Image by Levitt/LAT

Also frustrated in a bid for a fourth Rolex 24 triumph was Juan Pablo Montoya. Joined by Dane Cameron and Simon Pagenaud, the team ran in podium contention all the way to the 20th hour, when an oil pump failure sidelined the No. 6 Acura DPi.

The No. 18 DragonSpeed ORECA, which Sebastian Saavedra had crashed with minutes to go before the red flag flew, took the LMP2 class win and sixth overall with Saavedra, Roberto Gonzalez and Pastor Maldonado. In driving rain, Saavedra’s crash badly damaged the car, but the team had a four-lap gap that likely would not be overcome by Kyle and Robert Masson, Cameron Cassels and Kris Wright in the No. 38 Performance Tech Motorsports ORECA.

Image by BMW Motorsport

In GTLM, Augusto Farfus — a late replacement for Tom Blomqvist due to visa issues — took the lead one lap before the final caution to earn an emotional win in the No. 25 Team RLL BMW M8 GTE co-driven by Connor De Phillippi, Philipp Eng and Colton Herta. The victory comes days after the sudden death of Karl ‘Charly’ Lamm, the longtime leader of BMW Team Schnitzer.

The 25 team’s win, which featured a charge to the lead after losing five laps for an early spin on cold tires, came at the expense of Chip Ganassi Racing. Richard Westbrook, Ryan Briscoe and Scott Dixon were leading in the No. 67 Ford GT — painted in historic Castrol livery — but Westbrook was forced to pit for fuel moments before the race-ending caution, resulting in a fourth-place class finish.

The No. 62 Risi Competizione Ferrari 488 GT3 of James Calado, Miguel Molina, Alessandro Pier Guidi and Davide Rigon finished second after a dominant run. Farfus made what proved to be the winning pass on Calado with only three green flag laps remaining. In third was the Porsche GT Team 911 RSR of Earl Bamber, Laurens Vanthoor and Mathieu Jaminet.

Image by Galstad/LAT

The GT Daytona class proved to be last driver standing, with many of the podium contenders involved in spins during the treacherous final hour. At the end, it was Rolf Ineichen, Mirko Bortolotti, Christian Engelhart and Rik Breukers out front in the No. 11 GRT Grasser Racing Team Lamborghini Huracan GT3. Engelhart led the final three laps after Luca Stolz spun in Turn 6 in the No. 33 Team Riley Motorsports Mercedes-AMG GT3.

Daniel Morad, Christopher Mies, Ricardo Feller and Dries Vanthoor took second in the No. 29 Montaplast by Land Motorsport Audi R8 LMS GT3, followed by the all-American lineup of Jeff Segal, Frankie Montecalvo, Townsend Bell and Aaron Telitz in the No. 12 AIM Vasser Sulliver Lexus RC F GT3.

The opening 15 and a half hours were run in cloudy and chilly conditions, with precipitation expected for the closing hours. But the rain came early. An extended caution at 6 a.m. was followed by a one-hour, 45-minute red flag at 7:21 a.m. An attempt to restart the event was quickly aborted following a multi-car incident in the trioval. That led to another extended caution for one hour, 40 minutes.

With conditions bad and expected to get even worse, throwing the checkered flag with a scheduled three hours remaining might have been a popular move. But that was not an option. Drivers cinched their belts for a thrilling — and treacherous — hour of racing before continued conditions made racing impossible.