Twenty-seven years ago, the late Dave Heinz powered his #5 Race Enterprise & Development 1968 L-88 Corvette over the Daytona 24 Hour finish line in third place overall. Ahead of him was a prototype Porsche and a Ferrari Daytona. In 1973, it was the highest overall finish for a Corvette in the 24 hour’s eight-year history. Even more amazing was this Corvette led overall for two hours in the middle of the night before experiencing a rocker arm and water pump failure. A quick pit stop repair enabled the Corvette to capture its third place finish.
      Since that day in 1973, many Corvette teams have tried to surpass the #5’s Daytona 24 hour performance without success. However, on february 6, 2000 the Pratt/Miller Corvette Racing #3 Corvette broke Dave’s 27-year accomplishment in a style that would make him proud. The #3 Corvette, driven by Ron Fellows, crossed the finish line in second place overall, 30.879 seconds behind the winning Dodge Viper. This was the closest finish in the 38-year history of the Daytona 24. The story about how this production based C-5 accomplished this feat really started last year.