Owner Holbert Helps Team Win 24-Hour Endurance Race

IMSA Camel GT champion Al Holbert made a surprise appearance in his Porsche 962 Prototype Sunday and helped his weary team repeat as champions of the Daytona 24-Hours sports car endurance race.

“We just needed a fresh body in there,” said Holbert, who combined with Englishman Derek Bell and Al Unser Jr.--his partners a year ago--and Chip Robinson to win Sunday in record fashion and share the $50,000 top prize.

The winners were locked in struggle with the team of Indianapolis 500 winners A.J. Foyt, Al Unser and Danny Sullivan until the Foyt car quit about 55 minutes from the end.

The younger Unser was at the wheel when his team took the lead for good on lap 569--during the 19th hour--when his father made a routine pit stop.

Until the Foyt car dropped out, it was the closest 24-hour race at the Daytona International Speedway since the race was first run in 1966.

Foyt, pushing his car hard in an effort to catch up, had gearbox and engine problems and finally blew the engine while trailing Holbert by 1 1/2 laps.

Bell took over from Holbert with 30 minutes to go and was able to cruise to the victory.

Last year, the Holbert team beat Foyt, Sullivan and Arie Luyendyk of Holland by 1 minute 49.15 seconds, which was the closest finish in this event.

Foyt, who won here in 1983 and 1985, wound up fourth on Sunday. He had not finished lower than second in this race since 1983.

The winners Sunday completed 753 laps and covered 2,680.68 miles at an average speed of 111.599 m.p.h. That broke the marks of 712 laps, 2,534.72 miles and average speed of 105.484 m.p.h., set on the 3.56-mile Daytona International Speedway course last year by the Holbert-Bell-Unser team.

However, those figures were still a bit shy of the overall record of 2,758.44 miles in 1970 and 114.794 m.p.h. in 1982 on the old 3.84-mile Daytona circuit.

The grueling race from daylight through the night and back into the Florida sunshine sapped the strength of Holbert’s designated drivers--Bell, Unser and Robinson.

When Unser Jr. wobbled out of cockpit during a pit stop in the 22nd hour, practically overcome by the heat and humidity that followed the near-freezing temperatures of the night, Holbert jumped in for the first time.

“When Chip finished his last driving stint, we discussed the possibility of Al (Holbert) driving,” Bell said. “I had cramps in my legs and feet from the heat, and Chip had just come out exhausted.”

The car owner had been in the pits throughout the race, directing the team operation.