DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. — Turns out Helio Castroneves' famous fence-climb works just as well in Daytona as it does in Indianapolis.
Castroneves, the four-time Indy 500 winner and defending champion, held off a late charge from Ricky Taylor during Sunday's closing minutes of the Rolex 24 to win the coveted watch for Meyer Shank Racing.
Castroneves, driving the No. 60 Acura DPi, led the field to a restart with 30 minutes left and held the lead the rest of the way, keeping Taylor, his former Wayne Taylor Racing teammate, behind him during a frantic final few laps.
"Oh my God, this is incredible," said Castroneves, who climbed the fence just beyond the start/finish line after the win. "What an incredible race. This was very tough."
Here are five takeaways:
Wayne Taylor Racing denied history
Castroneves' win also ended Wayne Taylor Racing's bid for a fourth straight Rolex 24 victory, which would have broke Chip Ganassi's record of three in a row set back in 2006-08.
Taylor nearly pulled it off, though, chasing down his former teammate over the final few minutes and drawing close to his bumper more than a few times. However, Castroneves was able to keep his No. 60 Acura out front just long enough to get the win.
"It's gonna hurt for a while, that's for sure," said Taylor's WTR teammate, Will Stevens. "Ricky did the best job he could. We knew with those late yellows it was gonna be close. It was exciting, we just weren't on the correct side."
However, the Meyer Shank Acura was, thanks to Castroneves — along with teammates Oliver Jarvis, Tom Blomqvist and Simon Pagenaud.
"I was just going crazy today," said Michael Shank, who co-owns the team with Jim Meyer. "We needed this bad. We had a tough year last year and I made that very public. We set about trying to fix it and today we proved that we're certainly on the right track."
Castroneves navigates through Porsche battle
Of course, the final lap didn't come without drama.
With Castroneves comfortably out in front with half a lap left, the battle between the leaders ahead of him in the GTD Pro field was fierce, with the No. 2 and No. 9 Porsche 911s making contact just in front of him.
Both cars went for a spin through the grass, but Castroneves was able to navigate through the chaos in one piece to finish the race.
The No. 9 Porsche ended up prevailing in the GTD Pro class, while the No. 16 Porsche came home first in the GT field.
The No. 81 ORECA, driven by Colton Herta, led the LMP2 field to the checkers, while the No. 74 Ligier won in the LMP3 class.
"I'm at a loss for words," said Felipe Nasr, who co-drove the No. 9 race-winning Porsche. "I've been trying so hard to win this race and was finally able to do it my first time driving for Porsche."
Jimmie Johnson falls short again
Johnson and the No. 48 Ally Racing Cadillac team were fast most of the day Saturday, with teammate Kamui Kobayashi leading most of the first stint.
However, Johnson's bid for his first Rolex 24 win fell apart overnight when the right-rear suspension broke after making contact with a car shortly after the 14th hour.
The 48 team eventually got the car back on track 21 laps down, but Johnson spun early in the morning after leaving the pits on cold tires.
After a runner-up finish last year, Johnson and the No. 48 group finished fifth this time around.
Heartbreak for Chip Ganassi team
If you thought the No. 48 group had a rough night, you might wanna give the Ganassi group a few days to regroup.
Both of Ganassi's Cadillacs fell out of contention in the early hours on Sunday, with the No. 2 machine suffering a broken fuel pump and No. 01 Caddy having battery issues.
Both Ganassi cars brought up the rear of the DPi field, finishing a combined 66 laps down.
Forgetful Rolex 24 for Corvette
Making it's debut in the GTD Pro category, the two Corvette's were out of contention before midnight.
The No. 3 Corvette, co-driven by former Rolex winner Jordan Taylor, was 13 laps down at the halfway point after the car lost time with an electrical issue.
Things weren’t much better for the No. 4 Corvette, which lost nearly 2½ hours replacing the diffuser, exhaust pipes and starter. Marco Sorensen was hit from behind while trying to avoid a spinning prototype following the race’s fifth full-course caution.
"Everything was going smooth and all we needed to do was make it through the night," said Antonio Garcia, who helped pilot the No. 3 machine. "We knew it would be a crazy race.”
