1979 24 Hours of Daytona

The 17th Annual 24 Hour Pepsi Challenge Daytona was a 24-hour GT race held on February 3–4, 1979^[1] at the Daytona International Speedway road course. The race served as the opening round of the 1979 World Championship for Makes, 1979 World Challenge for Endurance Drivers and the 1979 IMSA GTX, GTO and GTU Championships.

Victory overall and in the GTX class went to the No. 0 Interscope Racing run Porsche 935/79. The car was driven by team owner Ted Field and professional co-drivers Hurley Haywood and Danny Ongais. Over the 24 hours elapsed time of the race the Interscope Porsche completed 684 laps, covering 4,227 kilometres. The team dominated the race, winning by 49 laps, a distance of over 300 kilometres.

Second place was the GTO class winner, the No. 65 Ferrari 365 GTB/4 enterred by Modena Sports Cars and driven by American racers, John Morton and Tony Adamowicz. Third and 57 laps behind the winner was the No. 11 GTX Class Porsche 935 raced by another all-American team, Bruce Canepa, Rick Mears and Monte Shelton. Fourth and third in GTX was the No. 94 Whittington Brothers Racing Porsche 935/79 driven by the brothers, Bill Whittington and Don Whittington and their German co-driver Jürgen Barth. They finished 62 laps behind the winning car.^[2][3]

Second in the GTO class was the No. 54 Porsche 911 Carrera RSR driven by Americans Tony Garcia and Alberto Vadia, and Cuban driver Juan Montalvo, 97 laps behind the winning Porsche and 48 laps behind the class winning Ferrari. A further 12 laps behind was third in class Porsche 911 Carrera RSR of Americans Robert Overby, Ash Tisdelle and team owner Lance Van Every.

The GTU class was won by the No. 7 Mazda Technical Center, debuting the Mazda RX-7 at Daytona. The car was driven by all-Japanese crew of Yoshimi Katayama, Yojiro Terada and Takashi Yorino. The Mazda finished fifth outright and 67 laps behind the winning Porsche. Team mates finished just two laps behind in the No. 77 Mazda RX-7 driven by Americans Walt Bohren, Amos Johnson and Roger Mandeville. Third and five laps further behind was the No. 60 Porsche 911 S of Americans Rusty Bond and Ren Tilton.

Class winners denoted in bold and with ‡.

Pos	Class	No.	Team / Entrant	Drivers	Car	Laps
					Engine
1	GTX	0	Interscope Racing	Ted Field Hurley Haywood Danny Ongais	Porsche 935/79	684 ‡
					Porsche Turbo Flat-6
2	GTO	65	Modena Sports Cars	Tony Adamowicz John Morton	Ferrari 365 GTB/4	635 ‡
					Ferrari Tipo 251 4.4 L V12
3	GTX	11	Bruce Canepa	Bruce Canepa Rick Mears Monte Shelton	Porsche 935	627
					Porsche Turbo Flat-6
4	GTX	94	Whittington Brothers Racing	Jürgen Barth Bill Whittington Don Whittington	Porsche 935/79	622
					Porsche Turbo Flat-6
5	GTU	7	Mazda Technical Center	Yoshimi Katayama Yojiro Terada Takashi Yorino	Mazda RX-7	617 ‡
					Mazda 13B 1.3 L Rotary
6	GTU	77	Mazda Technical Center	Walt Bohren Amos Johnson Roger Mandeville	Mazda RX-7	615
					Mazda 13B 1.3 L Rotary
7	GTU	60	E. J. Pruitt & Sons	Rusty Bond Ren Tilton	Porsche 911 S	612
					Porsche 2.7 L Flat-6
8	GTO	54	Montura Ranch Estates	Tony Garcia Juan Montalvo Alberto Vadia	Porsche 911 Carrera RSR	587
					Porsche 3.0 L Flat-6
9	GTO	98	Van Every Racing	Robert Overby Ash Tisdelle Lance Van Every	Porsche 911 Carrera RSR	579
					Porsche 3.0 L Flat-6
10	GTO	03	Lubrifilm Racing	Enzo Calderari Angelo Pallavicini Marco Vanoli	Porsche 934	577
					Porsche 3.0 L Turbo Flat-6
11	GTU	75	Mike Ramirez	Luis Gordillo Mike Ramirez Manuel Villa	Porsche 911	560
					Porsche Flat-6
12	GTO	37	Botero Racing	Jorge Cortes Honorato Espinosa Francisco Lopez	Porsche 911 Carrera RSR	551
					Porsche 3.0 L Flat-6
13	GTU	33	Peter Welter	Richard Aten Jack Refenning Peter Welter	Porsche 911	550
					Porsche Flat-6
14	GTO	58	Diego Febles Racing	Phil Currin Diego Febles	Porsche 911 Carrera RSR	543
					Porsche 3.0 L Flat-6
15 DNF	GTX	5	Budweiser Racing	Charles Mendez Paul Miller Johnny Rutherford	Porsche 935	529
					Porsche Turbo Flat-6
16 DNF	GTU	27	Miami Auto Racing	Ray Mummery Luis Sereix Tom Sheehy	Porsche 911 S	522
					Porsche 2.7 L Flat-6
17 DNF	GTU	62	Koll Motorsports	Jim Cook Bill Koll	Porsche 914/6	511
					Porsche 2.0 L Flat-6
18	GTO	95	Stephen E. Bond	Stephen Bond Philip Dann	Chevrolet Monza	509
					Chevrolet 5.7 V8
19	GTO	21	Oftedahl Racing	Tom Bagley Carl Shafer John Wood	Chevrolet Camaro	493
					Chevrolet 5.7 V8
20	GTU	42	Bullwinkele Racing	Tom Ashby Bill Bean Bob Beasley	Porsche 911 S	493
					Porsche 2.7 L Flat-6
21	GTU	08	Southern Racing Enterprises	Nort Northam Richard Weiss Terry Wolters	Porsche 911 S	488
					Porsche 2.7 L Flat-6
22	GTU	34	Drolsom Racing	George Drolsom Mark Greb John Maffucci	Porsche 911 S	482
					Porsche 2.7 L Flat-6
23	GTO	64	Lenton B. McGill	Russ Boykin C. C. Canada Tom Ciccone	Chevrolet Camaro	458
					Chevrolet 5.7 V8
24	GTU	61	Faza Squadra	Taku Akaike Al Cosentino Dick Starita	Mazda RX-3	444
					Mazda 12A 1.1 L Rotary
25 DNF	GTU	8	Automobiles International Inc.	Anatoly Arutunoff José Marina Danny Sullivan	Lancia Stratos HF	439
					Ferrari Dino 2.4 L V6
26 DNF	GTX	94	Dick Barbour Racing	Dick Barbour Paul Newman Brian Redman	Porsche 935/77A	410
					Porsche Turbo Flat-6
27 DNF	GTO	80	Herb Adams	Herb Adams Peter Frey Louis Spoerl	Pontiac Firebird	408
					Pontiac V8
28 DNF	GTU	17	Racing Beat	Jeff Kline Jim Mederer Don Sherman	Mazda RX-7	393
					Mazda 13B 1.3 L Rotary
29 DNF	GTX	93	Whittington Brothers Racing	Preston Henn Dale Whittington R. D. Whittington	Porsche 934	389
					Porsche 3.0 Turbo Flat-6
30 DNF	GTU	34	Bill Scott Racing	Pierre Honegger Mark Hutchins Bill Scott	Porsche 911	388
					Porsche Flat-6
31 DNF	GTU	40	Performance Specialists	William Koch Earl Roe Steve Southard	Porsche 914/6	385
					Porsche 2.0 L Flat-6
32 DNF	GTX	1	Gelo Racing Team	Peter Gregg Jacky Ickx Bob Wollek	Porsche 935/77A	342
					Porsche Turbo Flat-6
33 DNF	GTO	69	Bytzek Automotive	Rudy Bartling Klaus Bytzek Ludwig Heimrath	Porsche 911 Carrera RSR	335
					Porsche 3.0 L Flat-6
34 DNF	GTO	29	Stratagraph Inc.	Billy Hagan Hoyt Overbagh Ron Reed	Chevrolet Monza	331
					Chevrolet 5.7 V8
35 DNF	GTU	89	Hamilton House Racing	Herb Forrest Joseph Hamilton Rob Hoskins	Porsche 911 S	329
					Porsche 2.7 L Flat-6
36 DNF	GTO	51	Casablanca Fan Co.	John Hotchkis Robert Kirby Howard Meister	Porsche 911 Carrera RSR	328
					Porsche 3.0 L Flat-6
37 DNF	GTO	15	Bavarian Motors International	Alf Gebhardt Sepp Grinbold	BMW 3.5 CSL	299
					BMW M49 3.5 L I6
38 DNF	GTO	81	Performance Export	Oscar Notz Francisco Romero Ernesto Soto	Porsche 911 Carrera RSR	241
					Porsche 3.0 L Flat-6
39 DNF	GTU	01	D. R. Racing	John Hamilton J. Kurt Roehrig Dave White	Porsche 911 S	223
					Porsche 2.7 L Flat-6
40 DNF	GTX	13	Hal Shaw Racing	Norm Ridgely Hal Shaw, Jr. Tom Spalding	Porsche 935	222
					Porsche Turbo Flat-6
41 DNF	GTU	36	Case Racing	Ron Case Dave Panaccione	Porsche 911	210
					Porsche Flat-6
42 DNF	GTX	53	Guy Thomas	Milton Moise Tom Nehl Guy Thomas	Chevrolet Camaro	201
					Chevrolet V8
43 DNF	GTO	06	Al Levenson	Gary Baker Lanny Hester Al Levenson	Chevrolet Corvette C2	197
					Chevrolet V8
44 DNF	GTX	23	Charlie Kemp	Carson Baird Charlie Kemp Kees Nierop	Ford Mustang Cobra	168
					Ford V8
45 DNF	GTX	3	Jolly Club - Sportwagen Racing Team	Carlo Facetti Martino Finotto Gianpiero Moretti	Porsche 935	164
					Porsche Turbo Flat-6
46 DNF	GTX	4	LM Joest Porsche	Reinhold Jöst Volkert Merl Rolf Stommelen	Porsche 935/77A	162
					Porsche Turbo Flat-6
47 DNF	GTO	90	Bob's Speed Products	Rick Kump Bob Lee Sam Miller	AMC AMX	156
					AMC V8
48 DNF	GTO	12	Oftedahl Racing	Tom Bagley Joe Chamberlain Gerry Wellik	Chevrolet Camaro	147
					Chevrolet 5.7 V8
49 DNF	GTO	56	Peerless Racing	Craig Carter Murray Edwards Richard Valentine	Chevrolet Camaro	144
					Chevrolet 5.7 V8
50 DNF	GTX	2	Gelo Racing Team	John Fitzpatrick Manfred Schurti Bob Wollek	Porsche 935/77A	135
					Porsche Turbo Flat-6
51 DNF	GTU	57	John Tremblay	Bob Lapp John Tremblay	Datsun 240Z	118
					Datsun I6
52 DNF	GTX	9	Dick Barbour Racing	Bob Akin Rob McFarlin Roy Woods	Porsche 935	117
					Porsche Turbo Flat-6
53 DNF	GTX	66	JMS Racing-Pozzi	Jean-Claude Andruet Claude Ballot-Léna Spartaco Dini	Ferrari 512 BB LM	103
					Ferrari Tipo F102B 4.9 L Flat-12
54 DNF	GTX	67	JMS Racing-Pozzi	Jean-Claude Andruet Claude Ballot-Léna Michel Leclère	Ferrari 512 BB LM	101
					Ferrari Tipo F102B 4.9 L Flat-12
55 DNF	GTX	24	Graham Shaw	Graham Shaw Jerry Thompson Don Yenko	Chevrolet Monza	86
					Chevrolet 5.7 V8
56 DNF	GTO	38	Boricua Racing	Bonky Fernandez Tato Ferrer Chiqui Soldevilla	Porsche 911 Carrera RSR	73
					Porsche 3.0 L Flat-6
57 DNF	GTX	68	North American Racing Team	Pat Bedard Jean-Pierre Delaunay Bob Tullius	Ferrari 512 BB LM	72
					Ferrari Tipo F102B 4.9 L Flat-12
58 DNF	GTX	43	Meldeau Tire Co.	Stephen Behr Bill McDill	Chevrolet Camaro	59
					Chevrolet V8
59 DNF	GTO	46	Mauricio De Narvaez	Mauricio De Narvaez Pedro De Narvaez Albert Naon	Porsche 911 Carrera RSR	46
					Porsche 3.0 L Flat-6
60 DNF	GTO	07	Budweiser Racing	Dave Cowart David McClain Kenper Miller	Porsche 911 Carrera RSR	35
					Porsche 3.0 L Flat-6
61 DNF	GTX	00	Interscope Racing	Ted Field Preston Henn Danny Ongais	Porsche 935/77A	29
					Porsche Turbo Flat-6
62 DNF	GTX	14	Bavarian Motors International	Steve Earle Steve Griswold Rick Knoop	BMW 3.0 CSL	25
					BMW M49 3.5 L I6
63 DNF	GTU	96	Gary Wonzer	George Van Arsdale Robert Whitaker Gary Wonzer	Triumph GT6	20
					Triumph I6
64 DNF	GTU	48	Frank L. Leary III	Steve Cook Frank Leary Casey Mollett	Datsun 240Z	13
					Datsun I6
65 DNF	GTX	18	JLP Racing	Al Holbert Michael Keyser John Paul	Porsche 935 JLP	12
					Porsche Turbo Flat-6
66 DNF	GTU	79	Sports Ltd. Racing	Bob Bergstrom Brad Frisselle	Mazda RX-7	9
					Mazda 13B 1.3 L Rotary
67 DNF	GTX	73	Howey Farms	Clark Howey Dale Koch Tracy Wolf	Chevrolet Camaro	4
					Chevrolet V8
DNS	GTU	63	Faza Squadra	Al Cosentino Craig Fisher	Mazda RX-3
					Mazda 12A 1.1 L Rotary
DNS	GTU	78	Associated Speed & Performance	Wiley Doran Neil Upchurch Ken Williams	Datsun 240Z
					Datsun I6
Source:[2]