Tuesday, January 28, 2025 – Daytona, FL – After nearly twenty hours of racing, Vasser Sullivan driver Frankie Montecalvo and the No. 12 Lexus RC F GT3 were forced to retire after suffering engine troubles in the 63rd running of the Rolex 24 at Daytona.
Montecalvo shared the No. 12 Lexus with Jack Hawksworth, Parker Thompson and Kyle Kirkwood. Thompson was able to qualify the car fourth in class. However, when the green flag fell, it was evident that the car was lacking outright pace against the competitors.
All the drivers cycled through their stints and were able to keep the car clean and worked their way back towards the top ten. Unfortunately, an engine issue with four hours remaining in the race would force the No. 12 car to retire. The 12-car crew would finish 15th in the GTD class.
“It was tough not to finish the Rolex 24. I’m not sure that we had a race-winning car, but like always, the No. 12 Vasser Sullivan Lexus team put all their effort into this race and pushing for the best possible finish,” said Montecalvo.
“Even though we didn’t have the outright pace that our competitors had, we never gave up. We were fighting to get back into the top ten, which would have scored good points for the championship run, but unfortunately it just wasn’t meant to be this time.”
“I can’t thank my teammates and the crew enough for a phenomenal job all weekend long. No one ever put a foot wrong throughout the race. It’s always makes it harder when you make it as long as we did and not cross the finish line. Still, I can’t be prouder of the entire Lexus and Vasser Sullivan families. We’ll take what we’ve learned from Daytona and apply that to Sebring. We’ll be back stronger than ever in March.”
The next race for Montecalvo is the Mobil 1 12 Hours of Sebring on March 15. Don’t forget to follow Frankie on Facebook and Twitter to stay up to date with broadcast times and all of Frankie’s racing news.