After more than 2,400 miles and 23 1/2 hours of racing, the most prestigious North American sports car race came down to eight minutes and a final five-lap sprint.
The first race of the unified United SportsCar Championship -- the NASCAR-owned and IMSA-sanctioned series born from the merger between American Le Mans and Grand-AM -- ended with a NASCAR flair. A late, full-course caution swallowed Joao Barbosa's 13-seccond lead and gave Max Angelelli a last-ditch chance to win the Rolex 24 at Daytona.
Barbosa never gave him a chance, pulling away on the restart with 8:23 to race Sunday to give Action Express Racing its second victory in four years.
It gave Barbosa his second overall win and third in class. Co-driver Sebastien Bourdais won the Rolex for the first time, while Christian Fittipaldi won for the second time.
Action Express' second entry finished third -- and Chevrolet's new Corvette swept the podium -- in an outstanding day for the Bob Johnson-owned organization. Action won its first Rolex in 2010, and Barbosa was part of that team.
