Before NASCAR takes to the high banked trio oval of Daytona International Speedway, IMSA will kick off the Weather Tech Championship Season with the Rolex 24 Hours at Daytona.  IMSA officials have announced that over 70 teams have sought entry into the race with 60 of those teams chosen to make the 24 hour endurance race.

Sixty cars is the maximum field allowed for the race.  The remaining entries will be placed on a reserve list and be allowed to enter in the case a team cannot make the race.  The drivers for the teams will be announced early next month for the race set to run January 28 and 29 on the road course at Daytona.

Forty-five of the 60 teams will compete in the full Weather Tech Championship series; with another eleven committed to participate in all of the IMSA Michelin Endurance races.

IMSA President John Doonan spoke on the full field saying, “more than 70 total entries and a 60-car field as we kick off a new era for WeatherTech Championship competition speaks volumes for the interest in international endurance sports car racing and our IMSA platform.  Arriving at this 60-car entry list for the 61st Rolex 24 At Daytona required a substantial effort from our team at IMSA. We are proud to present one of the strongest and most competitive fields we have seen and cannot wait to put on a tremendous show for a global audience of racing fans next month.”

This year a new car series will join the GT, Pro Am, and Prototypes in the race.  Nine teams will race in the new Grand Touring Prototype (GTP) Series.  The GTP Series will feature Acura, BMW, Cadillac, and Porsche models.

The GT Daytona class is the largest this year with 24 entries featuring Acura, Aston Martin, BMW, Ferrari, Lamborghini, Lexus, McLaren, Mercedes-AMG and Porsche models.

The GT PRO class comes in second with eight entries featuring Aston Marin, Corvette, Ferrari, Lamborghini, Lexus, Mercedes-AMG and Porsche models.

The Pro-Am prototype classes of LMP2 and LMP3 feature a massive a total of 19 cars.

All 60 of the teams will participate in the Roar Before the Rolex 24 January 20 to 22 with qualifying set for January 22.