Cameron Reflects on Elusive Rolex 24 Win

Photo: Porsche

Dane Cameron has reflected on claiming an elusive Rolex 24 at Daytona overall win, stating that the race was always one that “got away.”

The three-time IMSA champion, in his full-time return to the WeatherTech SportsCar Championship, teamed with Felipe Nasr, Matt Campbell and Josef Newgarden to score a historic victory for Porsche Penske Motorsport.

It came after 14 previous attempts in the Florida endurance classic, which saw the Californian come up winless.

“[My] first 24 hours at Daytona was 2009, so in a bunch of different categories, and [I] just never seemed to have any luck here in any way, shape, or form,” Cameron said.

“Never had a podium here. Never. I don’t even know if I’ve ever finished on the lead lap here to be honest.

“I’m looking forward to seeing how the rest of the year goes when you have a head start on the points. That should make life a little bit easier.

“It’s always been the one that kind of got away and the one that just didn’t seem to be able to get done for some reason.

“Compared to what Josef went through last year at the 500, you don’t want to not have one without the other. You don’t want to win championships without having the big race to go with it.

“[I’m] definitely proud of everything that I was able to achieve with different teams and brands in the championship, but always felt like you were missing something to not have success in the 24 hours at Daytona.

“To have that as an overall is definitely something that I’m super, super proud of, super happy for.”

Cameron said the win was extra special for the fact that he had worked with several of the Penske crew for a number of years, dating back to the Acura DPi program, including Porsche Penske managing director Jonathan Diuguid.

“[It’s] great to do it with this team, as well, after being here for a number of years now,” he said. “[It] kind of slipped through our fingers in the Acura days for sure.

“JD (Jonathan Diuguid) was my race engineer in those days and a lot of other guys carried over from that program. [It’s] really cool to punch that one through because it’s been a lot of work with a lot of the same people to improve that.

“That program was kind of a from-scratch sports car program and it was only a few years until this one came around and then the WEC stuff and everything, so it’s been a lot of work to basically put these programs that JD has spearheaded in a lot of ways to put us in position to win these endure owes again.

“[I’m] really proud of everything that’s happened to do that, and super grateful to be here.

“It means a ton, and definitely can at some point stop a little happier for sure now knowing I have this one. I used to say I don’t know if I can stop until I win this race, so maybe I can push that day forward now.”

John Dagys

John Dagys is the founder and Editor-in-Chief of Sportscar365. Dagys spent eight years as a motorsports correspondent for FOXSports.com and SPEED Channel and has contributed to numerous other motorsports publications worldwide. Contact John