Detroit dominates Daytona: Team Penske, Ford Mustang, Chevy Corvette top podium

Posted by Talbot Payne on February 4, 2025

Motor City brands have invested millions into motorsports in recent years in order to accelerate technology transfer to production vehicles, develop engineers and raise brand awareness.

On one of the world’s biggest stages Sunday, the Rolex 24 Hours of Daytona sportscar race, Detroit dominated.

Bloomfield Hills-based Team Penske won overall with partner Porsche in the hybrid GTP class, Ford Mustang won its first 24-hour race in the production-based GTD Pro class, and Chevrolet Corvette won the GTD class. In all, Motor City brands won three of four classes (the only one they didn’t win was LMP2, a class they can’t enter because all cars are based on a French-made Oreca chassis).

Team Penske wins it all: #7 Porsche Penske Motorsports, Porsche 963, GTP: Felipe Nasr, Nick Tandy, Laurens Vanthoor celebrate in victory lane

Team Penske wins it all: #7 Porsche Penske Motorsports, Porsche 963, GTP: Felipe Nasr, Nick Tandy, Laurens Vanthoor celebrate in victory lane. Brandon Badraoui, Courtesy Of IMSA

Daytona is the opening race in the 2025 IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship and saw record participation from manufacturers, with 61 cars representing 12 manufacturers. All told, 230 drivers from 31 countries and six continents were represented.

“We’re really proud of the results,” said Mark Reuss, president of General Motors Co., which fielded cars in GTP, GTD Pro and GTD and whose Cadillac GTPs led multiple laps in a head-to-head battle with Porsche Penske. “As a manufacturer, we actually engineer and build our own racing powertrains in house. We were fast and had zero failures with eight cars.”

Five Chevrolet Corvette Z06 GT3.Rs entered the race in the GTD and GTD Pro classes. Corvette has been a mainstay of international sportscar racing since its first Daytona 24-Hour in 1999. With the establishment of uniform GT3 racing rules across the globe, Chevy has expanded its racing program to private teams and has also extended Corvette’s reach in global markets — including the production of right-hand driver ‘Vettes for England and Japan.

GM entered multiple classes. Here the 2nd place #4 Corvette Racing by Pratt Miller Motorsports leads a Cadillac GTP car.

GM entered multiple classes. Here the 2nd place #4 Corvette Racing by Pratt Miller Motorsports leads a Cadillac GTP car. Brandon Badraoui, Courtesy Of IMSA

“Corvette advertises by racing,” said brand ambassador Doug Fehan, who started the team in 1997. “We have demonstrated the value that racing brings. Our tech transfer from racing to production has produced the best Corvettes ever, and now 50% of buyers come from other brands. We are engaging more customers and more fans.”

The weekend’s most intense class battle featured Ford and Chevy brands going wheel-to-wheel in GTD Pro. The #65 Ford Multimatic Motorsports Mustang GT3 held off the #3 Pratt & Miller factory Corvette entry by less than 2 seconds at the checkered flag.

“This is a team win for everyone at Ford Motor Co., for our partners and for fans of Mustang,” said Ford Performance Global Director Mark Rushbrook. “Moments like this make the long hours, hard work and earlier disappointments worthwhile. Our first global win with the Mustang GT3 and our 20th for Ford in the 24 Hours of Daytona is a milestone.”

Four Ford-sourced Mustangs were entered, including two factory team cars in GTD Pro and two in GTD. GM-sourced entries included three Corvette GT3.Rs in the GTD class, two in the GT Pro class, and three Cadillac V-Series.R GTP cars that crested 200 mph on Daytona’s high-banked ovals. Team Penske entered two Porsche 963 in the GTP class.

Christopher Mies, Frederic Vervisch and Dennis Olsen piloted the #65 Ford Multimatic Motorsports Mustang GT3 to first place in the GTD Pro class.
Christopher Mies, Frederic Vervisch and Dennis Olsen piloted the #65 Ford Multimatic Motorsports Mustang GT3 to first place in the GTD Pro class. Jake Galstad, Courtesy Of IMSA

Team Penske narrowly missed a 1-2 finish, with Acura’s entry pipping the second-place Porsche Penske with just to laps to go. It was the second straight Rolex Daytona win for Penske and gives the team a boost towards winning the coveted 24 Hours of Le Mans in France this June — the only major sportscar race that has eluded Chairman Roger Penske’s grasp in his seven-decade racing career.

In addition to the Cadillac and Acura, Porsche Penske beat out entries from BMW. An international crew of Felipe Nasr (Brazil), Nick Tandy (Great Britain) and Laurens Vanthoor (Belgium) piloted the Porsche to the win.

Cadillac’s gas-electric hybrid GTP cars have flown the brand’s flag at race tracks around the world as Caddy has introduced its all-electric production lineup internationally, including a flagship store in Paris. While the #10 Cadillac V-Series.R thundered around the track, Cadillac’s first V-Series production model, the Lyriq-V, was on display for fans in the infield.

Caddy will also enter a team open-wheel Formula One racing beginning in 2026. Ford is partnering with Red Bull’s F1 team in 2026.

Orey Fidani, Matthew Bell, Lars Kern and Marvin Kirchhofer drove the #13 Corvette Z06 GT3.R to first place in the GTD class.

Orey Fidani, Matthew Bell, Lars Kern and Marvin Kirchhofer drove the #13 Corvette Z06 GT3.R to first place in the GTD class. Brandon Badraoui, Courtesy Of IMSA

Just a year after Ford debuted its Mustang GT3 racer, the GT Pro class win was an indication the team can compete with a front-engine car against the best mid-and-rear engine sportscars in the world, including entries from Corvette, Ferrari, Lamborghini and Porsche.

The winning #65 Mustang was driven by Dennis Olsen, Christopher Mies and Frédéric Vervisch, with its sister #64 car taking the third spot on the podium.

“(Ford CEO Jim Farley) said: ‘whatever you do, you have to be in front of Chevrolet,’” Vervisch said afterwards. “Corvette was extremely strong. I am super proud that we could stay ahead and maybe out-strategy them.”

Mustang’s race program is part of a global campaign that sells the pony car in 111 countries. After a rough start at Daytona year ago with reliability issues, the Mustang GT3 showed promise by finishing second in June’s 24-Hours of Le Mans in Fance.

For the second year in a row, Porsche Penske was first overall at the Rolex 24 Hours of Daytona, with Felipe Nasr, Nick Tandy and Laurens Vanthoor behind the wheel of the #7 Porsche Penske Motorsports Porsche 963.

For the second year in a row, Porsche Penske was first overall at the Rolex 24 Hours of Daytona, with Felipe Nasr, Nick Tandy and Laurens Vanthoor behind the wheel of the #7 Porsche Penske Motorsports Porsche 963. Jake Galstad, Courtesy Of IMSA

In the GTD class – which differs from GTD Pro in that drivers do not have pro-level racing licenses – the Corvette Z06 GT3 customer program scored its first 24-hour race win at the hands of AWA Racing and drivers Matt Bell, Orey Fidani, Lars Kern, and Martin Kirchhöfer.

The #13 Corvette crossed the finish line just 1.454 seconds ahead of the second place Porsche 911 GT3 R form Wright Motosports. The win was the 21st for Chevrolet in the Rolex 24 and the fifth for the Corvette Racing program since 1999.

“We have had continuity in racing since 1997,” said Fehan. “I call it ‘cascade engineering,’ where a race car makes a better road car, which then makes a better, next-generation race car and so on. The program attracts better personnel to the company and builds a culture of winning.”

Henry Payne is auto critic for The Detroit News. Find him at hpayne@detroitnews.com or @HenryEPayne.

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