"We knew it was going to be a long race," Nastasi said after notching up his second victory in three years at Daytona. "My job was to keep the brakes and tires under [the car] and avoid any incidents on the track. David did a great job to bring home the win."
In the ST class, the No. 76 Kensai Racing Acura TSX of Karl Thomson and Billy Johnson won from the back of the field, beating 44 other ST entries to the finish line. The No. 76 qualified Second, but after a routine technical inspection, it was found to have illegal bodywork-specifically a lightweight trunk-a part the team didn't even know existed. After the change, the team charged from the back of the field to claim ST honors. "There was so much traffic out there it was like a freeway, and it was just awesome racing," Thomson said after the race.
With a dominant opening round in the GS ranks, look for the Ford FR500Cs to have another successful year of road racing-just another arena where the Blue Oval excels.