DAYTONA, FL (Jan 26, 2025) DXDT Racing’s bid to win the 2025 Rolex 24 Hours at Daytona came to a disappointing end around 2 AM Sunday morning, just past the halfway mark in the twice-round-the-clock classic. Driver Charlie Eastwood pulled the No. 36 SuCo/Mobil 1 Corvette Z06 GT3.R onto the apron after reporting flames in the rearview camera, where he was met by the AMR Safety Team and Daytona fire crew, who helped put out the blaze.

It was an unfortunate end to the race for the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship debutants. Despite sticking to a conservative energy-saving strategy that required the drivers to save fuel for large parts of their stints, Eastwood and co-drivers Salih Yoluc, Alec Udell, and Pipo Derani had worked their way up from a 15th place starting position into the top 5 before hour six. Udell even found himself leading the GTD class at the end of his stint, the team’s first lap led in IMSA competition.

While the result isn’t what the team had in mind when they unloaded the trucks in Daytona two weeks ago, Team Manager Bryan Sellers said it was a really beneficial time for DXDT as they transition into the top level of American GT racing.

“You come in to every race with high hopes of execution and results and, unfortunately, it just wasn’t in the cards for this one,” said Sellers. “Daytona is always a long two weeks, but I think they were extremely beneficial and I think we learned a lot as a program. We were able to identify a lot of things that are important moving forward, things that will help us continue to get better this season. What we have to do now is go back and re-evaluate and analyze everything we did this month, not just in regards to the end result, but everything prior to that as well. We want to make sure we’re on the front foot when we arrive at the track.

“We have to look at this as an opportunity to grow and get better. We knew coming here wasn’t going to be easy, and I’m very proud of how our team worked together to make sure we had the best possible chance for success this weekend. This is the best racing in the world, and everyone in the sport wants to win this race. Our goal is to be up front and be one of those teams everyone looks at as favorites for these races. We’re appreciative of all the help we receive from Pratt Miller and GM, and together we’re going to go back to the drawing board and figure out how to get there.”

With Daytona done, the team’s attention turns to another jewel in the endurance racing triple crown: the Mobil 1 Twelve Hours of Sebring. The second round of the IMSA Michelin Endurance Cup will take place on Saturday, March 15th, with coverage, as always, on Peacock and the NBC family of networks.

From The Drivers

Alec Udell

There are lots of positives to take away from here, despite the finish. From a team standpoint, they executed flawlessly in the pits and really helped us climb to the top early in the race. With where we were coming from last year, we had to learn a whole new set of rules and procedures in GTD, so I really feel like we were firing on all cylinders in that sense. The race was a lot of fun. I felt pretty confident in the car and felt like I could push as the stint went on. I was just learning a bit on the new way of energy saving and just working through all the different ways you can fight in the midst of all that. I definitely had a lot of fun and really enjoyed the double stint and was looking forward to more, but that just wan’t to be for us today. We still took a ton from these past two weeks and I expect us to be on it from the jump at Sebring.

Salih Yoluc

I’m pretty disappointed with the way that it ended. This week, we struggled with pace a little bit, like everyone knows, but it seemed we were figuring it out and the team was running a really good race. This is just the way racing is sometimes. We can only look forward to Sebring now, and hopefully we can unlock some more pace in the car. Corvette has done well there in the past, and I’m hoping we can add to that success.

Charlie Eastwood

Unfortunately, I saw a bit of a flame through the second part of the road course and entering Turn Six, and by the time I got on to the banking, the flames were getting bigger. Thankfully the fire team here are insanely good, and they were at the car before I even got out. We’re lucky we still have a car here, based on them, so thank you. They’re the best in the business.

The two weeks as a whole have been tricky. We’ve missed a little bit of pace  throughout, but it’s also been great to work with the team. They’re a super nice bunch of people and I’m sure when we find a little more pace in the car, we will have good results in the future. 

Pipo Derani

Obviously we didn’t start the weekend so well, but we were improving throughout the race and I was having fun. I was supposed to do just a stint initially and then I ended up staying in for  almost three. I was having fun getting to grips with the Corvette and we were working into a good position to get through the night. 
But racing sometimes can be a little cruel. Going from P14 to P4  with some great strategy and also fighting for the top three positions with GT specialists out there was nice for me. I wish I had a little bit more, but it’s racing. Most of the time, 99% of the time, it doesn’t go your way. Today, we just wanted to at least have brought this car to the checkered flag, but it wasn’t the case. Nevertheless, it was a great opportunity to be with a great group of people and Erin [Gahagan], whom I’ve worked with in the past. It was just a shame how it ended, but I’m sure this team is on a great road for success in IMSA. I think they are a great group of people and they will find success in the near future.