After eight hours of racing in the 24 Hours of Daytona, it’s the #31 Whelen Engineering Racing Cadillac that now leads the overall standings.
Jack Aitken is running his stint at the head of the field in the darkness, and holds a five-second gap over the ever-present #10 Wayne Taylor Racing Acura.
Brendon Hartley conducted a masterclass in defense against a charging Alex Lynn in the #02 Cadillac, and was able to hold onto second place.
One of the more dramatic moments of the early night hours was when the #60 Meyer Shank Racing Acura spun heading into the first corner during a restart while attempting to pass the Whelen Cadillac.
Instead of making a quick pass to get back in the lead, Helio Castroneves found himself waiting for the entire field to pass before he was able to rejoin the track.
He also had to make an unplanned pit stop to take new tires, and now finds himself a lap down to the leaders.
The reason for the initial caution that set up Castroneves’ spin was a collision in the braking zone for the Le Mans Chicane. Steven Thomas driving the #11 TDS Racing LMP2 was not quite clear of a GT car as he lined up for the tricky corner.
Thomas was turned into the outside barrier, breaking his car’s front toe link and sending him sliding off the track.
Despite not making any further collisions, the safety crew was forced to take extra time to extract him from the car, which led to a lengthy caution.
The top driver in LMP2 after eight hours is Ben Keating in the #52 PR1 Mathiasen prototype. He leads the #88 AF Corse entry that led much of the early laps, and both drivers are now a full 10 laps behind the faster GTP leaders.
Gabby Chavez is in the top spot in LMP3 in Andretti Autosport machine, but is under threat from Lance Willsey in the #33 Sean Creech Motorsport entry.
In the GT classes, the #23 Heart of Racing Aston Martin remains in the lead over the brightly-colored #14 Vasser-Sullivan Lexus.
Those two GTD PRO drivers are fighting tooth and nail with the #32 Teak Korthoff Mercedes AMG, which is leading the GTD class.
With both GT classes being separated only by driver rating requirements, expect cars from both to stay in sight of one another all night.
Darkness has fully set in over the track, and with moderate temperatures and clouds forecast, the drivers are settling in for a consistent stretch of racing under the lights.
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