SunTrust lead Daytona at half-distance

The car of former Grand Am champions Max Angelelli and Wayne Taylor, teamed with Brian Frisselle and Pedro Lamy, took the lead of the race near the ten-hour mark when Angelelli overtook Dario Franchitti, having stayed out during a previous caution when the leaders pitted.

The Scot had been in the lead into the ninth hour, following the ninth caution of the day, while his teammate Scott Dixon had earlier moved into the lead when starting the second quarter of the race.

After leaving his car following his second stint, Franchitti needed some ice to be placed on his right knee, which seemed to have gotten bruised following nearly three hours of driving into the night.

"We're pushing fairly hard but not ten tenths, probably eighty percent," Franchitti told autosport.com before handing the No. 02 car to Alex Lloyd. "You've got to push at least that to keep the other guys in sight. It's been fun but some of the GT cars are a little unpredictable.

"I have a little problem with my knee and we think it has to do a little bit with the way the seat is. But we're working on it and I'll be OK."

The No. 01 Lexus Riley of defending champions Juan Pablo Montoya, Scott Pruett and Memo Rojas got back on the lead lap, taking advantage of the caution periods while driven by Pruett in his second stint.

Montoya then drove more than three hours from midnight, taking the wheel in sixth place and handing it back to Memo Rojas in second.

"The car is working just fine but the Penske car with the power they have is making it hard for us," Montoya told autosport.com. "We're doing what we can, we're back on the lead lap and we can push a little bit more but not much."

"The car with the least problems is going to win."

The No. 16 Penske car of Timo Bernhard, Romain Dumas and Ryan Briscoe remains well in contention, leading the race for a few laps again. Their Porsche Riley has run flawlessly and looks set to be a contender for victory.

The No. 58 Brumos Porsche that had led the race into the sixth hour crashed later at turn three while driven by Antonio Garcia.

The Spaniard took over from Buddy Rice and was running second at the time of the incident. He was able to rejoin after repairs three laps down but was already back on the lead lap at the halfway mark.

The sister No. 59 Brumos car led the race into the eighth hour and remains in contention, also running on the same lap as the leaders.

The No. 60 Michael Shank Ford Riley entry was sidelined from the race due to a similar issue as that of the sister No. 6 car that retired from the lead earlier while driven by AJ Allmendinger.

"I hate it for the team because this is a great group and Mike Shank does a great job so this is really disappointing," said Allmendinger. "We weren't even pushing and the car was just so easy to drive that all we were doing was keeping to plan and setting the pace."

The team said an engine crank sensor trigger failed, preventing the car from running again. A similar problem hampered the No. 76 Krohn Racing Ford Lola.

In the GT class the battle between the Porsche teams continued, with the No. 86 Farnbacher Loles driven by Dominic Farnbacher, Eric Lux, Matthew Martin and Kevin Roush leading at the twelfth hour, followed by two of the TRG Porsches.