The 2012 Rolex 24 at Daytona was a long-distance motor race for sports cars conforming to the regulations of the Grand-Am Road Racing series. The race was held over a duration of 24 hours, starting at 3:30pm on Saturday, January 28, finishing at 3:30pm the following day.^[1] The race was held on the sports car version of Daytona International Speedway, which includes only a portion of the NASCAR Superspeedway course and a loop of circuit which winds through the infield of the speedway.

2012 was the 50th running of the race which had begun as a three-hour duration sports car race in 1962. The race was also the opening round of the 2012 Rolex Sports Car Series season. A field of 14 Daytona Prototypes took the start of the race along with a grid of 44 of the slower roadcar-based Grand Touring class cars.^[2]

This race also was part of the inaugural North American Endurance Championship.^[3]

Qualifying

Pole position for the race was taken by British racing driver Ryan Dalziel driving the Starworks Motorsport run Riley Technologies Mk.XXVI Daytona Prototype sports car recording a lap time of 1:41.119.^[4]

In the Grand Touring class, pole was claimed by the Brumos Racing Porsche 911 GT3 Cup driven by American driver Andrew Davis.^[5]

Winners

The Michael Shank Racing entry of A. J. Allmendinger, Justin Wilson, Oswaldo Negri Jr., and John Pew took victory in their No. 60 Riley Mk. XXVI Ford, completing 761 laps over the course of the 24-hour race. They enjoyed a spirited battle with the No. 8 Starworks Motorsport Riley Mk. XXVI Ford of Ryan Dalziel, Lucas Luhr, Allan McNish, Enzo Potolicchio, and Alex Popow, which led the most laps and posted the quickest time of the race, but suffered a minor accident in the 17th hour.^[6]

In GT, Magnus Racing earned its first-ever Rolex Sports Car Series victory, with the lineup of Richard Lietz, Andy Lally, René Rast, and John Potter in the No. 44 Porsche 911 GT3 Cup car. It was Lally's fourth Rolex 24 class victory,^[7] and the first for the other three drivers.

Race results

Class winners in bold.^[8]

Pos	Class	No	Team	Drivers	Chassis	Laps
					Engine
1	DP	60	Michael Shank Racing with Curb Agajanian	A. J. Allmendinger Oswaldo Negri Jr. John Pew Justin Wilson	Riley Mk. XXVI	761
					Ford 5.0L V8
2	DP	8	Starworks Motorsport	Ryan Dalziel Lucas Luhr Allan McNish Alex Popow Enzo Potolicchio	Riley Mk. XXVI	761
					Ford 5.0L V8
3	DP	6	Michael Shank Racing with Curb Agajanian	Jorge Goncalvez Michael McDowell Felipe Nasr Gustavo Yacamán	Riley Mk. XX	761
					Ford 5.0L V8
4	DP	02	Chip Ganassi Racing with Felix Sabates	Scott Dixon Dario Franchitti Jamie McMurray Juan Pablo Montoya	Riley Mk. XXVI	760
					BMW 5.0L V8
5	DP	5	Action Express Racing	David Donohue Christian Fittipaldi Darren Law	Corvette DP (Coyote CPM)	758
					Chevrolet 5.0L V8
6	DP	01	Chip Ganassi Racing with Felix Sabates	Joey Hand Scott Pruett Graham Rahal Memo Rojas	Riley Mk. XXVI	757
					BMW 5.0L V8
7	DP	77	Doran Racing	Brian Frisselle Burt Frisselle Billy Johnson Jim Lowe Paul Tracy	Dallara DP-01	748
					Ford 5.0L V8
8	DP	90	Spirit of Daytona Racing	Antonio García Oliver Gavin Jan Magnussen Richard Westbrook	Corvette DP (Coyote CPM)	746
					Chevrolet 5.0L V8
9	DP	9	Action Express Racing	João Barbosa Terry Borcheller J. C. France Max Papis	Corvette DP (Coyote CPM)	739
					Chevrolet 5.0L V8
10	DP	2	Starworks Motorsport	Marco Andretti Ryan Hunter-Reay Scott Mayer Michael Valiante	Riley Mk. XX	736
					Ford 5.0L V8
11	GT	44	Magnus Racing	Andy Lally Richard Lietz John Potter René Rast	Porsche 997 GT3 Cup	727
					Porsche 3.8L Flat-6
12	GT	67	The Racer's Group	Steven Bertheau Jeroen Bleekemolen Marc Goossens Wolf Henzler Spencer Pumpelly	Porsche 997 GT3 Cup	727
					Porsche 3.8L Flat-6
13	GT	59	Brumos Racing	Andrew Davis Hurley Haywood Leh Keen Marc Lieb	Porsche 997 GT3 Cup	726
					Porsche 3.8L Flat-6
14	GT	57	Stevenson Motorsports	Ronnie Bremer John Edwards Robin Liddell	Chevrolet Camaro GT.R	726
					Chevrolet 6.0L V8
15	GT	63	Risi Competizione	Olivier Beretta Andrea Bertolini Toni Vilander	Ferrari 458 Italia	726
					Ferrari 4.5L V8
16	GT	70	SpeedSource	Jonathan Bomarito Marino Franchitti James Hinchcliffe Sylvain Tremblay	Mazda RX-8	722
					Mazda 2.0L 3-Rotor
17	GT	66	The Racer's Group	Dominik Farnbacher Ben Keating Patrick Pilet Allan Simonsen	Porsche 997 GT3 Cup	721
					Porsche 3.8L Flat-6
18	GT	69	AIM Autosport/Team FXDD Racing with Ferrari	Emil Assentato Anthony Lazzaro Nick Longhi Jeff Segal	Ferrari 458 Italia	716
					Ferrari 4.5L V8
19	DP	76	Krohn Racing	Colin Braun Niclas Jönsson Tracy Krohn Ricardo Zonta	Lola B08/70	713
					Ford 5.0L V8
20	GT	88	Autohaus Motorsports	Paul Edwards Matthew Marsh Tommy Milner Jordan Taylor	Chevrolet Camaro GT.R	713
					Chevrolet 6.0L V8
21	GT	40	Dempsey Racing	Patrick Dempsey Charles Espenlaub Joe Foster Tom Long Charles Putman	Mazda RX-8	713
					Mazda 2.0L 3-Rotor
22	GT	32	Orbit Racing/GMG	Nicolas Armindo Bret Curtis Shane Lewis James Sofronas Lance Willsey	Porsche 997 GT3 Cup	713
					Porsche 3.8L Flat-6
23	GT	42	Team Sahlen	Dane Cameron Joe Nonnamaker Wayne Nonnamaker Will Nonnamaker	Mazda RX-8	711
					Mazda 2.0L 3-Rotor
24	GT	03	Extreme Speed Motorsports	Ed Brown Guy Cosmo Scott Sharp Johannes van Overbeek	Ferrari 458 Italia	707
					Ferrari 4.5L V8
25	GT	24	Alex Job Racing	Michael Avenatti Bob Faieta Fred Poordad Bill Sweedler Cort Wagner	Porsche 997 GT3 Cup	707
					Porsche 3.8L Flat-6
26	GT	45	Flying Lizard Motorsports with Wright Motorsports	Jörg Bergmeister Patrick Long Seth Neiman Mike Rockenfeller	Porsche 997 GT3 Cup	706
					Porsche 3.8L Flat-6
27	GT	93	Turner Motorsport	Bill Auberlen Paul Dalla Lana Michael Marsal Dirk Müller Dirk Werner	BMW M3	691
					BMW 5.0L V8
28	GT	23	Alex Job Racing	Emmanuel Collard Marco Holzer Butch Leitzinger Cooper MacNeil	Porsche 997 GT3 Cup	689
					Porsche 3.8L Flat-6
29	GT	26	NGT Motorsport	Henrique Cisneros Sean Edwards Carlos Kauffmann Nick Tandy	Porsche 997 GT3 Cup	688
					Porsche 3.8L Flat-6
30	GT	64	The Racer's Group	Gaetano Ardagna Eduardo Costabal Emilio Di Guida Santiago Orjuela Eliseo Salazar	Porsche 997 GT3 Cup	688
					Porsche 3.8L Flat-6
31	GT	22	Bullet Racing	Randy Blaylock Darryl O'Young Kevin Roush Brett Van Blankers Joe White	Porsche 997 GT3 Cup	681
					Porsche 3.8L Flat-6
32	DP	50	Predator/Alegra	Byron DeFoor Elliott Forbes-Robinson Brian Johnson Jim Pace Carlos de Quesada	Riley Mk. XI	672
					BMW 5.0L V8
33	DP	99	GAINSCO/Bob Stallings Racing	Jon Fogarty Memo Gidley Alex Gurney	Corvette DP (Riley XXVI)	672
					Chevrolet 5.0L V8
34	GT	82	Dick Greer Racing	John Fergus John Finger Dick Greer Mark Hotchkis Owen Trinkler	Porsche 997 GT3 Cup	665
					Porsche 3.8L Flat-6
35	GT	56	AF - Waltrip	Rui Águas Robert Kauffman Travis Pastrana Michael Waltrip	Ferrari 458 Italia	645
					Ferrari 4.5L V8
36	GT	65	The Racer's Group	Joe Castellano Spencer Cox Mike Hedlund Jack McCarthy Jim Michaelian	Porsche 997 GT3 Cup	643
					Porsche 3.8L Flat-6
37	GT	68	The Racer's Group	Chris Cumming Kévin Estre Damien Faulkner Carlos Gómez Ben Keating	Porsche 997 GT3 Cup	640
					Porsche 3.8L Flat-6
38 DNF	GT	55	Acumen Motorsport	Frank Del Vecchio Doug Grunnet Tony Kester Scott McKee Randy Pobst	Porsche 997 GT3 Cup	626
					Porsche 3.8L Flat-6
39	GT	18	Mühlner Motorsports America	Davy Jones Bill Lester John McCutchen Mark Thomas	Porsche 997 GT3 Cup	609
					Porsche 3.8L Flat-6
40	GT	41	Dempsey Racing	Ian James Rick Johnson Don Kitch Jr. Scott Maxwell Dan Rogers	Mazda RX-8	608
					Mazda 2.0L 3-Rotor
41	GT	12	Alliance Autosport	Jon Miller Hal Prewitt Scott Rettich Matt Schneider Darryl Shoff	Porsche 997 GT3 Cup	604
					Porsche 3.8L Flat-6
42	GT	19	Mühlner Motorsports America	Scott Dollahite Ian Nater Rhett O'Doski Marco Seefried Derek Whitis	Porsche 997 GT3 Cup	599
					Porsche 3.8L Flat-6
43 DNF	GT	75	Stevenson Motorsports	Matt Bell Al Carter Eric Curran Hugh Plumb	Chevrolet Camaro GT.R	577
					Chevrolet 6.0L V8
44	GT	51	APR Motorsport	Ian Baas Nelson Canache Jr. Jim Norman Emanuele Pirro Dion von Moltke	Audi R8	447
					Audi 5.2L V10
45	GT	74	Oryx Racing	Humaid Al Masaood Saeed Al Mehairi Steven Kane	Audi R8	202
					Audi 5.2L V10
46	GT	17	Burtin Racing with Goldcrest Motorsports	Sebastian Asch Jack Baldwin Claudio Burtin Martin Ragginger Bryan Sellers	Porsche 997 GT3 Cup	424
					Porsche 3.8L Flat-6
47 DNF	GT	20	Liqui Moly Team Engstler/Mitchum Motorsports	Jade Buford Franz Engstler David Murry Gunter Schaldach	Porsche 997 GT3 Cup	416
					Porsche 3.8L Flat-6
48 DNF	GT	34	Orbit Racing/GMG	Michael DeFontes Phil Fogg Miroslav Konopka Jan Vonka Ronald van de Laar	Porsche 997 GT3 Cup	383
					Porsche 3.8L Flat-6
49	GT	4	Magnus Racing	Justin Bell Ryan Eversley Daniel Graeff Ron Yarab Jr.	Porsche 997 GT3 Cup	310
					Porsche 3.8L Flat-6
50 DNF	GT	36	Yellow Dragon Motorsports	Jarett Andretti John Andretti Taylor Hacquard Anders Krohn	Mazda RX-8	270
					Mazda 2.0L 3-Rotor
51 DNF	GT	15	Rick Ware Racing	Chris Cook Jeffrey Earnhardt Doug Harrington Timmy Hill John Ware Jr.	Ford Mustang	256
					Ford 5.0L V8
52 DNF	GT	48	Paul Miller Racing	Rob Bell Sascha Maassen Bryce Miller Mark Wilkins	Porsche 997 GT3 Cup	224
					Porsche 3.8L Flat-6
53 DNF	GT	46	Michael Baughman Racing	Michael Baughman Ivo Breukers Armand Fumal Ray Mason Jeff Nowicki	Chevrolet Corvette	172
					Chevrolet 6.2L V8
54 DNF	GT	62	Risi Competizione	Gianmaria Bruni Giancarlo Fisichella Raphael Matos	Ferrari 458 Italia	154
					Ferrari 4.5L V8
55 DNF	GT	87	Racer's Edge Motorsports	Tony Ave Jan Heylen Doug Peterson Maxime Soulet Emilio Valverde	Dodge Viper	101
					Dodge 8.0L V10
56 DNF	GT	94	Turner Motorsport	Bill Auberlen Paul Dalla Lana Billy Johnson Dirk Müller Boris Said	BMW M3	86
					BMW 5.0L V8
57 DNF	GT	43	Team Sahlen	Joe Nonnamaker Wayne Nonnamaker Will Nonnamaker	Mazda RX-8	21
					Mazda 2.0L 3-Rotor
58 DNF	DP	10	SunTrust Racing	Max Angelelli Ryan Briscoe Ricky Taylor	Corvette DP (Dallara DP01)	14
					Chevrolet 5.0L V8