Chip Ganassi Racing Wins Rolex 24 Endurance Race With EcoBoost Ford Power
Chip Ganassi Racing Wins Rolex 24 Endurance Race With EcoBoost Ford Power
Sunday, January 25th was a glorious day as Chip Ganassi Racing Wins Rolex 24 Endurance Race With EcoBoost Ford power. Ganassi Racing drivers Scott Dixon, Kyle Larson, Jamie McMurray and Tony Kanaan drove their Ford EcoBoost-powered Number 02 Target Ford to victory in the 53rd running of the Rolex 24 at Daytona International Speedway.
“The last two days were a lot of fun in the car,” Dixon said. “Everybody pulled their weight. Everybody did what they needed to do. That’s what gets you through this 24 Hours. Everybody kept the car in one piece. You have to be there in the end. You have to try to look out for the car so you have the speed in the end to try to compete for the win…I can’t emphasize how big of a team effort it is. It’s not one person who wins this race, it’s everybody involved. This weekend, everybody on the 02 team did their best job and that’s obviously enough to get a victory.”
According to Ford, Ford EcoBoost technology has now won the two most important endurance races in North America – the Rolex 24 at Daytona and the 12 Hours of Sebring (2014). The EcoBoost program has four prototype victories overall with Chip Ganassi Racing with Felix Sabates (2014: Sebring, Long Beach, Circuit of the Americas; 2015: Rolex 24). The team now has the record for most Rolex 24 At Daytona wins scoring in 2006, 2007, 2008, 2011, 2013 and now 2015. Ford is ranked sixth on the all-time manufacturer’s victory list for the IMSA TUDOR United SportsCar Championship for the Modern Era (173 wins).
“It was a great day for Ford and a great day for Ganassi,” said Raj Nair, Ford group vice president, Global Product Development and Chief Technical Officer. “We had a great car and great drivers. And, of course, we had really great power, reliability and fuel economy out of the EcoBoost. It’s just a great testament to the entire team. I couldn’t be prouder of them.” Nair was on hand to accept the Manufacturers Trophy on behalf of Ford.
Ford EcoBoost wins at Rolex 24 at DaytonaWith the adaptation of the new EcoBoost into the Mustang, Ford’s EcoBoost technology is now available in the entire line of Ford cars, utility vehicles and light-duty pickup trucks in North America. EcoBoost-powered vehicles will continue to race in 2015, competing for a championship title with Chip Ganassi Racing with Felix Sabates with the 01 Ford EcoBoost Riley prototype, added our Ford source.
The win in Daytona didn’t come easy, as Tony Kanaan was forced to the garage on lap 201 to repair a broken front splitter. Amazingly, with fast work, the Target/Riley crew got him back on track only one lap down. The finish proved to be exciting, as Dixon held off a late charge from rival and defending race winner Sebastien Bourdais by just over two seconds.
With this win, Team Ganassi scored its sixth Rolex 24 at Daytona win, while NASCAR star Jamie McMurray joined legends A.J. Foyt and Mario Andretti as winners of the Daytona 500 and Rolex 24. This was Dixon’s second Rolex 24 win. Kanaan and the young Kyle Larson scored their first Rolex wins.
