 Rand Racing Nissan Lola.

Scott Pruett, who also had a short career in Wells' stock cars, including a run for 2000 Winston Cup Rookie of the Year in the No. 32 Tide Ford now driven by Craven, drove the No. 3 GTS class winning Jaguar to fifth overall with Winston Cup road racer Brian Simo and team owner Paul Gentilozzi, who also had one Winston Cup road race effort in his past. Pruett, Gentilozzi and Simo have six SCCA Trans-Am titles between them.

Pruett and Simo both have plans to race in Winston Cup's road races at Watkins Glen International and Pruett also indicated he might have some Busch Series outings.

Petty Enterprises CEO Kyle Petty drove an Orbit Racing Porsche GT3 R for the second straight Rolex 24 and had a chance to equal last year's seventh-place finish until he suffered a broken front hub while running 12th with about three-and-a-half hours to go. The car ended up 15th, seventh in class.

David Murry, who has had talks with Winston Cup owner Tom Coleman about the two series road races, suffered various tire, brake and suspension problems with his GT class Porsche and ended up 21st overall, 12th in class.

The No. 43 Porsche GT3 R used by Kyle Petty's team.

Former Daytona 500 winner Derrike Cope teamed with Scuderia Ferrari of Washington and drove a GT class Ferrari 360 to 25th, 14th in class. The car lost an hour early in the race when it suffered a cut tire, spun off course and then had to be repaired in the garage area.

Craftsman Truck Series team co-owners Charles and Rob Morgan finished 33rd, second in the American GT class after they had to make extensive chassis modifications to their Chevrolet Corvette Saturday morning before the race.

Tony Stewart ended up 46th in his No. 2 Judd Crawford prototype car. The car ran as high as second after he stalled leaving the pits on his initial stint, leading to a battery failure that cost the team about five laps to replace.

Kevin Harvick, who was the lead driver on the No. 90 Flis Motorsports Corvette that included NASCAR drivers Rick Carelli, Dave Liniger and John Metcalf, drove it into the lead in his first double stint and had the car up as high as 14th in the 74-car field. After Carelli's stint, however, the car's engine broke at about 6:05 p.m. with Metcalf at the wheel and the car finished 69th.