Rolex 24 at Daytona – NASCAR drivers do ok: The winning car, shared by Americans Chris Kneifel and Johnny O’Connell, Canadian Ron Fellows and Frenchman Franck Freon, gave Corvette its biggest sports car win. It also was the first time Chevy has won the overall title in America’s most prestigious road race since Roger Penske’s Chevrolet-powered Lola won in 1969 with Mark Donohue and Chuck Parsons driving. A lot of the attention before and during the race was focused on Team Corvette’s second entry, co-driven by road racing veterans Andy Pilgrim and Kelly Collins and NASCAR stars Dale Earnhardt and son Dale Jr., both making their first sports car start. The No. 3 ‘Vette hung in gamely, overcoming transmission problems and a series of spins on the wet track to finish fourth, two laps behind the GT class Porsche GT3RS of Wolfgang Kaufmann of Germany, Ciril Chateau of France and Lance Stewart and 14 laps behind the winners. Kyle Petty came in 7th; Butch Leitzinger came in 14th; Boris Said was 39th,;Lyndon Amick and Bill Lester were 40th; Paul Gentilozzi, John Miller, Scott Pruett, Anthony Lazarro were very deep in the field(CNN/SI/AP)(2-5-2001)
