De 24 uur van Daytona 1979 was de 17e editie van deze endurancerace. De race werd verreden op 3 en 4 februari 1979 op de Daytona International Speedway nabij Daytona Beach, Florida.
De race werd gewonnen door de Interscope Racing #0 gereden door Ted Field, Danny Ongais en Hurley Haywood. Voor Haywood was het zijn vierde Daytona-zege, waarmee hij op gelijke hoogte kwam met recordhouders Peter Gregg en Pedro Rodríguez de la Vega. Field en Ongais behaalden allebei hun eerste overwinning. De GTO-klasse werd gewonnen door de Modena Sports Cars #65 van John Morton en Tony Adamowicz. De GTU-klasse werd gewonnen door de Mazda Technical Center #7 van Yoshimi Katayama, Yojiro Terada en Takashi Yorino.
Race Winnaars in hun klasse zijn vetgedrukt.
Pos. Klasse No. Team Coureurs Chassis Ronden 1 GTX 0 Interscope Racing Ted Field Danny Ongais Hurley Haywood Porsche 935/79 684 2 GTO 65 Modena Sports Cars John Morton Tony Adamowicz Ferrari 365 GTB/4 Competizione 635 3 GTX 11 Bruce Canepa Bruce Canepa Rick Mears Monte Shelton Porsche 935 627 4 GTX 94 Whittington Bros. Racing Don Whittington Bill Whittington Jürgen Barth Porsche 935/79 622 5 GTU 7 Mazda Technical Center Yoshimi Katayama Yojiro Terada Takashi Yorino Mazda RX-7 617 6 GTU 77 Mazda Technical Center Walt Bohren Amos Johnson Roger Mandeville Mazda RX-7 615 7 GTU 60 E. J. Pruitt & Sons Rusty Bond Ren Tilton Porsche 911 S 612 8 GTO 54 Montura Ranch Estates Tony Garcia Juan Montalvo Alberto Vadia Porsche 911 Carrera RSR 587 9 GTO 98 Van Every Racing Lance van Every Ash Tisdelle Robert Overby Porsche 911 Carrera RSR 579 10 GTO 03 Lubrifilm Racing Angelo Pallavicini Enzo Calderari Marco Vanoli Porsche 934 577 11 GTU 75 Mike Ramirez Mike Ramirez Manuel Villa Luis Gordillo Porsche 911 560 12 GTO 37 Botero Racing Honorato Espinosa Francisco López Jorge Cortes Porsche 911 Carrera RS 551 13 GTU 33 Peter Welter Peter Welter Richard Aten Jack Refenning Porsche 911 550 14 GTO 58 Diego Febles Racing Diego Febles Phil Currin Porsche 911 Carrera RS 543 DNF GTX 5 Budweiser Racing Charles Mendez Johnny Rutherford Paul Miller Porsche 935 529 DNF GTU 27 Miami Auto Racing Ray Mummery Tom Sheehy Luis Sereix Porsche 911 S 522 DNF GTU 62 Koll Motorsports Bill Koll Jim Cook Porsche 914/6 511 18 GTO 95 Stephen E. Bond Stephen Bond Philip Dann Chevrolet Monza 509 19 GTO 21 Oftedahl Racing John Wood Tom Bagley Carl Shafer Chevrolet Camaro 493 20 GTU 42 Bullwinkele Racing, Inc. Tom Ashby Bill Bean Bob Beasley Porsche 911 493 21 GTU 08 Southern Racing Ent. Terry Wolters Nort Northam Richard Weiss Porsche 911 S 488 22 GTU 34 Drolsom Racing George Drolsom Mark Greb John Maffucci Porsche 911 482 23 GTO 64 Lenton B. McGill C. C. Canada Russ Boykin Tom Ciccone Chevrolet Camaro 458 24 GTU 61 Faza Squadra Al Cosentino Dick Starita Taku Akaike Mazda RX-3 444 DNF GTU 8 Automobiles International Inc. Anatoly Arutunoff José Marina Danny Sullivan Lancia Stratos HF 439 DNF GTX 6 Dick Barbour Racing Dick Barbour Brian Redman Paul Newman Porsche 935/77A 410 DNF GTO 80 Herb Adams Herb Adams Peter Frey Louis Spoerl Pontiac Firebird 408 DNF GTU 17 Racing Beat Jim Mederer Don Sherman Jeff Kline Mazda RX-7 393 DNF GTO 93 Whittington Bros. Racing Dale Whittington Don Whittington Preston Henn Porsche 934 389 DNF GTU 71 Bill Scott Racing Bill Scott Mark Hutchins Pierre Honegger Porsche 911 388 DNF GTU 40 Performance Specialists Steve Southard William Koch Earl Roe Porsche 914/6 385 DNF GTX 1 Gelo Racing Team Bob Wollek Jacky Ickx Peter Gregg Porsche 935/77A 342 DNF GTO 69 Bytzek Automotive Klaus Bytzek Rudy Bartling Ludwig Heimrath Porsche 911 Carrera RSR 335 DNF GTO 29 Stratagraph Inc. Billy Hagan Hoyt Overbagh Ron Reed Chevrolet Monza 331 DNF GTU 89 Hamilton House Racing Joseph Hamilton Rob Hoskins Herb Forrest Porsche 911 S 329 DNF GTO 51 Casablanca Fan Co. Robert Kirby John Hotchkis Howard Meister Porsche 911 Carrera RSR 328 DNF GTO 15 Bavarian Motors International Alf Gebhardt Sepp Grinbold BMW 3.5 CSL 299 DNF GTO 81 Performance Export Ernesto Soto Francisco Romero Oscar Notz Porsche 911 Carrera RSR 241 DNF GTU 01 D. R. Racing Dave White J. Kurt Roehrig John Hamilton Porsche 911 223 DNF GTX 13 Hal Shaw Racing Hal Shaw Tom Spalding Norm Ridgely Porsche 935 222 DNF GTU 36 Case Racing Ron Case Dave Panaccione Porsche 911 210 42 GTX 53 Guy Thomas Guy Thomas Milton Moise Tom Nehl Chevrolet Camaro 201 DNF GTO 06 Al Levenson Al Levenson Gary Baker Lanny Hester Chevrolet Corvette 197 DNF GTX 23 Charlie Kemp Charlie Kemp Carson Baird Kees Nierop Ford Mustang II Cobra 168 DNF GTX 3 Jolly Club – Sportwagen Racing Team Martino Finotto Carlo Facetti Gianpiero Moretti Porsche 935 164 DNF GTX 4 LM Joest Porsche Reinhold Joest Rolf Stommelen Volkert Merl Porsche 935/77A 162 DNF GTO 90 Bob's Speed Products Rick Kump Bob Lee Sam Miller AMC AMX 156 DNF GTO 12 Oftedahl Racing Gerry Wellik Tom Bagley Joe Chamberlain Chevrolet Camaro 147 DNF GTO 56 Peerless Racing Craig Carter Murray Edwards Richard Valentine Chevrolet Camaro 144 DNF GTX 2 Gelo Racing Team Manfred Schurti John Fitzpatrick Bob Wollek Porsche 935/77A 135 DNF GTU 57 John Tremblay John Tremblay Bob Lapp Datsun 240Z 118 DNF GTX 9 Dick Barbour Racing Bob Akin Rob McFarlin Roy Woods Porsche 935 117 DNF GTX 66 JMS Racing-Pozzi Jean-Claude Andruet Spartaco Dini Claude Ballot-Léna Ferrari 512 BB/LM 103 DNF GTX 67 JMS Racing-Pozzi Claude Ballot-Léna Michel Leclère Jean-Claude Andruet Ferrari 512 BB/LM 101 DNF GTX 24 Graham Shaw Graham Shaw Don Yenko Jerry Thompson Chevrolet Monza 86 DNF GTO 38 Boricua Racing Bonky Fernandez Chiqui Soldevilla Tato Ferrer Porsche 911 Carrera RSR 73 DNF GTX 68 N.A.R.T. Bob Tullius Jean-Pierre Delaunay Pat Bedard Ferrari 512 BB/LM 72 DNF GTX 43 Meldeau Tire Co. Bill McDill Stephen Behr Chevrolet Camaro 59 DNF GTO 46 Mauricio de Narváez Mauricio de Narváez Albert Naon Pedro de Narváez Porsche 911 Carrera RSR 46 DNF GTO 07 Budweiser Racing Dave Cowart David McClain Kenper Miller Porsche 911 Carrera RSR 35 DNF GTX 00 Interscope Racing Preston Henn Ted Field Danny Ongais Porsche 935/77A 29 DNF GTX 14 Bavarian Motors International Steve Griswold Steve Earle Rick Knoop BMW 3.0 CSL 25 DNF GTU 96 Gary Wonzer Gary Wonzer Robert Whitaker George Van Arsdale Triumph GT6 20 DNF GTU 48 Frank L. Leary, III Frank Leary Casey Mollett Steve Cook Datsun 240Z 13 DNF GTX 18 JLP Racing John Paul sr. Al Holbert Michael Keyser Porsche 935 JLP-1 12 DNF GTU 79 Sports Ltd. Racing Bob Bergstrom Brad Frisselle Mazda RX-7 9 DNF GTX 73 Howey Farms Clark Howey Dale Koch Tracy Wolf Chevrolet Camaro 4 DNS GTU 63 Faza Squadra Al Cosentino Craig Fisher Mazda RX-3 0 DNS GTU 78 Associated Speed & Performance Ken Williams Wiley Doran Neil Upchurch Datsun 240Z 0
1979 Daytona