Tire issues knock Wayne Taylor Racing out of Rolex

DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. (AP) - A slew of tire problems cost Wayne Taylor Racing a chance to defend its victory in the Rolex 24 at Daytona.

The team had multiple problems with the right rear tire on its Cadillac Dpi and after yet another blown tire caused too much damage to repair on the car, the team retired from the race early Sunday morning.

"Based on the issues we had throughout the race and multiple attempts to fix it without a satisfactory result has forced us to withdraw the car from the race for the safety of our drivers," said team manager Travis Houge.

The team was attempting to defend last year's overall victory with a new lineup of Jordan Taylor, Ryan Hunter-Reay and Renger van der Zande, who qualified the car on the pole. The first tire issue came with Taylor behind the wheel and the problems never stopped.

Continental Tire issued a statement late Saturday blaming any issues teams were having on aggressive setups that went beyond the recommended parameters from the manufacturer.

The twice-round-the-clock endurance race around Daytona International Speedway became one of attrition overnight.

The Cadillac owned by Action Express Racing was the only car on the lead lap when the sun came up, and it was fighting overheating problems.

Both of the Acura's owned by Roger Penske are out of contention for overall victory. Helio Castroneves had heavy contact while racing Felipe Nasr, who was trying to get back on the lead lap, and it sent the Acura to the garage for the repair. The second entry had to replace an alternator overnight.

Two-time Formula One world champion Fernando Alonso was behind the wheel of his United Autosports entry when it had a brake issue right before 1 a.m. By the time the car returned to the track, that team was out of contention for overall victory.

In the GT Le Mans class, it has been a route by Chip Ganassi Racing. Both his Ford entries have dominated the class and are the only cars on the lead lap. Any problems, though, over the remaining few hours will give Corvette Racing a chance to challenge for the class victory.

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