Drivers battle jet lag after Rolex 24-Vegas schedule

LAS VEGAS -- Juan Montoya and Dario Franchitti arrived at Las Vegas Motor Speedway on a cloud, and the brisk winds and mid-40-degree temperatures had nothing to do with it.

They arrived late for the second round of Sprint Cup Preseason Thunder as champions of the Rolex 24 at Daytona -- Montoya for the second consecutive year -- and once they got to the track wasted little time in getting down to business.

Unfortunately for Franchitti, the euphoria didn't last as he crashed one of his No. 40 Dodges in Turn 3 within minutes of the track going green Monday afternoon after fellow rookie Sam Hornish Jr. had crashed his No. 77 Penske Racing Dodge.

Three in a row

Juan Montoya and Dario Franchitti helped Chip Ganassi Racing to its third consecutive victory in the Rolex 24.

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Four drivers who were at the Las Vegas test, including Jimmie Johnson and Kurt Busch, had top-three finishes in the 24-hour race over the weekend.

Franchitti's No. 40 Ganassi Racing Dodge rolled onto the racetrack for the first time at 10:20 a.m. local time and made about an eight-lap run. His Colombian teammate had slept in a little longer, and arrived at the track at about 10:30.

Montoya's No. 42 Charger was the next-to-last car to make it out onto the high-banked, 1.5-mile oval, but he did take the second car the team had at the track onto pit road at 10:56 a.m. By then, the session was under its first interruption when a brief spit of rain occurred off Turn 2 at about 10:44 a.m.

Montoya was the first car out when action resumed at 11:01 a.m., making a five-lap run. The cars ran for less than five minutes before rain caused an early lunch break.

At the end of the first session, Franchitti was 48th on the sheet and Montoya's best car was 64th of 68 cars that got on track.

By then, two-time defending Cup Series champion Johnson and Las Vegas native Busch were bright-eyed for a couple other reasons concerning both their Grand-Am Rolex Series teams as well as their Sprint Cup efforts.

Johnson's Gainsco/Bob Stallings Racing Pontiac Riley team battled a minor gearbox glitch and finished second in the Rolex 24 and Busch, who was third driving a Penske-Taylor Racing Pontiac Riley that was crippled by overheating issues in the last third of the race in only his second try at the Rolex, were happy with their results.

But even more, both were still locked on East Coast time, so they thought it was late morning when they walked into the back gate of the Las Vegas garage.

"I'm a little sore in some spots, but I love it," Johnson said. "I woke up this morning smiling [saying], 'Hell yeah, I get to drive another racecar today,' so I'm pumped." (Continued)