BATTLING PERFORMANCE FOR LE MANS WINNERS AT DAYTONA
29 January 2006
This year’s Rolex 24 at Daytona saw the #51 Cheever Racing NetVu Connected Lexus Crawford – supported by prime sponsors AD Group - battling to 12th in class, 22nd-place overall, despite major problems that sent it behind the wall for extended repairs on three separate occasions, beginning with the opening laps of the race.
The drivers behind the Le Mans 24 LMP2 winning MG Lola – AD Group’s CEO Mike Newton , Brazilan Tommy Erdos and Warren Hughes - were joined for the race by Swede Stefan Johansson, a five-time competitor at the Rolex 24, with best finishes of third in 1999 and fourth in 2005.
Johansson took the wheel at the start in the #51 Cheever Racing machine, but as he concluded his first tour of the Daytona International Speedway circuit, smoke poured out of the rear. The culprit was an oil line that had come undone, prompting the team to spend the next 17 laps in the garage securing it, and sending Johansson to the back of the 66-car field.
Later, during the sixth hour of the race and with Hughes behind the wheel running in 36th position, overheating problems sent car and driver to the garage again, this time to replace the radiator. That job cost another 31 laps and sent the team back to 47th place.
Early in the 15th hour, while running in 29th, the #51 car and driver Newton had to go to the garage a third time to replace suspension pieces. Another 28 laps were lost to the leaders as Newton resumed in 35th position.
That proved to be the end of the major incidents for the #51 team, which was forced to drive the latter half of the race without the aid of power steering after the system failed shortly after midnight.
From there, Johansson, Erdos, Hughes and Newton methodically soldiered toward the front of the field, ultimately coming home in 22nd place.
Said Steffan Johansson: “It was like a moral victory to just take the checkered flag after the weekend we had. It was a struggle from the very first lap of the race. But we were still battling at the end, and that’s a real credit to all the people involved. They never quit. That’s what 24-hour racing is supposed to be like.”
Based in Indianapolis, Cheever Racing opened its doors in 1997 to race in the IRL IndyCar Series. The team went on to win the 1998 Indianapolis 500. A leader in American motorsports, the team is built on owner Eddie Cheever Jr.’s 30-plus years of experience in Formula One, sports cars and open-wheel racing.
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