Daytona Hat-Trick: Porsche Penske Motorsport Claims Third Straight Rolex 24
January 26, 2026(Photo: IMSA)
The 64th running of the Rolex 24 at Daytona will be remembered as a race of two halves: a record-setting nocturnal stalemate followed by a daylight sprint that cemented Porsche Penske Motorsport as the undisputed kings of modern US endurance racing. In a breathtaking finish on Sunday afternoon, Felipe Nasr crossed the line in the #7 Porsche 963 to secure a historic “three-peat” for both the driver and the Penske Organisation, fending off a ferocious late-race charge from Cadillac.
A Sprint After Stagnation
The headline of the 2026 edition of the US endurance classic was undoubtedly the weather. A record-shattering six-hour and 33-minute Full Course Yellow was triggered overnight due to an impenetrable wall of fog that descended on the Florida speedway. While the extended neutralisation tested the patience of the record-breaking crowd, it set the stage for an explosive final six hours of racing once visibility improved just before 7.30am.
When the green flag finally waved, the battle for the overall win narrowed to a classic manufacturer duel. The #7 Porsche, shared by Nasr and his teammates Julien Andlauer and Laurin Heinrich, was the benchmark for much of the day, leading 375 of the 705 completed laps.
The final hour was a master class in defensive driving. Jack Aitken, piloting the #31 Cadillac Whelen Cadillac V-Series.R, threw everything at Nasr, closing the gap to under a second in the final 20 minutes. Despite multiple looks into the Turn 1 braking zone and the Le Mans Chicane, Nasr placed the Porsche 963 perfectly, utilising the Stuttgart marque’s superior traction out of the corners to win by just 1.969 seconds.
(#04 CrowdStrike Racing by APR drivers George Kurtz, Alex Quinn, Toby Sowery and Malthe Jakobsen – Photo: IMSA)
Class Honours and Tactical Triumphs
While the GTP battle entralled the packed grandstands, the results across the other three categories were equally compelling.
In the LMP2 class, the #04 CrowdStrke Racing by APR ORECA 07 finally broke through for a Daytona triumph. After finishing as runners-up for the past two years, George Kurtz, Alex Quinn, Toby Sowery and Malthe Jakobsen executed a flawless race to take the class win over the #43 Inter Europol entry.
In GTD PRO Paul Miller Racing celebrated a return to the winner’s circle. The #1 BMW M4 GT3 Evo utilised a superior pit turnaround in the final 90 minutes to jump the field, allowing Dan Harper to manage a 2.2-second lead over the #75 Mercedes-AMG to secure BMW’s first GTD PRO win at the event.
In the Pro-Am ranks of GTD, a titanic battle between Philip Ellis in the #57 WINWARD RACING Mercedes-AMG GT3 and the Magnus Racing Aston Martin resulted in the closest finish of the weekend, 1.367 seconds separating the Mercedes-AMG and the Aston Martin at the chequered flag.
The Anniversary Milestone
For Roger Penske, victory at Daytona carries extra weight, arriving at the start of Team Penske’s 60th anniversary season. For Porsche, it serves as a perfect launch for the 75th year in motorsport. By leading at every critical points-scoring juncture of the Michelin Endurance Cup, the #7 crew proved that while luck favours the prepared during fog delays, raw pace and strategic discipline are what win the coveted Rolex Cosmographs.
The IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship grid next assembles at Sebring International RAceway for the Mobil 1 Twelve Hours of Sebring on March 21st.
