A few short weeks ago Action Express Racing did not exist.

Now, the brand new team has secured their first win in the season opener for the Grand-Am Rolex Series, the Rolex 24 at Daytona.

Joao Barbosa was in the driver’s seat for the final segment of the event and motored to victory by a margin of four laps. The other drivers on the team are Ryan Dalziel, Terry Borcheller and Mike Rockenfeller.

The new team spoiled Chip Ganassi Racing’s attempt at another win after winning three consecutive from 2006 through 2008 but finished 2nd in 2009 and was, once again, the runner up this year.

One of Ganassi’s teams, which included NASCAR drivers Juan Pablo Montoya and Jamie McMurray, suffered engine failure in the early morning hours on Sunday and was forced to retire from the event while the team’s other entry made a costly error with around three hours to go and gave up the lead.

The driver at the time, Justin Wilson, heard a popping noise and pulled the car into the garage to get it checked out. The team went from the lead to being down a lap and no problem was ever found.

The other NASCAR drivers in the field had varying degrees of success in the grueling race including 4-time NASCAR Sprint Cup Series champion Jimmie Johnson whose team finished 21st overall while NASCAR Nationwide Series driver Colin Braun finished 4th overall, A.J. Allmendinger finished 7th overall, Boris Said finished 15th overall, Bobby Labonte finished 16th overall and Paul Menard finished 32nd overall.

 MORE NASCAR NEWS