GUNNING FOR THE RECORD; Chip Ganassi eyes a third-straight Daytona 24 win amid several changes.(Competition)

Byline: TRAVIS BRAUN

The closest a team owner has come to winning overall at the Rolex 24 at Daytona in three consecutive years was when Peter Gregg and Brian Redman drove their BMW 3.5 CSL to victory lane in 1976. Gregg had won the two previous Daytona 24-hour events with his Brumos Racing team, but the U.S. energy crisis had canceled the 1974 race and eliminated Gregg's opportunity to win three years running. Now, Chip Ganassi takes his shot during the 46th edition of the sports-car enduro.

If one of his two cars wins, Ganassi, in partnership with Felix Sabates, will claim victory for the third year in a row. IndyCar Series drivers Scott Dixon and Dan Wheldon, along with NASCAR's Casey Mears, won the 2006 race, while 2004 Grand-Am co-champion Scott Pruett teamed with NASCAR's Juan Pablo Montoya and former British Formula Three and A1 GP driver Salvador Duran to win last year.

Ganassi has assembled another all-star driver lineup from his stable. Pruett and full-time teammate Memo Rojas will join Montoya and 2007 Indianapolis 500 winner Dario Franchitti in the No. 01 car, while Dixon, Wheldon, Duran and 2007 Indy Pro Series champ Alex Lloyd share the second car.

"I don't want to win it because it would be the third time,'' said Ganassi, whose No. 01 set the fastest lap time in the January test (Competition, Jan. 14). "I want to win it because I want to win it. But we've got 24 hours of racing, luck, pit stops, weather, problems and challenges all night long. So that's so far down the road, we aren't even thinking about it.''

Besides the typical challenges of a 24-hour event, Ganassi also must deal with the race's changed complexion. His two Daytona Prototypes will face redesigned chassis, a new spec tire, strong new and old teams and one of the largest Grand Touring-class fields in more than five years.

Chassis Changes