Kiwi racer Scott Dixon has soaked up the pressure to win the Rolex 24 sports car endurance race at Daytona.

Dixon drove a gritty and lengthy final leg of the race to lead Chip Ganassi Racing and its "star car" to a record-breaking sixth victory at the event.

The three-time IndyCar champion took over from Nascar rookie of the year Kyle Larson,, with 3 hours 32 minutes remaining, and was tasked with conserving fuel and making no mistakes in pursuit of the Rolex watch.

GETTY IMAGES Chip Ganassi Racing team-mates Scott Dixon and Tony Kanaan.

The New Zealander, known in US racing circles as "The Iceman" because he lets his racing do the talking, stayed cool and delivered the goods, making it look easy, eventually winning by just 1.33 seconds.

Dixon totalled more than seven hours behind the wheel of the Target/Ford EcoBoost Riley prototype, and had team-mates Larson, Daytona 500 winner Jamie McMurray, and Indianapolis 500 winner Tony Kanaan watching with little worry as he closed out the victory.

"We had such a good group of guys driving - an awesome team," McMurray said.

"It's about Scott Dixon to me.

"It's really hard to appreciate the talent that guys have from other series until you race with them, and it's crazy the pace that Scott is able to have in the car.

"It's so much fun to sit up there and watch it."

The win gave team-owners Ganassi and Felix Sabates their sixth win in 12 Rolex attempts - the most in the 53-year history of the race.

It was the second win for Dixon, who was part of the 2006 victory with Casey Mears and the late Dan Wheldon.

"I don't know what to say, man," the New Zealander said.

"The whole last part of that race is so horrible because you think something's going to break or you're going to go off in a corner or something.

"I'm just stoked for the whole team."

It was the first Rolex win for McMurray, Kanaan and Larson.

In fact, Larson felt he was so underwhelming in his debut last season that he let his team down and never wanted to return to the sports car race. But this year he drove his own impressive three-hour-plus stint in the middle of the night, then put together a brief but error-free run Sunday morning to get the team into the time window to turn the car over to Dixon.

"It's crazy how much a year can do," Larson said.

" I hated this race last year. I was terrible,"

McMurray joined AJ Foyt and Mario Andretti as the only drivers to win the Daytona 500 and the Rolex, while Kanaan joined a limited list of drivers to win both Indy and the 24-Hours.

"It's awesome, man. I love watches," Kanaan said.

"I always bought them, so I've finally got one for free today."

Ganassi beat defending race winner Action Express Racing, which was driven by Joao Barbosa, Christian Fittipaldi and Sebastien Bourdais, by 1.33 seconds.

Wayne Taylor Racing, runner-up the last two years, lost a shot to challenge Dixon when it realised under a caution with 20 minutes remaining that Jordan Taylor had exceeded his allotted time allowed in the car. He was forced to pit from second to let older brother Ricky Taylor close out the final nine minutes of the race.

"It's a bit disappointing, but we win and lose as a team," Taylor said.

Ganassi's other entry, the No 01 car led by five-time winner Scott Pruett, was in the mix for the victory until the clutch broke and the team was forced to retire with less than two hours remaining.