01/19/2026
RACE REPORT: From Disaster to Daytona Glory: The Movie We Lived
DAYTONA BEACH, FL
Cue the lights. Cue the drama. This wasn't just a race. It was a blockbuster script written in tire smoke and adrenaline. At the 2026 iRacing 24 Hours of Daytona, ZeroFox Motorsports (ZFR) didn't just win the LMP2 Class Championship. They survived a nightmare, clawed their way back from the dead, and delivered a finale that would make Hollywood jealous.
The #75 team of Chris Sawallich, Ed Adams, and Doug Doucette stared defeat in the face, blinked, and then floored it.
The Opening: Survival Mode
The movie starts with Chris Sawallich. The "Iron Man" took the green flag, but he wasn't cruising at the front. He was in the trenches. Surrounded by fifty cars and absolute chaos, Chris didn't try to be a hero. He just tried to survive.
While the leaders wrecked and the mid-pack turned into a scrapyard, Chris delivered a disciplined opening triple stint. He dodged the carnage, kept the fenders clean, and simply kept the car alive in the middle of the mayhem. The strategy was patience.
Then, the plot twist hit.
The Heartbreak: Sunset at the Bus Stop
As the Florida sun began to bleed into the horizon disaster struck. Doug Doucette was pushing hard, finding a rhythm and clicking off fast laps. Then, in a split second, he got loose on the entry to the notorious Bus Stop chicane. The car snapped.
Bang.
The impact was sickening. Doug limped the car back to the pits with 8 minutes of damage. In a sprint race, you pack up and go home. In an endurance race, that is an eternity. The team plummeted down the order. The mood in the garage was heavy.
The Comeback: Doug's Redemption
This is where the movie usually ends, but Doug Doucette refused to let that one mistake define his race. He didn't crumble. He got angry.
Once the car was taped up, Doug went back out and drove like a man possessed. Aside from that single heartbeat of an error, Doug was absolutely flawless. He locked in. He started hammering out personal best sectors in a damaged car. He became the spark that ignited the comeback. He didn't just drive. He dug the team out of the hole with sheer speed and consistency. It was a redemption drive for the ages.
The Night Shift: Ed’s Unwavering Pace
As darkness fell, the baton passed to Ed Adams. With the team still chasing, Ed became the metronome they desperately needed.
Ed didn't just drive. He entered a flow state. For hours in the dead of night, his pace was unwavering. He hammered out lap times that were identical down to the tenth, refusing to give an inch to the fatigue creeping into the cockpit. While other teams fluctuated, Ed’s relentless consistency stabilized the ship and clawed back time, second by agonizing second. He was the rock the team built their comeback on.
They were zombies in fire suits running on caffeine, adrenaline, and pure stubbornness. Every pit stop was an argument. Every lap was a battle against the creeping fog of exhaustion. They weren't just racing the other cars. They were racing their own breaking points.
The Climax: Karma Arrives from the Sky
By sunrise, the relentless pressure had cracked the field. ZFR had risen from the ashes to P2, a miraculous recovery fueled by Doug's resilience and Ed's consistency. But the leader, the controversial #14 car, was still out of reach.
Then, the scriptwriter delivered the miracle. The #42 Go Squadra GT3 car struck a storm drain, launched into the air like a missile, and took out the #14 leader in a spectacular ball of chaos. The "Flying Porsche" incident wasn't luck. It was destiny making room for the team that refused to die.
ZeroFox inherited the lead. But the movie wasn't over. The Minardi F1 Team was charging, smelling blood in the water.
The Finale: Tears on the Banking
The final hour was pure, unadulterated torture. Chris Sawallich, eyes burning, body screaming, was back in the car for a triple-stint finish. Ed Adams was on the radio, his voice the only lifeline keeping Chris from fading. The gap shrank. The fuel light blinked. The pressure was suffocating.
When Sawallich finally wrestled the #75 through the Bus Stop, the very scene of the crime 18 hours earlier, and powered onto the banking for the final time, the dam broke.
It wasn't a polite handshake in the pits. It was screams. It was tears. It was the explosive release of 24 hours of hell, heartbreak, and redemption. They had crashed, they had bled time, and they had hunted down the field to take the crown.
ZeroFox Motorsports. Broken, battered, and absolutely undeniable. Champions.
Special thanks to Majik Mike's Paint Shop for the amazing livery that sparkled bright under the light and in victory lane!
Ed Adams Doug Doucette Chris Sawallich
