AUTO RACING
Donohue’s team ends Ganassi run
DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. — Juan Pablo Montoya said he felt like he had brought a knife to a gunfight.
Montoya and his Chip Ganassi Racing teammates went into the 47th Rolex 24 going for an unprecedented fourth straight victory for their car owner, but it was David Donohue and the long-suffering Brumos Porsche team that came out on top.
Donohue was at the wheel of the winning car in the last hour Sunday, chasing down and passing NASCAR star Montoya just 41 minutes from the finish, then holding the former IndyCar and Formula One driver off by the closest margin in race history.
The Ganassi drivers insisted that the Porsches had a big advantage on power, particularly on the portion of the 3.56-mile road circuit that encompasses about three-fourths of the 2z-mile NASCAR oval.
Donohue teammate Darren Law called the Ganassi team’s gripes sour grapes, noting, “They crossed the line 50 feet behind us and it was a fight the whole way through.”
It was the biggest career win for Donohue, who started from the pole in the team’s Porsche Riley on Saturday. He combined with former Indy 500 winner Buddy Rice, Antonio Garcia and Law to win.
“We ran hard the whole time,” said Donohue, son of Indy 500 winner Mark Donohue, who died in 1975 after a crash during a Formula One test when his son was 8.
Eric Lux of Williamsville helped drive the No. 86 Porsche for the Farnbacher Noles Racing team, which placed 13th.
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