SUNTRUST RACING LEADS FORD-POWERED MACHINES WITH 4TH

Image by Getty Images via DaylifeAnother 24 hours at Daytona is in the racing books, and after a long day and eventful night of racing, it was SunTrust and Wayne Taylor Racing that led the way for the seven Ford-powered machines entered into the famous endurance race.

“We are happy coming out of here in fourth place,” said Wayne Taylor, team owner and driver of the No. 10 SunTrust Ford Riley. “We got good points and we know now we have a good package. We have run 24 Hours so we should be able to finish the 2:45 [races]; our sites are on the championship. That is what it is all about for us.”

This was the first race with Ford power for Wayne Taylor Racing after making the switch from Pontiac last season.

“Coming out of last year, we really had an up and down year but we ended on a pretty high note, continued Taylor. “Coming to a 24 Hour with a car you have never actually run for 24 hours is a challenge. Add to that the change in engine manufacturer switching to Ford power and that was another massive change so coming in there were a lot of unknowns.

“Last night about four or five hours in, John Maddox [Roush Yates Manager of Cammer Engine Programs] told me that it was possible that none of the Ford engines might finish. We spent about an hour talking about it amongst everyone and realized it was negative energy. We decided there was no point in worrying about it because if it was going to happen it was going to happen. So we said lets go race. If you take that perspective then this fourth-place finish is great, but we come here to win. We knew we couldn’t do anything about it so we just decided to fight and go race. Maybe we got lucky or maybe there wasn’t any problem at all.”

The rest of the Ford machines weren’t as fortunate as the SunTrust No. 10 to complete the entire race with the other six Ford entries experiencing the same electrical issue, resulting in early exits from the race.

“Our preliminary indications are that a common component failure related to the electrical systems was the problem in six of the Ford powered cars during the race,” said Pat DiMarco, Ford Racing vehicle dynamics and electronics supervisor. “The lone Ford-powered car to finish the race, the SunTrust Racing entry, was running the same part as the other Ford cars batch that failed during the race. We will continue to investigate this problem and work to correct the problem for the next race.”