AJ Allmendinger headlined a strong Rolex 24 at Daytona team along with drivers Katherine Legge and Alvaro Parente in an Acura NSX GT. Allmendinger, a full time NASCAR cup series driver, entered the race because he wanted more time on a road course than he gets in NASCAR. And he came just short of leading his team to a class win.
With just an hour and a half left in the 24 hour race, Allmendinger had driven the NSX to the lead in the GTD class before pitting for a final driver change to let Parente finish out the race. That is when things turned. During the pit stop, an air gun malfunctioned, causing the team to lose time trying to change a tire.
In a 24 hour race, Allmendinger's team ended up finishing second in their class by only 16.4 seconds. There are countless moments that went into the final result, but it is hard not to look at the malfunctioning air gun as keeping the team out of first.
The fact that the team survived a close call when Katherine Legge was bumped off track earlier in the race only makes it harder to swallow how close they came.
Related: Daytona has already produced intense moments that have changed the race