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Porsche Clinches Historic 20th Endurance Win at the Rolex 24 at Daytona With Roger Penske & Co

Published 01/28/2024, 1:59 PM EST

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Felipe Nasr driving the No.7 for Penske Porsche is crowned the champion of the Rolex 24 Hours at Daytona 2024. Nasr won the race by the finest of margins as he pipped Tom Blomqvist who was piloting No.31 Cadillac. It was a constant tussle between the drivers, but it was Nasr who came out on top handing Porsche a record 20th Endurance win at Daytona International Speedway.

Porsche Penske Motorsports has delivered Roger Penske his first Rolex 24 victory at Daytona for the first time in 55 years. The German manufacturer has been a powerhouse in endurance racing with 19 wins along with four wins as an engine supplier. Going into the second season in partnership, Porsche has now clinched their 20th win, while also bringing the glory back to Penske camp.

It was a team effort by Penske Porsche drivers that brought home the win

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Felipe Nasr taking the checkered flag in the 62nd Rolex 24 at Daytona brought back the glory days to Cup Series team owner Roger Penske. The last time his team won at the iconic endurance race was back in 1969. It was lap number 768 when Nasr took the lead from Cadillac driver Tom Blomqvist, despite putting in constant challenges, Nasr ultimately clinched the event by a margin of just 2.112 seconds.

Nasr who joined Penske Porsche Motorsports last year, earned his first-ever Rolex 24 at Daytona. It indeed was a team but if it hadn’t been for Nasr’s heroics, the title could have been far far away from the team. Nasr was stoked after the win and mentioned how tantalizingly close the final moments of the race were. “It’s just incredible to think we pulled that one off. It all came down to the fuel game pretty much.” Nasr said NBC to Sports’ Kevin Lee.

His teammates on the No. 7 were Matt Campbell, Dane Cameron and Josef Newgarden. Describing the race that ebbed and flowed and appreciating the competition, Campbell said, “It’s incredible the way this race ebbs and flows and the way we took it to the Cadillacs today. Hats off to them. They really gave it to us. To finally get our first big victory in the world is phenomenal. What a team. We finally got it done.”

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This indeed was a sweet victory for the team but more importantly, it broke a 54-year-long drought for Roger Penske and his team.

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Roger Penske claimed the win Rolex 24 Daytona as one of the biggest for his team

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The win at Rolex 24 at Daytona led by Filipe Nasr and his team ended a long victory drought for NASCAR Cup team owner, Roger Penske. It was back in 1969 when the lineup of Mark Donohue and Chuck Parsons got the team the victory. In 1966 Team Penske did win the GT class but the overall Rolex victory since 69 had eluded him and his team. The 86-year-old was beyond belief that his team finally brought home a win at 24 Hours of Daytona.

To come back here and have both cars run for 24 hours, and then win the race, it’s hard for me to belive. This goes down as one of the biggest wins we’ve had. When we won in 1969 with Lola, it was a lot different. But to think about today, the biggest crowd they’ve had here for a sports car race, just to see the competitiveness, a win by tenths of seconds, that unbelievable. That’s what I’ll say.” Penske said.

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Team Penske is surely running high on winning momentum, back-to-back championship wins in the Cup Series and now to win at the iconic endurance race at Daytona. It won’t be a surprise if they do end up with another Cup championship win in 2024.

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Written by:

Chintan Devgania

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Chintan Mahesh Devgania is a NASCAR Writer at EssentiallySports. As someone who likes to dive deep into the sport, he often takes up less explored topics to eventually see them make their way into top stories. His report on Toyota’s young recruit, Jade Avedisian, sharing her thoughts on Late Model Racing, was an example of that.
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Edited by:

Rohan Karnad