This weekend, the IMSA WeatherTech SprtsCar championship Series not only begins the IMSA racing season; but also the beginning of the racing season at Daytona International Speedway.
The engines will roar once again when 59 cars in four classes – Grand Touring Prototype (GTP), Le Mans Prototype 2 (LMP2), Grand Touring Daytona Pro (GTD PRO), and Grand Touring Daytona (GTD) – will test their endurance with the Rolex 24 at Daytona.
A total of 17 car models will be competing on the track this weekend – Acura, Alfa Romeo, Aston Martin, Audi, BMW, Cadillac, Chevrolet, Ferrari, Ford, Honda, Hyundai, Lamborghini, Lexus, McLaren, Mazda, Mercedes-AMG, and Porsche.
At 1:40pm eastern time on Saturday afternoon (Jan 27) the drivers will begin testing themselves and their cars around the 3.56 miles road course race inside the high banked tri-oval of Daytona and also makes use of the tri-oval track.
While NBC and the USA Network will carry parts of the race, the streaming service Peacock will carry the entire race.
The action begins on January 25 with the Mazda MX 5 Cup. A second Mazda MX 5 and a four hour BMW Endurance Challenge will run on Friday; with the main event – the 24 hour race – beginning Saturday afternoon. It all wraps up at 1:40pm on Sunday afternoon with the crowning of five trophies – one overall race winner and four class winners.
NASCAR has long had a relationship with Daytona and the 24 hour race. NASCAR drivers Bubba Wallace, John Hunter Nemechek, and Corey Heim will be competing in the BMW four-hour endurance race on Friday. But unlike years in the past, there are no NASCAR drivers scheduled to run the 24 hour race.
Over the years a number of NASCAR drivers have been a part of the Rolex 24 Hour Race; with some of them even winning the treasured Rolex watches awarded to the winners.
NASCAR Drivers in the Rolex 24 Hours at Daytona:
John Andretti
Michael Waltrip
Travis Pastrana
Mark Martin
father and son Earnhardts – Dale Sr and Dale Jr
Tony Stewart
Jimmie Johnson
Paul Menard
Jamie McMurray
Kyle Larson
AJ Allmendinger
Juan Pablo Montoya
Casey Mears
Danica Patrick
Rusty Wallace
Jeff Gordon
Kurt Busch
Brendan Gaughan
Justin Marks
Austin Cindric
Cole Custer
Scott Pruett
Kyle Busch
Austin Dillon
Chase Elliott