EXCERPT: 'A Big Ask' - The Race

In "A Big Ask: The Story of Ford's Triumphant Return to Le Mans," author David Phillips chronicles Ford's return to Le Mans 50 years after Henry Ford II opened the Ford Motor Company's checkbook to defeat bitter rival Ferrari.

They partnered with Chip Ganassi Racing, six-time winners of the 24 Hours of Daytona and America's most successful racing team, Multimatic Engineering, among the world's leading automotive engineering and manufacturing firms, and a host of world-class suppliers in an effort to win the 2016 24 Hours of Le Mans.

In this week's final excerpt, the team takes on the ultimate challenge of the twice-around-the-clock enduro.

More from "A Big Ask:

There was a race to be won and Joey Hand intended to win it.

By the time he rejoined the action the gap to the Risi Ferrari – now in the hands of Toni Vilander – stood at 6.7 seconds. Four laps later it was down to 3.2 seconds. At the end of the next lap Hand crossed the line 1.8 seconds behind the Ferrari, then feinted to the inside approaching the chicane before the Dunlop Bridge. Two miles later on the Mulsanne Straight he pulled alongside the Ferrari, hesitated for an instant then swept past into the first chicane.

"We were on new tires and I wanted to take advantage of them," Hand said, "not only to get the lead but so that I could get out in front of him right away and get in clear air so it would be easy on the tires for the rest of my stint.

"I kind of baited him into Turn One, backed-off and then got a huge run out of Tertre Rouge," he explained. "Both cars were pretty similar in top speed: it was a matter of who got the draft.

So I got up alongside of him and used a trick I've learned from my NASCAR buddies: When I got my front tire even with his rear tire I hesitated. That packs up the air in his wheel well – it's like opening a parachute on his car; probably cost him 3-4mph. After I got around him I drove really hard for a lap or two to put some distance between us."

Not surprisingly, the FCGR garage area erupted in applause when Hand commandeered the lead. But as one veteran observer noted, it was not quite time to break out the champagne.

"I was sitting with Bill Ford and Joe Hinrichs (Ford Executive Vice President and President of the Americas) when Joey made the pass," Chip Ganassi said. "Joe turned and said to me, 'That's great! What happens between now and 3 o'clock?' I said, 'A million things can happen...but only one of 'em's good...'"