Rolex 24 8-hour time stamp: Caution-filled opening promises interesting overnight segment

Several caution periods and three cars have already been eliminated from the starting 59-car field

DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. -- The opening eight hours of the Rolex 24 Hours of Daytona endurance race have been quite chaotic, featuring a multitude of full-course yellows. But it creates what may be one of the more intriguing nights as we approach Midnight ET.

The early beginnings of the race were kind of predicate to how the evening has played out, featuring the #13 AWA Corvette having troubles getting off the grid, leading to later issues that resulted in the car going into the paddock.

Obviously, with the Corvettes being new cars, reliability was one of the keys to the weekend, and with a race such as the 24 Hours of Daytona, we knew there could be potential for issues and bugs to occur.

In regards to other incidents of note, the #78 Forte Racing got into trouble at the Le Mans Chicane, resulting in the car being hauled back to the paddock on a truck. Fortunately, Forte Racing did not suffer any major chassis damage and was able to merge back into the field, but the team has been behind the ball due to the incident.

Beyond the GTD in-race situations, the class that has seen the most drama early on this weekend has been the LMP2 class.

Four teams have been plagued with problems throughout the first few hours of the event, most notably Sean Creech Motorsports, which has had a few stoppages on track towards NASCAR Turn 1.

While they have been able to continue to get back on track, the prototype regulars have not been able to recover due to the constant ins and outs that have occurred.

Photo: Logan Butler for AutoRacingDigest.com

So far, three cars have officially retired, with the #11 TDS Racing slamming hard into the wall coming out of the chicane and the #88 Richard Mille AF Corse having some sort of mechanical issue.

The big loss of the three comes from #22 United Autosport’s LMP2, one of two entries for the team.

According to the report, the team lost some length on its side, which made it impossible for them to fix, resulting in the team closing up shop on one of their entries.

While there are still many good LMP2 teams remaining, the loss of one of the United entries is definitely a key domino to fall as teams head into the late night.

At this point in the race, most teams have found their rhythm, just trying to keep pace and not get behind the eight ball. But when night hits, this is when the real test begins.

While I would usually say that there may not be as much chaos to happen, with the way these opening hours have been, there is no telling what could happen.

Keep up to date with occasional update reports throughout the night on Twitter/X @AutoRaceDigest.

Our next full report will come at the 20-hour mark, roughly around 9:40 a.m. ET.

The race is expected to conclude around 1:40 p.m. ET. Weather appears like it will not be a problem going forward through the night or during the morning all the way until the checkered flag waves.