Scott Dixon says there is plenty of him to be proud of despite losing out on a golden opportunity to claim another Daytona 24 Hour win after the Chip Ganassi Racing team suffered a late puncture.
After one of the more impressive stints among the field, Dixon handed control of the CGR Cadillac DPi to teammate Renger van der Zande for the dash home.
Van der Zande then began pressuring race leader Filipe Albuquerque in the dying stages, only to have his right-rear tyre give way, forcing the Dutch driver into an unscheduled pitstop.
The team were eventually classified fifth.
For Dixon, who has previously won the race outright three times, he says the team should take away the positives learnt from the weekend, rather than dwell on what could have been.
“Definitely an interesting day,” Dixon said. “We had some great speed and then had a few problems with the car.
“We had some penalties to get through and some right-rear blowouts as well. Obviously, that is what took us out of contention at the end.
“But what a tremendous effort from the team considering this all came together in a very short time.
“At some point we had the race won, but unfortunately it just wasn’t our day, just proud of everyone.”
Van der Zande felt that the team deserved to win considering how they drove throughout the race.
“I am super proud of this Chip Ganassi Racing team,” he said. “What they have done in a month is incredible. They are so professional and great to work with.
“I feel we didn’t deserve fifth. We gave it a great try as a first-time team together. We drove from seventh up to the leader and then the flat tire.
“It didn’t work out. We will move onto the next one.”
Dixon will now prepare for his IndyCar Series title defence, which kicks off with the Grand Prix of Alabama on April 18.
