The 2001 Rolex 24 at Daytona was a

Grand-Am Grand-Am Road Racing or Grand-Am was an auto racing sanctioning body that was established in 1999 to organize road racing competitions in North America. Its primary focus was the Rolex Sports Car Series, an endurance racing championship series. I ...

Rolex Sports Car Series 24-hour

endurance Endurance (also related to sufferance, forbearance, resilience, constitution, fortitude, persistence, tenacity, steadfastness, perseverance, stamina, and hardiness) is the ability of an organism to exert itself and remain active for a ...

sports car race held on February 3–4, 2001 at the

Daytona International Speedway Daytona International Speedway is a race track in Daytona Beach, Florida, Daytona Beach, Florida, United States, about north of Orlando, Florida, Orlando. Since opening in 1959, it has been the home of the Daytona 500, the most prestigious race ...

road course. The race served as the first round of the 2001 Rolex Sports Car Series. The race saw increased media attention due to

Dale Earnhardt Ralph Dale Earnhardt (; April 29, 1951February 18, 2001) was an American professional Stock car racing, stock car driver and racing team owner, who raced from 1975 to 2001 in the former NASCAR Winston Cup Series (now called the NASCAR Cup Serie ...

and

Dale Earnhardt Jr. Ralph Dale Earnhardt Jr. (born October 10, 1974) is an American professional stock car racing driver, team owner, and broadcaster. A third-generation driver, he is the son of the late 7-time NASCAR Cup Series champion Dale Earnhardt and relative ...

competing together for

Corvette Racing Corvette Racing was an American auto racing team established in 1999 by General Motors and Pratt Miller for the purposes of competing in sports car racing internationally. Corvette Racing was originally the official racing program for General M ...

. The father-son duo finished the race 4th overall. Earnhardt

died Death is the end of life; the irreversible cessation of all biological functions that sustain a living organism. Death eventually and inevitably occurs in all organisms. The remains of a former organism normally begin to decompose sho ...

several weeks later in the

2001 Daytona 500 The 2001 Daytona 500, the 43rd running of the event, was the first race of the 2001 NASCAR Winston Cup Series schedule. It was held on February 18, 2001, at Daytona International Speedway in Daytona Beach, Florida, consisting of 200 laps ...

. Victory overall and in the GTS class went to the No. 2

Chevrolet Corvette C5-R The Chevrolet Corvette C5-R is a grand touring auto racing, racing car built by Pratt Miller and Chevrolet for competition in Endurance racing (motorsport), endurance racing. The car is based on the Chevrolet Corvette C5, C5 generation of the Chev ...

from

, driven by

Johnny O'Connell Johnny O'Connell (born July 24, 1962) is the most successful GM factory racing driver from the United States. He currently drives for Cadillac in the Pirelli World Challenge, winning the 2012, 2013, 2014 and 2015 GT driver's championship. Care ...

Ron Fellows Ronald Charles Fellows Order of Canada, CM (born September 28, 1959) is a Canadian retired auto racing driver. Personal life Fellows was born in Windsor, Ontario, on September 28, 1959. At age four, he became interested in auto racing with his ...

Chris Kneifel Chris Kneifel (born April 23, 1961, in Chicago, Illinois), is a former driver in the CART Championship Car series. He raced in the 1982–1984 seasons with 19 career starts, including the 1983 and 1984 Indianapolis 500, and finished in the top ten ...

, and

Franck Fréon Franck Fréon (born 16 March 1962, in Paris) is a French race car driver. He began his career in the French Renault 5 Turbo Championship in 1986 and 1987 then competed in French Formula Three from 1988 to 1989. In 1990 he competed in Internationa ...

. The GT class was won by the No. 31 Porsche 996 GT3-RS from White Lightning Racing, driven by

Christian Menzel Christian Menzel (born 22 June 1971 in Langenfeld (Rheinland)) is a German racing driver. His career started in 1981 in Karts. Since 1991 he competed in ADAC BMW Formula Junior, later Formula Renault and since 1994 Formula 3. In 1998 he won tog ...

Randy Pobst Randy Franklin Pobst (born June 26, 1957, in Dayton, Ohio), also known as "RFP" or "The Rocket," is an American race car driver and journalist for ''Motor Trend'' magazine. Active in the SCCA World Challenge GT series and the Grand American ...

, Mike Fitzgerald, and

Lucas Luhr Lucas Luhr (born 22 July 1979) is a German racing driver. He is a staple of the American Le Mans Series during the 2000s and early 2010s, winning the GT class with Porsche in 2002, the LMP2 category in 2006, and taking the overall LMP1 champion ...

. The SRP class was won by the No. 63 Kudzu DLY from Downing/Atlanta Racing, driven by Howard Katz, Chris Ronson, A. J. Smith, and

Jim Downing James Downing (born January 4, 1942) is an American former professional race car driver, he is a five-time IMSA Championship winner, owner/driver of Downing/Atlanta Racing, and was principal in the development of the HANS device. Personal life ...

. The SRP II class was won by the No. 21 Archangel Motorsport Services

Lola B2K/40 The Lola B2K/40 was a Le Mans Prototype developed in 2000 by Lola Cars International as a cheaper, smaller, and lighter alternative to the similar Lola B2K/10. Although specifically designed to compete in the SR2 class of the Sports Racing Wor ...

, driven by

Andy Lally Andrew Joseph Lally (born February 11, 1975) is an American former professional auto racing driver who currently serves as the president for the Trans Am Series. He competed full-time in the WeatherTech SportsCar Championship, driving the Audi R ...

, Paul Macey, Martin Henderson, and Peter Seldon. Finally, the AGT class was won by the No. 11 Hamilton Safe Motorsports

Chevrolet Camaro The Chevrolet Camaro is a mid-size American automobile manufactured by Chevrolet, classified as a pony car. It first went on sale on September 29, 1966, for the 1967 model year and was designed to compete with the Ford Mustang. The Camaro sha ...

, driven by Ken Bupp, Dick Greer, Doug Mills, and Simon Gregg.

Race results

Class winners in bold.

References

External links

Car Information & Images
{{24 Hours of Daytona 24 Hours of Daytona 2001 in American motorsport 2001 in sports in Florida