By JENNA FRYER
AP Auto Racing Writer
DAYTONA BEACH, Florida (AP) Chip Ganassi's two cars got off to a rough start in the Rolex 24 Hours of Daytona, as each entry had an early issue.
The No. 02 suffered a cut right rear tire about one hour into the race. Scott Dixon was behind the wheel of the BMW Riley and running fourth when he took the car to pit road for a tire change.
Minutes later, the No. 01 Ganassi entry headed to pit road to change its gear box. Scott Pruett waited out the change, which at just over four minutes, took double its normal time. Pruett went back onto the course at Daytona International Speedway running 17th in the 18 car Daytona Prototype class.
Pruett quickly gained four spots - right about the same time the No. 02 Ganassi entry - with Dario Franchitti driving - suffered yet another cut right rear tire.
"Not the best of starts for the race, but the car's still in one piece," Dixon said. "We have a little bit of damage in the right rear, the bodywork. But in general, it's pretty good. If that's our biggest problem, we're going to have a pretty smooth race.
"It doesn't change anything. It's 24 hours. There's still a long ways to go."
Jorg Bergmeister, driving for Flying Lizard Motorsports, started from the pole and led the 18-car field to the green flag in the DP class. That team led 27 laps before giving way to Max Angelelli of SunTrust Racing.
Angelelli led 24 laps, then gave way to Nic Jonsson of Krohn Racing.
Updated January 29, 2011
