Briscoe blows red light to earn costly penalty in Rolex 24

DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. (AP) — Ryan Briscoe missed a red light at the end of pit road that could cost Wayne Taylor Racing a second consecutive victory in the Rolex 24 at Daytona.

The Taylor team was well in control of the race early Sunday morning until the fourth caution bunched the field and sent teams to pit road. As Briscoe was driving the No. 10 Cadillac DPi back to the track, he blew past a set of red lights that drew a costly penalty from IMSA.

Briscoe had to go back to the pits and sit idle in his car for a full minute under green. By the time he got back on track, the No. 10 was a lap down and had dropped from first to fourth.

Loic Duval in the No. 5 Cadillac for JDC-Miller Motorsports claimed the overall lead after Briscoe’s gaffe. The Taylor team has led most of the twice-round-the-clock race, which was on record pace.

Through 18 hours, there had been just four cautions. The event is on pace to set new marks in total laps and miles completed.

The field this year — just 38 cars — is the smallest in 58 runnings of this event and the low car count has been credited as one reason for the rapid pace. With fewer cars on track, the chances of an incident creating a full-course caution have been dramatically reduced.

Conversely, the lack of cautions prevented several teams from gaining any ground after in-race hiccups dropped them into a hole. Team Penske had its first Acura crash four hours into the race, and even though it took just 45 minutes for the repairs, the No. 7 is still more than 20 laps behind the Taylor car.

It’s been a tough go in Kyle Busch’s debut Rolex 24 as the reigning NASCAR champion got into his Lexus RC F GT3 with the car already a lap down. But “Rowdy” got AIM Vasser Sullivan back on the lead lap in a short 42-minute stint before he was pulled from the car to rest him for longer drives when the race was on the line.

The plan seemed to work as Busch and Jack Hawksworth kept the car in contention until a brake change took 10 minutes and dropped them seven laps off the pace in class.

Busch got back into the car as the sun came up over Daytona for his third driving stint.