Ford Daytona loss after comeback from five laps down a kick in teeth
Ford driver Richard Westbrook says the #67 car's late-race loss of a likely Daytona 24 Hours class win after recovering a five-lap deficit felt like a "kick in the teeth"
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The car Westbrook shared with Ryan Briscoe and Scott Dixon suffered an early setback when Briscoe smacked the pit-exit wall after his first stop, which required the car to go back to the paddock for repairs.
By the time it emerged and served more penalties for entering a closed pitlane it was five laps down.
But impressive stints from all three drivers and a smart pit strategy helped the Ford GT regain three laps long before half-distance in the IMSA SportsCar Championship season opener, and strong runs in the rain from Dixon - despite a spin - and Westbrook and more quick thinking in response to full-course cautions brought the car onto the lead lap.
Westbrook was at the front of the GT Le Mans pack when the race was stopped for a first time, but needed to pit for more fuel when yellow flags were show for a crash.
Officials then threw a red flag for a second time while the #67 was third, and eventually decided to call the race with 10 minutes left on the clock.
"I thought we played it beautifully," said Westbrook.
"We were five laps down, though it took us a lot longer to get those laps back than we ever anticipated.
"Patience was the key, though, and we got them back.
"We knew it was going to rain at the end, so they put me in the car, and I love the rain. I had to be really patient in the beginning, just getting used to the conditions.
"Finally I got some confidence out there and we were able to pull out a sizeable gap in the lead.
"And at that point we were in control, but I just couldn't understand why we were still running at that point.
"It's really, really tough to take it right now, when you consider the fight that we put on.
"To come away with nothing is a real kick in the teeth when we had got ourselves in the right spot."
The #67 was also penalised post-race for entering a closed pit, costing it a lap and dumping it to fourth place in class behind the winning #25 BMW M8, Risi Competizione Ferrari and the #911 Porsche.
Victory would have been a third in as many years for the Chip Ganassi Racing-run squad.
The sister #66 car of Joey Hand, Dirk Muller and Sebastien Bourdais had also been in contention for victory, but ended up seventh when Hand was hit from behind by the #911 Porsche of Fred Mackowiecki and lost 19 minutes while the car was repaired.
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