DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. — What a yr for Helio Castroneves, the ageless Spider-Man of motorsports.

Castroneves climbed the fence for the third time in a calendar yr Sunday after incomes one other crown jewel victory, this time a second consecutive win within the Rolex 24 at Daytona. The Brazilian closed out the race for Meyer Shank Racing, the crew that helped him win a record-tying fourth Indianapolis 500 in Could.

Within the No. 60 Acura, Castroneves held off Ricky Taylor over the ultimate hour of the twice-’round the clock race. Castroneves gained his first profession Rolex watch twelve months in the past as Taylor’s teammate within the No. 10 Acura.

Castroneves denied Wayne Taylor Racing a fourth consecutive win at Daytona Worldwide Speedway, the place he, in fact, climbed the fence along with his crew in celebration. Now rival-team proprietor Taylor went to victory lane to congratulate Castroneves.

The win for Michael Shank got here on the tenth anniversary of Shank’s first victory in North America’s most prestigious sports activities automotive race. That win within the fiftieth operating of the Rolex with the late Justin Wilson and NASCAR driver AJ Allmendinger gave Shank’s fledgling program credibility, and Castroneves since Could has helped Shank present the crew is a official power.

Castroneves will drive the total IndyCar season for Shank this yr in a two-car effort that features former Penske teammate Simon Pagenaud. Shank grabbed Castroneves and Pagenaud to assist his full-time IMSA sports activities automotive drivers Olivier Jarvis and Tom Blomqvist win the sixtieth operating of the Rolex.

The 24-hour race remarkably got here all the way down to the ultimate minutes in 4 of the 5 lessons. And it was an enormous day for the IndyCar Sequence, which had 5 drivers declare Rolex watches.

Colton Herta, Pato O’Ward and IndyCar rookie Devlin DeFrancesco rallied DragonSpeed USA from a number of laps all the way down to win the LMP2 class, with Herta going door-to-door within the remaining minutes with Tower Motorsport. Herta got here out the victor when the 2 vehicles virtually touched and Louis Deletraz went astray.

The brand new GTD Professional class was determined by a frantic battle between a pair of Porsches, and Pfaff Motorsports, which enlisted IMSA reigning co-champion Felipe Nasr as its endurance driver, earned the win.

Riley Motorsports gained the LMP3 class, and Wright Motorsports gained the GT Daytona class.

The sphere featured 61 vehicles, essentially the most since 2014, and was run in record-low temperatures. The climate dipped into the low-30s in a single day however was a light 53 levels and sunny when Castroneves climbed one more fence.