DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. – Dense fog dominated the night in the Rolex 24, but the action heated up as the sun rose at Daytona International Speedway.

Just prior to 1 a.m., dense fog set in and forced IMSA to throw a full-course caution for the entire stint through the nighttime. The fog caution was so long that even the Safety Car had to be swapped out due to refueling. Felipe Nasr in the No. 7 Penske Porsche was leading at the time of the yellow flag.

Despite the fog, teams still had to make pit stops, while making driver changes and repairs. The No. 6 Penske Porsche changed brakes. The team later pitted several more times to make additional repairs.

The No. 7 Penske Porsche also had its challenges and had to pit for repairs. With the two Penske Porsche teams making pit stops, the overall lead was handed to Nico Pino in the No. 85 JDC-Miller Motorsports Porsche around the 14 Hour mark; however, eventually, it was the No. 6 Penske Porsche with Kevin Estre taking back over the lead within the hour.

During the early hours of the morning, BMW became part of the overall picture. Rene Rast placed the No. 24 BMW M Team WRT in the lead around 5 a.m. on Sunday morning. As for other class leaders, in LMP2, it was Kyffin Simpson leading in the No. 8 Tower Motorsports car. Alessio Picariello was leading the way in GTD Pro in the No. 77 Porsche, and Morris Schuring in the No. #912 Porsche was on top in GTD.

Just prior to 6:30 a.m., the No. 7 Penske Porsche regained the lead after the No. 24 BMW pitted, but the lead was short lived because the team also needed to pit. At Hour 17, it was Kaylen Frederick in the No. 85 JDC-Miller MotorSports Porsche who was out in front of the field.

The green flag came back out a little before 7:30 a.m., and unfortunately for the No. 85 JDC Porsche who was leading, they were issued a drive-thru penalty.

By Hour 18, it was Laurin Heinrich in the No. 7 Penske Porsche who was back on top. Sebastien Bourdais led in LMP2 while driving the No. 8 Tower car. Tommy Milner in the No. 4 Corvette was on top in GTD Pro, and Robby Foley was leading GTD in the No. 96 BMW.

Early  in the 19^th hour, Nick Cassidy made his way around Bourdais to take over the lead in LMP2.

The No. 3 Corvette that had been a front runner all race long went behind the wall for a suspension failure.

At the end of 19 hours, it was Matt Campbell leading overall in the No. 6 Penske Porsche.

 The caution came out around 9 a.m. for Logan Sargeant who stopped in Turn 1. He was piloting the No. 18 Era Motorsport car. Under the caution, teams pitted, and in LMP2, Antonio Felix do Costa took over the lead in the No. 43 Inter Europol car.

Following the green flag, Ayhancan Guven in the No. 7 AO Racing Porsche passed Harry King in the No. 77 AO Racing Porsche to take over the lead in GTD Pro.

At Hour 20, it was Marco Wittmann leading the way in the No. 25 BMW M Team WRT car. Da Costa was leading in LMP2 in the No. 43 Inter Europol car. In GTD Pro, it was Mex Hesse out front in the No. 1 Paul Miller Racing BMW, and in GTD, Scott McLaughlin was leading in the No. 36 DXDT Racing Corvette.

The finish of the 64^th running of the Rolex 24 can be viewed on Peacock or beginning at 12 p.m. on NBC.

Photo Credit: Mitchell White/TheFourthTurn.com