Nunez, Action Express Out Front With Eight Hours to Go

Photo: Jake Galstad/IMSA

The No. 31 Action Express Racing Cadillac DPi-V.R of Tristan Nunez is out front in the Rolex 24 at Daytona with eight hours remaining.

Nunez, who climbed aboard Whelen Engineering-sponsored machine in the most recent round of pit stops from co-driver Pipo Derani, overtook the then race-leading No. 5 JDC-Miller Motorsports Cadillac of Tristan Vautier by electing to double stint its Michelin tires.

He holds a 5.871-second lead over the Mustang Sampling Cadillac in second, which had previously led in the hands of Loic Duval.

The No. 60 Meyer Shank Racing Acura ARX-05 of Simon Pagenaud runs third, ahead of Will Stevens’ No. 10 Wayne Taylor Racing Acura DPi in fourth and the No. 02 Chip Ganassi Racing Cadillac, which is currently being driven by Alex Lynn.

Lynn’s co-driver Kevin Magnussen lost time in the 14th hour when the car briefly slowed on the apron with a reported fuel pressure issue, which cost the Dane some time.

Both the No. 01 CGR and No. 48 AXR Cadillacs are back on track after lengthy trips to the garage.

Kamui Kobayashi runs 22 laps behind in 14th overall after undergoing repairs due to co-driver Jimmie Johnson’s contact with a LMP3 car that damaged the right-rear of the Ally-sponsored Cadillac.

Alternator/electrical issues for the No. 01 CGR Cadillac, meanwhile, delayed the Sebastien Bourdais-driven entry by more than 40 laps after initially entering the garage from the lead in the 13th hour.

LMP2 is led by the No. 81 DragonSpeed Oreca 07 Gibson of Colton Herta, while Felipe Fraga is out front in LMP3 in the No. 74 Riley Motorsports Ligier JS P320 Nissan.

Porsche runs 1-2 in GTD Pro, led by the No. 9 Pfaff Motorsports entry of Mathieu Jaminet, ahead of Dennis Olsen’s No. 2 KCMG Porsche 911 GT3 R in second.

Davide Rigon runs third in the No. 62 Risi Competizione Ferrari 488 GT3 Evo 2020.

The GTD Pro class-contending No. 63 TR3 Racing Lamborghini Huracan GT3 Evo is among the latest retirements due to a broken steering rack from the multi-car accident in the third hour that deteriorated over the course of the race.

The No. 70 Inception Racing McLaren 720S GT3 of Ollie Millroy is out front of GTD, meanwhile.

A fire for the No. 7 Forty7 Motorsports Duqueine D08 of Antoine Doquin brought out the race’s 13th full course caution and led to a round of pit stops from the leaders.

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