Krohn Racing: Post-Race Report - 2010 Rolex 24 at Daytona

Krohn Racing: Rolex 24 At Daytona
Post- Race Report: 24 Hour/Finish

The 48th running of the Rolex 24 At Daytona race came to a finish Sunday afternoon at 3:30 p.m. ET after featuring 16 cautions for 74 laps, 53 lead changes among 59 drivers and with 13 cars having led the race by 29 different drivers. If those statistics did not catch your attention, being at the race live surely would have.

The No. 75 Krohn Racing Ford Proto-Auto Lola of Tracy W. Krohn, Nic Jönsson, Ricardo Zonta and Colin Braun finish fourth in the historic endurance classic race, after starting from the ninth position Saturday afternoon. Zonta led 30 laps during two different driving stints. The race was won by the No. 9 Action Express Racing Porsche Riley of Joao Barbosa, Terry Borcheller and Ryan Dalziel, who completed 755 laps and averaged a speed of 111.930 mph. The Krohn Racing team tied their previously highest Daytona finish of fourth-place in 2008, with Zonta, Jönsson and Darrin Turner as drivers.

Krohn Racing team owner/driver, Tracy Krohn, was awarded the prestigious "Jim Trueman Award", as the top Grand-Am Pro-Am driver of the race. Krohn was presented his medallion in Victory Circle, following the presentation of the Rolexes to the top three winning drivers, along with podium finishers. The Trueman Award is given to the Pro-Am driver who best meets a formula, which includes the race finishing position, laps completed and time spent in the race car.

Tracy W. Krohn, owner/driver of the No. 75 Krohn Racing Ford Proto-Auto Lola:
"This is a very, very fast, competitive race. We had a lot of yellows but mark my words, those cars were driving hard all day and night. I think the team just did a fantastic job. The car was very well prepared. Anything we could control we did. We had a little bit of bad luck when Mr. Bouchut ran into us. He ran into Nic and it cost us about 15 laps and maybe a podium here. Would of, could of, and should of. We'll eventually get there. We're creeping up on it. We feel pretty good but Ricardo, Nic and Colin did a fantastic job all through the night. There were no mishaps, other than things we couldn't control. I'm very pleased with the whole effort. We had gone through all kinds of conditions just like everybody on the podium. It was just a helluva lot of fun!"

Regarding winning the Jim Trueman Award:
"I won the award one time before and it was a lot of fun. I didn't even think about it this weekend. I was just trying to get the car across the finish line at the end. Nobody mentioned it to me and I didn't think about it but it's a nice award."

DAVID BROWN, Krohn Racing Team Manager and Engineer:
"Fourth place probably represents where we would have finished had we not had all the dramas we had during the race anyway because our performance was about a fourth place car. So, we pretty well got what we had. Fourth place is not shabby in a 24-hour race, not one with all the complications like this. The guys did a great job repairing the car after the 55 car tried to break it for us, or succeeded in breaking it for us. We had a transmission issue, which the guys again fixed very quickly. Pit stops were faultless. Brake changes were impeccable. Overall, the team did just a fantastic job and fourth place is a question of performance, not effort and skill on the team's behalf because they deserve great accolades for that."

Regarding Tracy winning the Jim Trueman Award:
"I don't think Tracy put a wheel wrong all weekend and we set him out for the last 45 minutes in the race in cold conditions on brand new shiny, slippery tires and he put in some really good lap times. He seemed to enjoy his weekend. We have enjoyed him being happy in the car and driving well and doing good laps times and it's gone pretty well. I think he's enjoyed it."

Colin Braun, driver of the No. 75 Krohn Racing Ford Proto-Auto Lola:
"It was a result for everybody on this Krohn Racing team. We had a really good, strong Ford motor all race. I think that was a big part of our success. We tried to minimize our time in the garage and the pits. I think we had to come to the garage twice for some repairs. These guys did a great job getting the car fixed and back on the race track. All the drivers did a really good job and stayed out of trouble and I think that's all we can ask for."

Was the weather a major factor for your team?
"I think it was a factor for the first third of the race for Ricardo, but after that, I don't think it mattered that much. For our car, I think the cold helped us. The colder weather gained us some speed."

Nic Jönsson, driver of the No. 75 Krohn Racing Ford Proto-Auto Lola:
"I think fourth place is obviously a good start to the season. The goal this year was that we came here wanting to win, as always is, of course. We had an extremely well-prepared car this year. Last year we also had a very good car - prepared well. Unfortunately we had a fail very early in the race. This year we felt we were very prepared with a good driver line-up and the guys have been working hard back in the shop prepping everything. We ended up fourth after having had a few issues and we had to go to the garage and fix them.

"I lost the right front suspension after I got hit out there. We had to go back (to the garage) to change the gear cluster at one point in the last five hours. With those two issues and still finishing in the Top 5, I think, says a lot for the Krohn Racing team. We also have to keep working on it and maybe one day we'll get that Rolex."

Ricardo Zonta, driver of the No. 75 Krohn Racing Ford Proto-Auto Lola:
"It is the second time we have finished fourth. The last time was here in 2008. We were a lot stronger this year. We had some small issues where we lost some time. I think the team did a great job. Everything went very perfect for the mechanics and for the strategy also. I want to say thanks to Tracy for giving us this opportunity for all the team members to be here at Daytona."

For more information, go to www.grand-am.com or www.krohnracing.net.