DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. – The 64^th annual Rolex 24 at Daytona International Speedway has featured plenty of thrills throughout the first six hours.

The No. 31 Whelen Cadillac and the Wayne Taylor Racing No. 40 Cadillac brought the 60-car field down to the green flag to start the event; however, the caution quickly came out after several LMP2 cars spun in Turn 1.

The first turn was a challenge early on. Eric Zitza, driver of the No. 28 RS1 Porsche crashed in the first hour as well. Under braking, he clipped the grass and pounded the tire barrier at pit exit. The crash brought out the second full course caution of the afternoon.

The field went back to green, and unfortunately for the pole sitting No. 30 Whelen Cadillac team, they got penalized for jumping the restart and were issued a drive-thru penalty.

Early in the race, it was Penske Porsche leading the way, with Felipe Nasr first in the No. 7 and Kevin Estre behind him in the No. 6.

At the end of Hour 1, it was Nasr continuing to lead the way in GTP. Ben Keating was first in LMP2 in the No. 52. Corvette Racing with Alexander Sims piloting the No. 3 car was out in front in GTD Pro, and the No. 57 Winward Mercedes with Philip Ellis led the way in GTD.

HOUR 2

Following pit stops, Penske continued to lead; however, Estre was atop the field with Nasr behind him. There was quite a gap to the No. 93 Acura in third-place. The Penske teammates swapped the lead again about 30 minutes later before swapping the lead again as they pitted for a second time.

At Hour 2, it was Estre in the No. 6 Penske Porsche leading GTP. In LMP2, PJ Hyett led the way in the No. 99 AO Racing car. Corvette continued to lead in GTD Pro with Nicky Catsburg in the catbird seat. Russell Ward in the No. 57 Winward Mercedes was leading the way in GTD.

HOUR 3

The Penske cars made driver swaps. Laurens Vanthoor took over the reins of the No. 6 Porsche, and Julien Andlauer got behind the wheel of the No. 7 Porsche.

A full-course caution came out for a crash involving the No. 62 Ferrari and driver Daniel Serra.

At this point in the race, several cars fell victim to mechanical issues and went to the garage.

A big crash occurred at the end of the Hour 3 mark, and it involved the No. 120 Wright Motorsports Porsche. The crash began when Dylan Murray in the No. 83 LMP2 car spun and then was impacted hard by Adam Adelson in the No. 120 car. Adelson was transported to a nearby hospital for further evaluation but was later released.

HOUR 4

Despite all the adversity, the No. 31 Whelen Cadillac made its way to the front of the field to lead with driver Earl Bamber. He’d lead at the Hour 4 mark. In LMP2, it was Dane Cameron in the No. 99 AO Racing car. In GTD Pro, Antonio Garcia led the way in the No. 3 Corvette. The No. 34 Conquest Racing Ferrari with driver Albert Costa was out in front in GTD.

NASCAR driver, Connor Zilisch got behind the wheel of the No. 31 Whelen Cadillac after Bamber pitted from the race lead.

HOUR 5

At Hour 5, Penske was back out in front with Laurin Heinrich piloting the No. 7 Porsche. AO Racing continued to lead in LMP2 with driver Jonny Edgar driving the No. 99. In GTD Pro, the No. 9 Pfaff Lamborghini with driver Andrea Caldarelli took the lead away from Corvette. Thierry Vermeulen, driver of the No. 34 Conquest Racing Ferrari was in the lead in GTD.

HOUR 6

Corvette Racing did retake the lead in GTD Pro after the No. 9 Pfaff Lamborghini pitted.

The caution came out for Matteo Cariroli who spun and couldn’t get the No. 81 DragonSpeed Corvette re-fired.

At Hour 6, GTP continued to be dominated by Penske Porsche. Heinrich led the way in the No. 7 car. AO Racing was still out front with Edgar piloting the No. 99 car. In GTD Pro, though, Neil Verhagen had placed the No. 1 Paul Miller Racing BMW out in front with the Corvettes trailing. There was also a leader change in GTD, as Frederik Schandorff in the No. 70 Inception Racing Ferrari led the way.

Photo Credit: Mitchell White/TheFourthTurn.com