Race fans watching the 62nd Rolex 24 at Daytona on NBC noticed that the television displayed, “Two laps to go” during the race’s final minutes, but the checker flag was thrown the next time by. The checker was displayed early, and Felipe Nasr crossed the line for the final time in the No. 7 Porsche Penske Motorsports 963 with 1m35s left on the clock. According to a statement released by the International Motor Sports Association, this was the result of an officiating error.
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“Due to an officiating error in race control, IMSA inadvertently announced and subsequently displayed the white flag with under three minutes remaining in the race,” the statement read. “At the end of the lap, the race-leading No. 7 GTP car then received the checkered flag with 1 minute, 35.277 seconds still remaining, ending the race short of the planned 24 hours by effectively one lap.
“Based on Article 49 of the 2024 IMSA Sporting Regulations and Standard Supplementary Regulations, should the checkered flag be inadvertently or otherwise displayed before the leading car completes the scheduled number of laps or before the prescribed time has been completed, the race is nevertheless deemed ended when the flag is displayed.”
While the possibility exists that Felipe Nasr could have made an error had the race run the full 24 hours and Tom Blomqvist would have passed him, giving the victory to Whelen Cadillac Racing, chances are that nothing would have changed, just as they hadn’t in the previous 30 minutes.
Nasr said he believes he was told as he crossed the start/finish line at the beginning of what proved the final lap, that it would indeed be the final lap, but nevertheless appeared to keep pushing for part of the lap after the checker was shown.