THE LINE - MARCH 19, 2014

(John Thawley  ~  Motorsports Photography @ www.johnthawley.com  ~ 248.227.0110)
Scott Pruett, Memo Rojas and Marino Franchitti (No. 01 Chip Ganassi Racing Telcel Ford EcoBoost/Riley DP) won the 62nd Mobil 1 Twelve Hours of Sebring Fueled by Fresh From Florida on Saturday, delivering a memorable win for Ford, Pruett and Ganassi. The win marked the first victory for the brand-new Ford EcoBoost turbocharged V6 racing engine, and the first overall victory for Ford power at Sebring since 1969, when Jacky Ickx and Jackie Oliver won the event driving a Ford GT40 Mk 1 for John Wyer Automotive Engineering. It was also the first overall Sebring victory and the record 57th in North American endurance sports car competition for Scott Pruett, coming 28 years after a GTO class victory in the 1986 running of the event. And Chip Ganassi Racing – in its first appearance in America's oldest endurance race – becomes the first team to win Sebring, the Rolex 24 At Daytona, the Indianapolis 500 and the Daytona 500. Ryan Dalziel/Scott Sharp/David Brabham (No. 1 Extreme Speed Motorsports Tequila Patrón HPD ARX-03b/Hond) finished second and Joao Barbosa/Christian Fittipaldi/Sebastien Bourdais completed the podium with a third-place run in the No. 5 Action Express Racing Corvette DP. See the sensational images by ace lens man John Thawley here.

(John Thawley  ~  Motorsports Photography @ www.johnthawley.com  ~ 248.227.0110)
The Porsche factory GT team has swept the Florida swing of the TUDOR United SportsCar Championship, winning the Daytona 24 Hour (Rolex24) and the Mobil 1 Twelve Hours of Sebring Fueled by Fresh From Florida. After an impressive final stint by factory driver Joerg Bergmeister, the No. 912 Porsche North America Porsche 911 RSR crossed the line 5.296 seconds ahead of No. 93 SRT Motorsports Viper GTS-R driven by Jonathan Bomarito (with Kuno Wittmer/Robert Bell) in the GT Le Mans (GTLM) class to remain undefeated in its debut factory season, run in conjunction with CORE autosport. Co-drivers Patrick Long and Michael Christensen joined Bergmeister in the victory. Wins in the season-opening Rolex 24 At Daytona with the team’s No. 911 Porsche 911 RSR combined with the Sebring triumph by the No. 912 team car give Porsche North America victories in two of the TUDOR United SportsCar Championship’s premier events and a clear lead in the Tequila Patrón North American Endurance Cup. "We were really fast all day, but we knew if we got in a different strategy the other guys would have to make their last pits and we could use that to our advantage,” Long said. “We got the final yellow which let us separate from the pack and then we could just play smart.” Bill Auberlen, Andy Priaulx and Joey Hand (No. 55 BMW Team RLL BMW Z4 GTE) finished third.

(John Thawley  ~  Motorsports Photography @ www.johnthawley.com  ~ 248.227.0110)
Jon Bennett, Colin Braun and James Gue (No. 54 CORE autosport ORECA FLM09) took the PC class victory at the Daytona 24 Hour (Rolex24) in January and followed that up with a win at Sebring after a race-long battle with the No. 09 RSR Racing ORECA FLM09 driven by Bruno Junqueira, Jon Bennett and David Heinemeier Hansson. The two cars traded the class lead throughout the second half of the race before Braun took over the first position for good with just under 40 minutes remaining. Braun beat Junqueira to the stripe by 2.428 seconds to secure the race victory and the team’s second-straight round win in the Patrón Endurance Cup, worth $50,000 to the winner at season’s end. “The CORE autosport guys did a heck of a job,” Braun said. “We had good pits, had a good car and we were able to stay the course with our plan. We were able to win in both of these classes again. We had no glitches. It was great top to bottom.” Third in PC went to the No. 8 Starworks Motorsport ORECA FLM09 foursome of Renger van der Zande, Sam Bird, Martin Fuentes and David Cheng.

(Porsche)

Andy Lally (No. 44 Magnus Racing Porsche 911 GT America) took advantage of a fortuitous pit call to take the GT Daytona (GTD) class win Saturday in the Mobil 1 Twelve Hours of Sebring Fueled by Fresh From Florida. Running in the top three with just under one hour remaining, Lally was coming off the final corner (Turn 17) at Sebring International Raceway when he was ordered to pit road. Lally did just that, barely beating the yellow flag that ultimately positioned him into the lead when pit stops cycled through. That was all he needed to hold on for the victory for he and co-drivers John Potter and Marco Seefried in Round 2 of the TUDOR United SportsCar Championship and Tequila Patrón North American Endurance Cup. “We didn’t have it dead away on pace, but we had the right strategy that put us up front,” Lally said. “We had a day moving forward and back moving through the pack, but we were so well-handled by the Magnus Racing crew. This Magnus crew is absolutely the best team.” The No. 555 Ferrari 458 of AIM Autosport driven by Bill Sweedler, Townsend Bell, Jeff Segal, and Maurizio Median finished second. Ian James, Mario Farnbacher and Alex Riberas (No. 23 Porsche 911 GT America) finished third in the GTD class.

(Photo by Matthew T. Thacker/NKP, ©2014, courtesy of Ford Racing)
Carl Edwards (No. 99 Roush Fenway Racing Cheez-It Ford Fusion) led a 1-2-3 Ford sweep of the Food City 500 at Bristol Motor Speedway. The event, which was rain-delayed for a total of five hours, was also marred by a caution light that was mistakenly lit-up at the end of the race with three laps remaining, right before more rain hit the facility. Ricky Stenhouse Jr. (No. 17 Roush Fenway Racing Nationwide Insurance Ford Fusion) was second and Aric Almirola (No. 43 Richard Petty Motorsports Smithfield Ford Fusion) was third. Watch the NASCAR video here.

(Photo by Lesley Ann Miller, LAT Photo USA ©2014, courtesy of Toyota Racing)
Kyle Busch (with wife Samantha) in victory lane after winning the Drive to Stop Diabetes 300 Nationwide race at Bristol Motor Speedway on Saturday. Busch (No. 54 J.D. Gibbs Monster Energy Toyota Camry) became the first driver in history to post 16 victories at a single track in NASCAR's three national touring series. Kyle Larson was second and Kevin Harvick finished third. Watch the NASCAR video here.

(Photo by Chris Owens/INDYCAR)
The first day of the two-day Verizon IndyCar Series Open Test at Barber Motorsports Park was cut short by cold weather, but not before Will Power (No. 12 Team Penske Verizon Chevrolet) set the quick time of 1 minute, 07.6492 seconds. "We've had to try different things, so it's a good day for that, Power commented. "Obviously the track conditions are exceptional, a lot of grip because it's so cold, you gain a little bit of downforce. You're always learning, there's no use in belting around there not learning anything. We found some more good stuff, crossed off things that don't work and I think we're in a good place." Power also paced the second day of the test with a lap of 1 minute 7.0608. Seventeen drivers were within a second of Power's quick time, with Justin Wilson (No. 19 Dale Coyne Racing Boy Scouts of America Honda) just .0038 of a second back and quickest with Honda Power.

(Photo by Chris Owens/INDYCAR)
Juan Pablo Montoya (No. 2 Team Penske Verizon Chevrolet) was just .0678 of a second behind Power on the first day of the Verizon IndyCar Series Open Test. "Just trying to get better and figure out new tires a little bit," Montoya said. "I'm trying to learn how to get more out of the car and we're getting there. It was good today, but there's a couple of places that I need to do a little better job and be a little cleaner, but we're getting there."

(Photo by Chris Owens/INDYCAR)
Helio Castroneves gets strapped into his No. 3 Team Penske Hitachi Chevrolet before taking to the track on Day One of the 2014 Verizon IndyCar Open Test at Barber Motorsports Park. Castroneves was third-quick with a 1:07.7214.

(Audi Sport)
Editor-in-Chief's Note: The titanic battle for supremacy that's shaping up between Audi and Porsche at the 24 Hours of Le Mans couldn't be any bigger, or more compelling. Over the last couple of weeks we showed you the Porsche 919 Hybrid racer, a technical Tour de Force that has everyone buzzing. Knowledgeable people who have seen it up close say it's simply incredible, a thinly disguised F1 car with fully-cloaked bodywork and enough futuristic technical and aero tweaks to make your head spin. The 2014 Audi R18 e-tron quattro (shown here in its Le Mans livery) is a development of a proven winner, with everything nuanced to the Nth degree, right down to the very last detail. The Audi team knows what they're doing, and they're not going to give up their title without a knock-down, drag-out fight. Dr. Ferdinand Piech, the mercurial Supreme Leader of the VW Group, could have easily told Audi to stand down from Le Mans, given their record of achievement there. But instead he has given the biggest "have at it, boys (and girls)" order in racing history. It's going to be fascinating to watch. - PMD