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2026 ROLEX 24 at Daytona

Three Takeaways: 64th Rolex 24 At Daytona

Nasr, Penske are Rolex Royalty; Near Last-to-First Double; German Brand Triple Win


 

January 26, 2026

By David Phillips

IMSA Wire Service

DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. – Records were in vogue this weekend at Daytona: first of an unusual kind, and then of a good kind. The 64th Rolex 24 At Daytona featured a record full-course caution length of more than six and a half hours overnight due to heavy fog, but then once the clouds lifted, the crowds followed as Daytona International Speedway officials confirmed a record attendance for the event just before the final hour.


 

And what a final hour it was, as per Rolex 24 tradition to annually kick off a new IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship season, all four class battles were in doubt until the final laps. 


 

Indeed, the largest margin of victory this year was in Le Mans Prototype 2 (LMP2) at 5.590 seconds. Take all four combined margins of victory, and you’d get a total of 10.749 seconds (1.569 in Grand Touring Prototype, 5.590 in LMP2, 2.223 in Grand Touring Daytona Pro and 1.367 in Grand Touring Daytona) after 24 hours. The top nine in GTP, top two in LMP2, top six in GTD PRO and top six in GTD all finished on the class leader lap. 


 

The ninth and final full-course caution flew with two and a half hours remaining, and the final two hours and 15 minutes went green, so those margins weren’t a fluke; they were representative of how close it was. 


 

And in IMSA’s annual “global all-star race” featuring the best from all disciplines and worlds of motorsport, it was IMSA’s full-time stars who headlined the show at the finish. 


 

Nasr, Porsche, Penske Are Now Rolex 24 Royalty

Porsche Penske Motorsport and Felipe Nasr, the most experienced driver on the race-winning No. 7 Porsche 963, stamped their legacy on the Rolex 24 At Daytona. In taking their third straight win, PPM joined Wayne Taylor Racing and Chip Ganassi Racing as the only teams to have scored a “natural” Rolex 24 hat trick. The team’s fourth overall Rolex 24 victory is its fifth class win in the event and comes 60 years after its first class win (its first as an organization in any series) in the 24-hour race back in 1966. 


 

As for Nasr, the Brazilian put himself in illustrious company by securing his third Rolex Daytona in as many Januarys to match the feats of no-less than Peter Gregg and Helio Castroneves and, in the bargain, bring his total number of winning Rolex timepieces to four with his GTD PRO class victory with Pfaff Motorsports in 2022. Scott Pruett and Hurley Haywood are tied for the most overall Rolex 24 wins with five apiece, with Pruett the all-time wins leader at 10 with his five class wins added. 


 

“I thought one was good but two was better and three is going to be hard to beat,” Nasr reflected. “There's one in class, that's right. So four Daytona wins, wow.”


 

The potential prospect of an unprecedented four in a row in 2027 was floated to Nasr only in the post-race press conference.


 

“You just gave me the idea now, so we've got to work on it, boys,” he laughed. “Yeah, I guess, like I said, I feel like I want to just settle in for now and celebrate what we just achieved. But yeah, four sounds like a good plan.”


 

It’s Not Where You Start, It’s Where You Finish

Despite setbacks post-qualifying on Thursday, both the No. 31 Cadillac Whelen Cadillac V-Series.R and No. 1 Paul Miller Racing BMW M4 GT3 EVO nearly completed a double last-to-first comeback. PMR did so in GTD PRO; Whelen came up the aforementioned 1.569 seconds short for the overall win.


 

Driving the No. 31 Cadillac, Jack Aitken, Earl Bamber, Frederik Vesti and Connor Zilisch wheeled the Whelen entry through the field not once but twice (the second time after serving a penalty for a pit lane infraction) to give the winning Porsche 963 all it could handle in the closing hour of the race. 


 

The No. 1 Paul Miller Racing BMW M4 GT3 EVO did the Whelen entry one better after having forfeited second spot on the GTD PRO grid due to a technical infraction of its own when De Phillippi, Neil Verhagen, Max Hesse and Dan Harper motored through the 15-car GTD PRO field to win the category. 


 

“I don't think that we really felt that we were starting off on the wrong note or something like that by this,” Verhagen said. “I think we just knew that we needed to work like a team, and that's what we did, and we pulled off a flawless race.”


 

CrowdStrike Racing by APR’s No. 04 ORECA LMP2 07 started eighth in the 13-car LMP2 field but needed its own near-last-to-first comeback too. George Kurtz was an innocent bystander in the Turn 1, Lap 1 multi-car LMP2 shemozzle but kept his head down and pushed forward with his trio of young sports car stars, Alex Quinn, Toby Sowery and Malthe Jakobsen. 


 

“For us George is super good at bringing the car back every time,” Sowery said. “He's one of the best on the grid at any time the best at doing that, and I think that's what makes him such a key element of this team.”


 

Kurtz, who adds the Rolex 24 to an armada of major endurance race wins in his own career (he has class wins at IMSA Michelin Endurance Cup rounds at Sebring, Watkins Glen and Michelin Raceway Road Atlanta, plus global class wins at Le Mans and Spa), added: “The Bronze role is bringing the car home and not have issues. You're never going to win a race in Turn 1. Unfortunately, I just didn't put it together in qualifying, and pace-wise it was probably top 3 or 4. We were not in the position that we wanted and got caught up in a bit of a mess. But we put it all back together. As Toby said, it's all about giving the car back to these young gentlemen in one piece so they can do what they do.”


 

A Triple Play for German Brands

With a dozen of IMSA’s 18 automotive manufacturer partners represented in the GTP, GTD PRO and GTD classes, nine or more marques are guaranteed to be disappointed by the outcome of the event. However, three auto makers – and one country – are certainly pleased with the results of the 64th edition of the event. 


 

Porsche, BMW and Mercedes-AMG won the GTP, GTD PRO and GTD classes, respectively, it’s safe to say the German automotive industry is celebrating the 2026 Rolex 24 from Stuttgart, to Weissach, to Munich, to Affalterbach – and many places in-between.


 

Beyond Porsche Penske adding to its win record at the Rolex, Winward Racing and Paul Miller Racing did too. Winward adds a third win to its 2021 and 2024 triumphs – and quietly also delivered a debut podium for its new GTD PRO entry – while PMR adds its second win to its maiden 2020 victory. Coincidentally, Winward now runs the No. 48 for its GTD PRO car that had long been a PMR numerical staple… but PMR’s No. 1 was an appropriate number for both GT winning entries on Sunday. 
 

 

Penske, Porsche, Nasr Add to Rolex 24 Legacies with Third Straight Win

CrowdStrike Racing by APR Won’t Be Denied in Taking First LMP2 Triumph



January 25, 2026

By Holly Cain

IMSA Wire Service

Unofficial Race Results


 

DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. – Add yet another historic victory to Roger Penske’s iconic career of high achievement. Team Penske kicked off its 60th anniversary season Sunday with the overall victory in the 64th Rolex 24 At Daytona – Penske’s third straight win in the world-renowned sports car race. It featured an all-time Rolex 24 record attendance at the Daytona International Speedway road course to kick off the 2026 IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship season.

 

Brazilian Felipe Nasr drove the No. 7 Porsche Penske Motorsport Porsche 963 across the finish line 1.569 seconds ahead of Brit Jack Aitken in the No. 31 Cadillac Whelen Cadillac V-Series.R after a particularly spirited battle through the final hour between the two. The No. 24 BMW M Team WRT BMW M Hybrid V8 was third, 21 seconds behind the winner, in the team’s first race running the IMSA BMW GTP program. 

 

“The driving that he’s done for us and at the end there, probably one of the best drives I’ve seen,” Penske said of Nasr. “You know for our 60th it’s a big deal, and here at Daytona, to have three wins here is certainly special. Starts out the year the right way.”

 

The veteran Nasr’s work now equals and follows on the heels of fellow Brazilian Helio Castroneves’s three consecutive overall wins (2021-23) at Daytona’s famous 3.56-mile road course. Peter Gregg also achieved the feat when he won three straight in 1973, ’75 and ’76 (there was no race in ’74). Both Nasr’s co-drivers, German Laurin Heinrich and Frenchman Julien Andlauer, won their first Rolex 24s and Andlauer achieved his first WeatherTech Championship win of any kind.


 

Plaudits were earned for team and manufacturer as well. Team Penske tied Chip Ganassi Racing and Wayne Taylor Racing with its third consecutive win and 46th in any IMSA class. Porsche brought home its 21st overall Rolex 24 triumph, the most of any manufacturer. 

 

“Three in a row, it’s just a very special day – I dreamed of that,’’ said Nasr. “We had a battle all the way to the end with the (No.) 31. … I was just trying all I could because I know in these final hours everyone is using everything they have inside the car, and the Cadillac was a strong car. 

 

“The field has such good drivers,’’ Nasr said. “I have to acknowledge that the level of this race is getting higher and higher in this GTP (Grand Touring Prototype) class. It was pure racing. I used everything I had.”

 

Sunny skies and 70-degree temperatures – warmer-than-usual Rolex 24 weather – straddled a heavy overnight fog at the track that brought out a full-course caution flag for six hours, 33 minutes – the longest in Rolex 24 history. 

 

When racing resumed after the fog just after 7 a.m. ET, the action picked up accordingly. The Penske Porsches battled closely with the BMWs and Cadillacs for the overall lead and, as is so typical of this legendary race, the final hours fed high drama.

 

Although the Nos. 7 and 6 Penske Porsches truly dominated the event statistically, combining to lead 521 of the 705 laps (74 percent of the race), they had to fend off a strong two-car BMW effort and a powerful Cadillac showing that also included a pair of Cadillac Wayne Taylor Racing cars in addition to the runner-up No. 31 Cadillac Whelen entry – as well as a persistent push from the two-car Acura Michael Shank Racing w/Curb Agajanian Acura ARX-06 effort that claimed pole position. Nine of the 11 GTP cars led laps.

 

Twice in the final hour, Aitken was able to pull within less than a half-second of Nasr, pulling alongside in one particular attempt to pass heading into Turn 1. But Nasr was on his game, negotiating the 60-car field throughout the race and repelling Aitken’s attempts to overtake in the final 60 minutes.

 

“The guys all around from the team in the pit box to my teammates did a fantastic job to get us back into a position at the end of the race,’’ said Aitken, who was vying to put the No. 31 Cadillac in victory lane for a third straight WeatherTech Championship race dating to the final two of 2025. “The Porsches were very strong all race, very impressive. We tried to challenge them best we could and I got close to them a few times.

 

“Just really, really heartbreaking but we had great runs and I’m proud of that,” Aitken added.

 

“I had a couple moments where I stuck my nose in there, but it was always from just a bit further back just trying to make something happen. I never got a super great run on them. I was trying to find an opening here and there, and (there was) a fine line between making a gap open up and causing a bit of an accident.”


 

The Rolex 24 is the first of five IMSA Michelin Endurance Cup races on the 2026 calendar. By leading at all four junctures when endurance points were awarded, the No. 7 Porsche has opened a significant lead over the competition. 

 

LMP2: CrowdStrike Strikes It Big with LMP2 Victory

CrowdStrike Racing by APR claimed victory in a very competitive 13-car Le Mans Prototype 2 (LMP2) class, overcoming a first-lap incident seconds into the 24-hour race to regroup and win.

 

It went a long way to avenge a photo-finish runner-up showing for the team’s ORECA LMP2 07 two years ago at Daytona. That memory, when the No. 04 lost by 0.016 seconds, was seared into the memory of team owner and Bronze-rated co-driver George Kurtz. The No. 04 also finished second a year later, with Kurtz and two of his 2026 co-drivers – Malthe Jakobsen and Toby Sowery – on board then. Along with fourth driver Alex Quinn, all were elated to nail down the first Rolex 24 win for each of them.

 

The No. 04 recovered from that Lap 1 incident Saturday – collected in a multi-car melee heading into Turn 1 – but went on to lead often and convincingly. Its healthy 5.590-second win over the No. 43 Inter Europol Competition ORECA marked the largest margin of victory in the four classes competing in the 60-car field. Inter Europol’s second entry, the No. 343 ORECA, completed the LMP2 class podium. 

 

“Fantastic car and it was great in the end,” Kurtz said. “We had some adversity in the beginning, the first turn. We were innocent bystanders and got cleaned out a bit, but the team got us back on track and we never gave up. Really this has been a lifelong dream and we finally got it done.”

 

The CrowdStrike drivers acknowledged that the LMP2 class was particularly competitive this weekend. Surviving close calls and rebounding from contact was absolutely part of the winning formula this year. The No. 04 led 223 laps, including 111 of the last 120 when it counted most.

 

“Watching George get wiped out at the start, LMP2 I’d argue is probably the toughest class in the IMSA field,” Sowery said. “Everybody is in the same car and it’s all about maximizing every other thing possible. Even if things are done as well as they can be on the day by the team, it doesn’t always go your way. For me, it’s about experiencing grit, but we have a great lineup and so we should be one of the teams on the beneficiary of that.”


 

The No. 99 AO Racing ORECA, which led 298 laps before finishing fifth, took the LMP2 Michelin Endurance Cup top honors on the day.


 

The IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship resumes March 18-21 with the 74th annual Mobil 1 Twelve Hours of Sebring at Sebring International Raceway.

 

Back-to-Front for Paul Miller Racing BMW in GTD PRO at Rolex 24 At Daytona

Winward Mercedes-AMG Wins GTD Thriller over Magnus Aston Martin



January 25, 2026

By John Oreovicz

IMSA Wire Service

Unofficial Race Results


 

DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. – Starting from the rear of the Grand Touring Daytona Pro (GTD PRO) field at the 64th Rolex 24 At Daytona turned out to be a minor setback for Paul Miller Racing. 


 

Neil Verhagen’s front-row qualifying effort in the No. 1 BMW M4 GT3 EVO for the classic IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship endurance race was disallowed after the car was found to have camber in excess of the permitted limit. 


 

But despite starting 15th and last, Verhagen and his co-drivers Connor De Phillippi, Max Hesse, and Dan Harper prevailed to win by 2.223 seconds over the No. 75 Mercedes-AMG GT3 fielded by 75 Express and driven by Kenny Habul, Maro Engel, Australian Supercars champion Chaz Mostert, and IndyCar star Will Power.


 

It was class victory No. 2 for Paul Miller Racing at the Rolex 24, the other coming in GTD in 2020 with a Lamborghini Huracán GT3. It was also PMR’s second consecutive GTD PRO win in WeatherTech Championship competition, as Hesse, Harper and De Phillippi shared PMR’s then-No. 48 BMW to cap off the 2025 season at Motul Petit Le Mans at Michelin Raceway Road Atlanta. 


 

Starting from the back of a race is always a daunting prospect, but the PMR drivers weren’t too fazed because they knew they would have 24 hours to work with.


 

“If we were going to get disqualified from one, this would be the best one to get it done,” said Verhagen, who was victorious at Daytona in his third Rolex 24 start. “Obviously, we were a bit discouraged about losing the points for qualifying, but I don’t think we felt we were starting off on the wrong note or something like that.


 

“We just knew that we needed to work like a team and that’s what we did. We pulled off a flawless race.”


 

De Phillippi also earned his second Rolex 24 class win (2019 in GT Le Mans in a BMW M8 GTE), while Hesse and Harper took home the coveted Rolex Daytona timepiece awarded as a trophy for the first time.


 

The No. 1 car moved into contention early in the fifth hour and was leading in GTD PRO just prior to halfway when the race went into a six and a half-hour holding pattern under caution due to heavy fog. The sequence of pit stops during the marathon safety car period pretty much put the PMR BMW back where it started, but it took Verhagen and Hesse just two hours to move back to the front of the field when racing resumed shortly before the 18-hour mark.


 

They encountered one final obstacle when the PMR pit lost radio contact with Harper in the final hour of the race. 


 

“The last hour, my heartbeat was going crazy – emotions were flowing,” Verhagen related. “Dan didn’t have any communication with us, but he handled it perfectly. There isn’t anyone I would trust more in that situation. We had our guy in and he delivered.”


 

“The guys did a great job on all the pit stops and we got the track position, which to be honest was really key for us this weekend,” Harper added. “We knew it was crucial to get that track position for the final stint, and the boys pulled it off.”


 

The PMR group’s closest pursuers were not able to mount a serious challenge in the two-plus hours of green-flag racing that concluded the race. The No. 4 Corvette Racing by Pratt Miller Motorsport Corvette Z06 GT3.R led nearly a third of the race (188 of 662 laps) but fell to seventh when Nico Varrone was pushed off-track by James Calado in the No. 033 Triarsi Competizione Ferrari 296 GT3 EVO just after the final restart. 


 

That put Manthey’s No. 911 ‘Grello’ Porsche 911 GT3 R (992) out front for an hour, but a difficult final stint for DTM ace Thomas Preining left the car running fifth at the flag, just behind the rallying No. 4 Corvette.


 

Their collective woes allowed Mercedes-AMG to claim the final podium places, with the No. 75 car second and Scott Noble, Jason Hart, Maxime Martin, and Luca Stolz teaming for a third-place finish in the first GTD PRO race for defending IMSA GTD class champion Winward Racing’s new No. 48 entry. 


 

“We did everything we could – there was nothing else we could do,” said Habul, who owns and operates the runner-up 75 Express team in addition to being part of the driver lineup. “It feels great to be on the podium after not finishing here the last five years, and we’ll just have to try to get one better.”  


 

GTD: Winward’s Daytona Mastery Continues

Phillip Ellis called his late-race battle with Nicki Thiim for the lead and the ultimate Grand Touring Daytona (GTD) class victory at the Rolex 24 At Daytona “a little stressful.”


 

Ellis, in the No. 57 Winward Racing Mercedes-AMG GT3, fought door-to-door with Thiim’s No. 44 Magnus Racing Aston Martin GT3 EVO through Daytona International Speedway’s famous tri-oval with 10 minutes remaining in the annual 24-hour endurance contest. Slight contact between the cars sent both cars into lurid slides, caught masterfully by the drivers.


 

Ellis maintained a slim advantage under braking into Turn 1 and fought off another concentrated attack from Thiim before finally pulling away to a 1.367-second advantage over Thiim at the checkered flag. 


 

Ellis shared his winning car with Russell Ward, Indy Dontje and Lucas Auer while Thiim sought to deliver a win in the Magnus Aston he shared with past Rolex 24 class winners John Potter, Spencer Pumpelly (who entered with a race-high 24 starts, although not consecutive) and team newcomer Madison Snow.


 

Tom Gamble, Zacharie Robichon, Mattia Drudi, and Dudu Barrichello (the 24-year-old son of former Formula 1 driver Rubens Barrichello) claimed third place in the No. 27 Heart of Racing Team Aston Martin Vantage GT3 Evo.


 

It was Winward Racing’s third GTD class win at the Rolex in the last six years, the others coming in 2021 and ’24. Making the day even better for the team owned by Russell Ward and his father, Bryce, their GTD PRO class entry finished third on its WeatherTech Championship debut. 


 

“Honestly, these are my four sons, not just Russell,” said Bryce Ward, who participates as a driver for Winward Racing’s IMSA Michelin Pilot Challenge effort. “It’s been such a pleasure to drive and work with these guys and also watch them be so successful in IMSA.” 


 

But the talking point after the race was the intense duel between Thiim and Ellis, which brought the record Rolex 24 crowd to its feet.


 

“It was super-tight with Nicki, and to be fair, I think I just misjudged it a little bit,” said Ellis, a 12-time winner in IMSA competition. “I’m happy that we both continued and nothing bigger happened. Then we put on a good fight and a good show. Obviously, I’m super stoked that we came out on top. I can’t thank my teammates enough, who did an outstanding job this week and the entire race. The car was a rocket ship.”


 

Ellis only received a warning for incident responsibility after the close call with Thiim and kept on trucking. Pressed for details about the exciting dice, he responded:


 

“It was a good hard-fought battle between the two of us,” he said. “To be honest, once I got by him, I thought I would just drive away, and I was very surprised he stuck with me so much. I don’t know whether he found pace or did something when he was behind me, but I didn’t expect him to fight back so hard in the last 15 minutes. It made my life very hard. At that point I think I would have preferred being outside the car watching rather than being in it!


 

“I spoke to Nicki, and I think everything is good,” Ellis added. “It was a hard-fought battle, very on edge, but good motorsport.” 


 

Both class winners also won the Michelin Endurance Cup portion of the event, scoring the most points at the four awarded intervals at six-, 12-, 18- and 24 hours.


 

The IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship resumes March 18-21 with the 74th annual Mobil 1 Twelve Hours of Sebring at Sebring International Raceway.

64th Rolex 24 At Daytona - Post-Race

Press Conference Transcript

DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. (January 25, 2026) – An interview with all four class winners and the second-place overall finishers at the 64th Rolex 24 At Daytona, as well as executive leadership from the overall winning entry to kick off the 2026 IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship season from Daytona International Speedway. 


 

Overall and Class Winners


 

GTP: Felipe Nasr, Julien Andlauer, Laurin Heinrich, No. 7 Porsche Penske Motorsport Porsche 963 plus Travis Law, Competition Director, Team Penske and Urs Kuratle, Director Factory Racing LMDh at Porsche. 


 

LMP2: George Kurtz, Alex Quinn, Toby Sowery, Malthe Jakobsen, No. 04 CrowdStrike Racing by APR ORECA LMP2 07


 

GTD PRO: Neil Verhagen, Connor De Phillippi, Max Hesse, Dan Harper, No. 1 Paul Miller Racing BMW M4 GT3 EVO


 

GTD: Russell Ward, Philip Ellis, Indy Dontje, Lucas Auer, No. 57 Winward Racing Mercedes-AMG GT3, plus Bryce Ward, Team Owner, Russell’s dad, and Winward Racing IMSA Michelin Pilot Challenge GS driver of No. 57 Mercedes-AMG GT GT4.


 

Second-Place Overall Finishers


 

GTP: Jack Aitken, Earl Bamber, Frederik Vesti, Connor Zilisch, No. 31 Cadillac Whelen Cadillac V-Series.R


 

GTP

 

DRIVERS


 

THE MODERATOR: We're joined by our overall and GTP class winners in the No. 7 Porsche Penske Motorsport Porsche 963. From your left to right, Laurin Heinrich, Julien Andlauer, and Felipe Nasr. I mentioned the team stats earlier, so we'll go to the driver stats.


 

For Felipe, this is his fourth Rolex 24 class win, third overall victory. Those three have come consecutively the last three years, and also his first one was a GTD Pro class win in 2022. I guess that's four out of the last five years. 15th IMSA victory, third driver to win three Rolex 24s in a row joining Peter Gregg and Helio Castroneves.


 

For Julien, this is his first Rolex 24 win, first IMSA victory, and comes in his 14th start in the series.


 

And for Laurin, this is his first overall and first GTP victory and first Rolex 24 win and sixth win in IMSA competition. We'll go back to questions right away.


 

Q.  Felipe, the last two weeks, all we've heard is how fast Penske is and how the Porsche is the car to beat, and it kind of appeared that way from the outside, but from the inside, was it as dominant as it appeared to be?


 

FELIPE NASR: Well, let me start that I felt like we made our homework pretty well over the winter looking after all the evolutions we could bring over to the car and made sure we tested them last November. But you never know until it's race time because everybody else is doing the same. Everybody, the whole field has improved all around.


 

There were times in the race that I felt like, okay, we got a pretty good pace, but there were other times, as well, that the 31 was always quick out there when you look at their times. But for sure the Penske was in a good form from beginning to end.


 

I just felt the weather now at the end really surprised a lot of cars and the way the handling was over there. The track itself just felt like super slick, very low grip, which we didn't experience anything like that over the practice session.


 

It was a big test just to keep the car on the track. You could see the Bus Stop, the car was just sliding everywhere, and not only us, but you could see the Cadillac, as well.


 

I was surprised that they lined up pretty good in the end. They had a lot of pace, and especially their traction zones were really good. All I did was just drive with my heart and drive from what I know from my experience.


 

It's just an incredible moment to be present today and be feeling it, and I cannot -- without mentioning these two guys next to me that they've done an incredible job. It's our first time together in the car, and started the year with a victory like here at Daytona is just a dream come true.


 

Q.  Felipe, you've won three in a row with three completely different lineups. What does that say about the program that you guys put together?


 

FELIPE NASR: I think we got pretty good drivers. The rooster is really good. Everybody has their own backgrounds, different skills, and to join Porsche as a Werks driver, I could tell everyone that comes on board, it's really high level.


 

All I could do was just pass on my experience as a driver, having won this race before. That's all I kept saying to these two. During the 20 hours, this is the race we're looking for. If we get there, then we think about the next four hours, just being calm, decisive, paying attention, like your pit entry, every information you can give us as a driver, keeping the car clean, staying away from the curbs and any contact.


 

All I could do was pass on that type of experience. But to drive -- those guys, they know how to drive. I don't have to teach them anything. It's pretty amazing to have done it again.

I thought one was good but two was better and three is going to be hard to beat.

There's one in class, that's right. So four Daytona wins, wow.


 

Q.  You said that you guys had this secret meeting in the parking lot, and you showed up in a blue suit.


 

FELIPE NASR: Yes, that was the first-ever meeting with the whole Penske group and Porsche when they contacted -- they reached me out to see if I was available for the PPM program. It was starting 2022. They wanted some lead drivers to get on the development phase.


 

I think that was 2021. It was mid-season, and I had to do a meeting as the championship was going on, and I was on my way to get another DPi championship.


 

So it was kind of a secret meeting, yes, and I think I showed up to this place -- I can't just say all the details, but I was a little worried, and I thought I could walk the distance, but I never checked the weather outside. I was inside like, I don't know, some kind of restaurant and I was just taking a drink and just waiting on time. I said, okay, I'd better start walking.


 

But it was very warm that day, and those five minutes I walked, I was like -- that was not a good move because I started to just sweat. I'm like, I'm going to look nervous now. What are those guys going to say? I said, well, it's too late now.


 

Then comes up this car, rolls down the window, it was Roger saying hey, you're the driver, come on board, let's talk. From that moment on, I knew something special was about to unfold. It was pretty unique, the way it all started.


 

I did send Roger an email when I read the news that Porsche and Penske were getting together, and I said, one day I want to drive for your organization. It took him a few weeks to reply, and he said, now is the time; if you are available, come see us. And the rest is history.


 

It was on the way to this secret place, and it was like in a venue that had some parking lots. I was just walking. I didn't expect anyone to show up. I was like, okay, I'll make it on time. But I got surprised.


 

Q.  Felipe, I wanted to ask you if you could talk a little bit about the last hour, and in particular you and Jack had a couple of spicy getting close there --


 

FELIPE NASR: It was.


 

Q.  If you could just talk about those.


 

FELIPE NASR: Well, it's not the first time, is it? I think it was '24 that we all had that battle all the way to the end with the 31, and once again, it was all happening again.


 

I was just trying everything I could because I knew when it comes to those final hours, everybody is giving everything they have inside the car, and the Cadillac was always a strong car all race long. We could see that on the ^ compact /A times, and every time we drove by them -- like I said, the field has such good drivers. I have to acknowledge that the level of this race is getting higher and higher with all this GTP class.


 

That was pure racing. I used everything I had. I'm just pleased it happened and went our way.


 

Q.  Felipe, how do you compare this to last year, because obviously the ending was pretty similar in terms of having to fend off somebody else again?


 

FELIPE NASR: I think every year it's very different. It's hard to pick a favorite. I still haven't sinked yet everything that we just went through. That last hour was so intense inside the car and all the information the team was giving and the spotter talk, you know, like he's making a different line here and there.


 

So there's a lot of things that you process as a driver, but the winning feeling, they are all special. It's just hard to pick one that was more special than the -- three in a row, like I said, I have no words to describe it, but just a unique feeling.


 

Yeah, I think it will take a while just to understand it all.


 

Q.  Did you find this one more nerve-racking than last year in terms of trying to fend off Jack versus Tom?


 

FELIPE NASR: I think it was actually closer, this one. There were a lot of cases that the 31 was pretty close to making a move on us. A couple of times I had to pick my line and brake as late as I could, and I could see he was also trying everything he could. Like I said, excellent drivers on the 31, and they were not going to let us win that easy.


 

Hats off to everybody. Everybody put on a good show. I've never seen this place so crowded, and the amount of fans that people, friends that came over to see us, I think that shows we are really in a primetime of sports car racing. It's down to us to make the show.


 

I think the series is providing a great platform for us to go out there and race, and you could see a 24-hour race being decided again in those last few minutes. This is incredible. I can only say that.


 

Q.  Felipe, I know you've been told a few times now you're the third person to win three in a row. I know one of your biggest goals is to win Le Mans, but are you starting to set your sights on becoming the first driver in history to win four of these in a row?


 

FELIPE NASR: You just gave me the idea now, so we've got to work on it, boys. Yeah, I guess, like I said, I feel like I want to just settle in for now and celebrate what we just achieved.


 

But yeah, four sounds like a good plan.


 

Q.  Laurin and Julien, both of you, can you talk about the journeys you've been on, because they've been pretty remarkable and pretty rapid.


 

LAURIN HEINRICH: Yeah, obviously it's extremely -- it's incredible to stand here today, as you said. The journey has been so quick. I've joined the Porsche family in 2022 as a Porsche Jr., and in the end now, 2026, to stand here as a full-on factory driver racing for the factory team and winning the Rolex 24 is incredible.


 

At this point I also want to point out, especially for me as a German, racing for a German brand like Porsche and the factory team and making this I would say even historic win, I think I've seen it on my For You page the last time a German driver won this race. Overall it was I think 11 years ago, so it makes me really proud actually, and especially as you said, where I came from and how long it took me.


 

I know my father was probably glued to the screen, and he played a huge role for me to be here today. In the end, he put all the effort he could. I did my first year racing in cars in our own family team because we didn't have the budget to join a professional team.


 

When I think back how we raced then and how I'm racing nowadays, it's an incredible journey, and it makes me extremely proud, but also thankful for the opportunity that Porsche provides us young talent going through the junior ranks, Cup racing, and now being a factory driver.


 

Q.  Julien, your journey?


 

JULIEN ANDLAUER: My journey, I joined Porsche in 2018, so I'm a young kid from the family. But I grew up with the family, let's say.


 

It's been a bit of a tough journey, around like 2020 until like '22, '23 because of COVID and very tough to get good opportunities and good rides.


 

But since '23, '24, being very close to Proton and getting the chances to drive Hypercar for the private team gave me good chances to see and to show the potential that the team had, but also that I had. Porsche believed in me and great me a great opportunity to be here today, but also last year in WEC, and I love it.


 

This is what I wanted to do. I've really been chasing the top category in endurance because this is my DNA and the one I share together with Porsche. I'm super proud to be part of this team.


 

As Felipe said before, everyone is so exceptional in the team, so much talent, from the engineers to the mechanic to the drivers and the management. Everyone is doing a fantastic job, and we can see it again here.


 

Yeah, I'm just happy and thankful.


 

Q.  Laurin, can you talk about your time in the car? I think you took over the lead at one point during your first stint. And how exciting was that for you? Were you nervous? What was going through your mind considering this was only your second LMDh race?


 

LAURIN HEINRICH: Yeah, it was. I went off to an exciting start. I don't know if it was on camera, but while I tried to slide into the car, I slid off the car. Luckily, my driver --


 

JULIEN ANDLAUER: We have it on video.


 

LAURIN HEINRICH: Luckily there was also a driver helper who pushed me into the car because otherwise I would be on the floor.


 

FELIPE NASR: But it's always that first drive. Once you drive --


 

LAURIN HEINRICH: Exactly, once you get the first drive gone you have something to build on. But jumping into the car which was at that point already I think in second place or even first place, I was -- my heart rate was, I think, over 200, not doing anything, just by being excited.


 

Yeah, once I got my laps in and everything went pretty well, I can still recall the stint I did before the long yellow which was in those foggy conditions, I get goosebumps talking about this because in the end, racing a Porsche, a 963 through the fog down the back straight, you don't see the Bus Stop at all, and at some point you have to turn left.


 

I mean, this is a childhood dream. It's something so cool to do. I hope anyone in life can one time experience something like this, which is so exciting.


 

Yeah, there was a lot to learn for me, and still, I'm so thankful for the team. They are supporting me so much. In the end, there's some tools in these cars. You can manipulate the balance and stuff. And I don't have so much experience yet, but I have a great team around me.


 

I tell them my problems over the radio and they come up with solutions, and in the end every solution they gave me yesterday and today in the race worked out. They played a huge role in us performing so well on track.


 

Q.  Laurin, Porsche having cut down on its number of prototype drivers, obviously you've come through the ranks and all that, but how important is it for you and how satisfying to still get the nod, and how nervous were you about the decreasing number of possibilities?


 

LAURIN HEINRICH: Yeah, it was obviously always my goal to be at some point part of the factory program in LMDh, and as you said, at the same time when I was getting closer to this program, some parts of the program started winding down a little bit.


 

So I knew there was less opportunities on the table. In the end then to still get the call to be here supporting Felipe and Julien as an endurance Cup driver makes me extremely proud of the trust Porsche put into me and the potential they see in me to give me this responsibility.


 

Yeah, I'm extremely happy, and also to some extent, you always think how's is going to play out for myself.


 

In a way, it also came a bit unexpectedly. Then I'm really happy that today I could prove that it was the right call.


 

Q.  Felipe or anybody that would like to comment, new Michelin tires; we're hearing different things about them. I was wondering how they compared to the last couple of years of running the Michelins.


 

FELIPE NASR: Well, I felt that there was improvement made all around the tire, especially the warmup. Both the soft compound and the medium, I thought they would light up a little better.


 

I still feel like it's an area that I wish we could have maybe a touch better is the warmup still because sometimes it's hard when you get thrown out in the middle of the GT traffic -- it's hard for us, but I bet it's hard for them, as well, to judge our grip level and braking points and stuff.


 

All around, Michelin did a great job. I felt the tires were able also to sustain a little longer in terms of, like, the long run durability of the tires was a touch better. At least that's what I felt.


 

But today was the very first day we put those tires in this kind of heat, so I'll be curious to know places like Sebring or the warmer places how it will play out.


 

Q.  Speak a little bit about the mindset of being on a team with Felipe, a guy who has three Rolexes, until now he has his fourth, three in a row in the big category, one in class. Does that add pressure? Does that elevate your game? How was the week leading into it for you guys?


 

LAURIN HEINRICH: Speaking for myself, I think it calms us down because Felipe is proven in this race. He's one of the greatest drivers I've ever seen. I still remember I couldn't sleep in the morning, so I was like, okay, I'm going to turn on the onboard and just watch and see how it's going, listen to the radio, and what I've witnessed there, what he was doing in the car, this is incredible. This is not something you see every day.


 

I'm extremely proud to share the car with him and to profit from his knowledge. In the end, the feeling it gives me to share the car with him, I'm much more relaxed because I know who's going to be at the end in the car and do the job, and he's proven it today once again.


 

I'm extremely happy to share the car with Felipe but also with Julien. We had great teamwork. We had a really open exchange, and we had all the same mindset that we want to do everything and not put our ego in the front but just to win the race.


 

JULIEN ANDLAUER: Very similar to what Laurin said. In the end we share the same goal and values, so we just put down the work, head down, and we put the ego on the side and we just want to move and work all together forward.


 

As he said, he has the keys to success in this race, so we just tried to do everything step by step to, in the end, cross the finish line at the right position, and if you look at the car, it's in one piece, not one scratch, and as I said before, everyone on the team has been so good during this race. Not one wrong call and the pit stops has been amazing, as well.


 

In the end, we knew what to do, and we put it down, and I can be super proud of it.


 

Q.  For Laurin and Julien, piggybacking off that last question, when you haven't won a Rolex before and you're seeing the race come down to the way it is and you're not in the car, you're kind of defenseless, do you trust Felipe more than you trust yourself in that situation?


 

JULIEN ANDLAUER: Well, I was happy to jump out of the car because I had already a lot of pressure, and I'd say there was still like one hour 20 to the end, so it would have for sure add on top.


 

First of all, it feels great to get one and you don't have to buy it. In the end, we knew that Felipe was the right guy to finish the race. He's done it the last two years, and he knows what to do with the pressure, but also he can manage the traffic and everything.


 

I still believe that Laurin could have done a very fantastic job, as well, and I probably could have done something good, also. But that's where everyone has his job, and we just want the best for the whole team, and we felt that this was the best to do.


 

LAURIN HEINRICH: I can just follow up on that. Going into this event, I think there was never a question who was going to be in the car at the end. I think it just goes hand in hand with all of us put our ego on the side and we take the decision which is best for the team.


 

I knew where I would spend the last hours of the race, and I can tell you, I don't know how it was in the car. I think it was pretty tense. But out there it was extremely tense.


 

I was looking at the screen with all these sector times and numbers, how it had been up and down. I felt sick, to be honest. I looked to the left into Julien's face and I didn't see any color anymore. We couldn't believe what was happening there.


 

But in the end, this is racing. This is what we love.


 

Q.  Felipe, the last six Rolexes have had a Brazilian driver on the winning team. Does that mean anything to you, Helio being the first three?


 

FELIPE NASR: Well, maybe it's the water in Brazil. You should try.


 

Q.  Or is it the meat?


 

FELIPE NASR: Drink the good water in Brazil. It's great. In our country, we always had great presence in racing in general, and I feel Helio has been around in the U.S. for so long, but there's a lot of good drivers that often they don't get the chance to come abroad.

But you'd be surprised that we Brazilians, let's say in the lower classes from go-karting to national racing, there's a lot of good guys.


 

For me, it's such an honor to represent my country and show that we are capable, too. Every time I go back home and I have the chance, there's always a way. You've just got to find the right opportunity, the right people. But yeah, it's a privilege to be in that club now. Yeah, the best way to start the year for sure.


 

LEADERSHIP


 

THE MODERATOR: We’re joined by members of the Porsche Penske Motorsport leadership team, Urs Kuratle and Travis Law. Congratulations to Urs and Travis, tell us how the race appeared from your perspective.


 

URS KURATLE: It was not all that easy. Also it probably looked like this at times, but we also had our problems, mainly with the 6 car during this race.


 

Lucky enough, the 7 car came through, and the strategy with the 7 -- yeah, he can explain probably more in detail on this one.


 

THE MODERATOR: Travis, I imagine this never gets old.


 

TRAVIS LAW: Yeah, anytime we're talking about what we did as a group from Mooresville to Mannheim to Weissach in front of this group, and thanks everybody for coming out and doing what you do and supporting this event for 24 hours, as well. Really appreciate the passion that everybody brings to showcase what we try to achieve.


 

But to start 2026 celebrating our 60th anniversary back here at the Rolex 24 is just incredibly special for everybody involved in the program, everyone in Mooresville that supports this group to get here. You saw the (Porsche 963) RSP lead the field today. It was also a very cool moment to add to the history in the Porsche brand. So yeah, over the moon.


 

Q.  Travis or Urs, talk about the 7 car had a little bit of an issue overnight and then the 6 had a bigger issue with the floor. Were you able to fix both of the cars or was there some remnant issues later in the race?


 

TRAVIS LAW: I think from the 7 perspective we feel very good about where we got the car back to and very near 100 percent.


 

With the 6 car also. You know, Angus and the entire group did an amazing job working through that over many pit stops, and the performance was still there on the 6.


 

So maybe not 100 percent, but no, we felt really good about the 6 and felt like that was the right decision to make that car competitive for the rest of the race.


 

Q.  Was there anything, lingering issue with the 6 that led to Kevin (Estre) falling back in the final stint do you think?


 

TRAVIS LAW: No.


 

Q.  For Travis, we know over the past, I guess, half year there's a lot of reshuffling within Team Penske's organization, and some of that affected the sports car team in terms of personnel. What kind of a statement does this make about the depth that you guys have?


 

TRAVIS LAW: I think it says a lot about Team Penske and the group's mentality to focus forward. It felt like another event. A lot of people got a chance to move up into different positions and showcase their talents, and that comes back to the process that we really focus on with this group starting back in Weissach, but what we need to be successful for the cars and personnel as a collective group, and it just showcases the effort and the team building that we try to strive for.


 

Q.  To that, what were the challenges in trying to get some of those new personnel and new roles up to speed getting ready for Daytona?


 

TRAVIS LAW: Yeah, honestly, it was business as usual, to be honest. We all hold each other up if you're having a good day or a bad day, and everyone is successful as a group. We had a few of WEC team members that are still a part of our group here today for their first IMSA event on site, and to have victory here shows the work they out together. Because it's not just one group in one location. It takes the entire group to be successful.


 

Q.  Urs, we had some very vocal opposition already after the first hours, after the first stint was so dominant. Did it maybe look more dominant than it was? The 31 was still on the back foot back then.


 

URS KURATLE: I think it looked more than it was at the end of the day. We all know the first 22 hours, everybody tries to stay on the lead lap, and so did we. Yeah, the last two hours they were quite interesting ones. It looked more dominant than it really was. I am very sure about that, yeah.


 

Q.  Wanted to ask about that huge caution in the middle of the race. What was it like dealing with that? There must have been an element of mental fatigue from so many hours of just following the safety car. What role did that play in you guys getting to the end? Was it as tough as it looked?


 

TRAVIS LAW: I think as we touched on it, it gave us an opportunity to make sure our race cars were as sharp as they could be at the end of the race, but for the crew and everyone, you're really in race mode, and all of a sudden to shut that off, especially for the drivers, driving around behind the pace car frustrates them in ways people don't realize.


 

They're pushing and trying to be at their limit. When you take that away it's a different kind of stress. They're like some kids, are we there yet? We had a lot of that through that whole time. But we tried to have some fun on the radio and keep it lively and also let the group get some sleep. For the mechanics that weren't busy at the time, tried to let them catch a little nap when it made sense so they could be at their best at the end.


 

Q.  Building off of that question, do you think that long yellow actually saved the 6 car's race?


 

TRAVIS LAW: Yeah, I think it's hard to say how it would have played out. I think we had some work on it there that would have maybe taken some more over the few stops. I think in the end, we would have achieved the same result. I think it allowed us to do it at one point. In the end, I think it equaled out?


 

Q.  What exactly did you do to the car? Was it just taping up the floor or was there anything more extensive?


 

TRAVIS LAW: Yeah, I'd have to follow up and see exactly what it looks like afterwards. But no, they used a lot of tape there. So I'm sure they could get used in a good promo for the group.


 

No, a lot of tape and some carbon and a bit of glue, and everything we had actually, so some rivets and everything. The guys did an amazing job, so to get the car back is pretty impressive.


 

Q.  Travis, we had that last caution when the No. 6 did not pit but you brought him in afterwards. What was the reasoning not bringing him in but then correcting this obvious mistake?


 

TRAVIS LAW: Yeah, I've got to follow up a little bit there. Obviously at that moment I'm pretty focused on the 7 car, so we were just making sure we got that stop sorted. So I'll catch you will with the group and come back to what exactly what happened to do that.

But to see the 6 car come back after that, coming from the back and being competitive there and coming on the front side of the last window, I still felt like we had both bullets there for the end.


 

Q.  The 6 car obviously lost some pace again after the final stop and there were reports that a piece of something had fallen off. Can you explain what happened there?


 

TRAVIS LAW: I think the 6 car at the end, they just came on the front side of that window, you know, so we were trying to cover both ends possible, to be honest.


 

They came early, and if we get a yellow the 6 was sitting in a good position there at the front of that group. So we just tried to split it up both ways and see how we could cover both ends of it.


 

The yellow didn't come, so we just needed to make a little fuel there at the end.


 

Q.  Wanted to ask the pair of you about the driving talent in the 7 that you've assembled there. Felipe, obviously a big legacy moment for him with three wins in a row, and then Julien and Laurin did a really nice job. I wanted some assessment of their performance because it was pretty special from the cockpit it seemed like.


 

URS KURATLE: To start with, maybe with Laurin Heinrich, first time in the car, first time in the top class in the car, we knew that he did an amazing job last year with AO Racing. He won here as well. And he did, as I said, an amazing job. It was kind of like a no-brainer to select him for a factory driver for Porsche and get him a seat in the 963. 


 

He did an amazing job. It was a lot of pressure on him. It was a flawless race for him. Same for all the drivers in the 6 car basically as well as the ones from the 7.


 

The 7 car we had some issues today as we touched on earlier already here, but all in 

all, it was the perfect race for all six drivers we had.


 

Q.  Travis, any thoughts on the lineup?


 

TRAVIS LAW: I think Urs touched on it. Very privileged, the group that's been put together, drivers past and present. There's not many wrong answers there. So we're pretty fortunate to have all these talented drivers and work so well together across both series, in the past and now focused on IMSA. It's just an example of what that group can do.


 

SECOND PLACE FINISHERS


 

THE MODERATOR: We're joined by our second place finishers here at the 64th Rolex 24, co-drivers of the No. 31 Cadillac Whelen Cadillac V-Series.R from left to right, Earl Bamber, Connor Zilisch, Frederik Vesti, and Jack Aitken.


 

Jack, take us through that last sequence there. Looked very close there a few times. Tell us about it.


 

JACK AITKEN: Yeah, I mean, we had a really tough 24 hours, I would say. It was not straightforward at all. Had quite a few setbacks, and the guys all around from the team and the pit box to my teammates here did a fantastic job to get us back into race-winning position at the end of the race.


 

Having said that, the Porsches were very strong all race. It was impressive. We came after them and tried to challenge as best we could. I got close a few times, but just didn't quite have enough to get the move done.


 

I think both Felipe and I were struggling with tires in the heat. It was a bit of back and forth all the way. Yeah, just unfortunately fell a bit short, which is really heartbreaking, but we put a great run together, and I'm proud of that.


 

Q.  Certainly there was one time in particular in the final hour where you got alongside, and if you could just talk about that. Did you ever have a point where you thought, this is going to be it?


 

JACK AITKEN: I think I had a couple of moments where I stuck my nose in there, but it was always from a bit further back and a bit just trying to make something happen. I never got a super, super great run on him into Turn 1. It was always creeping up to his corner.


 

So yeah, I was trying to find an opening here or there, and it was a fine line between making a gap open up and just causing a bit of an accident.


 

I tried as best I could to get alongside, but couldn't get level, couldn't make the move stick. Yeah, I tried, but couldn't do it.


 

Q.  Jack, with about 20 or so minutes to go, we saw Felipe Nasr shut the door on you going into the road course portion. Not sure if that's what Holly was getting at, but what was your view and your experience like in that situation, and was that the last moment where you could have possibly gotten the job done?


 

JACK AITKEN: It was aggressive, but yeah, I think I would have probably done the same. There was a half of a gap there, so I went for it. The half of a gap turned into none of a gap, and we both did a good job to not have an accident.


 

It's frustrating, but I'm not going to sit here and say, oh, he should have jumped out of the way or whatever. I think it was just hard racing, and I was trying to make something happen.


 

Yeah, nothing really safe from my point of view.


 

Q.  I know none of you want to finish second, I get that. Is there something to be said for coming back through and being where you were at the end?


 

FREDERIK VESTI: Yeah, it was a super tough race, first of all, we had a setback in the middle of the night and kind of felt a bit lost, but then suddenly the full caution yellow put us back into the game and we had go pace in the car, which sort of gave us that opportunity back into the race, fight for top position.


 

Yeah, I'm very proud of the team, the mechanics and everyone. The engineers kept us pushing and they kept us in the game.


 

So yeah, it was cool.


 

Q.  For Earl, I wanted to ask about the way the race played out. For a lot of it, it looked like the Porsches maybe had something in the pocket to be able to pull away whenever they needed to. They controlled a lot of this one. Did you expect that it would come down to a showdown? Did you expect the Cadillac had something at the end to be that close?


 

EARL BAMBER: Yeah, I mean, we could see already from the first stint, I think there was just three cars in the race most of the time, which was just the 6, the 7 and the 31. It was similar to what it was last year at the end of the year.


 

They're a really formidable opponent, and coming here, they're always going to be strong. We put our best foot forward, and I think the team should be proud. If you can't win, then you finish second, right? I think it's an awesome job from everyone on the team, engineers and everything like that.


 

We had a long drought of podiums last year without one and then we won the last two races and now we're just bitterly disappointed for the second. Just shows the standard that we always want to come here and just expect to win.


 

Q.  For Connor, I know we had you in here a few hours ago and you wore the mistake during your stint. Knowing that you're this close, how do you wear that now? Is it magnified a little bit more?


 

CONNOR ZILISCH: Yeah, obviously I was upset at myself, but I ended up the cautions fell at the right time and put us back in the race. Maybe it would have helped to have track position earlier, but I don't know if it really affected the outcome.


 

I think the Porsches were really strong, and I think everybody saw that from testing until now.


 

Yeah, I definitely kicked myself and was definitely upset, but looking at it from a bird's eye view, I don't know if it really affected the outcome.


 

Q.  Connor, this is your first time in the top class. How did this compare to driving the LMP2 car a few years ago?


 

CONNOR ZILISCH: Yeah, it was awesome showing up and learning. When I first showed up I had a lot to make um and figure out, and I felt like come race time I was pretty comfortable and could hold my own on the track.


 

I'm super grateful for all three of these guys. They took me under their wing and allowed me to learn from them, and they didn't shy back of trying to help me as much as they could.


 

That definitely made a difference, and I'm grateful that I had such a great team around me to be able to allow me to come in and learn and grow and take the time to figure things out.


 

But yeah, I'm just so proud of the entire team. It was a long race. We definitely had a lot of setbacks. It was a unique 24. I think everybody can say that.


 

But for me, I just think learning the car and learning the traffic and figuring everything out was a lot of fun, and it was a challenge racing against the best of the best in the world.


 

Having to go against a lot of guys who are factory drivers, do this all the time, and for me it's kind of once a year. I know what I'm stepping into when I do it, and I know that I need to step up and be good for my team and not let my team down.


 

Grateful they gave me the chance, and hopefully I can come back.


 

Q.  The Cadillacs obviously had some changes coming into this year. Now that you've had a chance to properly get a taste of it in the racing scenarios with the aero kit and the brake change, has it achieved its goals? Does it feel like a raceable car when you get into these races and you're fighting through traffic?


 

EARL BAMBER: Yeah, I think it definitely -- we achieved our goals. It was better in traffic, especially around the GT cars and stuff like that. That was one of the goals was just to get a bit more raceability. Obviously it's still hard to follow.


 

We could see that with Jack where I think it's just the style of this racing. When you get quite close everyone just stalls out because they're all so close, the cars. Any little bit of loss of downforce is hindering on tire performance.


 

Then on the brake stuff, yeah, it just made it a bit easier for us to manage and use. Yeah, I think that was a successful upgrade for us.


 

Q.  Jack, looking at your body language here, I know you mentioned earlier that this is heartbreaking, but I also know a racer's mentality is just maximizing the situation. Do you feel like you maximized that final stint and trying to chase down Felipe? If not, what more could you have done?


 

JACK AITKEN: I mean, I felt like I gave it everything, just like pretty much anytime you're getting in these cars. I think this is the second time I've been second at this race.


 

I think we all would have been over the moon to have overcome such a tough race and formidable opponents. It's just a bit bitter at the moment, but I think as a team we did everything we could have.


 

I'm not really looking back at anything with regret. When I just got out of the car I was thinking maybe I should have just hit him, but that's obviously past and faded, and it was a good fair race.


 

Yeah, it's just bitter right now because it's fresh, but I think we can be proud, and I'm proud, as well.


 

LMP2

 

THE MODERATOR: We're with our LMP class winners in the Rolex 24 at Daytona in the 04 CrowdStrike Oreca LMP2, 07. From your left to right, George Kurtz, Malthe Jakobsen, Alex Quinn, Toby Sowery.


 

This is the team's first Rolex 24 victory, its third win in IMSA competition. This is George's first Rolex 24 win, his fourth IMSA victory. His last win was Motul Petit Le Mans in 2023.


 

Malthe, this is his first 24 win second IMSA victory won the LMP Sebring in 2022.


 

Alex, this is his first win in both the Rolex 24 and IMSA, and the same for Toby.


 

George, very, very close a couple of years ago, and now you got one. What does it mean?


 

GEORGE KURTZ: Well, we finally got the monkey off our back after losing in '23 by, I think, 16 thousandths of a second. It's been something we've been working towards for the last couple years. We've been very close.


 

I couldn't be prouder of the team and the drivers, all-star lineup here, and the CrowdStrike APR guys gave us a fantastic car. It was great at the end. We had some adversity in the beginning, the first turn, I would say. We were innocent bystanders and got cleaned out a bit.


 

But the team got us back on track and we never gave up, and really this has been a life-long dream and we finally got it done.


 

Q.  Any of you can answer this, but is it fair to say this class was particularly spirited in this race? There was a lot going on. Any of you want to talk about what that racing was like? There was a lot going on the whole race.


 

TOBY SOWERY: I feel like I've done the least out of the four of us, but watching George get like he said wiped out at the start and Alex ending with a quad, I think LMP2 is probably I would argue the toughest class in the IMSA field. Everyone is in the same car so it's been maximizing every element that's possible, and even if things are done as well as they can be on the day by the team, it doesn't always go your way.


 

For me, it's definitely a spirited grid. But yeah, we've got a great lineup, so we're one of the teams that should be on the beneficiary end of that.


 

Q.  George, just a bit more on this win. If you look at your record, you've basically won everything else: Sebring, Watkins Glen, Le Mans. This was always missing; close a couple times. What it does it mean to get this one to sort of complete the set?


 

GEORGE KURTZ: Yeah, that's right. It was missing for a while. It was one that was super special. It's really extra special because we've come so close so many times.


 

That last couple of minutes you're just waiting for something to go wrong or some incident or some yellow that comes out that's going to take it away. To actually see it go through and see it to the finish was really special.


 

I think next up for us, hopefully, is a win in Sebring. I've got a P3 win but not a P2 win there, so I think that we'll try to add that to the list.


 

But in general, we're going to enjoy this. And again, what Toby said, this is such a competitive lineup. You're against F1 drivers. You're against some of the top folks in the world in the same car all at the same time. To get this win and come out of Daytona on the top step, I couldn't be more proud.


 

Q.  To what extent was the fog and sort of the caution that followed the great equalizer in this race, because there were some teams who really front-loaded their bronze time and then you get the caution and logic dictates that you put the bronze in the car. What kind of an equalizer was that?


 

MALTHE JAKOBSEN: Well, so I was the guy in the car when the fog was starting to increase. As I think Laurin was saying from the Porsche crew, you're coming down the back straight turning into the Bus Stop, and all you could see was your braking marks, and you didn't quite know where the curb was going to arrive.


 

Having that opportunity to obviously -- some of the teams to burn away some of their bronze time was definitely a benefit for them. But George has done an amazing job up until then and kept us on the lead lap and got rid of his drive time already by the time I got in the car for the first time.


 

But yeah, I think both Toby and I can sign a piece of paper that it was super, super, super boring to be behind the wheel, and actually at some moments even just difficult to keep your eyes open. You needed to have the engineer speaking to you sometimes just to keep you entertained somehow.


 

Yeah, it was a long night, but every single second of it was worth it.


 

Q.  Toby, you and I were speaking on the grid before the race, and there was obviously the fear of what exactly happened in Turn 1. Talk about that helpless feeling and knowing what you predicted happened, but then to get into Victory Lane after that? I would also like George to comment on that because I'm sure that was very difficult to get into Turn 1 and immediately get cleaned out in a 24-hour race.


 

TOBY SOWERY: Yeah, I mean, like you said, we were speaking about this before, and it was our worst nightmare. The first thing you want to is survive lap 1. The old corny saying, to finish first, first you have to finish. You know, bronzes, they vary in various skills, and for us George is super good at bringing the car back every time.


 

He's one of the best on the grid at any time the best at doing that, and I think that's what makes him such a key element of this team. We trust him implicitly with the car, and to see him being taken out lap 1 is quite demoralizing but then you still realize you've got 23 hours and 59 seconds. The whole race essentially. I'd rather it lap 1 than midway through.


 

But yeah, fortunately we didn't get too much damage, and like George also mentioned earlier, we've got a fantastic team that fixed everything on the car that was wrong within a lap or two.


 

Yeah, maybe I won't talk about it next time and we'll avoid it. It's how racing goes, and especially 24 hour races. There's things you can't plan and predict. But, yeah, we do what we can in those situations. Like I said, George is the guy on the grid to give the car to to know it's going to calm back in one piece.


 

GEORGE KURTZ: Just to follow on that, everybody has a job and a role, and the bronze role is bringing the car home and not have issues. You're never going to win a race in Turn 1. Unfortunately, I just didn't put it together in qualifying, and pace-wise it was probably top 3 or 4. We were not in the position that we wanted and got caught up in a bit of a mess. But we put it all back together.


 

As Toby said, it's all about giving the car back to these young gentlemen in one piece so they can do what they do.


 

Q.  Alex, big responsibility there at the end being in the car for the final stint. Just talk us through the emotions and also what it means to you to be tasked with doing that for the team. As an aside to that, got a lot of momentum in your career at the moment, the news of you signing with Peugeot for a development role. Standup performances here, and you're on such a good trajectory. Tell me about that.


 

ALEX QUINN: Yeah, it's obviously a good time for my career. Honestly, I'm completely knackered right now and it hasn't set in, especially after that quad stint at the end. But I'm sure tomorrow it will really sink in.


 

But yeah, it's a good moment for my career and just so thankful to George and obviously glad I could do the job for him and the team at the end.


 

Yeah, I'm excited for the future for sure, and hopefully this is the start. But it's, of course, a very special day, as well.


 

Q.  George, just want to touch on the APR team. You have such a high ambition when you go racing. Tell me about the relationship you have with APR and Simon Stew and what keeps you racing with them, because they've played a massive part in this success?


 

GEORGE KURTZ: Yeah, the team has been fantastic. Anybody that knows Stew he's a larger than life personality. He's a big teddy bear. Between him and some they've done a great job with the team. It's run like a family. From everyone on the team to Mark who builds the car to everyone, fuel man, everything in between, it really -- everyone cares, and it shows in the car.


 

I was happy that we were able to finish the way we did because it was really a testament to the speed of the car and the driving. We didn't have games at the end with yellows and things of that nature that would have maybe scrambled up the order.


 

I think the way we finished was we had the best car, we had great drivers. And APR, they're the little team that could. We couldn't be prouder of them, and I couldn't be more thankful for what they've done.


 

GTD PRO

 

THE MODERATOR: We have our GTD Pro winners, co-drivers of the No. 1 Paul Miller Racing BMW M4 GT3 EVO from left to right Connor De Phillippi, Neil Verhagen, Dan Harper, and Max Hesse.


 

We'll go straight to questions.


 

Q.  Dan, can you talk about the closing stint and how you sort of -- I think the pit work and short field there got you ahead of marrow and you were able to extend that advantage a little bit?


 

DAN HARPER: Yeah, I mean, the team throughout the whole race were doing a great job managing all the pit stops. The strategy was always good.


 

Yeah, we decided to go full push I think it was my second to last stint. I came out a good bit behind the three leaders, which at that time was the Manthey car, one of the Corvettes, and the Merc, so we decided to go full push behind them, cut the stint short to get enough fuel to get to the end, and just hope there was no yellow where those guys would stop and get fresher tires.


 

We took that gamble and it paid off. We got the track position, which to be honest for us this weekend has been really key. We've struggled when we've been behind those cars to get a move done. We've always sort of came close to getting it done and then maybe on the brakes or the infield section, they'd just gap us a little bit again.


 

It was crucial to get that track position for the last stint, and yeah, the boys pulled it off.


 

Q.  The closing few hours were pretty frantic in GTD Pro with the Manthey car, the Corvette was in the mix, you guys as well. Do you think the racing was pretty fair? Just looking back at how the tail end of the season ended and last year in WeatherTech, do you think everything was sort of a little bit more fair from that side of things?


 

DAN HARPER: To be honest, this time I was on the good side of it all. I had my bad share of it last year, mainly down to myself, to be honest.


 

I seen one of the Corvettes got pushed off by a Ferrari at some stage on the grass. Thankfully was able to rejoin and he was still in the fight and still, I think, in the lead again after that.


 

So of course when there's a full course yellow so close to the end of this huge race, then everyone is going to get the elbows out a bit more than normal. But I think it was all within a very good reason, and I had some amazing battles out there with all the different manufacturers. I think it was pretty good.


 

Q.  For Neil, you qualified the car on the pole. Obviously there was a technical infraction that put you to the back of the field. But the pace was there the whole race. It was clear and obvious. Talk about the pace of this BMW over the course of 24 hours?


 

NEIL VERHAGEN: Yeah, for sure. I think as we saw, the short run pace, we were able to dial it in. It took us a while to get there, but we had mainly focused on the long run pace. That's where we knew we were going to be able to make the difference on energy numbers as well as saving the tires.


 

That's what we focused on, and I think yeah, it paid off at the end. We were able to -- even without radio for Dan at the end, able to still make it at the end, which obviously is amazing for us. The three of us first Rolex win here, Connor for his second one year. It's an awesome feeling.


 

Can't thank Paul Miller Racing and BMW Motorsport enough. I mean, giving us the package to be able to pull this off after having a good look at it last year and falling a bit short for some circumstances.

But yeah, we were able to do it this year, and thrilled.


 

Q.  For Dan or Neil, were you discouraged after the good qualifying effort, or did it just turn out to be a minor setback because it was a 24-hour race?


 

NEIL VERHAGEN: Yeah, I think if we were going to get disqualified from one, this one would be the best one to get it done for. Obviously we were a bit discouraged about losing the points in the qualifying, obviously, but in terms of the race itself, I think we saw through all the classes adversity, and then they were able to come back up, as well, too.


 

I don't think that we really felt that we were starting off on the wrong note or something like that by this. I think we just knew that we needed to work like a team, and that's what we did, and we pulled off a flawless race.

 

GTD

 

THE MODERATOR: Now we are joined by the GTD winners here at the 64th Rolex 24 at Daytona in the No. 57 Winward Racing Mercedes AMG GT3. Drivers from your left to right, Russell Ward, Philip Ellis, Indy Dontje, Lucas Auer, as well as team owner Bryce Ward.


 

This is the team's third Rolex 24 win. Others came in 2021 and 2024, all in the GTD class. This is their 12th IMSA victory.


 

For Russell, third Rolex 24 win, 12th IMSA win.


 

Same for Philip.


 

Indy, this is his third Rolex 24 win and his sixth IMSA win.


 

For Lucas, first Rolex 24 and first IMSA win.


 

I'll do one quick opener and then we'll get questions going.


 

Philip, take us through that amazing sequence at the end and how scared were you when you were at about a 45 degree angle on the frontstretch with a couple minutes to go.


 

PHILIP ELLIS: Yeah, a little stressful. Not ideal when you look at your teammates and team crew on the oval.


 

No, it was a super hard fight with Nicky. And to be fair I think I just misjudged it a little bit. Wanted to stop his run, get the side draft off of him, and to be fair, I didn't even know that he was so close up to the wall. A bit on my part, obviously, but I'm happy that we both continued and nothing bigger happened and that we continued on a good file and a good show.


 

And obviously I'm super stoked that we came out on top. It was super rough. It changed as well as the race went on. Sometimes other cars had the upper hand when it was a bit colder and then it looked like we got the upper hand when it was a bit warmer towards the end.


 

Of course the team put us in a great spot as well with good strategy calls, so that was the basis of all of it.


 

And then yeah, can't thank my teammates enough. They've done an outstanding job this entire week and in the race, and the team of course gave us a sort of rocketship. Yeah, couldn't be happier.


 

Q.  Bryce, can you just be a proud father and maybe say a few words about Russell, both as a driver and as the general manager of Winward?


 

BRYCE WARD: Honestly, these are my four sons. Not just Russell. I've driven with all of them in the GS class, except for Lukey, because he's platinum. But it's been such a pleasure to drive with these guys and also watch them be so successful in IMSA.


 

Q.  Philip, were you aware that Nicky already had a warning, and how much did your warning change the complexity of the battle?


 

PHILIP ELLIS: What was the warning for, do you know, for him?


 

Q.  I think it was incident responsibility. He had a duel with the other Aston Martin and pushed him off the track a little bit.


 

PHILIP ELLIS: I had no idea. I know I got a warning after the oval incident, so I was like, okay. But again, that didn't really change much. I think we put on a really good show for the fans and it was a good hard-fought battle between the two of us.


 

To be honest, I was a bit surprised once I got by. I thought I could just drive away, and I was very surprised that he stuck with me so much, and suddenly he found -- I don't know if he found pace or if it was something that helped him when he was behind me.


 

But I didn't expect him to fight back so hard and lost 15 minutes. Made my life very hard. At that point I think I would have preferred to stay outside of the car and watch the end of the race and not be inside of it.


 

But it was a good race. And I haven't spoken to Nicky yet, but I think everything is good. It was a hard-fought battle, very on edge, but good motorsport.


 

Q.  Would it have made a difference if you knew he had a warning?


 

PHILIP ELLIS: I don't think so. I know IMSA is pretty hard cut on their blocking rules. We saw it last year in the last three races and we also saw it before leading up to Road America when they didn't.


 

I think drivers that are not doing the full IMSA season might be a bit more open to getting called out by the ruling that we since a couple races that is so hard cut, because we don't have it in Europe. But I don't think it would have really changed anything.


 

If anything I would have maybe tried to bait him into blocking me a bit more and maybe getting a penalty for him. But I'm glad that we sort of did that on track and not with penalties.


 

Q.  Indy, you're now the most successful Dutch driver in the history of the Rolex 24. There was some talk about the Rolex Renger with Renger having won it twice, but now we should say Rolex Indy. What does it mean to you, and also how does this one stack up against the two previous ones?


 

INDY DONTJE: Well, it's always special to win in the Daytona 24 or the Rolex 24. Every year I'm not watching the race the last 30 minutes. I'm just like eyes bear walking at the back of the pit box because I cannot watch.


 

Even if I saw the move of Philip after the finish, I think my heart rate would go up and maybe I would pass away.


 

It's really special. I'm really happy that I've done it also with Philip and Russell three times already. It's my fifth attempt for this race, so I'm pretty successful, I can say, at this event, and I'm happy that Luke has also got his watch after some attempts. I'm really proud. I'm really proud also to be part of this team, and really cool to add another watch to my collection because there are a couple.


 

RUSSELL WARD: Yeah, he wouldn't watch it. He was texting me on the pit box asking me what happened.


 

Q.  Russell, three wins in this race is significant. But also, the core group has stayed the same for each of those races in you, Philip and Indy. Talk about the significance of going for three and how valuable it's been to have the same core group and the extent that that has played a role in being so successful here at Daytona?


 

RUSSELL WARD: Yeah, having a core group of drivers like this I think is really important because none of us are here to try to outdo one another. We're here to just come here and race as hard as we can and win.


 

There's really no animosity between us. When one of us does a good lap, we look at it and see if we can recreate it.


 

I met Indy in 2017 and met Philip in 2018, and really we've just hit it off from the beginning and seem to have a great group. Looking forward to the rest of the season and racing more with these guys.


 

Q.  Lucas, you had the very big crash here a couple years ago. Is it fair to say that you had your lowest point of your career here in Daytona and also the highest point of your career, having yet to win the DTM title of course?


 

LUCAS AUER: Yeah, it's for sure a happy end to the story. In '23 it was a tough crash, and to win it now is amazing. It's really an amazing story.


 

I have to thank these guys for giving me the opportunity. Our car was absolutely great. The crew did a mega job. It's really a happy end to a tough crash in '23 with a long recovery.


 

It really means a lot for me.


 

Q.  Philip, towards the end of the race there was a pretty intense moment in the tri-oval where you were essentially sideways. Can you take me through that as a driver?


 

PHILIP ELLIS: Well, essentially you're trying to stop the run of the other car, right, so you try to get the side draft off of him before he actually passes you with the entire car, so you have so get super close.


 

I was a bit too close for comfort, and I think it was just a misjudgment. Initially I thought we both moved towards each other, but I saw it just here from the outside for the first time, and I think I just misjudged it just slightly, and we made contact.


 

At that speed it has a lot of consequences. Both got a little sideways. Again, like I said earlier, I'm just glad that we both continued the race, and it didn't impact the battle that we had for the last half an hour.


 

Again, I think we put on a good show, and even after that, what was a big "oh, (crap)" moment. We still kept it really good fair, hard racing, and I think that's what people come out here to watch.


 

You see it with the record crowds every year, and I think that's what makes IMSA.

 

 

Unofficial Results, Points & Post-Race Nuggets | WeatherTech Championship

64th Rolex 24 At Daytona

Daytona International Speedway - Sunday, January 25, 2026

Unofficial race results available at results.imsa.com.


 

Unofficial points available at pitnotes.org/points.

GTP

No. 7 Porsche Penske Motorsport Porsche 963

  • 46th IMSA class win
  • Last win was at 2025 WeatherTech Raceway Laguna Seca GTP with car No. 6
  • 12th IMSA class win in GTP
  • Fourth overall Rolex 24 victory
  • Fifth class win at Rolex 24
  • Last win at Rolex 24 was in 2025 GTP with car No. 7
  • Comes 60 years after first class victory in 1966 (GT+3.0), was also their first victory as an organization in any series
  • Third consecutive Rolex 24 win, tying Wayne Taylor Racing and Chip Ganassi Racing for the longest streak all-time

 

Felipe Nasr

  • 34 years old from Brasilia, Brazil
  • Third overall Rolex 24 win, third consecutive
  • Third Brazilian driver to win the Rolex overall following Christian Fittipaldi and Helio Castroneves
  • Third driver to win the Rolex 24 three times in a row following Peter Gregg 1973, 1975-1976 (no 1974 race) and Helio Castroneves 2021-2023
  • Fourth class win at the Rolex 24 in 11th start (3 in GTP, 1 in GTD PRO)
  • 15th IMSA class win in 71st start
  • Last win was at 2025 Long Beach in GTP, 6 starts between
  • Seventh win in GTP class in 28th start

 

Julien Andlauer

  • 27 years old from Lyon, France
  • First overall Rolex 24 win in fifth start
  • Previous best finish at Rolex 24 was eighth in 2022 in GTD PRO
  • First IMSA class win in 14th start
  • Previous best finish was second (once) last at 2023 Lime Rock in GTD
  • First win in GTP class in third start
  • Previous best finish in GTP was eighth (once) last at 2024 Sebring

 

Laurin Heinrich

  • 25 years old from Kurnach, Germany
  • First overall Rolex 24 win in third start
  • Previous best finish at Rolex 24 was second in 2024 in GTD PRO
  • Sixth IMSA class win in 21st start
  • Last win was at 2025 WeatherTech Raceway Laguna Seca in GTD PRO, 7 starts between
  • First win in GTP class in first start

 

Porsche

  • 21st Rolex 24 overall win (most of all makes)
  • First three in a row overall win since 1978-1983
  • 25th overall win as an engine manufacturer
  • Porsche 963 follows the 935 and 962 as the third Porsche model to win three Rolex 24’s in a row


 

LMP2

No. 04 CrowdStrike Racing by APR ORECA LMP2 07

  • First IMSA class win at Rolex 24
  • Previous best finish at Rolex 24 was second (2 times) last in 2024 in a photo finish
  • Third IMSA class win, all in LMP2
  • Last win was at 2023 Road Atlanta LMP2 with car #04

 

George Kurtz

  • 56 years old from Parsippany-Troy Hills, NJ
  • First win at Rolex 24 in sixth start
  • Previous best finish at Rolex 24 was second in 2024 in LMP2
  • Fourth IMSA class win in 27th start
  • Last win was at 2023 Michelin Raceway Road Atlanta in LMP2, 11 starts between
  • Third win in LMP2 class in 19th start
  • Last win in LMP2 was at 2023 Michelin Raceway Road Atlanta, 11 class starts between

 

Malthe Jakobsen

  • 23 years old from Thisted, Denmark
  • First win at Rolex 24 in fourth start
  • Previous best finish at Rolex 24 was second in 2024 in LMP2
  • Second IMSA class win in 14th start
  • Last win was at 2022 Sebring in LMP3, 10 starts between
  • First win in LMP2 class in eighth start
  • Previous best finish in LMP2 was second (once) last at 2024 Daytona

 

Alex Quinn

  • 26 years old from Truro, England
  • First win at Rolex 24 in third start
  • Previous best finish at Rolex 24 was seventh in 2023 in LMP2
  • First IMSA class win in eighth start
  • Previous best finish was third (2 times) last at 2023 Road Atlanta in LMP2

 

Toby Sowery

  • 31 years old from Melbourn, England
  • First win at Rolex 24 in third start
  • Previous best finish at Rolex 24 was second in 2024 in LMP2
  • First IMSA class win in ninth start
  • Previous best finish was second (once) last at 2024 Daytona in LMP2


 

GTD PRO

No. 1 Paul Miller Racing BMW M4 GT3 EVO

  • Second IMSA class win at Rolex 24
  • Last win at Rolex 24 was in 2020 GTD with car No. 48
  • 19th IMSA class win, second consecutive
  • Last win was at 2025 Michelin Raceway Road Atlanta GTD PRO with car No. 48
  • Fifth IMSA class win in GTD PRO

 

Connor De Phillippi

  • 34 years old from San Clemente, CA
  • Second win at Rolex 24 in 13th start
  • First win at Rolex 24 in GTD PRO in third start
  • Last win at Rolex 24 was in 2019 in GTLM
  • Previous best finish at Rolex 24 in GTD PRO was fourth in 2025
  • Eighth IMSA class win in 80th start
  • Last win was at 2025 Michelin Raceway Road Atlanta in GTD PRO, 1 starts between
  • Second win in GTD PRO class in 17th start

 

Neil Verhagen

  • 25 years old from Ridgefield, CT
  • First win at Rolex 24 in third start
  • Previous best finish at Rolex 24 was third in 2024 in GTD PRO
  • Second IMSA class win in 16th start, all in GTD PRO
  • Last win was at 2025 Road America in GTD PRO, 3 starts between

 

Max Hesse

  • 25 years old from Wernau, Germany
  • First win at Rolex 24 in second start
  • Previous best finish at Rolex 24 was 12th in 2025 in GTD PRO
  • Third IMSA class win in 11th start, all in GTD PRO
  • Last win was at 2025 Michelin Raceway Road Atlanta in GTD PRO, last race

 

Dan Harper

  • 26 years old from Hillsborough, Northern Ireland
  • First win at Rolex 24 in second start
  • Previous best finish at Rolex 24 was 12th in 2025 in GTD PRO
  • Third IMSA class win in 11th start, all in GTD PRO
  • Last win was at 2025 Michelin Raceway Road Atlanta in GTD PRO, last race


 

GTD

No. 57 Winward Racing Mercedes-AMG GT3

  • Third Rolex 24 class win (2021, 2024)
  • 12th IMSA class win, all in GTD
  • Last win was at 2025 VIR GTD with car No. 57

 

Russell Ward

  • 37 years old from Seabrook, TX
  • Third win at Rolex 24 in sixth start
  • Last win at Rolex 24 was in 2024 in GTD, 1 start between
  • 12th IMSA class win in 46th start, all in GTD
  • Last win was at 2025 VIR in GTD, 2 starts between

 

Philip Ellis

  • 34 years old from Munich, Bavaria
  • Third win at Rolex 24 in sixth start
  • Last win at Rolex 24 was in 2024 in GTD, 1 start between
  • 12th IMSA class win in 45th start
  • Last win was at 2025 VIR in GTD, 2 starts between

 

Indy Dontje

  • 34 years old from Alkmaar, Netherlands
  • Third win at Rolex 24 in sixth start
  • Last win at Rolex 24 was in 2024 in GTD, 1 start between
  • Sixth IMSA class win in 16th start
  • Last win was at 2025 Sebring in GTD, 3 starts between

 

Lucas Auer

  • 32 years old from Tyrol, Austria
  • First Rolex 24 class win in third start
  • First IMSA class win in third start

 

 

Porsche Up Front as Rolex 24 Resumes Racing for Final Run of Action

Final Six Hours set to Thrill Following Six Hours of Safety Car Running 


 

January 25, 2026

By John Oreovicz

IMSA Wire Service

Hour 18 Results


 

DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. – Almost all of the third quarter of the 64th Rolex 24 At Daytona was run behind the safety car as dense fog shrouded Daytona International Speedway overnight.


 

The caution flag flew due to limited visibility at 12:45 a.m. and racing did not resume until 7:19, shortly before the 64th running of the classic endurance race reached the 18-hour mark. At more than 6 hours and 33 minutes, it was the longest continuous caution period in the 64-year history of the Rolex 24, with 121 consecutive laps run at reduced speed.  


 

The weather delay was long enough that IMSA’s new-for-2026 Manthey Porsche 911 GT3 safety car required a pit stop for fuel. The Rolex 24 always tests the mettle of all competitors in any condition, and the extended yellow left pit crews and even drivers in the cars struggling to remain awake.


 

“That was certainly something new to me. I’ve never gone slow for that long in my life, other than on the street!” said rising NASCAR star Connor Zilisch after completing a four-hour middle-of-the-night shift in the No. 31 Cadillac Whelen Cadillac V-Series.R.


 

At 19 years of age, Zilisch is one of the youngest among the 228 drivers in the Rolex 24 field, and his teammates Jack Aitken, Earl Bamber, and Frederik Vesti were no doubt grateful for his youthful energy. 


 

“If that’s what I’m worried about, I’ve got issues,” Zilisch laughed. “I feel like on that side of things, I’m looking pretty good. Late model races end at midnight, and I can’t go to sleep until 2 or 3 a.m. It’s tough to switch off when you have that adrenaline pumping through you.


 

“I’m looking forward to watching the other guys finish this thing off. Hopefully nothing crazy happens out there and they don’t need me again.”


 

At the 18-hour mark, the third checkpoint of the race for distribution of IMSA Michelin Endurance Cup points, the class leaders were Laurin Heinrich (No. 7 Porsche Penske Motorsport Porsche 963) in Grand Touring Prototype (GTP) class and overall; Sebastien Bourdais (No. 8 Tower Motorsports ORECA LMP2 07) in Le Mans Prototype 2 (LMP2); Tommy Milner (No. 4 Corvette Z06 GT3.R), Grand Touring Daytona Pro (GTD PRO); and Robby Foley (No. 96 Turner Motorsport BMW M4 GT3 EVO), GTD.


 

The No. 7 car did have a lengthy stop within this period with the nose briefly being removed. But it remains fully in contention heading into the morning hours. 


 

With six hours to go, 55 of the 60 starters were still running.


 

With the fog settling in and little likelihood of green flag racing for hours, pit crews did their best to keep their drivers alert and motivated with banter and humor, some catching a few minutes of rest while awaiting their next chance to provide service to the cars.


 

“We were doing mathematical jokes,” chuckled Danny Formal, who was behind the wheel of the GTD class No. 45 Wayne Taylor Racing Lamborghini Huracán GT3 EVO2 for nearly three hours overnight. “My engineer asked if I knew how many laps I had done, and I was doing calculations in the car. I was pretty close!”


 

Bijoy Garg nearly reached the limit of an in-stint drive time of four hours within a six-hour period, during his double stint in the LMP2 class No. 43 Inter Europol Competition ORECA LMP2 07 from roughly 1:00 to 5:00 in the morning.  


 

“Very boring, to be honest, doing 100 kilometers per hour behind the safety car,” he related. “It was quite boring after 30 minutes, let alone four hours.” 


 

“I think it’s tough for all 50 drivers out there not to fall asleep behind the wheel,” added Australian Supercar champion Chaz Mostert after a single stint in the No. 75 75 Express Mercedes-AMG GT3 competing in GTD PRO. “We all know what it’s like when we spent all night out when we were younger and tried to drive home late, but this is not quite as enjoyable as that. I’m pretty knackered, and I’ll go for some sleep now.” 


 

Flag-to-flag streaming coverage of the Rolex 24 continues on Peacock in the U.S., with NBC joining for the conclusion of the race at noon ET. International streaming is available on IMSA.TV and the official IMSA YouTube channel.

 

 

Fog Rolls into the Darkness Halfway Through 64th Rolex 24 At Daytona

Porsche Penske Motorsport Persists Out Front


 

January 25, 2026

By Tony DiZinno

IMSA Wire Service

Hour 12 Results


 

DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. – A relatively quiet and uninterrupted second quarter of the 64th Rolex 24 At Daytona came to a pause at the start of the twelfth hour, when lingering fog rolled in to overtake the 3.56-mile Daytona International Speedway circuit.


 

Shortly before the 10 p.m. scheduled fireworks that ordinarily light up the Daytona night sky, cloud cover grew over the circuit with fog starting to get low enough. The IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship field still ran relatively unaffected until the conditions worsened just before 1 a.m., less than an hour before the half distance mark at 1:40 a.m. The yellow flag for the visibility was the seventh full-course caution of the race and was announced as an extended full-course yellow. 


 

Porsche kept out front both in Grand Touring Prototype (GTP) and overall regardless, with Felipe Nasr maintaining his pace in the No. 7 Porsche Penske Motorsport Porsche 963 he shares with Julien Andlauer and Laurin Heinrich. A strong recovery drive propelled the No. 31 Cadillac Whelen Cadillac V-Series.R back to second with Earl Bamber behind the wheel, in the car he shares with Jack Aitken, Frederik Vesti and Connor Zilisch. The No. 6 Porsche Penske Motorsport Porsche 963 of Kevin Estre, Laurens Vanthoor and Matt Campbell, was third. 


 

“A few people are cycling using new tires and used tires and some people were going backwards and forward,” Bamber explained. “The 7 and the 6 (Porsche Penske Motorsport entries) look pretty strong at the moment but there’s still a lot of hours to go.”


 

Although Michelin’s soft compound tires have been available since 5 p.m. in the race and still can be until 10 a.m., their use has been infrequent due to the relatively warmer ambient and track temperatures. 


 

AO Racing paced a majority of the six-hour period in Le Mans Prototype 2 (LMP2), with Dane Cameron in the No. 99 ORECA LMP2 07 ahead of Gregoire Saucy’s No. 22 United Autosports USA ORECA. At one stage Cameron’s teammate PJ Hyett enjoyed a great lead battle with another past Jim Trueman Award winner, George Kurtz, in the No. 04 CrowdStrike Racing by APR ORECA. 


 

Two of the drivers in GT contending cars, Neil Verhagen and Scott McLaughlin, explained their viewpoints of the fog from behind the wheel. Their teammates Connor De Phillippi and Mason Filippi, respectively, lead at the 12-hour mark.


 

“I already got the call with even maybe like 45 minutes still to go in my stint,” said Verhagen, who shares the No. 1 Paul Miller Racing BMW M4 GT3 EVO that led at the six-hour mark in Grand Touring Daytona Pro (GTD PRO). 


 

“I had gathered from the spotters that you're starting to lose visibility. Obviously, that's not ideal as we rely on them quite a bit around here, but they've been doing a phenomenal job just to keep us as informed as possible. It's really just on the back straight, where they said that they really lose the visibility, while in the infield section, where things are a little bit lighter and a little bit more turnkey, they can stil see.”


 

De Phillippi ranks ahead of Ayhancan Guven in Manthey’s “Grello” No. 911 Porsche 911 GT3 R (992) and the two Corvette Racing by Pratt Miller Motorsports Corvette Z06 GT3.Rs.


 

McLaughlin, a Grand Touring Daytona (GTD) contender in his No. 36 DXDT Racing Corvette Z06 GT3.R, added: "It was awesome out there. The car feels really good. The boys are doing great pit stops right now. We're well in the mix. It's a matter of putting it together. We just have to look after things. I had a couple of contacts there on the right side and got caught up in some P2 traffic. (The visibility) is what it is. It definitely was worse in the second. Adding the fireworks made it crazy. There was stuff everywhere, but it was all fun." 


 

The No. 36 DXDT Corvette leads another Corvette, 13 Autosport’s No. 13 entry in the hands of Ben Green, and Turner Motorsport’s Francis Selldorff in the No. 96 BMW M4 GT3 EVO. Both Green and Selldorff are making their WeatherTech Championship debuts this race.


 

Full flag-to-flag coverage continues on Peacock domestically with NBC Sports commentary and the IMSA Official YouTube channel internationally with IMSA Radio commentary. Network NBC picks up the final two hours at noon ET, Sunday.

 

 

 

 
 

Rebel Rock Aston Martin Powers to Daytona Michelin Pilot Challenge Win

The Four-Hour Form for Herta Hyundai Continues in TCR


 

January 23, 2026

By John Oreovicz and Tony DiZinno

IMSA Wire Service

Race Results


 

DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. – A winless 2025 season in the IMSA Michelin Pilot Challenge did not sit well with Robin Liddell and Frank DePew.


 

In fact, the streak stretched nearly two years, since March 2024 at Sebring International Raceway. But Liddell and DePew, assisted by Andrew Davis, righted that wrong Friday at Daytona International Speedway by taking the Grand Sport (GS) class and overall victory in the BMW M Endurance Challenge to open the 2026 campaign.


 

Liddell took the No. 71 Rebel Rock Racing Aston Martin Vantage AMR GT4 Evo across the line ahead of the similar No. 14 Aston Martin fielded by Circle H Racing and driven by David Hampton, Thomas Merrill, and Martin Sarukhanyan by 2.691 seconds, with Bryce Ward and Daan Arrow trailing by 23.365 seconds in third in the No. 57 Winward Racing Mercedes-AMG GT GT4.


 

With 18 GS wins, Liddell ranks fifth all time in Michelin Pilot Challenge competition, while DePew has partnered the 52-year-old Scotsman for nine of those victories. Surprisingly, this marked Liddell’s first Daytona win in Michelin Pilot Challenge, beating his best result of second in 2015, a season where he and Davis won the GS championship. He is a past Rolex 24 class winner in GT in 2004, finishing second overall. 


 

This one came from deep in the 35-car field – the Rebel Rock Aston started 22nd and dropped to 33rd place on the opening lap – and was sparked by the decision to take four tires in the last pit stop rather than trying to save time by mounting just two. 


 

Liddell passed Merrill for the lead with 17 minutes remaining in the first of two four-hour events on the 10-race Michelin Pilot Challenge slate and pulled away to the finish. Meanwhile, Arrow rallied the No. 57 Mercedes-AMG to a podium finish as the Motul Pole Award-winning No. 13 McCumbee McAleer Racing Ford Mustang GT4 of Nate Cicero and Robert Noaker faded to sixth place in the closing laps.


 

“Happy days! Daytona has been not the best event for us over the years,” Liddell reflected. “I was very fortunate to win on the first time I was here in the Rolex 24. I thought I had it easy. Now it’s 22 years later and I think it’s the first win I’ve had here since that one.


 

“The Aston was phenomenal and the guys did a super job,” he continued. “Frank had a couple issues on the opening lap but gathered it together to gain some positions and hand it over to Andrew, who did a hell of a job. Everybody just did their thing. We’ve got a great team, and I think today showed that we can execute everything well when we had to.”


 

Liddell paid tribute to the decision to take four tires when the No. 71 car made its final pit stop one lap after the No. 14 car stopped and only took two.


 

“I’ve worked with Mike Johnson, who is the strategist on that (No. 14) car for a number of years, and I think they went for the undercut,” Liddell observed. “It was a quick stop, but we took enough fuel because I don’t like gambling on a yellow that might never come. We’ve got a kick-ass set of guys on the wheels and our guys bust our tire changes very quickly, so it was a no-brainer for us to take on four tires. 


 

“It took a long time to run him down, but obviously, eventually we got some breaks here and there in traffic,” he smiled. “He finally made a wee mistake into Turn 1, and I was able to sneak up the inside.” 


 

“It’s amazing,” DePew added. “We’ve had some really bad luck at Daytona in the past, and I can’t believe that we came here and won this race like this. It was a straight-up race; there was no crazy strategy, it was just good driving, good strategy, and we executed amazingly.”

 

TCR: Dupont, Brown Continue Four-Hour Form with Herta Hyundai

Cupra started fast. Honda looked fresh. Hyundai finished first.


 

Three of the four Touring Car (TCR) manufacturers factored in Friday’s four-hour BMW M Endurance Challenge at various points. But once again, the champions from Bryan Herta Autosport with Curb Agajanian and its fleet of Hyundai Elantra N TCRs prevailed and did so in nearly as dramatic fashion as in 2025.


 

Denis Dupont and Preston Brown have gone back-to-back at Daytona, sharing the No. 76 Herta Hyundai, continuing their run of top form in four-hour races. They won at Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course in 2024 and Daytona in 2025, while coming second at Mid-Ohio in 2025. They only have one two-hour race win, at WeatherTech Raceway Laguna Seca in 2025.


 

The first three hours saw a high volume of yellow-flag running, and the race really came into its own in the last 90 minutes – or the majority of a standard-length two-hour Michelin Pilot Challenge race.


 

The polesitting Cupra and its counterparts fell by the wayside early with a myriad of penalties and incidents in the opening stanza, leaving their pace without a result for the day.


 

It appeared as though Mario Farnbacher would capitalize in a stand-in role at Pegram Racing, in the No. 72 Honda Civic FL5 TCR he shared with Riley Pegram. The younger Pegram, daughter of Larry, raced with Farnbacher this race as he stood in for the recuperating Larry. 


 

Farnbacher held off Bryson Morris in the No. 33 Herta Hyundai, before its final scheduled pit stop where it all came awry. The No. 72 car was assessed a drive-through penalty for tires without crew and then went off course at Turn 6 after the penalty was assessed after a right front tire went down. 


 

While Morris moved into the lead, Dupont then got ahead of Morris with 16 minutes to go. Exiting Turn 3, Dupont got a stronger run to Morris’ outside, attempted the pass into the kink and completed it at Turn 5. The ensuing momentum coupled with Morris’ slightly slower exit opened the door for Cameron Lawrence to capitalize at the next corner, going around the outside of the Morris on NASCAR 1 and 2 to go into second.


 

Dupont reflected on the move, a year after he’d also beat the same No.  33 Herta Hyundai in a photo finish to secure Herta’s first team win at Daytona. This was a much larger margin of victory though; Dupont beat Morris by 0.408 of a second today, after winning over Morris’ then-teammate Mark Wilkins by 0.067 of a second last year. 


 

“It’s great to do it twice in a row, pretty unique,” Dupont said. “It was pretty clean with Bryson. I think we fought for more than two hours. He was amazing to battle.” 


 

Brown described his view from the pit stand, as the sole co-driver with Dupont this race. Herta’s other three Hyundai entries all took advantage of the four-hour race to add a third driver. 


 

“I was focusing pretty hard because it’s great TCR racing,” Brown said. “The first three cars were nose-to-tail forever! It shows how well IMSA is doing with this series. Denis was biding his time. Two years ago we ran a third, and we finished second, and it was fine. I think it’s more that Denis and I are clicking, and we didn’t want to put anything new in the equation.” 


 

Lawrence, a past Rolex 24 class winner (2015 in Grand Touring Daytona) shared his second place No. 89 HART Honda Civic FL5 TCR with Chad Gilsinger and Tyler Chambers. An emotional and jubilant Lawrence celebrated with his family in victory lane moments after making the pass for second.


 

“That was a lot of fun!” Lawrence said. “We had some rough luck at the start, and not a great setup. We’d gotten a meatball flag and lost a lap. Then you just go and drive and hope it goes your way. That’s the kind of race you dream of; a ton of fun.” 


 

Gilsinger, a Michelin Pilot Challenge veteran and race winner, noted how the similar veteran HART team enjoyed a return to form after a run of tough races in their part-time schedule. The podium is HART’s first at Daytona since winning in ST in 2006, 20 years ago.


 

“I think I paced up and down pit lane at least 20 times,” Gilsinger laughed. “I was just saying when I got out, the luck had not been with us. We’d had suspension loose, gearbox leak. I knew we had the drivers and crew, and Cameron overcame the luck today!” 


 

Morris finished third in the No. 33 Hyundai he shared with full-season co-driver Mason Filippi, who’s set to run the Rolex 24 At Daytona tomorrow in the No. 36 DXDT Racing Corvette Z06 GT3.R in Grand Touring Daytona (GTD), and series debutante Joshua Buchan of Australia.


 

The Michelin Pilot Challenge season resumes with the Alan Jay Automotive Network 120 from Sebring International Raceway on March 20. 

 

Practice Results | WeatherTech Championship

Rolex 24 At Daytona

Daytona International Speedway - Friday, January 23, 2026

Provisional Starting Grid

Practice 3 Results



Practice 2 Results

Qualifying Results

Practice 1 Results


 

Additional results are available at results.imsa.com.

 

IMSA and NASA Launch Groundbreaking Space Act Partnership to Advance Data Science and Human Performance

DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. (January 23, 2026) – The International Motor Sports Association (IMSA) and the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) have entered into a Space Act Partnership to collaborate on cutting-edge research and technology exchange. 


 

The agreement, signed under NASA’s Other Transactions Authority (OTA), establishes a multi-year framework for joint Technical Interchange Meetings (TIMs) focused on telemetry, diagnostics and sensor methodologies.


 

Under the partnership, NASA and IMSA will host two TIMs per year, alternating between NASA centers and IMSA events. These sessions will facilitate the exchange of publicly available technical insights in areas such as machine learning for diagnostics, wireless networking and RFID applications.


 

“This partnership represents a unique fusion of aerospace and motorsports innovation,” said IMSA President John Doonan. “We’re proud to collaborate with NASA to explore how our respective approaches to telemetry and diagnostics can inform and elevate each other’s missions. The potential for cross-industry learning is immense.”


 

NASA will provide IMSA with technical overviews of its methodologies in telemetry data acquisition, prognostics and sensor technologies—critical components of human spaceflight. In turn, IMSA will share its expertise in vehicle telemetry and rapid-response data systems used in high-speed racing environments.


 

The first TIM is scheduled to take place at NASA’s Ames Research Center, followed by sessions at IMSA venues and NASA’s Johnson Space Center. No funds will be exchanged under the agreement; each organization will support its own participation.


 

The partnership underscores NASA’s commitment to leveraging commercial and non-traditional partnerships to accelerate innovation, while IMSA continues to push the boundaries of motorsports technology and safety.

 

 

Royalty at the Rolex: Sir Scott Dixon in Search of Fifth Daytona Win

Four-Time Winner Also Has Longest Active Consecutive Start Streak at 23 Years


 

January 23, 2026

By Holly Cain

IMSA Wire Service

DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. – This winter, six-time IndyCar Series champion Scott Dixon was officially knighted in his native New Zealand, but he’s been Rolex 24 At Daytona royalty for decades.

 

Sir Scott Dixon, 45, returns to the weekend’s IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship Rolex 24 at Daytona International Speedway (Saturday, 1:30 p.m. ET start, NBC, Peacock, IMSA YouTube) for his race-leading 23rd consecutive start, competing for his fourth overall victory.

 

It’s been quite an offseason for the perpetually unpretentious champion Dixon, who demurely smiles talking about it all – clearly humbled by the great royal honor he’s received in the months leading up to the Rolex 24, his annual opening race of the season for the past two decades-plus.

 

“For me what I was most excited about was the recognition for motor racing and especially in New Zealand, but also around the world,” Dixon said. “A lot of times it gets overshadowed. And for me, also importantly, it was about the people who helped me.  

 

“I think when you look at knighthoods, it’s not necessarily about the performance that you do, it’s about community outreach and how the people in the country perceive you. That’s almost way more rewarding than any of the other accolades and it makes you want to do more too. That was the other exciting part.”

It’s a nice segway into the Rolex 24, where Dixon has had favored status for as long as he has raced – perpetually favored to win. This year is no different. He’ll co-drive with a trio of former Rolex winners: Colin Braun, Tom Blomqvist and AJ Allmendinger in the No. 60 Acura Meyer Shank Racing w/Curb Agajanian Acura ARX-06.

 

On Thursday morning Dixon’s teammate Blomqvist led the final practice before time trials. In qualifying later Thursday afternoon, Blomqvist qualified the No. 60 car fifth on the 60-car grid and will move up to fourth following a post-qualifying technical infraction assessed to the unofficial pole winner. It showed speed in all the recent Roar Before the Rolex 24 practice sessions and with that driver lineup it is absolutely considered a contender come race time. 

 

“I love this race; I love endurance racing,” Dixon said emphatically. 

 

And it was love at first sight. 

 

He vividly recalls his first IMSA start in 1999 at Michelin Raceway Road Atlanta co-driving a Ferrari 333 SP Le Mans Prototype (LMP) with his longtime manager, racer Stefan Johansson and Jim Matthews. They finished well off the podium that day, but the sports car seed was planted for the then 19-year-old Dixon. 

 

He would go on to earn the first of his 59 victories in the IndyCar Series in 2001 and claim the first of his six series championships in 2003, ultimately making his Rolex 24 debut the following January, 2004. Perhaps it’s fitting he’s in the No. 60 IMSA car in the year when he could win his 60th IndyCar race. 

 

Two seasons later and 20 years ago, he won his first Rolex 24 At Daytona – the 2006 edition co-driving with a pair of his great friends, Ganassi teammates Casey Mears and the late Dan Wheldon.

 

And even in the decades since, even with a pair of Rolex watches added to that total, Dixon concedes that 2006 race will be among the most special victories of any kind in his highly-decorated career.

“The first here, I think, always,” Dixon said, quick to answer which win he cherishes most. “It was with Casey [Mears] and Dan Wheldon and a really fun era. The Target car was really special. Of course I loved the later ones (2015, pictured right) with Kyle Larson and TK (Tony Kanaan) too.

 

“Our car was always fun,” he added with a grin. “Even if our car didn’t win, we had the most fun for sure. Every memory for me here has been fun.”

 

His work in the race has inspired many. There are 10 IndyCar Series drivers confirmed for 2026 – including four Indy 500 winners – competing just this year in the Rolex 24. 

 

"I am super lucky to be his teammate not only in IMSA, but also INDYCAR for the last five seasons,” said reigning IndyCar Series champion Alex Palou, who is Dixon’s teammate at Chip Ganassi Racing and this weekend, driving the polesitting No. 93 Acura Meyer Shank Racing w/Curb Agajanian Acura ARX-06 in the Rolex 24. 

 

“I’ve been trying to learn as much as possible from Scott. He's one of these drivers that's unique in that he's able to make any race car work and he's able to prepare those cars in such detail. And then when he drives, it’s just amazing to see, especially for me as a fellow driver.

 

“So, obviously lots of respect. I think what is more impressive, and even difficult to do, is not only that he's done 23 consecutive Rolex 24 races, but at the pace that he's done it and at the best level. He’s always at the top! So to be able to do that for 23 seasons is incredibly impressive and I’m sure with Scott there is more to come."

 

It’s indicative of the universal respect for both Dixon’s tenure and success.

 

“I’ve always looked up to him, so the fact I’m able to race against him now is like a dream come true for me,’’ said Vasser Sullivan Racing’s Kyle Kirkwood, a driver for Andretti Global in IndyCar who competes against Dixon there and is making his sixth career Rolex 24 start. Kirkwood’s a Grand Touring Daytona Pro (GTD PRO) driver in the No. 14 Lexus RC F GT3. 

 

“Twenty-three consecutive starts here, wow, that’s incredible. That just shows how much the guy loves racing and there’s a reason why he is where he is now and still doing things like that, because he absolutely loves it and he’s still so good at it.”

 

Despite all his legendary and massive success on track, the knighthood – the Knight Commander of the New Zealand Order of Merit – Dixon has consistently been equally regarded for the generosity away from the track – his work with children’s charities, his willingness to help make the world a better place in ways big and small.

 

His footprint on motorsports continues this weekend in Daytona Beach, where competitors and fans have already been saluting him for decades.

 

IMSA and NASA Launch Groundbreaking Space Act Partnership to Advance Data Science and Human Performance

DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. (January 23, 2026) – The International Motor Sports Association (IMSA) and the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) have entered into a Space Act Partnership to collaborate on cutting-edge research and technology exchange. 


 

The agreement, signed under NASA’s Other Transactions Authority (OTA), establishes a multi-year framework for joint Technical Interchange Meetings (TIMs) focused on telemetry, diagnostics and sensor methodologies.


 

Under the partnership, NASA and IMSA will host two TIMs per year, alternating between NASA centers and IMSA events. These sessions will facilitate the exchange of publicly available technical insights in areas such as machine learning for diagnostics, wireless networking and RFID applications.


 

“This partnership represents a unique fusion of aerospace and motorsports innovation,” said IMSA President John Doonan. “We’re proud to collaborate with NASA to explore how our respective approaches to telemetry and diagnostics can inform and elevate each other’s missions. The potential for cross-industry learning is immense.”


 

NASA will provide IMSA with technical overviews of its methodologies in telemetry data acquisition, prognostics and sensor technologies—critical components of human spaceflight. In turn, IMSA will share its expertise in vehicle telemetry and rapid-response data systems used in high-speed racing environments.


 

The first TIM is scheduled to take place at NASA’s Ames Research Center, followed by sessions at IMSA venues and NASA’s Johnson Space Center. No funds will be exchanged under the agreement; each organization will support its own participation.


 

The partnership underscores NASA’s commitment to leveraging commercial and non-traditional partnerships to accelerate innovation, while IMSA continues to push the boundaries of motorsports technology and safety.

IMSA Labs Launches at Third Annual IMSA Technology Symposium

New Formalized Platform Provides Framework for Partner Innovation, Collaboration within the Series

DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. (January 23, 2026) – Building on IMSA’s decades-long role as a proving ground for advanced automotive and related technologies and in tandem with the exponential growth in data and AI-focused innovations, IMSA has launched IMSA Labs as a formalized platform for continued innovation and collaboration between the motorsports sanctioning body and its automotive and technology partners.


 

IMSA Labs provides a platform for partners to engage through three clear, yet flexible, pathways: Foundational, Program and Ecosystem to meet partners where they are and grow with them. 


 

The formal launch occurred today as part of the third annual IMSA Technology Symposium, held at Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University, on the eve of the 2026 IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship season. At Daytona International Speedway and across the IMSA season, cutting-edge technologies and IMSA’s racing expertise featuring its 18 automotive partners unite, creating a dynamic environment where innovation is on full display.


 

“For decades, Michelin and the 18 auto manufacturers who compete in IMSA have relied on our platform as a true laboratory, using the pressure and unpredictability of motorsport to develop and validate breakthrough innovations,” said IMSA President John Doonan. “By combining IMSA’s rich portfolio of data signals with advanced AI technologies, we are now positioned to accelerate that legacy of innovation even further. 


 

“IMSA Labs represents a bold step into new territory, opening our doors to the world’s leading technology companies to test, refine, and prove their solutions in an environment where every millisecond matters. Together, we’re unlocking transformative value for our current partners while creating unprecedented opportunities for those who will join us in the future.”


 

While IMSA Labs is a new name and new platform, it essentially serves as a natural next chapter after the nearly 60 years where IMSA has served as a validation point for some of the most technologically advanced vehicles in motorsports. Many automotive technologies almost taken for granted now—such as turbocharging, anti-lock brakes, traction control, hybrid systems, all-wheel drive and rear-view cameras, to name but six—have been developed and battle-tested by manufacturers in IMSA racing for decades.


 

This new framework expands on what’s already been organically developing for years, with a more structured format that can bring the data behind-the-scenes fully to life. With the enhanced data revealed, fans can benefit from and engage with that data as they’re consuming IMSA content through both real-world and digital interactions. 


 

IMSA Labs is set to provide a governed, repeatable framework that allows partners to engage with confidence, clarity, and long-term impact. Additionally, IMSA Labs is set to provide the “connective tissue”—structure, governance, and program management—that allows ideas to move from concept to impact.


 

In a single sentence, if IMSA is the racing product, IMSA Labs is a holistic, all-encompassing name for the development platform within the racing product.


 

In some cases, that comes from partners already active within IMSA who have made those technological advancements. Three examples stand out as potential reference points:


 

  • AMD uses IMSA competition as a real-time compute and telemetry validation environment, where latency, reliability, and orchestration operate under irreversibility and public consequence. In an IMSA Labs context, this platform provides a governed surface for similar efforts to be structured, replayed, and extended.  
  • IMSA uses AWS for real-time data ingestion, edge distribution, and fan-facing systems operating at global scale, largely tied to its cloud services. IMSA Labs makes these kinds of workloads repeatable, comparable, and accessible under clear governance.
  • Bosch uses IMSA competition as a proving ground for sensor integrity and hybrid systems operating under real mechanical and environmental stress. IMSA Labs provides a governed surface where physical-to-digital behavior can be observed, compared, and extended across races and seasons.


 

With those examples as frameworks for other partners, IMSA Labs formalizes how partners engage with this ecosystem. 


 

The result is a clearer, more predictable, and more mutually beneficial way to collaborate—one that supports innovation while protecting the values that define IMSA: safety, sporting integrity, and competitive fairness. IMSA Labs is set to formalize the environment beyond the data at play. 


 

Partners can engage and connect at IMSALABS.com. The new website will further expand on the platform as more information and materials arise. 

Sentronics Becomes an IMSA Proud Technology Supplier

DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. (January 23, 2026) – Sentronics Limited has provided an expanding range of fuel flow measurement solutions to the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship® since 2018. Now the UK-based global innovator in ultrasonic fluid flow sensor technology has signed a multi-year marketing agreement with IMSA to become a Proud Technology Supplier of America’s premier sportscar series and exploit its dynamic marketing opportunities to reach Sentronics’ key audiences beyond motorsport.


 

Sentronics’ work with IMSA began by supplying its FlowSonic® on-car fuel flow meters which delivered outstandingly accurate and repeatable fuel consumption data unaffected by temperature, vibration, or electrical interference and helped IMSA launch its modern regulatory regime. 2022 saw the introduction of the RigFlow® sensor to provide matching data from each entry’s pit lane refuelling tank. The innovative TrackCal® mobile calibration rig followed in 2023, allowing trackside recalibration of both devices with substantial cost and time savings to teams. A fourth Sentronics product is planned for roll-out during 2026 to bring IMSA even closer to an integrated full-loop energy monitoring system.


 

Neville Meech, Sentronics Limited Managing Director, said, “IMSA’s Proud Supplier programme gives us the perfect platform for leveraging our motorsport success. The technical relevance, exciting competition, and commercial opportunities offered by IMSA could not be a better fit for connecting with our target customers in transport industries worldwide as they work to meet the efficiency and sustainability challenges of the next decade.”


 

Eric Albrecht, Senior Director of Partnership Marketing and Business Development for IMSA, said, “Data drives IMSA, with Sentronics products playing a mission-critical role over many years for our organisation and its 18 competing automobile manufacturers and their teams.  As Sentronics expands further beyond motorsports into general automotive and other industrial sectors, we look forward to supporting their continued commercial growth.” 


 

About Sentronics: Sentronics Limited is an ultrasonic flow meter manufacturer located in Salisbury, England. Founded in 2013, Sentronics’ products harness innovative patented technology to make measuring fuel consumption and engine coolant/lubricant circulation precise yet easy. Homologated by the FIA, IMSA, and Indycar for regulatory use in the world’s premier motorsport championships, Sentronics also offers advanced solutions for demanding applications in the automotive, motorsport, maritime, defence, and industrial sectors.


 

About International Motor Sports Association (IMSA): The International Motor Sports Association (IMSA) was originally founded in 1969 and owns a long and rich history in sports car racing. Today, IMSA – a company within the NASCAR family – is the sanctioning body of the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship, the premier sports car racing series in North America. IMSA also sanctions the IMSA Michelin Pilot Challenge, IMSA VP Racing SportsCar Challenge, and Historic Sportscar Racing (HSR) as well as five one-make series: Ferrari Challenge North America, Lamborghini Super Trofeo North America, Whelen Mazda MX-5 Cup presented by Michelin, Mustang Challenge, and Porsche Carrera Cup North America. IMSA is the exclusive strategic partner in North America of the Automobile Club de l’Ouest (ACO), which operates the 24 Hours of Le Mans as part of the FIA World Endurance Championship. This partnership allows selected IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship competitors to earn automatic entries into the prestigious 24 Hours of Le Mans. For more information, please visit IMSA.com and follow IMSA on X, Facebook, Instagram, TikTok, and YouTube.


 

To discover more about Sentronics, please visit www.sentronics.com

For more information about Sentronics products and services, please contact sales@sentronics.com

For media enquiries, please contact Holly Holtom at hholtom@sentronics.com or +44 (0)1725 513703

 

Corvette Racing Aims for Fifth Rolex 24 Win from GTD PRO Pole

Sims Paces GTD PRO; Robichon Delivers Aston Martin’s First Daytona Pole in More than a Decade



January 22, 2026

By John Oreovicz

IMSA Wire Service

Updated results will be distributed as soon as they are available at results.imsa.com.


 

DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. – A Corvette Z06 GT3.R earned a class victory at the 2025 Rolex 24 At Daytona. But it wasn’t fielded by the factory supported Corvette Racing by Pratt Miller Motorsports team.


 

On Thursday, Alexander Sims took the first step toward winning this year’s twice-around-the clock classic at Daytona International Speedway by driving Pratt Miller’s familiar yellow No. 3 Corvette to the Motul Pole Award for the Grand Touring Daytona Pro (GTD PRO) class. 


 

Sims turned in the pole-winning lap with a little under four minutes remaining in the 15-minute GTD PRO qualifying session. It was a businesslike performance that demonstrated the flagship Corvette team’s level of preparation for the opening round of the 2026 IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship.


 

His time of 1 minute, 45.106 seconds (121.934 miles per hour) was well off the GTD PRO class record of 1:44.382 set by Seb Priaulx in 2024 as the 3.56-mile Daytona road course was graced with sunny skies and temperatures in the mid-70s. Warm conditions are expected to continue into the weekend. 


 

Corvette Racing by Pratt Miller Motorsports has earned four GT class wins at Daytona (2001, ’15, ’16, and ’21), including an overall triumph 25 years ago in 2001. Last year, a Corvette prepared by the team now known as 13 Autosport (formerly AWA) took the GTD class honors.


 

Five Corvettes are entered in this year’s Rolex 24, with the two Pratt Miller cars in the GTD PRO class joined by single 13 Autosport, DXDT Racing and DragonSpeed entries in Grand Touring Daytona (GTD). The five cars collectively completed 3,738 miles of testing in IMSA’s annual ‘Roar Before the 24’ at Daytona from January 16-18, with plenty of attention paid to the characteristics of Michelin’s new-for-2026 tires. 


 

Sims and his co-driver Antonio Garcia are the defending GTD PRO class champions for Corvette Racing by Pratt Miller Motorsports, which has won 15 manufacturer’s championships in American sports car competition since 2001. 


 

“The Michelins seem to be working pretty well at the moment,” Sims said after notching his third pole position in IMSA competition, and first since Canadian Tire Motorsport Park in 2024. He also won one of the Motul Pole Award 100 qualifying races at Daytona in 2021, which set the field. “There are small nuances between this year’s and last year’s tire. We’ve had cold conditions in the test and now warmer conditions today, and they’re behaving themselves nicely. It’s feeling good out there. Inevitably, you’ve got to adapt to the situation and the grip you have available.


 

“It’s just wonderful to do a low-fuel run here at Daytona on new tires,” he added. “The car just comes alive compared to the state that you drive in during practice where you’re focusing on race prep. The car is working well, and hopefully we can carry that into the race.”


 

Dean MacDonald placed the No. 59 McLaren 720S GT3 EVO third on the GTD PRO grid in a promising start for RLL Team McLaren in the first race for the team/manufacturer affiliation, and will advance to second on the grid.


 

The No. 1 car which had unofficially qualified second was found to have camber in excess of the permitted limit. That car's qualifying lap times are invalidated and the car is moved to the back of the category.


 

“Everything has been going well, and Dean is very fast in the car,” said Max Esterson, who along with Nikita Johnson and Juri Vips rounds out the No. 59 car’s lineup.


 

GTD: Robichon Tops Field for Aston Martin

Aston Martin introduced series of updates for the Vantage in 2025. With a year of development under the car’s wheels, it was the fastest GTD class qualifier for the 2026 Rolex 24 as Zacharie Robichon seized the Motul Pole Award in the Heart of Racing Team’s No. 27 Aston Martin Vantage GT3 Evo with a lap timed at 1 minute, 45.113 seconds (121.926 miles per hour). It’s the first Aston Martin pole at Daytona since 2015. 


 

Robichon set the benchmark just past the halfway point of the 15-minute GTD qualifying period and watched the warming conditions prevent any of the other 21 entries from challenging his time. It was the sixth time the 33-year-old Canadian has earned a Motul Pole Award in IMSA competition and the second at Daytona (2020 with Pfaff Motorsports). He was also part of Wright Motorsports’ GTD class race-winning effort in 2022.


 

The top ten qualifiers were covered by 0.884 seconds and included six manufacturers (Aston Martin, Mercedes-AMG, BMW, Chevrolet, Ferrari, Porsche). 


 

“It feels really tight and the pole could have gone to any number of cars,” Robichon said. “I think we had really good timing and had a gap with plenty of open track. As is often the case here at Daytona, that’s pretty situational – getting a good clean lap.


 

“Ultimately, it’s a great place to start a 24-hour race,” he added. “But as we know, not necessarily the deciding factor. I’ve gotten the pole and won here before, but never in the same year. So, I’m looking to make those endings match.”


 

Philip Ellis, the 2025 GTD class champion with Russell Ward, qualified second in the No. 57 Winward Racing Mercedes-AMG GT3 that they will share with Indy Dontje and Lucas Auer at 1:45.187 (121.840 mph). Robby Foley (co-drivers Patrick Gallagher, Jens Klingmann, and Francis Selldorff) did a nice job to recover from a punctured tire early in the session to post a late lap good enough for third place in the No. 96 Turner Motorsport BMW M4 GT3 EVO (1:45.265/121.750 mph), while Charlie Eastwood rounded out a strong day for Corvette by running fourth in DXDT Racing’s No. 36 Z06 GT3.R he shares with Salih Yoluc, Mason Filippi and IndyCar star Scott McLaughlin.


 

The 64th running of the Rolex 24 At Daytona starts at 1:40 p.m. ET on Saturday, Jan. 24. Flag-to-flag coverage will be streamed domestically on Peacock and available internationally via IMSA.TV or the official IMSA YouTube channel. American viewers can catch the start and the final two hours on NBC television.



Saturday’s 64th Rolex 24 At Daytona goes green at 1:40 p.m. ET. Live coverage starts on network NBC at 1:30 p.m. ET, with full flag-to-flag streaming on Peacock, IMSA.TV and IMSA’s Official YouTube channel internationally. 

Van der Zande, Acura Set to Start 2026 Rolex 24 from the Pole

Acura, Cadillac and Porsche in Top 3; Clarke Tops LMP2


 

January 22, 2026

By Tony DiZinno and Holly Cain

IMSA Wire Service

Updated results will be distributed as soon as they are available at results.imsa.com.


 

DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. – Renger van der Zande will lead the field to green for the 64th Rolex 24 At Daytona, aboard the No. 93 Acura Meyer Shank Racing w/Curb Agajanian Acura ARX-06. 


 

The Dutchman unofficially qualified second, 0.102 seconds behind Jack Aitken, during the 15-minute Grand Touring Prototype (GTP) class qualifying session to set the grid for the 2026 IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship season opener.


 

The No. 31 GTP car will be moved to the rear of the GTP class as post-qualifying technical inspection revealed that the car's friction area of the rear skid block was beyond the permitted tolerance. 


 

This will promote Acura and van der Zande to the top spot, with the Dutchman set to share his Acura with full-season co-driver Nick Yelloly, four-time and reigning IndyCar Series champion Alex Palou and sophomore sensation Kaku Ohta. 


 

The No. 93 Acura was a Motul Pole Award regular in 2025 with three consecutive P1s achieved from Detroit in May through Road America in August. Yelloly had two of the three, sandwiching van der Zande’s most recent pole, which was achieved at Watkins Glen in June.


 

Van der Zande’s ultimate fastest lap was 1 minute, 34.041 seconds (136.281 miles per hour), only 0.028 of a second clear of second place.


 

With this change, the grid now sees three of the five manufacturers racing in GTP in the top three positions.


 

The No. 40 Cadillac Wayne Taylor Racing Cadillac V-Series.R moves up to second, qualified by Louis Deletraz and sharing the car with previous Rolex 24 winners Jordan Taylor and Colton Herta. 


 

Porsche Penske Motorsport’s No. 7 Porsche 963 and Felipe Nasr aim for their third straight win together at the Rolex 24 and will roll off from P3. Nasr shares his car with new teammates Julien Andlauer and Laurin Heinrich.


 

The sister No. 60 Acura MSR entry, the most experienced entry in the race with a quartet of past Rolex 24 winners in Tom Blomqvist, Colin Braun, Scott Dixon and AJ Allmendinger will start fourth ahead of the No. 6 Porsche Penske car, which has a new full-season lineup of Kevin Estre and Laurens Vanthoor joined by last year’s GTP champion Matt Campbell.


 

The two BMW M Team WRT BMW M Hybrid V8 cars outqualified the Aston Martin Valkyrie a little further down the order, with the WRT team fixing a hybrid issue on its No. 25 chassis it dealt with in practice. 


 

LMP2: Clarke Emerges on Top of Tight Battle 

In his Rolex 24 debut, American Jeremy Clarke claimed pole position for the Le Mans Prototype 2 (LMP2) class in his No. 43 Inter Europol Competition ORECA LMP2 07, as he ran a lap a slight 0.008 of a second faster than PJ Hyett in the No. 99 AO Racing ORECA LMP2 07. 


 

Clarke followed his maiden pole position at the season finale Motul Petit Le Mans out-running Hyett with just under four minutes remaining in an action-packed 15-minute session for the class’s 13-car field.


 

Clarke and co-drivers Tom Dillmann, Bijoy Garg and Antonio Felix de Costa are in pursuit of the team’s first Rolex 24 trophy, after celebrating a win at the Mobil 1 Twelve Hours of Sebring last March. 


 

“This track takes a lot of patience; it’s a very technical track but also puts on a lot of great racing with a lot of fast corners so it’s really about focusing on every corner and just hitting everything just right,’’ Clarke said. “One mistake and you’re P6, so it’s all about putting down the perfect lap.


 

“The field is extremely tight. PJ was right there. Really, this track is so technical in some places but yet just takes a lot of courage through some of the fast corners, so it was all about kind of putting in the lap that you really needed to.


 

Hyett’s No. 99 AO Racing ORECA, “Spike, the LMP2 Dragon” takes on a new gold livery for this race as he goes for his first Rolex 24 win alongside Dane Cameron, Jonny Edgar and Christian Rasmussen. 


 

The top six cars in LMP2 class were separated by less than 0.9 of a second. Defending Daytona winners No. 22 United Autosports USA ORECA will roll off third in class with a lineup featuring Daniel Goldburg, Paul Di Resta, Rasmus Lindh and Gregoire Saucy.


 

Saturday’s 64th Rolex 24 At Daytona goes green at 1:40 p.m. ET. Live coverage starts on network NBC at 1:30 ET, with full flag-to-flag streaming on Peacock, IMSA.TV and IMSA’s Official YouTube channel internationally.

 

IMSA Statement on Adjustment to GTD PRO Drive-Time

DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. (January 22, 2026) - Following review of the entered three- and four-driver GTD PRO line-ups for the Rolex 24 At Daytona, IMSA determined that an adjustment was necessary to maintain competitive balance for four-driver GTD PRO configurations incorporating a Bronze-rated driver. Accordingly, the minimum drive-time requirement for a Bronze-rated driver in GTD PRO has been reduced by one hour to three and a half (3.5) hours for this event.

 

New IMSA Michelin Sustainability in Racing Award Program Launches at Rolex 24 At Daytona

Tire Use, Energy Use, Finishing Position Factored in for GTP Winner Each WeatherTech Championship Race

DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. (January 22, 2026) – Michelin and IMSA have confirmed details of the new IMSA Michelin Sustainability in Racing Award, which will be presented to one Grand Touring Prototype (GTP) entry in each round of the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship. The award was announced as part of IMSA’s annual State of the Sport held at Michelin Raceway Road Atlanta in October 2025, during the Motul Petit Le Mans season finale weekend, with details finalized for the 64th Rolex 24 At Daytona on January 24-25, 2026. 


 

The award factors in three elements equally: tire use, energy use and running order/finish position to determine the GTP entry with the best overall sustainability accomplishments in a single race. The launch of the award coincides with the introduction of Michelin’s new GTP tire globally – the Michelin Pilot Sport Endurance – which will make its debut at the Rolex 24 At Daytona this week.  The tire incorporates 50 percent recycled and renewable materials and features a striking “Vision” tread pattern. 


 

Results for the award will be measured by tracking real-time data from each car, with Tire Use Rank, Energy Use Rank and Current Running Order/Finish Position rank all factored in. 


 

  • Tire use is simply the number of tires used throughout the race, a key strategy decision as teams often double stint tires to gain positions on the track, especially during the five IMSA Michelin Endurance Cup rounds. 
  • Energy use covers both the use of 80-percent renewable biofuel, and in the case of LMDh cars, regenerative electric power. 
  • Running position / Finish position is self-explanatory, covering where each car stands during the race and ultimately finishes.


 

The award rewards teams for efficiency while not giving up performance.  


 

With each category weighted equally, the three categories will be divided by three to produce a sustainability score for each car.    Like in golf, a lower score is better. The best Sustainability Score determines the winner of the award, which may not necessarily be the best-finishing car on course.  


 

Each race’s winner is recognized as part of the podium ceremonies with the lowest cumulative Sustainability Score recognized as the season champion and honored on stage at the IMSA WeatherTech Night of Champions. 


 

"IMSA and Michelin have always represented the pinnacle of innovation and competition in sports car racing, and the debut of the IMSA Michelin Sustainability in Racing Award elevates that legacy in a meaningful new way,” said IMSA President John Doonan. “A key pillar of our partnership with Michelin is a shared, long‑standing commitment to advancing technologies and practices that reduce environmental impact while preserving the spirit of endurance racing. This award celebrates the teams and manufacturers who are leading the charge toward a more sustainable future for our sport, and we’re proud to showcase their efforts on one of motorsport’s biggest stages."


 

“For more than 130 years, Michelin has seen racing as one of the greatest engines of progress,” said Raymond Cotton, director of motorsport for Michelin North America, Inc. “The IMSA Michelin Sustainability Award arrives with the launch of our Michelin Pilot Sport Endurance range made with 50 percent recycled and renewable materials. Together, they reinforce that performance and responsibility go hand in hand.”


 

The first IMSA Michelin Sustainability in Racing Award will be presented Sunday, January 25, as part of the post-race ceremonies for the Rolex 24 At Daytona and at all subsequent GTP rounds. 


 

Watch the 64th Rolex 24 At Daytona starting live on network NBC, Saturday, January 24 at 1:30 p.m. ET with flag-to-flag streaming via Peacock. 

 

What to Watch for: 64th Rolex 24 At Daytona 

What’s New, What’s Not, and What’s Brewing in the Record Books


 

January 22, 2026

By David Phillips

IMSA Wire Service

DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. – Admit it. This time of year, even the most enthusiastic gearhead grows a trifle weary re-re-hashing last racing season, clicking-on “breaking news” of new liveries, or prognosticating about new season adjustments and tweaks.


 

Beyond the talk, racing is about to begin. It’s almost time to fasten your seatbelts for the 2026 Rolex 24 At Daytona. 


 

Since 1966 and the first 24-hour race at Daytona International Speedway, branded the “24 Hour Daytona Continental,” the unofficial kickoff to the auto racing season starts in Florida. It’s a world class sports car racing featuring 12 of IMSA’s 18 automotive manufacturer partners, 60 cars, and 228 drivers from 32 countries that are among the world’s best to kick off the new IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship and IMSA Michelin Endurance Cup seasons.


 

Invariably, there is much new this weekend. It includes refreshed cars and driver rosters, new alliances between teams and manufacturers, and a bevy of already battle tested cars and lineups. 


 

What’s New, What’s Not


 

Participants and observers alike will be afforded their first official insights into the new cars, lineups and partnerships that will compete for race wins and championships between now and October’s Motul Petit Le Mans at Michelin Raceway Road Atlanta. 


 

Some of the more notable developments in Grand Touring Prototype (GTP) include BMW’s evolution of its Hypercar program with Belgium’s BMW M Team WRT team now campaigning two BMW M Hybrid V8s in two global sports car championships. Porsche Penske Motorsport, meanwhile, is focusing all its considerable talents and resources on fielding the No. 6 and 7 Porsche 963s in IMSA, as it begins its pursuit of a third straight WeatherTech Championship crown.


 

In Le Mans Prototype 2 (LMP2), perennial IMSA Michelin Pilot Challenge title contenders Bryan Herta Autosport partner with PR1/Mathiasen Motorsports to campaign the No. 52 ORECA LMP2 07. 

Rahal Letterman Lanigan (RLL) Racing launches RLL Team McLaren, where it will campaign the No. 59 McLaren 720S GT3 EVO in Grand Touring Daytona Pro (GTD PRO), returning to a category where the team enjoyed considerable success with BMW before tackling GTP the past couple of seasons. DragonSpeed, runners up in last year’s GTD PRO points race as well as three-time Rolex 24 winners, is switching to the GTD class with the No. 81 Corvette Z06 GT3.R. Speaking of GTD PRO, 2024 champions AO Racing features an all new line-up anchored by the redoubtable Nick Tandy who is seeking his first IMSA full-season title in “Rexy,” aka the No. 77 Porsche 911 GT3 R (992). 


 

The early returns on some of these new or revised programs are promising. The PPM Porsches paced four of the six practice sessions in last weekend’s Roar Before The Rolex 24 test. Could it set the stage for the team’s third consecutive Rolex 24 win? Sheldon van der Linde’s No. 24 BMW set the pace in one of the night practice sessions and Dean MacDonald posted the opening practice session’s fastest GTD PRO time in the RLL McLaren. 


 

Status Quo


 

In contrast to their counterparts at BMW, Acura Meyer Shank Racing w/Curb Agajanian and Cadillac Wayne Taylor Racing both return for second consecutive seasons with their longtime partner manufacturers (Acura and Cadillac, respectively) after relatively brief hiatus from those alliances in 2024. It’s a barometer of the fierce pace of development in GTP that even those abbreviated separations necessitated a period of re-adjustment when the teams and manufactures re-united last year. 


 

But those re-adjustments are now in the rear-view mirrors of the No. 10 and 40 WTR Cadillac V-Series Rs and the No. 60 and 93 Acura ARX-06s. Both should hit the ground running this weekend. The No. 31 Cadillac Whelen Cadillac V-Series.R enters with more stability than usual with the same trio of Jack Aitken, Earl Bamber and Frederik Vesti back after winning the last two races of 2025 and adding impressive youngster Connor Zilisch as its fourth driver. The Aston Martin THOR team returns for a sophomore season with its lineup intact after completing its rookie IMSA campaign last fall with the No. 23 Valkyrie’s mighty podium finish at Petit Le Mans, although has battled through mechanical gremlins in Roar testing ahead of the Valkyrie’s Rolex 24 debut. 


 

Pfaff Motorsports has a rare Rolex without change. It’s set to run the Lamborghini Huracán GT3 Evo2 for a second straight year, although is set to switch to the new Temerario GT3 at Mobil 1 Twelve Hours of Sebring. The most familiarity comes for Vasser Sullivan Racing, as its No. 14 Lexus RC F GT3 (in GTD PRO) and No. 12 Lexus RC F GT3 (in GTD) appear set for one more go at Daytona for the venerable chassis in its tenth year in pursuit of its elusive first Rolex 24 win.  


 

In LMP2, the category is effective a spec class and comes down to which driver and team best executes racing with their ORECA chassis. It should come as no surprise then the top four in the ’25 team championship were separated by just 137 points. While three of that quartet are returning virtually similar lineups (Rolex 24 winners Daniel Goldburg with Paul Di Resta, Rasmus Lindh and Gregoire Saucy at United Autosports USA and AO Racing’s championship-winning duo of Dane Cameron and PJ Hyett supported by Jonny Edgar and Christian Rasmussen among them), last year’s bridesmaid TDS Racing boasts an all new cast of pilots headed by Tobi Lutke, Mathias Beche, David Heinemeier Hansson and Charles Milesi aboard the No. 11 ORECA. 


 

A pat hand or new blood; which approach is better? This weekend will begin to tell the tale.


 

Record Hunting

Per usual, the Rolex 24 boasts an outstanding line-up of celebrated drivers taking time away from their day jobs in other racing series to compete this weekend. But while IndyCar champions Alex Palou, Scott Dixon, Will Power and Sebastien Bourdais (pictured right), Indianapolis 500 winner Marcus Ericsson, NASCAR winner A.J. Allmendinger and Australian Supercars champions Chaz Mostert and Scott McLaughlin get lots of ink, we would be remiss in overlooking the many IMSA regulars who have (or are on the cusp on setting) some records of their own. 


 

With two consecutive Rolex 24 victories, PPM’s Felipe Nasr will be looking for a third straight win this weekend – and his fourth Rolex Daytona as he took the GTD PRO win in 2022. There’s a six-pack of three-timers already: Nasr, Filipe Albuquerque, Colin Braun, Antonio Garcia, Richard Lietz and Jordan Taylor. 


 

And just to be clear, the aforementioned Dixon already has a trio of Rolex 24 overall wins to his credit and four total, the only four-timer in the field. He’ll be looking to add a fourth overall and fifth total Rolex Daytona to his timepiece collection this weekend. The legends with five overall wins? That’d be inaugural year IMSA Hall of Fame inductees Hurley Haywood and Scott Pruett as five-time winners of the Rolex 24 At Daytona.


 

Be sure to catch all the action on NBC, Peacock, YouTube and IMSA TV starting at 1:30 p.m. ET on Saturday.
 

Ready for the Top: NASCAR Star Zilisch Set for Rolex 24 GTP Debut

After LMP2 Win and GTD PRO Run, Zilisch Arrives in Top Class for First Time


 

January 22, 2026

By Holly Cain

IMSA Wire Service

DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. – It's safe to say it did not take much convincing for longtime Action Express Racing Team Manager Gary Nelson and the Cadillac Whelen team to consider putting Connor Zilisch in its Grand Touring Prototype (GTP) car for this week’s Rolex 24 At Daytona.

 

“A few months ago we were all having dinner in Connecticut after a go-karting event and me and Connor were just talking about racing,” Zilisch’s Rolex 24 teammate, renowned sports car driver Earl Bamber recalled with a smile.

 

“I knew he’d won this race already and he was like, ‘is there any chance to do something with the Cadillac? I’d love to give it a go. Who do I talk to?’  

 

A couple conversations with Nelson and the IMSA-sanctioned November Test later. … and Zilisch’s name was placed alongside those of three other former Rolex winners - New Zealander Bamber, British/Korean driver Jack Aitken and Dane Frederik Vesti above the driver’s door of the No. 31 Cadillac V-Series.R which will contend in the 11-car GTP class for the overall victory this weekend.

 

“I like him a lot,” the veteran Bamber said of the easy-decision to have Zilisch join the team.

 

“He’s won so many big races already and at that age he could be very big-headed and arrogant and he’s not. He’s not. For instance, I was asking him about all the oval wins he had last year and he just said, ‘most of those wins are because of the team not me.’

 

“For a kid that age to have that level of maturity and humbleness, you just know he’s going to make it. Most kids would be like, ‘I’m the greatest race car driver there is and he’s quite the opposite, very humble.’

 

And it shows. 

Zilisch’s perpetual smile and easygoing manner walking around the garage at Daytona International Speedway this week is genuine and refreshing – much like the 19-year-old’s trajectory in big-time racing.

 

But don’t mistake the awe-shucks and politeness vibe Zilisch gives off. He is purposeful and highly motivated and already well-regarded as an extraordinary generational racing talent. And competing in the Rolex 24 At Daytona two years ago is exactly where his career trajectory truly launched.

 

It was his very first IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship start when a then 17-year-old Zilisch claimed a Rolex timepiece, co-driving to a Rolex 24 victory in the Le Mans Prototype 2 (LMP2) class with Era Motorsport. He had a good excuse for missing school, as he told his class at the time he was busy checking time in another way and getting a watch. 


 

He then followed that up immediately with a victory in the next legendary endurance race on the schedule, the historic Mobil 1 Twelve Hours of Sebring. Zilisch was two-for-two in IMSA’s grandest races. And he wasn’t even old enough to vote yet. 

“I don't think anybody's ever taken the exact same path as me before, but I like that, and I appreciate everything I've done in the past, and the opportunities I've gotten and the races I've gotten to drive in,” Zilisch said. 

 

“It's something I'm very grateful for and if I could go back and change something, I don't know if there's anything I'd want to change. I've really enjoyed the path that I've taken and the opportunities I've got and how hard I've had to work for each opportunity.”

 

The next big opportunity is moving into NASCAR’s highest ranks, competing for top 2026 rookie honors in the NASCAR Cup Series, where he will team at Trackhouse Racing – owned by former IMSA competitor Justin Marks - with another former Rolex 24 star, New Zealander Shane Van Gisbergen and championship contender Ross Chastain (who visited Zilisch at the Roar Before the Rolex 24 test and toured the Cadillac transporter). Zilisch, Van Gisbergen, Scott McLaughlin and Ben Keating shared the No. 91 Trackhouse by TF Sport Corvette Z06 GT3.R at the 2025 Rolex 24 At Daytona. 

 

Last year, with a pair of sports car racing’s most treasured trophies already in his possession, an 18-year-old Zilisch transitioned to stock cars fulltime competing in the NASCAR Xfinity Series for the championship JR Motorsports organization – owned by NASCAR Hall of Famer and another former Rolex 24 competitor Dale Earnhardt Jr. and his sister Kelley. 

 

As with his IMSA debut, Zilisch had immediate success. He won a series best 10 races, set a record with 18 consecutive top-10 finishes and ended the season championship runner-up - the overwhelming Rookie of the Year.

 

“I just think he’s a superstar in general,” former Rolex 24 overall race winner A.J. Allmendinger said of Zilisch. 

 

This weekend the two will go head-to-head for the overall victory with Allmendinger – the 2012 Rolex 24 winner – driving the No. 60 Acura AR6-06 for Meyer Shank Racing in the same GTP Class. In February, the two NASCAR drivers will start their 2026 fulltime campaign going head-to-head again in the Daytona 500. 

 

“Maybe on the world-side of it because NASCAR is more North American-based, his name isn’t quite recognized yet, but in general, it will be,” Allmendinger said of Zilisch.

 

“You got a guy like that – we’ve already seen him win this race in LMP2 – and then go to Sebring and win, no doubt he’s super quick and I always just think anytime you’ve got guys like that who want to be in the race, we need to have them in the race.”

 

And Zilisch absolutely wants to be here, in fact, he hopes to compete every year in the Rolex 24 no matter where his “day” job takes him. It is that special to him.

 

“2026 is a year of making it to the top and getting to race in the highest level of all the series I’m racing in and that’s super exciting for me,” Zilisch said. “I’ve always wanted to race for the overall win at the Daytona 24 Hours and to be doing it with Cadillac and Action Express and an awesome group of teammates. There’s a lot of cool parts to this that came together and are making this event really special for me.”

 

“It’s been cool for me to kinda make my name and maybe people have higher expectations for me now,” he added. “But for me, I just focus on going out and doing my job and most of all having fun and enjoying it. 

 

“At the end of the day I’m living my dream out and getting to do what I love every weekend and that’s the coolest part for me.’’

 

Diverse Spectacle of Global All-Stars Hit the 64th Rolex 24 At Daytona

The Worlds of F1, IndyCar, NASCAR and Supercars Join IMSA’s Best


 

January 22, 2026

By John Oreovicz

IMSA Wire Service

DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. – Daytona Beach is one of the world’s most popular vacation destinations. But the Florida hot spot’s main attraction for visitors this weekend lies about five miles inland on U.S. 92 from the scenic Atlantic oceanfront.


 

Appropriately, the road west is called International Speedway Boulevard, because it leads to Daytona International Speedway, site of the Rolex 24 At Daytona – the opening round of the 2026 IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship. It’s the 64th time the Rolex 24 will be staged. This year, it has assembled a diverse field of 228 drivers representing 32 nations for a race that plays out over 24 hours, yet is often not decided until the final few minutes.


 

Because the Rolex 24 is also a round of the IMSA Michelin Endurance Cup, the race not only attracts additional entries that swell a typical WeatherTech Championship field of around 40 cars up to at least 60. It requires every full season competitor to add third or for most cars, fourth drivers, to their usual sprint race pairings. That creates opportunities for drivers from across the spectrum of motorsports to step out of their comfort zone to participate in one of the world’s most unique racing events.


 

Ten drivers with past F1 experience are in the field (Felipe Nasr, Will Stevens, Kevin Magnussen, Jack Aitken, Sebastien Bourdais, Logan Sargeant, Paul Di Resta, Pietro Fittipaldi, Romain Grosjean, Marcus Ericsson). 


 

Ericsson is also one of four Indianapolis 500 winners in the Rolex 24 field (Scott Dixon, Alex Palou, Will Power) and one of more than a dozen drivers with significant or current ties to Indy car racing. That includes Power, who is set to make his first Rolex 24 start in the No. 75 75 Express Mercedes-AMG GT3 in the Grand Touring Daytona Pro (GTD PRO) class.


 

Other notable guest stars in this year’s Rolex 24 field include rising NASCAR star (and sports car racing graduate) Connor Zilisch, fellow NASCAR (and ex-IndyCar) driver AJ Allmendinger and Indy car racer-turned-broadcaster James Hinchcliffe, among others.

“I love it,” declared four-time IndyCar Series champion and reigning Indy 500 winner Alex Palou, who compliments regular drivers Nick Yelloly and Renger van der Zande in the No. 93 Acura Meyer Shank Racing w/Curb Agajanian Acura ARX-06, joined at Daytona by Japanese Super Formula star Kaku Ohta. 


 

“It’s one of those things that is so different from what I’m used to – racing for 24 hours, having traffic during the race, and sharing a car. I learn so much from those amazing drivers and the level of competition is super high in all the classes in the IMSA paddock. I’m always learning and just trying to get a lot of laps as I can to prepare for my season.”


 

Scott Dixon, Palou’s IndyCar teammate at Chip Ganassi Racing, has contested the Rolex 24 every year since 2004, giving him the longest active participation streak. Dixon owns three overall Rolex 24 victories (2006, ’15, ’20) and another class win (2018), and this year he’s also part of the Meyer Shank Acura effort, teaming in the No. 60 ARX-06 with Colin Braun, Tom Blomqvist, and Allmendinger (another Rolex 24 overall winner).


 

“One, it’s a great way to start the year, but two, going back to the first time I did Petit Le Mans in 1999 with Stefan Johansson and Jim Matthews (in a Doran Racing Ferrari 333SP), endurance racing is something I have always enjoyed,” said Dixon. “The prototype racing has definitely evolved. By 2004 or ’05 there were 30 or 35 of them and the field was stacked, but it was kind of weird too because maybe only ten finished. There was a lot of attrition, and you really had to try to be smart with the car in how you drove it and looked after it. Now you might have a field of only 11 or 12, but a high percentage of them are likely to finish.”

Scott McLaughlin’s career has taken him from Australian Supercars to Indy cars, where he is a mainstay with Team Penske. McLaughlin has contested the Rolex 24 the last three years in either LMP2 or GTD PRO. He tested a Porsche Penske Motorsport Porsche 963 GTP prototype last year and is eager to take on the Rolex 24 in the top class someday. This weekend, he’s in the No. 36 DXDT Racing Corvette Z06 GT3.R in GTD, to mark his third different WeatherTech Championship class.


 

“I just think it’s one of the crown jewels of the year,” McLaughlin remarked. “It’s just a good way to get started on the year and get things going with being a racecar driver again. You can pound as many laps as you want in a go kart or lift as many weights as you want in a gym, but nothing really prepares you for racing moments and traffic and stuff and I enjoy it. Ultimately, I’d love to be doing it outright at some point in my career.”


 

Kyle Kirkwood, coming off a three-win IndyCar campaign for Andretti Autosport and a past IMSA winner at both the Mobil 1 Twelve Hours of Sebring and Motul Petit Le Mans, is back for another Rolex run in GTD PRO in the No. 14 Vasser Sullivan Lexus RC F GT3. He appreciates the teamwork that goes into sports car racing.


 

“It’s a lot of fun because it’s such a different discipline and there’s something satisfying as a driver about sharing a car with three or four guys,” Kirkwood related. “You do some laps in the car and sometimes you feel something you’re kind of unsure about. You say you’re a little confused about what kind of read the car gives you, but if you have two or three other guys that jump in the car and say the same thing as you, it’s a very satisfying feeling. It’s very confidence inspiring.”


 

Colton Herta is leaving the IndyCar Series this year to compete in Formula 2, with the goal of graduating to the Cadillac F1 Team in 2027 or ’28. But the 25-year-old wants to continue opening his season at Daytona in the Rolex 24 provided he does make the jump.


 

“I love this race; ideally, what my schedule would look like is I’m here ever year, even if I make it to Formula 1,” he said. “It’s super fun. The racing is great, and the formula they have in GTP is very exciting. It’s an exciting car to drive, it’s exciting to watch, and most importantly, the racing is fun. This is a really hard race to win; it’s such a prestigious event, and I think that’s why it attracts so much on the driver side and the manufacturer side.”


 

While the Rolex 24 features dozens of ‘guest’ drivers in an endurance role – many of them champions and stars in their usual form of racing – they tend to let the core drivers start and finish the race. But the WeatherTech Championship regulars enjoy racing twice around the clock at Daytona every bit as much.


 

“If you look at this race last year, with 45 minutes to the end it looked like we were going to win but we eventually finished P4 because we had this issue with the splitter,” said Philipp Eng, who shares the No. 25 M BMW M Hybrid V8 this year with Marco Wittmann. “That’s why I love racing in this championship – you can finish last, but you can also win if you don’t have the quickest car that day with how the yellows fall and all that. You just never know. It’s always very open and the racing is so good and so tight.”


 

The Rolex 24 at Daytona takes the green flag at 1:40 p.m. ET on Saturday, January 24 on network NBC. Peacock (USA), along with IMSA.TV and the official IMSA YouTube channel (international) will stream flag-to-flag uninterrupted coverage, and NBC will return to broadcast final two hours.


 

 

 

Entry List (Click Here)


 

DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. – As in 2025, there’s 24 total prototypes set to tackle the Rolex 24 At Daytona to kick off the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship season. There’s a slight variation for 2026 with 11 Grand Touring Prototype (GTP) and 13 Le Mans Prototype 2 (LMP2) entries, compared to an even 12/12 split in 2025.


 

Porsche Penske Motorsport has won the last two Rolex 24s in 2024 and 2025, with Acura Meyer Shank Racing with Curb Agajanian winning the previous two before that in 2022 and 2023. Wayne Taylor Racing won four of five from 2017 through 2021. 


 

LMP2 has been more wide-open, with four different winning teams (Era Motorsport twice, Proton Competition, DragonSpeed and United Autosports USA) winning in the last five years. 


 

Here’s the prototype team-by-team breakdown for 2026:


 

Grand Touring Prototype (GTP)

 

No. 6 Porsche Penske Motorsport Porsche 963

Kevin Estre/Laurens Vanthoor/Matt Campbell


 

There’s no questioning the strength of the revised No. 6 Porsche 963 for 2026. This is the result of Porsche Penske Motorsport’s now IMSA-only lineup blending champions from multiple series into its two GTP cars. Vanthoor, a two-time IMSA (2019 GT Le Mans and 2021 Grand Touring Daytona) champion, and Estre won the 2024 FIA World Endurance Championship Hypercar title together. One of IMSA’s quirkiest stats is that Estre, who hasn’t attempted a full-time IMSA season since 2014, remains in search of his first IMSA win after 22 starts. The elder Vanthoor has 13 of them, including the first three races of 2025 split across Penske’s No. 7 car at Daytona International Speedway and Sebring International Raceway and a GTD cameo win aboard AO’s “Rexy” No. 177 Porsche 911 GT3 R at Long Beach. 


 

Campbell is as strong a third driver as they come. The 2025 GTP champion with Mathieu Jaminet has a revised program for 2026 running the three longest IMSA Michelin Endurance Cup races at Daytona, Sebring and Michelin Raceway Road Atlanta. Also a 13-time IMSA race winner, Campbell has two past Rolex 24 wins on his resume, in 2022 in Grand Touring Daytona Pro (GTD PRO) and 2024 in GTP. If his even year trend holds, he could be eyeing a third unique Daytona timepiece. 

 

No. 7 Porsche Penske Motorsport Porsche 963

Felipe Nasr/Julien Andlauer/Laurin Heinrich

 

Nasr serves as the anchor amidst a relatively younger lineup in Porsche’s No. 7 entry, as one of IMSA’s top drivers over the last decade. The three-time series champion (2018 Prototype, 2021 Daytona Prototype international, 2024 GTP) and three-time Rolex 24 winner (2022 GTD PRO, 2024 GTP, 2025 GTP) has a chance to win his third straight Rolex overall this year, a feat last achieved by his fellow Brazilian Helio Castroneves from 2021-23. 


 

Andlauer and Heinrich have different roles for 2026, having both progressed through Porsche’s GT ranks. Andlauer will step up to a full-time IMSA GTP seat after racing Porsche’s 963 in the FIA World Endurance Championship in 2025. He’s a past 24 Hours of Le Mans class winner (2018 GTE Am) but is in search of his first IMSA win. Heinrich, the 2024 GTD PRO champion with AO’s “Rexy” No. 77 Porsche 911 GT3 R and five-time IMSA winner, completes the lineup as Michelin Endurance Cup third driver. 


 

No. 10 Cadillac Wayne Taylor Racing Cadillac V-Series.R

Ricky Taylor/Filipe Albuquerque/Will Stevens


 

A quiet 2025 season for Wayne Taylor Racing’s longstanding No. 10 car ended better than it started, as the Cadillac V-Series.R led the GTP field in the final five races with three podium finishes. None were wins, but it was clear as the year went on the longtime pairing of Ricky Taylor and Filipe Albuquerque were coming more to grips with the Cadillac as the WTR team returned to racing with the GM brand. The pairing finished sixth in points.


 

Taylor (2017 and 2021 overall) and Albuquerque (2018 and 2021 overall, 2013 class) have combined for five Rolex 24 wins, so they know how to position their car for success toward the end of the race. Stevens is lesser experienced at Daytona specifically but still knows his way around the Cadillac package. He won the manufacturer’s first race in WEC as part of a Cadillac 1-2 in Brazil last July. 

 

No. 23 Aston Martin THOR Team Aston Martin Valkyrie

Ross Gunn/Roman De Angelis/Alex Riberas/Marco Sorensen


 

The last “first” for the new Aston Martin Valkyrie will take place this January, as the Valkyrie is making its Rolex 24 race debut. The car tested at Daytona in November 2024 ahead of its global race debut at Qatar in February 2025 and its IMSA debut at Sebring in March. The Valkyrie comes to its first Rolex 24 with a year’s worth of racing mileage across two championships already banked, including what was an impressive double race finish on debut at the 24 Hours of Le Mans.


 

Gunn, De Angelis and Riberas ended 2025’s IMSA season on a high with the car’s first podium finish, a second place at Motul Petit Le Mans. De Angelis was part of Heart of Racing Team’s last Rolex 24 win, a GTD class triumph in 2023. A strong finish would bode well for its continued progress and improvement in its second season of competition. 

 

No. 24 BMW M Team WRT BMW M Hybrid V8

Dries Vanthoor/Sheldon van der Linde/Robin Frijns/Rene Rast


 

BMW’s young but experienced pair of two younger racing brothers – Vanthoor and van der Linde – now pair up in the No. 24 car for BMW M Team WRT’s first full IMSA season, but they will be split in BMW’s two WEC entries. Call this one the “van” car, as both impressed in their first full IMSA campaigns in 2025. Vanthoor won at Road America with Philipp Eng, leading a BMW 1-2 over van der Linde’s entry, and established himself on the scene with four consecutive Motul Pole Awards in the first four races to start the year.


 

Frijns and Rast are dependable extra pairs of hands, with Rast the only one of this quartet who’s won a Rolex. He won a pair of GT class races – GRAND-AM Rolex GT in 2012 and IMSA GTD in 2016 – in Magnus Racing-run entries, first a Porsche and then an Audi. Winning three Rolex races with three different German brands would be quite a feat.

 

No. 25 BMW M Team WRT BMW M Hybrid V8

Philipp Eng/Marco Wittmann/Kevin Magnussen/Raffaele Marciello


 

A slight revision of the lineups across the now BMW M Team WRT-run entries sees Eng shift across from the No. 24 car to the No. 25 for 2026 with Wittmann. Eng was the only of the four full-season GTP drivers with a past year of experience in 2025, but now all three of his full-season teammates (Vanthoor, van der Linde and Wittmann) have gone through a full calendar. Eng enjoyed a strong 2025 season with a win at Road America and a fourth-place finish in points. He won his lone Rolex 24 in the GTLM class in 2019, driving the No. 25 BMW M8 GTE. Wittmann scored his first GTP podium as part of the Road America BMW 1-2 in second place this past year.


 

Magnussen is back for endurance rounds. The F1 veteran shifted to sports car racing with BMW ahead of 2025 and is enjoying his post-open-wheel career; he already had a full season of IMSA in 2021, where he won at Detroit in a Chip Ganassi Racing-prepared Cadillac with Renger van der Zande. Marciello’s success has primarily been in GT machinery more than prototypes, but he’s quick and experienced. 

 

No. 31 Cadillac Whelen Cadillac V-Series.R

Jack Aitken/Earl Bamber/Frederik Vesti/Connor Zilisch


 

For the first time in several years, the Cadillac Whelen No. 31 entry has more carryover than change in the driving lineup. Finishing on a high to end 2025 with back-to-back wins at the TireRack.com Battle on the Bricks and Motul Petit Le Mans to ascend to second in GTP points has given the group momentum to return to its championship-winning ways. 


 

What has eluded the No. 31 car for years, though, is a Rolex 24 victory. This car has been close but has not ever taken a Rolex 24 checkered flag. Action Express Racing’s last Rolex 24 win came in 2018 with the No. 5 Mustang Sampling branded entry. Bamber, too, needs a Rolex 24 win to match former teammate Nick Tandy and complete his own personal set of overall 24-hour race triumphs, having also done so at Le Mans, the Nurburgring and Spa-Francorchamps. While Aitken, Bamber and Vesti are in search of their first Rolex 24 win too, it’s fourth driver Zilisch – a top NASCAR prodigy – who already has a watch to his name with an LMP2 triumph on debut in 2024. 

 

No. 40 Cadillac Wayne Taylor Racing Cadillac V-Series.R

Jordan Taylor/Louis Deletraz/Colton Herta


 

Wayne Taylor Racing’s third year with two cars feels like it has the potential to move forward from an oft-challenging 2025 season returning back to Cadillac. The No. 40 car finished second at Watkins Glen but wasn’t higher than seventh in any other race last year.


 

Taylor (2017, 2019 overall and 2021 GTLM) and Herta (2019 GTLM, 2022 LMP2) already have multiple Rolex 24 wins to their name with Deletraz, a four-time European Le Mans Series LMP2 champion, now looking to add his first Rolex 24 triumph to a 24-hour class win he achieved at last year’s 24 Hours of Le Mans (LMP2 Pro/Am). WTR knows how to win, too, having won three straight and four of five from 2017-21, including three of those four with Cadillac. 

 

No. 60 Acura Meyer Shank Racing with Curb Agajanian Acura ARX-06

Colin Braun/Tom Blomqvist/Scott Dixon/AJ Allmendinger


 

No car has more experience in the field with Dixon (set for his race-leading 23rd consecutive Rolex 24 start since 2004), Braun (his 22nd straight since 2005), Allmendinger (his 16th overall since 2006, all from 2006 through 2021 except 2017) and Blomqvist (his fifth straight since 2022) set to combine for 66 total starts in this race. Combined, they’ve got 10 Rolex 24 wins (Dixon four including three overall, Braun three with one overall, Blomqvist two overall and Allmendinger one overall). After this car finished second last year, they’re already close to regaining the top step of the podium last achieved in 2023. Blomqvist’s first four Rolex 24 starts have netted two wins and two runner-up finishes. 


 

The return to action after a year break in 2024 featured some peaks and valleys as the team reacclimatized back to action. Braun and Blomqvist added a win at Watkins Glen and a last-to-third podium in Indianapolis. After ending seventh in points in 2025, a step back up to title contention feels like it could come in 2026.

 

No. 85 JDC-Miller MotorSports Porsche 963

Tijmen van der Helm/Nico Pino/Kaylen Frederick


 

John Church’s team has never backed down from a challenge and comes into the 2026 Rolex 24 looking to emulate its 2016 Rolex 24 win in Prototype Challenge a decade later. Running as the lone privateer entry in GTP, JDC-Miller puts up a decent effort and tends to contend late in the race more often than not. In its first two Rolex 24s with the GTP car, the No. 85 car has finished a solid sixth on both occasions.


 

Youth is the name of the game here with the three drivers outside the Porsche works stable. Van der Helm (21), Pino (21) and Frederick (23) are a combined 65 years old – just one year older than this year’s Rolex 24 race number of 64 – yet already have a combined eight Rolex starts between them. Van der Helm and Pino have four apiece, with Pino scoring the LMP3 pole and finishing second in 2023. Frederick makes his debut this year. 

 

No. 93 Acura Meyer Shank Racing with Curb Agajanian Acura ARX-06

Renger van der Zande/Nick Yelloly/Alex Palou/Kaku Ohta


 

Where both the second car and the driver lineup as a unit were new together in 2025, the HRC US-crewed second Acura MSR entry overachieved more often than not and finished higher of its two cars in the 2025 GTP standings. Yelloly and van der Zande combined for three straight pole positions and a win in Detroit over the summer months, ultimately ending fifth in points.


 

Dutchman van der Zande is the only one of this quartet with a Rolex 24 win to his name, with back-to-back overall wins in 2019 and 2020. Yelloly has experienced 24-hour success elsewhere, with class or overall wins at the 24 Hours of Le Mans (2025 LMP2), Spa-Francorchamps and the Nurburgring, so he just needs a Rolex for his own 24-hour set. Palou, the four-time IndyCar Series champion, seeks his first IMSA win with Ohta now a more established quantity in North America after impressing in a handful of 2025 starts across both Acura’s No. 93 GTP and an Era Motorsport LMP2.

 

Le Mans Prototype 2 (LMP2)

 

No. 2 United Autosports USA ORECA LMP2 07

Phil Fayer/Ben Hanley/Hunter McElrea/Mikkel Jensen

 

The No. 2 United entry had a quiet 2025 season with a best finish of fourth and adds several new elements for 2026. Fayer was in the car for both races where the team posted its best 2025 result and steps up to a full-season program this year. Key additions come in the form of ex-TDS Racing drivers Jensen and McElrea, who completed a double repeat at Indianapolis and Michelin Raceway Road Atlanta in LMP2 en route to their second straight Michelin Endurance Cup LMP2 title. Hanley is a past Rolex 24 winner (2020, LMP2) so is a dependable and experienced pair of hands. 

 

No. 04 CrowdStrike Racing by APR ORECA LMP2 07

George Kurtz/Alex Quinn/Toby Sowery/Malthe Jakobsen


 

Kurtz’s success across the globe in endurance sports car racing has seen him win many key races (including Michelin Endurance Cup races at Sebring, Watkins Glen and Michelin Raceway), but he’s yet to capture his first Rolex 24 aboard his trademark No. 04 CrowdStrike by APR entry. Locked in with the trio of youngsters in Jakobsen, Sowery and Quinn that have established themselves as three of the fastest LMP2 drivers globally, this car always has win potential at its disposal. 

 

No. 8 Tower Motorsports ORECA LMP2 07

John Farano/Sebastien Bourdais/Sebastian Alvarez/Kyffin Simpson


 

Longtime IMSA participant Tower Motorsports continues its pursuit of another major endurance class win, after three straight Motul Petit Le Mans triumphs from 2020 through 2022. While the team won the Rolex 24 on the road in 2025 in LMP2, a technical infringement found post-race sent the team to the rear of class. Nonetheless, with a consistent lineup including two-time Rolex 24 winner Bourdais (2014 overall, 2017 class), the car should once again be a contender in 2026. 

 

No. 11 TDS Racing ORECA LMP2 07

Tobi Lutke/Mathias Beche/David Heinemeier Hansson/Charles Milesi


 

It’s mostly change for TDS Racing in 2026 following the retirement of its longtime driver Steven Thomas, with the team opting for a programming update … literally. IMSA’s two pair of programmers, Lutke and Heinemeier Hansson, shift over from Era Motorsport alongside fellow newcomer Beche, who has experience with TDS in Europe including a 24 Hours of Le Mans LMP2 class pole last year. Rolex 24 extra Milesi, the team’s lone holdover, led November testing and is a rapid driver.

 

No. 18 Era Motorsport ORECA LMP2 07

Naveen Rao/Logan Sargeant/Jacob Abel/Ferdinand Habsburg


 

Era Motorsport knows its way to Daytona’s victory lane, having done so in 2021 and 2024. An entirely adjusted lineup for 2026 will try to add a third win. Past F1 driver Sargeant is set for his Rolex 24 debut, following his toe-in-the-water in the last two races of 2025 driving with Rao at PR1/Mathiasen Motorsports. These two switch to Era, joined by Habsburg and Abel. Habsburg is an LMP2 class winner at the 24 Hours of Le Mans, and Abel is a past Indy NXT runner-up gaining sports car experience after his first IndyCar season.

 

No. 22 United Autosports USA ORECA LMP2 07

Daniel Goldburg/Paul Di Resta/Rasmus Lindh/Gregoire Saucy


 

Goldburg enjoyed a breakout 2025 season, marred only by two tough races at Road America and Michelin Raceway Road Atlanta that dented his potential championship-winning effort. Nonetheless, the defending Rolex 24 LMP2-winning No. 22 entry will look to repeat this race with three-quarters of the lineup intact. The only change is the inclusion of Saucy, United’s WEC driver in its McLaren 720S GT3 EVO last season, in for James Allen. 

 

No. 37 Intersport Racing ORECA LMP2 07

Jon Field/Oliver Jarvis/Seth Lucas/Job Van Uitert


 

A concoction of talent is spread across the returning Intersport Racing entry, back as a full-fledged team for the first time in more than a decade in top-level North American sports car racing. Field got his sea legs back underneath him with a Rolex 24 start last year, with two-time Rolex 24 winner Jarvis (2022 overall, 2013 class) alongside for the season. Younger drivers Lucas and Van Uitert complete the quartet, with Lucas back in an LMP2 car after a year in a Mercedes-AMG GT3. 

 

No. 43 Inter Europol Competition ORECA LMP2 07

Jeremy Clarke/Tom Dillmann/Bijoy Garg/Antonio Felix da Costa


 

Inter Europol’s first full IMSA year on its own after a championship-winning partnership with PR1/Mathiasen in 2024 produced a near encore, dented primarily by bad luck. When the car finished, it either won or finished second. When it didn’t, it was ninth or worse, and Dillmann’s injury at Canadian Tire Motorsport Park also took him out of the seat over the summer. This is still a team that won the LMP2 class at Sebring (with Dillmann, Clarke and Garg) and Le Mans (with Dillmann, Nick Yelloly and Jakub Smiechowski) in 2025, and it will be a force to be reckoned with both in January and for the season. 

 

No. 52 Bryan Herta Autosport with PR1/Mathiasen ORECA LMP2 07

Misha Goikhberg/Harry Tincknell/Parker Thompson/Ben Keating


 

The “blending of worlds” is a good way to describe this year’s variant of the No. 52 PR1/Mathiasen ORECA, now aligned with Bryan Herta Autosport and with a combination of new and old drivers. Goikhberg has past prototype experience and is a Rolex 24 class winner in LMPC, 10 years ago. Keating’s back with PR1 in pursuit of his second Rolex 24 as well (2015 GTD), with a sole focus on LMP2 rather than running two cars as has been his tradition. Tincknell’s an experienced pro with many key endurance race wins on his resume – although none at the Rolex 24 – and Thompson shifts up from Lexus’ GT entry into LMP2.  

 

No. 73 Pratt Miller Motorsports ORECA LMP2 07

Chris Cumming/Pietro Fittipaldi/Manuel Espirito Santo/Enzo Fittipaldi


 

Pratt Miller flew under the radar during its return to prototype competition with its LMP2 entry in 2025, with a best finish of sixth. It will seek to improve upon that in year two with an unchanged full-season lineup of Cumming and Pietro Fittipaldi but slight changes in the additional drivers. Espirito Santo made his IMSA debut at Watkins Glen last year. Rolex 24 extra Enzo Fittipaldi, Pietro’s younger brother, is set for a Stateside season of racing this year as he will race full-time in Indy NXT, as both Fittipaldis carry on the legacy of their grandfather, F1 and IndyCar great Emerson Fittipaldi.

 

No. 83 Af Corse Usa ORECA LMP2 07

Francois Perrodo/Nicklas Nielsen/Dylan Murry/Matthieu Vaxiviere


 

Af Corse Usa was one of several LMP2 cars that came up just short of the class win at the 2025 Rolex 24. Back with three of the same four contenders, with the only change from one experienced Bronze-rated driver in Luis Perez Companc to another one in Francois Perrodo, expect a similar challenge for class contention here. Nielsen, a Ferrari factory driver, won the 2024 24 Hours of Le Mans overall. 

 

No. 99 AO Racing ORECA LMP2 07

PJ Hyett/Dane Cameron/Jonny Edgar/Christian Rasmussen


 

The “if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it” axiom applies to AO Racing’s “Spike” for 2026, with an unchanged lineup as the defending LMP2 champions and Jim Trueman Award winner, Hyett, seek to add a second major 24-hour race win to their ledger. Hyett, Cameron and Louis Deletraz shared the winning LMP2 Pro/Am AO by TF entry at last year’s 24 Hours of Le Mans. Earlier at Daytona, late-race mechanical gremlins dashed a potential AO win in January. Five-time IMSA champion Cameron and Rasmussen both won the Rolex 24 in 2024 in GTP and LMP2, respectively, and Cameron and Hyett were part of AO’s summer of 2025 hot streak that included back-to-back wins at Canadian Tire Motorsport Park and Road America. 

 

No. 343 Inter Europol Competition ORECA LMP2 07

George Kolovos/Nick Cassidy/Jakub Smiechowski/Nolan Siegel 


 

Inter Europol adds a second car to this year’s Rolex 24, with drivers primarily from its Asian Le Mans Series effort. Smiechowski was part of the team’s 24 Hours of Le Mans-winning LMP2 entry in both 2023 and 2025. Cassidy has been either second or third in the last three FIA Formula E series championships. Siegel has impressed sporadically in his year and a half in IndyCar, plus has won both the Sahlen’s Six Hours of The Glen and Motul Petit Le Mans in LMP2. 

 

 

Meet the Full Field for the 2026 Rolex 24 At Daytona

Sixty Cars and More Than 220 Drivers Are on the Grid for the 64th Running of the Endurance Classic

DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. (Jan. 21, 2026) – The complete field of cars for the 64th Rolex 24 At Daytona gathered on the Daytona International Speedway circuit for the annual full-field photo today. Sixty cars across four classes (Grand Touring Prototype, Le Mans Prototype 2, Grand Touring Daytona Pro and Grand Touring Daytona) are set to compete in the iconic race that opens the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship season starting Saturday afternoon.


 

Beyond the 60 cars on-track, the helmets for the 228 drivers from 32 countries entered were present in Victory Lane for a new photo.


 

Additionally, please find today's drone video asset from the full field shoot at this link.


 

NBC Sports offers complete coverage of the 24-hour race across its platforms. Catch the race start live on NBC network starting at 1:30 p.m. ET Saturday, with the broadcast returning to NBC for the conclusion of the race from noon-2 p.m. Sunday.


 

The entire race also streams live, flag-to-flag, on Peacock in the U.S. and on IMSA's Official YouTube channel and IMSA.TV outside the U.S. The IMSA Official YouTube channel includes the full IMSA Radio coverage of the race as well.


 

(Mandatory Credits: Full-Field and Helmet Photos: IMSA/Lumen Digital Agency;Video: IMSA/Beverly Hills Aerials)

 

 

 

64th Rolex 24 At Daytona – GTD PRO and GTD Team-by-Team

Here’s Who’s Set to Vie for GT Class Wins to Start 2026 IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship Season


 

January 20, 2026

By Tony DiZinno

IMSA Wire Service

Entry List (Click Here)


 

DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. – There’s 36 GT cars split between the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship’s two GT classes in the 2026 Rolex 24 At Daytona: 15 Grand Touring Daytona Pro (GTD PRO), matching the class-high from 2025, and 21 Grand Touring Daytona (GTD). 


 

They’re split among nine manufacturers, with BMW, Chevrolet, Ford, Lamborghini, Lexus, Mercedes-AMG and Porsche with entries in both classes. McLaren is only in GTD PRO and Aston Martin is only in GTD. 


 

Ford broke through for the Rolex 24 GTD PRO win in 2025 while Chevrolet claimed the GTD win with customer squad AWA.


 

Here’s the GT team-by-team breakdown for 2026:

 

Grand Touring Daytona Pro (GTD PRO)

 

No. 1 Paul Miller Racing BMW M4 GT3 EVO

Neil Verhagen/Connor De Phillippi/Max Hesse/Dan Harper


 

Paul Miller Racing’s not quite scaled the Rolex 24 mountain since its 2020 GTD win with Lamborghini but has a strong single BMW entry for 2026. Verhagen and De Phillippi are two of BMW’s top GT pros, with De Phillippi having won a Rolex 24 in GT Le Mans (GTLM) in 2019. Endurance extras Hesse and Harper are two IMSA sophomores who enter on the high of winning twice last year (Watkins Glen and Michelin Raceway Road Atlanta), en route to securing the Michelin Endurance Cup GTD PRO title. 


 

No. 3 Corvette Racing by Pratt Miller Motorsports Corvette Z06 GT3.R

Antonio Garcia/Alexander Sims/Marvin Kirchhoefer


 

Corvette Racing by Pratt Miller Motorsports’ longtime No. 3 car returned to the top of the GT mountain in 2025, claiming the Corvette Z06 GT3.R’s first GTD PRO championship. Garcia now has a six-pack of championships, five since IMSA reunited in 2014, with Sims adding a GTD PRO title to his 2023 Grand Touring Prototype (GTP) crown. New third driver Kirchhoefer is the only one of the trio with a recent Rolex 24 win, having been part of customer team AWA’s 2025 Corvette triumph in GTD. Garcia has three Rolex 24 wins (2009 overall, 2015 and 2021 class) while Sims seeks his first Rolex to add to his IMSA championships and dry yet biting British wit and humor.

 

No. 4 Corvette Racing by Pratt Miller Motorsports Corvette Z06 GT3.R

Tommy Milner/Nicky Catsburg/Nico Varrone


 

Like Garcia, Milner’s record with Corvette stretches nearly two decades, though it’s now been a full decade since his only Rolex 24 win as part of an epic Corvette 1-2 battle for GT Le Mans (GTLM) supremacy in 2016. His last IMSA win is more recent, but still already five years ago in 2021 at VIR, also in GTLM. Catsburg, a sharp and speedy Dutchman behind the wheel, was part of Corvette Racing’s last Rolex 24 win in 2021 with Garcia and Jordan Taylor in GTLM. Varrone is the most recent Rolex 24 winner of the trio, having also been part of an AWA Rolex 24-winning lineup (Le Mans Prototype 3 in 2023).

 

No. 9 Pfaff Motorsports Lamborghini Huracán GT3 Evo2

Andrea Caldarelli/Sandy Mitchell/Mirko Bortolotti/James Hinchcliffe


 

Pfaff’s Rolex 24 in 2026 will be a unique event, as its only intended race where they’ll have the same car to benchmark its 2025 performance. The venerable and multi-time winning Huracán GT3 Evo2 will make its last scheduled start with Pfaff at the Rolex 24, before both team and Lamborghini plan to debut the all-new Temerario GT3 at the Mobil 1 Twelve Hours of Sebring in March. Lamborghini banked three straight Rolex 24 GTD wins from 2018 to 2020, with Bortolotti (2018 and 2019) and Caldarelli (2020) on board. Mitchell also adds his factory chops to the lineup with Pfaff’s resident Canadian, Hinchcliffe, back for his ninth attempt at the race. 

 

No. 14 Vasser Sullivan Racing Lexus RC F GT3

Jack Hawksworth/Ben Barnicoat/Kyle Kirkwood


 

When original band members go their separate ways, the longing of past glory days tend to resonate and spur reunions. That’s the story for the No. 14 Vasser Sullivan Racing crew in 2026, where old becomes new again with the team’s most successful lineup in its history reuniting after a year apart. Hawksworth, Barnicoat and Kirkwood have wins in three IMSA Michelin Endurance Cup races – Sebring, Watkins Glen and Michelin Raceway Road Atlanta – but they don’t have a Rolex 24 triumph. Hawksworth and Barnicoat have a GTD PRO title together too in 2023. After a fragmented season where Barnicoat got injured and Hawksworth shifted to GTD, the band is back together for at least one more run with the venerable Lexus RC F GT3, now set for its 10th season of competition. 

 

No. 033 Triarsi Competizione Ferrari 296 GT3 EVO

James Calado/Miguel Molina/Alessio Rovera/Riccardo Agostini


 

Triarsi Competizione’s statement of intent for its GTD PRO debut is found with this quartet of Ferrari aces anchoring the team’s No. 033 Ferrari 296 GT3. Calado and Molina are overall 24 Hours of Le Mans winners with Ferrari, with Calado also boasting three IMSA career wins including the 2024 Rolex 24 (GTD PRO) and two Motul Petit Le Mans wins. Rovera also has a Le Mans class win to his name (2021 GTE Am) and Agostini has been Triarsi’s reliable designated workhorse in limited IMSA appearances. 

 

No. 48 Winward Racing Mercedes-AMG GT3

Scott Noble/Jason Hart/Maxime Martin/Luca Stolz


 

Winward Racing’s first GTD PRO effort features a blend of Mercedes-AMG factory pros in Martin and Stolz and the pro-am pairing of Noble and longtime coach Hart. With Stolz absent during the Roar test due to a schedule conflict, it’ll provide the Noble and Hart pairing even more track time. Winward has won the race twice in GTD, including on its debut in 2021. If it repeats the feat in GTD PRO in its first go-around, it will be quite an accomplishment. 


 

No. 59 RLL Team McLaren McLaren 720S GT3 Evo

Nikita Johnson/Max Esterson/Dean MacDonald/Juri Vips


 

Perhaps GTD PRO’s most eclectic lineup is the combination that RLL Team McLaren has assembled to drive its new No. 59 McLaren 720S GT3 Evo. In Vips, they have a talented Estonian who’s made sporadic IndyCar starts with RLL and is new to sports car racing. In Esterson, they have an iRacing veteran returning Stateside after running in Formula 2 and having made a successful IMSA debut at last year’s Motul Petit Le Mans in JDC-Miller’s Porsche 963. MacDonald is a McLaren racing veteran but an IMSA rookie; youngster Johnson has junior open-wheel formula success but is new to sports cars. Four race rookies, a new car and a new class will make for a learning experience for all involved. 


 

No. 62 Risi Competizione Ferrari 296 GT3 EVO

Daniel Serra/Davide Rigon/Alessandro Pier Guidi


 

It’s hard to count out Risi Competizione as a contender, and after a year’s hiatus working as part of a technical alliance with DragonSpeed, the traditional red No. 62 Ferrari is back for 2026. Risi won on its last solo attempt at the Rolex 24 in 2024, thus ending one of Giuseppe Risi’s longest waits in his iconic career. Three of the same four drivers from that lineup are back; only James Calado is absent and will race the three-headed monster of Serra, Rigon and Pier Guidi (a 2025 IMSA Michelin Endurance Cup GTD champion) in GTD PRO’s second Ferrari, fielded by Triarsi Competizione. 

 

No. 64 Ford Racing Ford Mustang GT3

Dennis Olsen/Ben Barker/Mike Rockenfeller


 

The No. 64 Mustang, now in an evo package, is mostly new for the 2026 Rolex 24, even with many strong 2025 elements still at play. In the hands of Seb Priaulx, the car took the Rolex 24 pole, and the trio of Priaulx, Mike Rockenfeller and Austin Cindric finished third. Here’s where things differ, driver-wise. Cindric filled in for the injured Ben Barker, who’s now back for 2026 and slated to line up alongside Olsen for the full season. Olsen was part of the race-winning No. 65 car last year, thus securing his first Rolex 24 win. Rockenfeller, the No. 64 car’s lone 2025 holdover who swept both the Rolex 24 and 24 Hours of Le Mans overall in 2010, shifts to the third driver Michelin Endurance Cup extra role. 

 

No. 65 Ford Racing Ford Mustang GT3

Christopher Mies/Frederic Vervisch/Seb Priaulx


 

The defending GTD PRO class winner at the Rolex 24 has two-thirds of the same driver lineup back, with the one change adding the Rolex 24 pole winner (Priaulx). Mies and Vervisch opened 2025 on a high but failed to finish higher than fifth the rest of the season, so they’ll seek to improve on that having been through a full IMSA season together. Priaulx, by contrast, shifts from the No. 64 car and will run the three longest Michelin Endurance Cup races. He’s a four-time IMSA race winner, having won twice in each of 2024 and 2025. 

 

No. 69 GetSpeed Mercedes-AMG GT3

Anthony Bartone/Fabian Schiller/Maximilian Goetz/Jules Gounon


 

The combination of the Bartone Bros. Racing drag racing group and sports car experts GetSpeed combined to provide an excellent debut appearance in the WeatherTech Championship GTD PRO ranks at the 2025 Rolex 24, finishing fifth. A podium would be an excellent achievement for its sophomore effort, with Bartone joined by a trio of Mercedes-AMG hot shoes. 

 

No. 75 75 Express Mercedes-AMG GT3

Kenny Habul/Maro Engel/Will Power/Chaz Mostert


 

Power made his U.S. racing debut with the Derrick Walker-run outfit labeled as “Team Australia” in his Champ Car days more than 20 years ago. The two-time IndyCar Series champion and 2018 Indianapolis 500 winner is set for his long-awaited Rolex 24 debut with the closest IMSA entry to a “Team Australia” equivalent. Paired with longtime friend Habul, who he’s known since the 1990s, and fellow Aussie Mostert – a past Rolex 24 class winner (2020 in GTLM) and 2025 Supercars champion – the 75 Express entry is nearly an all-Aussie affair. Mercedes-AMG veteran Engel, a German who’s a past Rolex 24 winner (2021 GTD, 2023 GTD PRO), adds both speed and experience. 

 

No. 77 AO Racing Porsche 911 GT3 R

Nick Tandy/Harry King/Alessio Picariello


 

Although Tandy’s never won a full-season IMSA championship, one of the best of his generation has a chance to add more accolades in his new role with AO Racing’s now iconic “Rexy” No. 77 Porsche. He’s won at all WeatherTech Championship cities en route to 25 career IMSA wins; the only exception is his Detroit win came at Belle Isle, not the current downtown circuit. He has a pair of Michelin Endurance Cup titles (2021 GTLM, 2025 GTP). He started 2025 on a heater, winning the first three GTP races at Daytona, Sebring and Long Beach driving for Porsche Penske Motorsport. Despite a challenging second half he’ll look to recapture his GT magic in a new class. King, a 25-year-old Brit, is new to IMSA but has a pedigree that rivals some of AO’s other younger finds in Laurin Heinrich and Seb Priaulx. Picariello was part of the team’s Sebring winning lineup in 2025 and is back for an encore as third driver this season. 

 

No. 911 Manthey Porsche 911 GT3 R

Thomas Preining/Ricardo Feller/Klaus Bachler/Ayhancan Guven


 

In past years, a European team’s extra entry to the Rolex 24 would draw big eyeballs, so Manthey’s return to the race for the first time since 2018 should be quite an occasion. Particularly since it will run its famous “Grello” livery made famous in major endurance races globally, most notably at the Nürburgring’s Nordschleife. Bachler is set to make his 10th Rolex 24 start and seeks to improve upon a best finish of fourth, achieved twice. He’s got three IMSA wins, two at Sebring and one at WeatherTech Raceway Laguna Seca. Preining, Bachler’s Austrian countryman, has a pair of Rolex 24 starts in Andretti and Proton Porsches the last two years. Swiss driver Feller has four IMSA starts, all in 2019 with a Montaplast by Land Audi, including the Rolex 24. Guven, the team’s fourth driver, finished second in GTD in the 2025 Rolex 24 and enters on the high of winning the 2025 DTM title with Manthey in “Grello.” 


 

Grand Touring Daytona (GTD)

 

No. 12 Vasser Sullivan Racing Lexus RC F GT3

Aaron Telitz/Benjamin Pedersen/Frankie Montecalvo/Esteban Masson


 

Some driver changes come to the trademark No. 12 Vasser Sullivan Lexus in 2026 as the RC F GT3 prepares for its 10th and likely final season of active competition with Toyota’s new GR GT3 having been unveiled in December 2025. Telitz and Montecalvo are the holdovers, having been regular podium finishers and occasional race winners for most of those years, although Telitz returns back to the No. 12 GTD entry after one disjointed year with several co-drivers in the team’s No. 14 GTD PRO car. Pedersen is new here, having run a full season of LMP2 in 2025, now making a move to GT racing. In 2023, he was the fastest rookie qualifier in Indianapolis 500 history and race rookie of the year. Lexus and Toyota have their eye on Masson for the future, a global LMP2 talent set for his IMSA racing debut. 

 

No. 13 13 Autosport Corvette Z06 GT3.R

Orey Fidani/Matt Bell/Lars Kern/Ben Green


 

Bob Akin Award winner Fidani got his and the team’s 2025 season off to a fantastic start with a GTD win at the Rolex 24. The biggest change for 2026 comes on the team name door, as the rebranded 13 Autosport team sees a greater investment by Fidani into the program itself with technical and team support from the AWA outfit that’s been present for several years. Also new is British driver Ben Green, who is new to the U.S. but has a successful global GT record and will be among those to watch as Rolex 24-only fourth drivers. 

 

No. 16 Myers Riley Motorsports Ford Mustang GT3

Felipe Fraga/Sheena Monk/Jenson Altzman/Romain Grosjean


 

A contender for the most eclectic GTD lineup in 2026, the new Myers Riley Mustang features the Brazilian ace Fraga shifting from prototypes to GT, experienced female driver Monk adding her third different GT3 car in as many years, Ford Racing Junior Team driver Altzman continuing to expand his racing resume and popular French/Swiss driver Grosjean maintaining his Riley Motorsports relationship built at Lamborghini with a return to Ford for the first time in 16 years. When there’s a new combination of team, drivers, car and class, it doesn’t usually produce first-time success. But this is the legendary Riley team we’re talking about, and a car that won this race in GTD PRO last year, so success isn’t just a hope; it’s an expectation. 


 

No. 19 van der Steur Racing Aston Martin Vantage GT3 Evo

Rory van der Steur/Valentin Hasse-Clot/Sebastian Baud/Carl Bennett


 

Back for its second Rolex 24, the van der Steur Racing entry posted a more than respectable sixth-place finish in 2025. Van der Steur and Hasse-Clot continue as this entry’s first two drivers. Baud joins as third driver for the Michelin Endurance Cup rounds, after racing a McLaren in the 2025 FIA World Endurance Championship season with a best finish of second. Bennett, a Thai driver, makes his IMSA debut after occasional Hypercar starts for the former Isotta Fraschini program a few years ago.

 

No. 21 Af Corse Usa Ferrari 296 GT3 EVO

Simon Mann/Lilou Wadoux/Antonio Fuoco/Tommaso Mosca


 

What is quickly becoming a Rolex 24 regular, a Mann-driven No. 21 Af Corse Ferrari is back for a sixth successive January endurance classic. This time the car and team enter on the high of a championship-winning 2025; Mann, Wadoux and Alessandro Pier Guidi won the IMSA Michelin Endurance Cup GTD title last year, with the trio also winning the season finale Motul Petit Le Mans. Wadoux, the first female driver confirmed for the 2026 Rolex 24, also has a Sahlen’s Six Hours of The Glen win on her resume. Fuoco has a past Mobil 1 Twelve Hours of Sebring win, and he’s also an overall winner of the 24 Hours of Le Mans with Ferrari. Mosca’s the newest member of this quartet, on for Daytona only.

 

No. 023 Triarsi Competizione Ferrari 296 GT3 EVO

Onofrio Triarsi/Kenton Koch/Robert Megennis/Yifei Ye


 

Triarsi’s now traditional No. 023 car is set for what’s already its fourth Rolex 24. This is as strong of a lineup as a GTD entry can field, in the form of Triarsi himself alongside Koch, who enjoyed a breakout 2025 season finishing second in the GTD full-season championship. These two won together at Road America. Megennis is set for a Rolex 24 return after a brief Triarsi cameo at Motul Petit Le Mans where he showed his pace in limited running. Ye is set for his IMSA debut and enters on a high with an overall 24 Hours of Le Mans win to his name in 2025 in the Af Corse-run No. 83 Ferrari 499P. 

 

No. 27 Heart of Racing Team Aston Martin Vantage GT3 Evo

Tom Gamble/Dudu Barrichello/Zacharie Robichon/Mattia Drudi


 

Heart of Racing Team is back to a single Aston Martin Vantage GT3 Evo in the GT classes this year with its Valkyrie now set for a Rolex 24 debut in GTP. This car retains three of the same four drivers as in 2025, when it nearly matched its 2023 GTD class victory. Robichon is the lone Rolex 24 class winner (2022 GTD) amidst this driving quartet, but it’s another strong one. Gamble and Robichon were part of this team’s Watkins Glen win in 2025 while Drudi has a major 24-hour race win to his name as part of Aston Martin’s overall victory at the 24 Hours of Spa-Francorchamps in 2024. Barrichello, the son of multi-time F1 race winner and multi-time Rolex 24 starter Rubens, will make his Rolex 24 debut. 

 

No. 28 RS1 Porsche 911 GT3 R

Jan Heylen/Eric Zitza/Dillon Machavern/Sven Mueller


 

RS1 steps up from the IMSA Michelin Pilot Challenge, where it won the 2025 Grand Sport (GS) class championship, into a Michelin Endurance Cup entry for 2026. Heylen spearheaded the GS title, his second, and is joined by Florida businessman Zitza. Machavern has RS1 time as well from Michelin Pilot Challenge GS. Heylen has 11 past Rolex 24 starts including a 2022 GTD win, while Machavern and Mueller both also have race experience.  

 

No. 34 Conquest Racing Ferrari 296 GT3 EVO

Manny Franco/Albert Costa/Lorenzo Patrese/Thierry Vermuelen


 

Some of Conquest’s new in 2026 is old, while the rest of its new is actually new. The “old” new is Costa, back in a somewhat surprising reunion after he and the team parted ways following their 2024 Motul Petit Le Mans GTD win. However, with Daniel Serra back at Risi Competizione in GTD PRO and DragonSpeed shifting to GTD, Costa has made a U-turn back to reunite with Franco and Conquest. The “new new” are young Europeans Patrese and Vermuelen, who have extensive Ferrari experience. Vermuelen is linked to the Verstappen.com Racing GT program, so has gained from Max Verstappen’s insights and experience. Patrese ended 2025 on a high, scoring the pole at Motul Petit Le Mans in a different GTD Ferrari. 


 

No. 36 DXDT Racing Corvette Z06 GT3.R

Mason Filippi/Charlie Eastwood/Salih Yoluc/Scott McLaughlin


 

While it appeared for most of fall as though Robert Wickens would increase his role to a full-time effort with DXDT Racing in 2026, that changed in the run-up to December’s entry list release. Alas, ahead of DXDT’s second IMSA season, the promise on display throughout most of 2025 has the chance to break through for a big result. Filippi is set for his second Rolex 24, having raced in LMP3 in 2023. Eastwood is one of GM’s rising stars, split across Corvette GT3 programs such as this one and Cadillac’s Formula 1 simulator. Yoluc is his longtime co-driver. McLaughlin, the multi-time IndyCar race winner and Supercars champion, is set to fill the “star” extra fourth seat occupied by Pipo Derani in 2025. 

 

No. 44 Magnus Racing Aston Martin Vantage GT3 Evo

John Potter/Spencer Pumpelly/Nicki Thiim/Madison Snow


 

Magnus Racing’s ride into the 2026 Rolex 24 comes with one major change – Andy Lally not part of the lineup following his end of full-time driving at the 2025 edition. Potter’s team presses on with longtime co-driver Pumpelly, Thiim and team newcomer Snow to create a fun quartet. Potter (2012 and 2016) and Pumpelly (2006 and 2011) are multi-time Rolex 24 GT class winners with Snow adding a 2020 GTD win. Thiim doesn’t have a Rolex 24 win but does have 24-hour triumphs at Le Mans in class (2014) and Spa-Francorchamps overall (2024). 

 

No. 45 Wayne Taylor Racing Lamborghini Huracán GT3 Evo2

Danny Formal, Trent Hindman, Graham Doyle, Marcus Ericsson


 

As close to a rinse-and-repeat lineup as exists in GTD, the trio led by Formal, Hindman and Doyle are set to continue aboard WTR’s Huracán GT3 Evo2. Formal is buoyed by his incredible form in last year’s Lamborghini Super Trofeo North America season, where he won both the Pro North American title and World Final title to end the season. Hindman, a 2019 GTD WeatherTech Championship-winning driver among multiple other IMSA titles, remains one of IMSA’s young veterans poised for continued long-term success. Doyle’s entering off a title too, having won the Super Trofeo Am title last year. Formal and Hampus Ericsson drove together to the Super Trofeo titles in 2025 and to start 2026, Formal will have a chance to race alongside Hampus’ older brother Marcus, the 2022 Indianapolis 500 winner, now set for his third Rolex 24 start. Coincidentally, they’ve all been in even years (2022, 2024, 2026) and with now three different cars and classes (Cadillac DPi, Acura GTP, Lamborghini GTD).

 

No. 57 Winward Racing Mercedes-AMG GT3

Russell Ward/Philip Ellis/Indy Dontje/Lucas Auer


 

The GTD standard-bearer, Winward Racing has a chance to go for a three-peat of GTD championships in 2026. It’s a rare achievement in IMSA competition. Included among Winward’s success was its famous debut win at the Rolex 24 in 2021, and a follow-up second win in 2024 with three of the same four drivers, only with Daniel Morad in the fourth spot alongside Ward, Ellis and Dontje. Yet last year’s fourth place may stand as one of the team’s hallmark races, overcoming a throttle assembly issue to gain most of its seven laps back and position it for more championship success. 

 

No. 66 Gradient Racing Ford Mustang GT3

Jake Walker/Corey Lewis/Joey Hand/Till Bechtolsheimer


 

Gradient Racing pieced together a solid first season with its new Ford Mustang GT3 in 2025 with separate sprint and endurance race lineups and is set to deploy the same approach for its second year with the car in 2026. Walker is the lone driver set for all races, having impressed with Turner Motorsport’s BMW M4 GT3 in both WeatherTech Championship and IMSA VP Racing SportsCar Challenge appearances last year. Lewis, a 2020 Rolex 24 class winner, is an experienced pair of hands who will join Walker for the sprint rounds and the Rolex 24. Hand and Bechtolsheimer share the Ford for all endurance rounds; Hand’s one of Ford’s longtime aces and two-time past Rolex 24 winner (overall in 2011, class in 2017).

 

No. 70 Inception Racing Ferrari 296 GT3 EVO

Brendan Iribe/Frederik Schandorff/Ollie Millroy/David Fumanelli


 

Bookend finishes of 18th place to start and end 2025 left the Optimum Motorsport-run, Inception Racing-entered Ferrari shy of its goals for the year. The trio of Iribe, Schandorff and Millroy scored an overdue first IMSA win at Indianapolis but contact at the start at Michelin Raceway Road Atlanta ended both Iribe’s Bob Akin Award hopes and the team’s Michelin Endurance Cup chances. Little changes for 2026 except the new EVO package, aimed in large part at creating better in-traffic flow. If the No. 70 crew can avoid the bad luck that hurt it in 2025, they’ll rank higher in the pursuit of greater 2026 success.  

 

No. 80 Lone Star Racing Mercedes-AMG GT3 

Scott Andrews/Lin Hodenius/James Roe/Ralf Aron


 

Lone Star Racing continues into its third consecutive Rolex 24 with previous finishes of eighth and 13th the last two years. This is a younger lineup with Andrews, known for his pace, the most experienced driver in the group with four past Rolex 24 starts including a win on debut in LMP3 in 2021. Roe and Aron are set for their sophomore starts at after debuting in 2025 while Hodenius, 19, is set to make his Rolex 24 debut this year. 

 

No. 81 DragonSpeed Corvette Z06 GT3.R

Henrik Hedman/Giacomo Altoč/Casper Stevenson/Matteo Cairoli


 

DragonSpeed’s shift back to GTD from GTD PRO is aimed at Bronze-rated Hedman, Elton Julian’s longtime driver, securing the Bob Akin Award and the invitation on offer to the 24 Hours of Le Mans that goes with it. Coincidentally, he’s the only one of the four drivers in the team’s new Corvette Z06 GT3.R with a past Rolex 24 win on his resume, in LMP2 in 2020. The other three young chargers are all impressive in their own right, although they’re also all new to Corvette. Altoč won three Motul Pole Awards in 2025 in DragonSpeed’s Ferrari and Stevenson shifts over from Heart of Racing Team’s Aston Martin; both won their first IMSA races in 2025. Cairoli has five prior Rolex 24 starts in either Porsche or Lamborghini entries.

 

No. 96 Turner Motorsport BMW M4 GT3 EVO

Robby Foley/Patrick Gallagher/Francis Selldorff/Jens Klingmann


 

Turner Motorsport will seek to improve upon a year of fourths in 2025. It was the team’s best result on three occasions, as well as the team’s finish in the GTD championship. Longtime friends Foley and Gallagher are back for their fourth season together as co-drivers, and the 2024 runners-up have win potential readily at their disposal. Selldorff continues his rise through Turner’s internal IMSA ladder and graduates into its WeatherTech Championship GTD program for 2026 as its Michelin Endurance Cup third driver. He made key strides in the Michelin Pilot Challenge in 2025. Klingmann is the team’s Rolex 24 fourth driver stalwart. 

 

No. 120 Wright Motorsports Porsche 911 GT3 R

Adam Adelson/Callum Ilott/Tom Sargent/Elliott Skeer


 

Wright Motorsports started its 2025 at the Rolex 24 with a pole and runner-up finish before embarking on a year that was the model of consistency, ending between fifth and seventh in six of the remaining nine races. That 2025 peak came with Skeer securing the Motul Pole Award and finishing second with Adelson, Sargent and Ayhancan Guven. There’s a change this year with IndyCar driver and occasional sports car driver Ilott now slotting into a full-time role, with Skeer its fourth Rolex 24 driver. Adelson, now the Wright team owner, is coming off a championship year in IMSA VP Racing SportsCar Challenge Grand Touring Daytona X (GTDX), where he won both Daytona races last year. 

 

No. 123 Muehlner Motorsports America, LLC Porsche 911 GT3 R

Ryan Yardley/Peter Ludwig/Dave Musial/Dave Musial Jr.


 

Muehlner Motorsports America makes its IMSA return after several years away, having last competed at the Rolex 24 in the LMP3 class in 2022 with two cars. The Belgian team has a definitive pro-am lineup, highlighted by 2025 Porsche Carrera Cup North America champion Yardley in what will be his WeatherTech Championship debut. Ludwig is set for his first Rolex 24 start since driving a Muehlner Porsche in 2011, while the father-son duo of the two David Musials completes the quartet. Both raced at Daytona in 2025 IMSA VP Racing SportsCar Challenge competition in Conquest Racing Ferrari 296 GT3 entries. 

 

No. 912 Manthey 1st Phorm Porsche 911 GT3 R

Ryan Hardwick/Riccardo Pera/Morris Schuring/Richard Lietz


 

Hardwick (2022 GTD Rolex 24 winner, two-time Bob Akin Award recipient) makes his IMSA return aboard the Manthey 1st Phorm No. 912 Porsche. Together with Lietz and Pera, the same trio enters on a high of winning the FIA WEC LMGT3 championship in 2025 and are united at the Rolex 24 as Manthey is set to run for the Michelin Endurance Cup in GTD this season. Lietz is one of Porsche’s most successful 24-hour aces with six class wins at Le Mans and three at the Rolex 24. Schuring, a young Dutchman, is a Porsche driver who should be one to watch in his Rolex 24 debut. He was part of Manthey’s 2024 24 Hours of Le Mans winning LMGT3 entry.  

 

IMSA Michelin Pilot Challenge Features Largest Field in Six Years to Start 2026

51 Cars for BMW M Endurance Challenge in Daytona is Largest Since 2020


 

January 19, 2026

By Tony DiZinno

IMSA Wire Service

Entry List (Click Here)


 

DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. – The IMSA Michelin Pilot Challenge is equal parts maintaining its core quality of entries and expanding both the quality and quantity across its Grand Sport (GS) and Touring Car (TCR) classes to open the 2026 season at Daytona International Speedway.


 

With 49 cars testing during the Roar Before the Rolex 24 and the grid expanding to 51 for this week’s four-hour BMW M Endurance Challenge, the series boasts its largest Daytona car count since 2020. That year’s split of 51 cars was divided into 33 GS and 18 TCR. This year, there will be 35 GS and 16 TCR entries. 


 

GS Field Wide-Open Following RS1 Graduation to WeatherTech Championship


 

Starting in GS, the same seven manufacturers present from 2025 carry into 2026. BMW leads the way with nine cars, while Ford follows closely with eight. Porsche runs six cars, Aston Martin five, Toyota four, Mercedes-AMG two and McLaren one.


 

Defending champions RS1 step up to the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship, leaving the GS title race wide open. Jan Heylen is back for Daytona as part of BGB Motorsports’ entry with Spencer Pumpelly and Thomas Collingwood in their No. 83 Porsche 718 GT4 RS CS. Everyone down from second to 12th in the championship is back for 2026; those that finished second through fifth have as good a chance as any to emerge on top.


 

From Jeff Westphal and Sean McAlister (No. 39 CarBahn by Peregrine racing BMW M4 GT4 EVO) to Austin Krainz and Stevan McAleer (No. 27 AutoTechnic BMW M4 GT4 EVO) in BMWs to the new young pairing of Nate Cicero and Robert Noaker (No. 13 McCumbee McAleer Racing Ford Mustang GT4) and the experienced duo of Michael Cooper and Moisey Uretsky (No. 44 Ibiza Farm Motorsport McLaren Artura GT4), any or all could once again contend for the title. Cooper and Uretsky won Daytona last year and the last two races of 2025.

Turner Motorsport has a dual threat with four past GS champions (Dillon Machavern and Luca Mars in No. 95, Vin Barletta and Robby Foley in No. 96) aboard its pair of BMW M4 GT4 EVOs. 


 

Further past champions Matt Plumb (No. 46 Team TGM) and Billy Johnson (No. 59 KOHR Motorsports) resume their battle to break their tie on 24 victories as the series’ winningest driver, now both driving Ford Mustang GT4s following Team TGM’s switch. They’ll share their cars with Paul Holton (No. 46) and Robert Michaelian (No. 59) respectively; KOHR’s second car of Evan Slater and Ray Mason (No. 60 Ford) will honor the life of the late NASCAR star Greg Biffle and his family with a Grainger-blessed tribute livery in Daytona. TGM’s second car, the No. 64 Ford features defending Bronze Cup GS champions Ted Giovanis, Hugh Plumb and regular Daytona third driver Kris Wilson.


 

Both Rebel Rock Racing’s No. 71 Aston Martin Vantage AMR GT4 EVO (Frank DePew and past GS champion Robin Liddell) and Winward Racing’s No. 57 Mercedes-AMG GT GT4 (Daan Arrow and Bryce Ward) are good for wins but will look to rebound after winless 2025s. Steven Cameron Racing/Racing to End Alzheimer’s (Sean Quinlan and Greg Liefooghe in their No. 19 Ford Mustang GT4) was a quiet but solid top-10 finishing entrant in 2026 and seeks to join the list of winners, as does past TCR champions Mikey Taylor and Chris Miller driving UniTronic JDC-Miller MotorSports’ No. 17 Porsche 718 GT4 RS CS in its second year in class.


 

Legends and young stars also dot the class. The new-look Random Vandals Racing entries feature IMSA’s all-time winningest driver, Bill Auberlen, and three younger stars in IMSA 3D Scholarship recipient Nicky Hays, IMSA VP Racing SportsCar Challenge GTDX Bronze Cup champion Samantha Tan and past Michelin Pilot Challenge race winner Robert Megennis split between its No. 38 (ST by Random Vandals, Tan and Auberlen) and No. 92 (Random Vandals, Hays and Megennis) cars. 


 

Past series champion Owen Trinkler is another making a welcome return, as part of VRC Motorsports Group LLC’s new No. 91 Porsche 718 GT4 RS CS with Dan Ammann and Darren Law for Daytona. Toyota has a targeted young driver approach in its four GR Supra GT4 EVOs: keep an eye out for any and all of 2025 VP Racing Challenge GSX champion Kiko Porto and Varun Choksey (No. 12 RAFA Racing), Jaxon Bell and Ford Koch (No. 23 Koch-Copeland Motorsports), Caio Chaves and Thiago Camilo (No. 54 PANAM Motorsport) and Harrison Goodman and Lucas Weisenberg (No. 67 BSI Racing).


 

There are seven women in GS, including the aforementioned Tan. There’s an all-female lineup of Hannahs Grisham and Greenemeier aboard Heart of Racing Team’s No. 26 Aston Martin Vantage AMR GT4 EVO. Madeline Stewart graduates from Porsche Carrera Cup North America in CSM’s No. 2 Porsche Cayman GT4 RS CS. 


 

Megan Tomlinson steps up from Touring Car (TCR) to GS in the No. 22 Shopify Racing Powered by TWOth Porsche with her father Ron. Then there’s two wife and husband teams; Aurora Straus shares with Kenny Murillo shortly after they tied the knot in the No. 24 Murillo Racing Mercedes-AMG GT GT4. Christine and Ben Sloss are back for their second season in the No. 10 van der Steur Racing Aston Martin Vantage AMR GT4 EVO, one of several quality Bronze Cup entries.


 

CarBahn (No. 37) and Auto Technic (No. 26) have extra BMW entries for Daytona, 89x Motorsports (No. 8 Aston Martin Vantage GT4) and LAP Motorsports (No. 30 Ford Mustang GT4) are back after partial 2025 seasons, Circle H Racing (No. 14 Aston Martin Vantage AMR GT4 EVO) switches team names and cars, while additional series newcomers include Medusa Motorsports (No. 4 Ford Mustang GT4), VPX Motorsport (No. 7 Porsche 718 GT4 RS CS) and Thunder Bunny (No. 66 BMW M4 GT4 EVO). 

 

TCR Field Spread More Evenly Across Four Manufacturers


 

Hyundai has had strength in numbers the last several Touring Car (TCR) seasons, but a wider spread is evident heading into 2026. Hyundai has still won the last six TCR manufacturer championships (2020 through 2025) and six of the last seven driver titles (2019 through 2023, 2025) but will have to work hard to defend their crowns in 2026.


 

As ever, the Bryan Herta Autosport w/Curb Agajanian quartet of Hyundai Elantra N TCRs expect to contend. And also as usual, there’s slight refreshes of the lineup for two of its four cars. Mason Filippi now joins Bryson Morris in the team’s No. 33 Hyundai, with 2019 TCR champion Mark Wilkins and Madison Aust uniting in the No. 98 Hyundai. Wilkins and Filippi essentially trade between the No. 33 and 98 from this year, while Aust moves from the team’s developmental No. 9 car into Herta’s flagship No. 98 car for her second season.


 

Last year’s runner-up Denis Dupont and Preston Brown remain unchanged in the No. 76 Hyundai, and veteran Jon Miller and Lance Bergstein are set for a full year with Herta in their No. 18 Elantra. The two-time and defending TCR champion, Harry Gottsacker, shifts to the third driver slot alongside Miller and Bergstein at least for Daytona. Rockwell Autosport Development, a Herta-affiliated entry, prepares for its first full year with Hyundai with its new-look lineup of Doug Oakley and Daniel Hanley.


 

Cupra enters on a high from a two-win finish to 2025 for its second year, expanding from two to four cars. The Victor Gonzalez Racing Team expands back to two cars, with Franco Girolami joining Tyler Gonzalez for a full season in its No. 99 Cupra Leon VZ TCR and newcomers William Tally and Steven Clemons sharing the sister No. 21 car. The aligned forces of Gou Racing and series newcomers Stallion Motorsports will also seek to impress. The father-son Eduardo and Eddie Gou share their No. 55 Cupra while the all-Brazilian pairing of 2025-’26 IMSA 3D Scholarship recipient Celso Neto and Raphael Reis seek to score their first wins in IMSA in Stallion’s No. 77 Cupra.

Honda, too, has a quartet of contenders. MMG’s LP Montour and Karl Wittmer nearly won the 2025 TCR title and will look to leap two spots in 2026 in their No. 93 Honda Civic FL5 TCR, joined at Daytona by Dai Yoshihara. KMW Motorsports with TMR Engineering seeks a bounce back campaign in its second year with Honda while Pegram Racing’s father-daughter pairing of Larry and Riley Pegram switches from Hyundai this year. Veteran part-timers HART will once again return for another season as their schedule allows.


 

That leaves Audi with the fewest cars, three, but still strength in its effort. Baker Racing ascends as the brand’s most voluminous entry with a pair of RS3 LMS TCRs; James Vance, the father-and-son pair of Dean and Sam Baker and Indy car veteran Bruno Junqueira impressed more often than not in 2025 but didn’t have full results to justify the promise. The returning RVA Graphics by Speed Syndicate effort won at VIR last year and seeks additional success in 2026.


 

The Michelin Pilot Challenge has two one-hour practice sessions, Wednesday at 3 p.m. ET and Thursday at 8:45 a.m. ET. Qualifying takes place Thursday 1:15 p.m. ET. A final 30-minute practice session takes place Friday morning at 9:10 a.m. ET before the green flag of the four-hour race at 1:45 p.m. ET. Live coverage streams on Peacock (U.S.) and IMSA’s Official YouTube channel (outside the U.S.).

Fast Facts

BMW M Endurance Challenge

Daytona International Speedway – Daytona Beach, Fla.  

Jan. 21-23, 2026


 

  • Race Day/Time: Friday, Jan. 23, 1:45 p.m. ET
  • Live Streaming Coverage: LIVE – Flag-to-flag beginning at 1:40 p.m. ET, Peacock in the U.S., globally on IMSA.tv and IMSA YouTube ad-free courtesy of Michelin
  • Circuit Type: 3.56-mile, 12-turn road course
  • Classes Competing: Grand Sport (GS), Touring Car (TCR)
  • Race Length: Four hours

 

Michelin Pilot Challenge Track Records

  • GS: Luca Mars, Porsche 718 GT4 RS CS, 1:52.117 / 114.309 mph, January 2025 (Qualifying)
  • TCR: Bryson Morris, Hyundai Elantra N TCR, 1:56.457 / 110.049 mph, January 2025 (Qualifying)


 

2025 BMW M Endurance Challenge Winners

  • GS: Michael Cooper/Moisey Uretsky, No. 44 Accelerating Performance (Ibiza Farm Motorsport) McLaren Artura GT4
  • TCR: Denis Dupont/Preston Brown, No. 76 Bryan Herta Autosport with Curb Agajanian Hyundai Elantra N TCR
 

Rolex 24 Offers ‘Refreshing’ Start to 2026 Global Racing Season

GTP ‘Evo’ Versions Are Tip of the Excitement Iceberg for 64th Running of Iconic Endurance Event


 

January 19, 2026

By John Oreovicz

IMSA Wire Service

Entry List (Click Here)


 

DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. – Carmakers call it a mid-cycle refresh when they make small but significant detail changes to their products, whether through refinements in powertrain and chassis technology or performance-related styling tweaks.


 

The premier Grand Touring Prototype (GTP) class of the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship is experiencing a mid-cycle refresh of its own in 2026. Four of the five participating manufacturers – Acura, BMW, Cadillac and Porsche – are introducing updated “Evo” (evolution) versions of their hybrid-powered race cars, and the Aston Martin Valkyrie will compete in the season-opening Rolex 24 At Daytona for the first time. 


 

In addition, every GTP competitor will be turning their first competitive laps on a new design of Michelin tire that features a unique visual identity and improved warm-up characteristics. 


 

It all adds up to a world of newness and uncertainty for when the 60-car field (spread among four classes) takes the green flag Saturday to race twice around the clock on the Daytona International Speedway road course that combines a technical infield section with long stretches of the track’s iconic banked oval. With its January date and diverse field of drivers from around the world, the Rolex 24 has long served as the opening race of the new year not only for the WeatherTech Championship, but for fans of all forms of racing. 


 

Anticipation and excitement for the event is higher than ever this year. Daytona International Speedway President Frank Kelleher revealed all signs are trending towards a potential attendance record for this year’s race. But no one is more amped than the drivers.


 

“Obviously, always looking forward to Daytona – it’s starting the new year,” said Filipe Albuquerque, who owns two overall Rolex 24 victories along with a class win. This year, Albuquerque is sharing the No. 10 Cadillac Wayne Taylor Racing Cadillac V-Series.R with Ricky Taylor and Will Stevens.


 

“A lot of preparation from Wayne Taylor Racing in the offseason; we have the ‘jokers’ (IMSA-homologated upgrades) on the Cadillac, so I’m really excited to see the evolution, but also from our competitors as well. I think we will only know the true speed of each one when we are on track with everybody at the same time.


 

“New car livery, new helmet, new suit. It’s like starting from zero.”


 

As the two-time defending GTP class champion and historic leader with 20 overall victories by Porsche race cars dating to 1968 (including the last two years, with an additional four featuring Porsche engines), Porsche is clearly the benchmark at the Rolex 24. Porsche Penske Motorsport enters 2026 with aerodynamic revisions to the Porsche 963 and a revised driver lineup that leans heavily on the roster that competed for Porsche the last three years in the FIA World Endurance Championship.


 

Three-time IMSA champion Felipe Nasr is PPM’s only carryover full-season IMSA driver from 2025, joined full-time in the No. 7 Porsche 963 this year by Julien Andlauer and Laurin Heinrich in IMSA Michelin Endurance Cup races. Laurens Vanthoor and Kevin Estre will share the No. 6 car, joined for IMSA Michelin Endurance Cup events by 2025 GTP co-champion Matt Campbell. 


 

Both Porsche and Team Penske are celebrating significant milestones in 2026: the 75th anniversary of Porsche Motorsport, and the 60th anniversary of Team Penske, which made its first official start in the 1966 24 Hours of Daytona – the first year Daytona’s endurance race was extended to a full 24 hours.


 

“We want more,” said Thomas Laudenbach, vice president of Porsche Motorsport. “In the anniversary year of Porsche Motorsport and on the 60th birthday of Team Penske, we have clear objectives: a third consecutive Daytona victory with the Porsche 963, and we intend to compete for titles in the IMSA series again in 2026.”

Cadillac boasts a three-car armada, with two Wayne Taylor Racing entries and the No. 31 Cadillac Whelen Cadillac V-Series.R entry that carried Jack Aitken to a pair of late-season wins and second place in the 2025 GTP standings.


 

“We haven’t gone for a massive revolution or anything; we’re just trying to pick off those little wins and keep the ball rolling,” Aitken said. “We’ve got a good driver lineup, we’ve got a good car, we’re happy with our crew. I think we just need to be consistent. There’s no magic dust; it’s just being sensible.”


 

Acura Meyer Shank Racing w/Curb Agajanian approaches 2026 with an upgraded version of the Acura ARX-06 and a sense of stability after spending much of last year catching up from missing the 2024 GTP campaign. MSR’s full-season driver pairings of Tom Blomqvist/Colin Braun (No. 60) and Renger van der Zande/Nick Yelloly (No. 93) are assisted at Daytona by a group of international all-stars, including IndyCar champions Scott Dixon and Alex Palou, NASCAR’s AJ Allmendinger and rising Japanese ace Kaku Ohta.


 

“I’ve done this race every year since 2004 and I love it,” said Dixon, a four-time Rolex 24 winner, including three overall victories. “A lot of the times you can get to the end of the race, and you could be racing 10 people for the win in the last 15 minutes, which is insane. 


 

“I just love the vibe and the atmosphere here, and they’ve definitely built on it. The crowds are a lot bigger than they used to be and there’s so much manufacturer support. A lot of positives.”


 

BMW is switching its IMSA partner organization for GTP from Team RLL to WRT, which has anchored BMW’s effort in WEC since the GTP formula debuted in 2023. BMW has also shuffled its driver lineup and introduced an Evo version of the BMW M Hybrid V8, leaving the car numbers (24 and 25) as virtually the only elements of the project unchanged from a year ago.


 

“There are so many new things,” said Philipp Eng, co-driver of the No. 25 entry. “I have a new full-season teammate with Marco Wittmann. New team, obviously, with WRT. There’s no doubt they are one of the best teams in the world, so I am very happy to be racing for them. We opened the performance window of the car. It’s still early days, but I think we have a very good overview of what to expect. 


 

“I’m happy that winter break is over and we get to go back racing.”


 

The Aston Martin THOR Team’s No. 23 Aston Martin Valkyrie was a popular addition to the WeatherTech Championship in 2025, and the sweet-sounding V-12 powered prototype makes its Rolex 24 debut this year. Aston Martin ended the 2025 campaign with the car’s first podium in the season finale at Michelin Raceway Road Atlanta and hopes to keep the momentum going.


 

“I think continuity is really important and having pretty much everything the same will help us continue on the trajectory we ended on last year,” said Ross Gunn, who co-drives full-time with Roman De Angelis. “I’m happy that we went that route.”


 

But there is so much more to the Rolex 24 than the exotic GTP prototypes and the race for the overall victory, and any of the other three classes could deliver a barnburner finish. 


 

IMSA has become the world’s premier championship for the Le Mans Prototype 2 (LMP2) class, and the Rolex 24 field features a robust 13-car entry. Over the course of the season, Bronze-rated LMP2 drivers compete for the Jim Trueman Award, which includes an invitation to compete in the 2027 24 Hours of Le Mans.

Production car-based cars built to the international GT3 standard enjoy an even bigger presence, with 15 entries set to compete in Grand Touring Daytona Pro (GTD PRO) and 21 pro-am driver combinations slated for Grand Touring Daytona (GTD). A total of 10 manufacturers are represented – Aston Martin, BMW, Corvette, Ferrari, Ford, Lamborghini, Lexus, McLaren, Mercedes-AMG and Porsche. Eight compete in both classes, while Aston Martin is only in GTD and McLaren is only in GTD PRO. The annual Bob Akin Award for Bronze drivers also includes a Le Mans invitation.


 

Detailed team-by-team previews of all 60 cars will follow in the next couple days. 


 

The 64th running of the Rolex 24 At Daytona begins with practice and qualifying Thursday and a final practice Friday. The green flag is set to wave at 1:40 p.m. ET Saturday.


 

Coverage of all 24 race hours will stream domestically on Peacock and internationally on IMSA.TV and the official IMSA YouTube channel. NBC will broadcast the start at 1:30 p.m. Saturday, then rejoin for the final two hours beginning at noon Sunday.

 

  
 

Porsche, Porsche, Porsche! Hear Them Roar

German Marque Completes Dominant Test Weekend Ahead of 64th Rolex 24


 

January 18, 2026

By John Oreovicz and Holly Cain

IMSA Wire Service

Practice 6 Results

Practice 7 Results


 

DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. – The form guide for the 64th running of the Rolex 24 At Daytona International Speedway isn’t too much clearer after three days of Roar Before the Rolex 24 testing than it was prior to the start.


 

Still, there was no denying Porsche’s consistent presence at the front of the overall and Grand Touring Prototype (GTP) class field during each of the test days to start the new 2026 IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship season.  


 

Porsche cars and drivers paced four of the first six sessions at the Roar, running 1-2-3 in two sessions and 1-2 in another. And it’s not just the upgraded-for-2026 factory No. 6 and No. 7 Porsche Penske Motorsport entries that are showing speed. 


 

The No. 85 Porsche 963 fielded by JDC-Miller MotorSports, running in 2025 specification, ranked in the top two three times this weekend. Rising 21-year-old star Nico Pino was fastest overall Sunday morning in Session 6, lapping the 3.56-mile Daytona road course in 1 minute 37.099 seconds for an average speed of 131.989 mph in the yellow JDC-Miller GTP. A final test session open only to Bronze-rated drivers in the Le Mans Prototype 2 (LMP2) and Grand Touring Daytona (GTD) classes was set for the afternoon.


 

The JDC-Miller driver lineup is the youngest in the 11-car GTP field, with Pino joined for the full season by 21-year-old Tijmen van der Helm and 23-year-old American Kaylen Frederick for Daytona and the other IMSA Michelin Endurance Cup rounds.


 

“Nico does an exceptional job and has some experience in the factory cars, which helps us get an opinion as to where we are,” said JDC-Miller MotorSports team principal John Church. “He helps with development and sets a good benchmark, so that’s been really positive.”


 

Porsche ran 1-2-3 in GTP on Sunday morning, with the factory cars driven by Kevin Estre (No. 6) and Felipe Nasr (No. 7) placing second and third. They were followed by the No. 10 and No. 40 Cadillac Wayne Taylor Racing Cadillac V-Series.Rs (driven respectively by brothers Ricky Taylor and Jordan Taylor) and both BMW M Team WRT BMW M Hybrid V8s (piloted by Kevin Magnussen and Rene Rast). The top seven GTP entries were covered by just 0.474 seconds.


 

Ben Hanley again led the LMP2 class in Session 6 in the No. 2 United Autosports USA ORECA LMP2 07, lapping in 1:40.101 (128.030 mph). The No. 2 car paced LMP2 in four of the first six Roar sessions, three while in the hands of Hanley.


 

In Grand Touring Daytona Pro (GTD PRO), the No. 75 75 Express Mercedes-AMG GT3 led the class for a fourth time, this one in the hands of team owner Kenny Habul at 1:47.530 (119.185 mph), the best lap turned by any GTD PRO car yet this weekend. The No. 75 is serving as an unofficial Australian All-Star car, with Habul joined by reigning Supercars champion Chaz Mostert and two-time IndyCar champion Will Power, who is making his WeatherTech Championship debut. Mercedes-AMG factory driver Maro Engel rounds out the No. 75 lineup.


 

Ford factory driver Joey Hand was slightly quicker than Habul in Gradient Racing’s GTD class No. 66 Ford Mustang GT3 at 1:47.421 (119.306 mph). The Mustang was the dominant GTD car over the weekend, with the No. 66 Gradient and No. 16 Myers Riley Motorsports entries leading five of the six sessions.


 

Leaders in the Sunday afternoon session for Bronze drivers were PJ Hyett (No. 99 AO Racing ORECA) in LMP2 and Brendan Iribe (No. 70 Inception Racing Ferrari 296 GT3 EVO) in GTD.


 

Unannounced Livestream of Roar Session Draws Lots of Eyeballs

Saturday night’s Roar session once again proved a big draw with fans, those at track and those watching from home. IMSA streamed the two-hour practice live on its YouTube channel – including commentary but no graphics – and earned more than 105,000 live views, who shared more than 11,000 chat messages during the session. Since conclusion, the video has attracted more than 75,000 additional views.


 

IMSA President John Doonan was pleased with the response, particularly since the livestream happened spontaneously with no pre-promotion. It was even tagged "Surprise, you asked, here you go" on IMSA’s Official YouTube channel.


 

"It was really special,” Doonan said. "A bit of a surprise and a delight.”


 

2012 Rolex 24 Winner, NASCAR Star Allmendinger Happy to Be Back on Grid


 

It’s been five years since 2012 Rolex 24 At Daytona overall winner A.J. Allmendinger last competed in the marquee season opener, but the NASCAR Cup Series regular is excited to be back on the star-filled grid this year. He’s paired with Tom Blomqvist, Colin Braun and Scott Dixon in the No. 60 Acura Meyer Shank Racing w/Curb Agajanian Acura ARX-06 in the GTP class.

Allmendinger, who’ll make his 16th Rolex 24 start on January 24, conceded with a grin, “it’s been a lot of work” getting up to speed with the new prototype. A longtime friend with Rolex 24 car team co-owner Michael Shank, the IndyCar and NASCAR race winner doesn’t just compete to fill his impressive resume, he wants to help his team earn a new Rolex watch.


 

Allmendinger conceded he had to be nudged – just a bit – to rejoin the team for the 24-hour race.

 

“In a way, he had to talk me into it,’’ Allmendinger said of Shank. “More than anything, the last thing I want to do in life is let that guy down.

 

“I knew this car was very sophisticated even compared to five years ago, the last time I drove DPi. It’s been a lot of work and the team has been amazing working with me and kind of bringing me up to speed as quick as they could. I put a lot of effort into studying everything.”

 

The opportunity was particularly attractive considering Allmendinger was going to be paired with a decorated A-list of co-drivers.

 

“These guys are world-class,” he said. “And part of the stress-slash-fun is being up to speed to be with them. I don’t expect to be the fastest one out of all of them, but I do expect to be fast enough to do my job and my portion of the race and hand the car off to the guys with a shot to win.

 

“And at the end of the day, I think it’s shown me how much I missed being around the group, the camaraderie. You have teammates in NASCAR, but you’re not sharing the car. So that’s been a lot of fun.”

Tunjo, Workman Double Up at Daytona in Wet, Wild VP Racing Challenge Sunday Race

Both Drivers Overcome Adversity in Challenging Conditions


 

January 18, 2026

By Tony DiZinno

IMSA Wire Service

Race Results


 

DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. – Though Oscar Tunjo (Le Mans Prototype 3, P3) and Westin Workman (Grand Sport X, GSX) doubled up their wins in the IMSA VP Racing SportsCar Challenge 2026 season opener, their second races of the weekend were anything but a sunny Sunday drive.


 

Both drivers overcame adversity and adverse conditions to score back-to-back wins to open their accounts in pursuit of the season championships.


 

With rain coming in right before the race Sunday at Daytona International Speedway – coincidentally, as it did last year in race two at Daytona – IMSA officials declared a wet start for all competitors to shift to wet-weather Michelin tires. 


 

Tunjo, driving the No. 1 Gebhardt Motorsport USA Inc. Duqueine D08, started on pole and led the opening eight laps, but the middle of the 45-minute race saw a round robin of leaders. First Tunjo’s teammate Danny Soufi in the No. 11 PINAXIS-ZONE 4 Racing Duqueine and then Brady Golan in the No. 30 Toney Driver Development Ligier JS P325 took turns in the lead.


 

Golan, however, drifted off course on Lap 18 on a damp patch and into the wet grass at the Turn 4 kink, proceeding to hit the tire barrier in Turn 5. Following a lengthy yellow to remove debris, there was enough time to get in a one-lap dash around the 3.56-mile road course with a green-and-white-flag finish.


 

Tunjo was able to streak away by 5.089 seconds over Brian Thienes, the P3 Bronze Cup winner in the No. 77 Forte Racing Ligier JS P320, and Golan’s teammate Lincoln Day in the No. 95 Toney Driver Development Ligier JS P325. Both Thienes and Day benefited from Golan and Soufi’s delays. 


 

“That was a pretty tricky race, I have to say one of the hardest of my career,” Tunjo said. “When I went out, it didn't look like it was that wet, but also for me it was a bit tricky because I was the leading car, so I didn't have a sense of where to brake and how to make everything. 


 

“I got some help from Valentino (Catalano, 2025 P3 champion and Tunjo’s 2025 teammate) from last year. And yeah, we changed the lead a few times. I went off a few times also, so it was not an easy situation, but very happy to come back. 


 

“I had some small issues with the car at the end of the race and bringing it into the flag was the main focus at the end with the win. I feel sorry for Golan and I hope he's OK, but happy to get the second win in a row and do it here in Daytona.” 

 

Workman Goes from First-to-Last-to-First

Workman’s second win of the weekend in GSX, driving the No. 8 RAFA Racing Toyota GR Supra GT4 EVO2, was even more eventful.


 

The polesitter pitted before the green flag to fix an air jack and then stopped on the backstraight after resuming from the pits to re-cycle the power steering. Either way, he would have to start at the back of the 12-car GSX and 22-car overall field. 


 

In just three laps, Workman had already climbed to fourth and by Lap 8, he made it past Justin Di Benedetto (No. 4 Di Benedetto Racing Porsche 718 GT4 RS CS) for the lead.


 

Both drivers had a healthy, clean battle following Workman’s comeback and Di Benedetto held on to be close enough to get the lead back. He was unable to do so after the one-lap dash and ended 1.142 seconds behind Workman. Sean Quinlan captured the GSX Bronze Cup win and finished third among all GSX entries in his No. 19 Stephen Cameron Racing Ford Mustang GT4.


 

“Even with all the issues, I regained confidence that we could still win the race,” Workman said. “The car is really good in the wet. Once I got to the lead, I pulled out a little gap. Then at the end there was a one-lap shootout, which was very fun. I kind of studied the driver behind me a little bit, and I knew if I drove it in a little deep in Turn 5, he would follow me and he would go in even deeper. He made a mistake and I was able to pull out a gap and win the race.”


 

Workman said he had only one tough pass among the 11 back to the front.


 

“I had one that was difficult because I knew the outside was a little bit faster, so I would catch some people off guard with that,” he explained. “There was one time I was trying to pass one of the BMWs. They didn't see me come around the outside and shoved me off a little bit but I regained it.”


 

Of the battle with Workman, Di Benedetto added: “Racing with Westin is awesome. Like, just pure clean racing, tricky conditions, and I think he gave us the absolute utmost respect.”


 

The next sprint weekend round of the IMSA VP Racing SportsCar Challenge will be held at Circuit of The Americas, Feb. 27-28. A week later, P3 competitors will continue for their first IMSA Airbnb Endurance Challenge weekend at Sebring International Raceway, March 6-8, running alongside BMW M2 competitors. 

 

 

 

Michelin Pilot Challenge Roar Before the Rolex 24 Weekend Notebook

Burkhard Fastest, New Ford Customers, Next Generation Bell and More


 

January 18, 2026

By Tony DiZinno

IMSA Wire Service

Combined Results (Sessions 1-4)

Session 5 Results


 

DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. – Early session leaders in Friday’s first two sessions for IMSA Michelin Pilot Challenge teams wound up being the fastest in the five-session weekend as part of the Roar Before the Rolex 24 test.


 

Morgan Burkhard, sharing the No. 2 CSM Porsche 718 GT4 RS CS with Gordon Scully and team newcomer Madeline Stewart, wound up with the weekend’s fastest time in Grand Sport (GS) in Friday’s first session. Burkhard lapped the 3.56-mile Daytona International Speedway road course in 1 minute, 52.800 seconds (113.617 mph).


 

"I'm super happy to start the season this way," Burkhard said. "We have put a ton of effort into this program over the off season and it's awesome to see it paying off. I'm excited to carry this momentum and the lessons learned into 2026 proper. This group of people is incredible to work with, I can't wait to see what we accomplish."


 

In Touring Car (TCR), Rocco Pasquarella topped the charts in the No. 5 KMW Motorsports with TMR Engineering Honda Civic FL5 TCR in session two. Pasquarella posted a best time of 1 minute, 57.565 seconds (109.012 mph). 


 

Some of the other weekend notes are below: 


 

TGM Busy Preparing New Ford

Asked for his initial reaction of his new Ford Mustang GT4, Team TGM’s Matt Plumb responded simply by laughing, “America.” 


 

In all seriousness, the driver of the No. 46 Team TGM Ford with Paul Holton was keen to highlight Ford Racing’s involvement supporting the all-American effort of all five of its drivers and the Ted Giovanis-led team.


 

Plumb, who’s tied with fellow Ford driver Billy Johnson (No. 59 KohR Motorsports Ford Mustang GT4) for the most all-time wins in IMSA Michelin Pilot Challenge history with 24, noted how busy the offseason has been. Since acquiring these chassis, the team has tested at Daytona International Speedway, Sebring International Raceway and Michelin Raceway Road Atlanta while also having time in Ford Racing’s simulator.


 

“They take care of their customers,” Plumb noted. “It’s been a great start with Ford for sure.” 


 

Giovanis and Hugh Plumb won last year’s GS Bronze Cup and will share their No. 64 Mustang GT4 with Kris Wilson at Daytona for Friday’s BMW M Endurance Challenge that opens the season.

 

Cicero Ready for First Full Season


 

While Team TGM is new to Ford for 2026, McCumbee McAleer Racing is not. The only change is its lineup to a full-season pairing of Nate Cicero and Robert Noaker, two of 14 Ford Racing Driver Development Team drivers announced Thursday who will share the team’s No. 13 Ford Mustang GT4.


 

Cicero, who won three Motul Pole Awards in his partial 2025 GS season, noted a noticeable step up in power from racing a Mazda MX-5 Cup car versus a GS Ford at this track. He and Jenson Altzman won their first race together at Road America, with Altzman finishing fourth in the 2025 GS standings. Altzman is set for his Rolex 24 At Daytona debut aboard the No. 16 Myers Riley Motorsports Ford Mustang GT3 next week. 


 

“Super excited for the season; we don’t know everyone’s form yet, but we’re looking to build on what we did last year,” Cicero said. 

 

Next-Generation Bell with Toyota

Ford isn’t alone in building an internal ladder program; so is Toyota. Multiple drivers racing Toyota GR Supra GT4 EVO2s in Michelin Pilot Challenge and/or VP Racing SportsCar Challenge have come through its GR Cup series. 


 

One such example is Jaxon Bell, who shares the No. 23 Koch-Copeland Motorsports Toyota with Ford Koch for the full season and Jack Hawksworth at Daytona. Bell said this rise into a full-time GS entry has been years in the making.


 

“It’s the reason I drove in GR Cup, mainly; I was so determined to make it higher up with Toyota and drive the GT4 car,” said Bell, the son of veteran motorsports commentator (including on next week’s NBC Sports telecasts) and past IMSA champion and Rolex 24 race winner Townsend Bell. Townsend Bell has been a regular Lexus driver and brand ambassador for several seasons. 


 

The Bell/Koch pairing finished second at Michelin Raceway to cap a three-race Michelin Pilot Challenge trial run at the end of 2025 and may well contend for victories in their first full season in 2026.

 

Farnbacher Steps in to Aid Pegram Honda Switch

 

Two-time IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship Grand Touring Daytona (GTD) title winner Mario Farnbacher is, for now, using his years of Honda sports car experience as a key point of emphasis to help Pegram Racing sort out its new No. 72 Honda Civic FL5 TCR for the father-daughter duo of Larry and Riley Pegram. For Farnbacher, this weekend’s test and Friday’s race are his only confirmed 2026 program, so he’s keen to make an impression and find another opportunity for further IMSA drives this year.


 

As for the Pegrams, their debut with Honda in the Touring Car (TCR) class after switching from Hyundai has come with a caveat. Larry Pegram will sit out Daytona following an incident in December but is recovering well and set to return at the Alan Jay Automotive Network 120 at Sebring in March. Riley Pegram, then, will have extended seat time at Daytona as part of the team’s two-driver lineup rather than three. The elder Pegram made his name as an ace motorcycle racer with many brands, including with Honda in the mid-2000s. 

 

Morley Hails Switch to Cupra with Gou Racing

“It’s the best car I’ve ever driven through Turn 6 at (WeatherTech Raceway) Laguna Seca.”


 

The car in question that Jon Morley was talking about? The Cupra Leon VZ TCR, which is quite a statement from the San Francisco native who has logged tens of thousands of laps at the Monterey, Calif., track over his multi-faceted career. He noted this after testing the Audi RS3 LMS TCR and the Cupra back-to-back.


 

While the spine between the two chassis is similar, Morley noted a significant difference between how the Audi and Cupra drive. Morley hailed the Cupra’s handling and front-end stability. He’ll share the No. 55 Gou Racing Cupra at Daytona with the father-and-son duo of Eduardo and Eddie Gou. 

 

Odds and Ends


 

  • Drivers set to race in both the BMW M Endurance Challenge and Rolex 24 At Daytona as of now include Hawksworth, Spencer Pumpelly, Robert Megennis, Dillon Machavern, Robby Foley and Mason Filippi. Of those, Foley and Filippi are the only two with full-season programs confirmed in both series at this time, although others may run all WeatherTech Championship IMSA Michelin Endurance Cup rounds in addition to their Michelin Pilot Challenge programs. 
  • Philip Ellis played the substitute role in Winward Racing’s No. 57 Mercedes-AMG GT GT4 this weekend with Daan Arrow racing at the 24 Hours of Dubai alongside Bryce Ward. It’s a familiar role for Ellis alongside his primary WeatherTech Championship GTD commitments, and should the need arise for the team to call on him again as a third driver next week, it’d be a natural fit. 
  • Megan Ryder is also pulling double duty of a different kind. The TCR championship-winning Bryan Herta Autosport with Curb Agajanian lead engineer of the No. 98 Hyundai Elantra N TCR is set to be a race day assistant for the No. 52 BHA with PR1/Mathiasen ORECA LMP2 07 in the WeatherTech Championship. 


 

Michelin Pilot Challenge teams return to the track on Wednesday for practice ahead of Friday’s four-hour race.

 

A Powerful Trio of Changes Displayed at Roar Test

Will Power’s Debut, DragonSpeed’s New Corvette Power; Powerful Biffle Tribute Adorns KohR Motorsports Ford Mustang GT4


 

January 17, 2026

By Holly Cain

IMSA Wire Service

DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. – Among the star-studded entry list for the 64th Rolex 24 At Daytona is a racing superstar making his debut in the famed twice-around-the-clock race.

 

Two-time IndyCar Series champion and 2018 Indianapolis 500 winner Will Power set a fast time in the Grand Touring Daytona Pro (GTD PRO) class in Saturday afternoon’s session during Roar Before the Rolex 24 testing. Power said he’s enjoyed taking in the new competitive scenery in preparation for his first IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship race on the 3.56-mile Daytona International Speedway road course.

 

The 44-year-old Australian, who is moving from a 17-year tenure at Team Penske in the IndyCar Series to the Andretti Global team in 2026, will actually be competing against his new teammates Kyle Kirkwood and Marcus Ericsson next weekend.

 

“I’m really enjoying it, it’s a real big event that I’ve wanted to do for a long time,’’ said Power, who is driving with fellow Australians Kenny Habul and Chaz Mostert and German Maro Engel in the No. 75 75 Express Mercedes-AMG GT3. “I’m really happy to be here.’’

 

This week marks only the second time Power has turned any laps on the famed Daytona track after also participating in the IMSA-sanctioned test in November.

 

“I’m having a lot of fun,” Power repeated. “I like it. It’s a different style of racing dealing with cars motoring by you and having to navigate a lot of traffic and being very aware of what’s going on around you. Fun.’’

 

Power conceded that the Rolex 24 has long been on his bucket list.


 

“I’ve always been a bit too late to the game talking to teams, but good timing (now). It’s funny that I hadn’t done it (previously) because I’d wanted to do it for a long time but always been so focused on being prepared in IndyCar. But I’m late enough in my career now, I’ve done it long enough, I don’t think it would affect that. So really ready to go and enjoy it.’’

 

DragonSpeed Joins Corvette Contingent

Corvette has welcomed its fifth full-season team to the WeatherTech Championship with DragonSpeed joining the Grand Touring Daytona (GTD) competitive mix with its No. 81 Corvette Z06 GT3.R. The Rolex 24 that starts January 24 will mark the racing debut in the Corvette for all four drivers. Giacomo Altoč, Henrik Hedman and Casper Stevenson are here this weekend with Matteo Cairoli absent at a schedule conflict. The first three here are determined to capitalize on this weekend’s testing; Hedman noted a successful shakedown shortly after taking the car’s delivery late last year.  

 

“It was my first-ever laps in the Corvette,’’ said Altoč, who was a key cog in DragonSpeed’s near GTD PRO title run alongside Albert Costa in 2025. “It's amazing and a very different feeling than what I'm used to. Of course, I needed a few laps to adapt. Handling was different but it's also very different with how I'm seated in the car with the seating position, the sound, how the car works. 

 

“I still need to go through all the systems so there is a lot of homework to do. I just need to find out what the car needs and we will keep progressing.” 

 

KohR Motorsports Pays Tribute to Biffle with Special Livery

IMSA Michelin Pilot Challenge team KohR Motorsports is running a special tribute on one of its cars to NASCAR driver Greg Biffle, who died along with family members and friends in a plane crash December 18 in North Carolina. The No. 60 KohR Ford Mustang GT4 is carrying a paint scheme honoring the Biffles during Roar testing this weekend and again for the series’ season-opening race, the BMW M Endurance Challenge on Friday at Daytona.


 

The Mustang – with the special livery and the hashtag #BeLikeBiff – is sponsored by Roush and carries the No. 60 – all reminiscent of Biffle’s early career when he drove a No. 60 Ford owned by Jack Roush to the 2002 NASCAR O’Reilly Auto Parts Series championship. 

 

The connection between Biffle and the team goes much deeper. Biffle’s work with Angel Flight helped provide needed supplies to regions of western North Carolina in the wake of 2024’s Hurricane Helene. The Angel Flight organization has been something that J.C. Waidler, KohR’s motorsports director of marketing and public relations, has been involved in for three decades.

 

“It’s not necessarily a motorsports thing, it’s what he meant to people off track,’’ Waidler said. “A lot of people who don’t follow NASCAR heard about what Greg and (wife) Christina did for people during the hurricane.’’

 

Dean Martin, who is co-driving the Mustang with Ray Mason and Evan Slater, was adamant that the tribute was “the right thing to do.’’ 

 

“It’s not even so much about what Greg did in racing,’’ Martin said. “It’s more of his humanitarian efforts. A lot of people don’t even realize just how much he’s done. 

 

“It was a common goal,’’ Martin said of the hurricane relief, “And this is admiration for him and what he’s done outside of racing.’’

 

 

 

Cadillac Moves into Contention but Porsche Still Leads Roar Testing

Albuquerque Tops Afternoon Session in No. 10 Cadillac Wayne Taylor Racing Entry


 

January 17, 2026

By John Oreovicz

IMSA Wire Service

Practice 3 Results

Practice 4 Results

Combined Practice Results


 

DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. – Cadillac rose to the top of the timing screens as temperatures rose Saturday at Daytona International Speedway for the second of three days of Roar Before the Rolex 24 testing ahead of next weekend’s 64th running of the Rolex 24 At Daytona.


 

Filipe Albuquerque and the No. 10 Cadillac Wayne Taylor Racing Cadillac V-Series.R were quickest Saturday afternoon in the fourth of seven scheduled test sessions, prior to Saturday’s night session. But Albuquerque’s lap time of 1 minute, 36.731 seconds (132.491 mph) in the afternoon heat was almost two-tenths off the 1:36.549 lap (132.741 mph) turned by Laurens Vanthoor in the No. 6 Porsche Penske Motorsport Porsche 963 in the day’s earlier action. 


 

“It feels good, and we were P1 in that session,” said Albuquerque. “We’re continuing to evolve through the setup and the run plan that we have. It shows that we are doing the right things with the car but still have a lot to learn.


 

“The track is getting hotter and understanding how the car balance evolves is what we are targeting,” he added before preparing to head out for the only Roar session to be staged at night. “The car always comes alive in the night and it’s a dream car to drive. But the race never finishes in the night, so I think this (afternoon) was a very important session.” 


 

Cadillac may have moved out front Saturday afternoon, but Porsche still ranked 1-2-3 when times were combined after the first four Roar sessions. Felipe Nasr, who is sharing the two-time defending Rolex 24 winning No. 7 Penske Porsche this year with Julien Andlauer and Laurin Heinrich, turned the fastest lap thus far of the weekend (1:36.327) in Session 1 on Friday. The No. 85 JDC-Miller MotorSports Porsche in the hands of Nico Pino, Tijmen van der Helm and Kaylen Frederick continues to impress, splitting the two factory Porsche Penske Motorsport entries on the combined session sheet.


 

A Porsche race car has claimed overall victory in the Rolex 24 a record 20 times since 1968, with four additional overall wins as an engine supplier. Most recently, Porsche has won the last two years with the No. 7 car anchored by Nasr. He and Dane Cameron also co-drove the No. 7 Porsche to the 2024 Grand Touring Prototype (GTP) class championship, a feat repeated by Porsche Penske Motorsports’ No. 6 car in 2025 with drivers Matt Campbell and Mathieu Jaminet. This year, Campbell is the Michelin Endurance Cup driver in the No. 6 with Vanthoor and Kevin Estre. 


 

Acura and BMW are closely vying with Cadilac for second place in the overall pecking order despite a troubled couple days of testing for Acura Meyer Shank Racing w/Curb Agajanian’s No. 93 Acura ARX-06. The No. 23 Aston Martin Valkyrie also suffered a setback Saturday, requiring an engine change that kept it out of the afternoon session after Ross Gunn ran seventh fastest in the morning. The team was still working on it to start night practice.


 

Ben Hanley was the only driver to clock a sub-1:40 lap in the Le Mans Prototype 2 (LMP2) class Saturday as times were generally more than a second slower than Friday. Hanley lapped the 3.56-mile Daytona road course in 1:39.922 (128.260 mph) in the afternoon in the No. 2 United Autosports USA ORECA LMP2 07, besting the 1:40.159 achieved by Mathias Beche in the morning in TDS Racing’s No. 11 ORECA.

Myers Riley Motorsports’ No. 16 Ford Mustang GT3 led both GT classes in both daytime sessions Saturday as the fastest of 21 Grand Touring Daytona (GTD) competitors again led all 15 entries in the Grand Touring Daytona Pro (GTD PRO) field. Felipe Fraga set the day’s GTD benchmark at 1:47.453 (119.270 mph) in the morning, while Romain Grosjean was quickest in the afternoon at 1:47.667 (119.033 mph).


 

Two-time IndyCar Series champion Will Power showed he’s a quick study in any environment by setting the fastest time of the day in GTD PRO in the No. 75 75 Express Mercedes-AMG GT3 at 1:47.612 (119.094 mph). Tommy Milner (No. 4 Corvette Racing by Pratt Miller Motorsports Corvette Z06 GT3.R) moved to the front Saturday afternoon at 1:47.810 (118.876 mph).


 

Power, the 20-year IndyCar veteran, will make his first WeatherTech Championship start in the upcoming Rolex 24. “It’s a fun car to drive and the guys that are the top guys in these cars are incredibly fast,” Power said. “It’s been great to learn from them.”


 

Two GT class competitors of note encountered mechanical difficulties Saturday. The No. 36 DXDT Racing Corvette Z06 GT3.R missed much of the morning with a clutch problem, while AO Racing’s No. 77 “Rexy” Porsche 911 GT3 R sat out the afternoon while undergoing an engine change. 


 

The Roar Before the Rolex 24 wraps up Sunday with two testing sessions, the last restricted to Bronze-rated drivers. The 64th running of the Rolex 24 At Daytona takes place from January 22-25.

 

tunjo on Top to Start 2026 IMSA VP Racing SportsCar Challenge Season

Workman Delivers Debut Win in GSX


 

January 17, 2026

By Tony DiZinno

IMSA Wire Service

Race Results


 

DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. – Both polesitters for the IMSA VP Racing SportsCar Challenge 2026 season opener from Daytona International Speedway drove to controlled victories to kick off their campaigns.


 

Oscar Tunjo (overall and in Le Mans Prototype 3, P3) and Westin Workman (Grand Sport X, GSX) secured the top spots in the 45-minute race on a sunny Saturday afternoon ahead of a packed infield that included a bevy of scouts visiting the 3.56-mile track during the Roar Before the Rolex 24 weekend.


 

In P3, the story going in was how the 2025 generation cars would fare against the new-for-2026 third-generation entries. Tunjo, driving one of the 2025 era cars, the No. 1 Gebhardt Motorsport USA Inc. Duqueine D08, determined a strong start would dictate how his race would go.


 

Other than one moment in traffic where he briefly lost the lead to chief rival Brady Golan, in one of the new-for-2026 entries, the No. 30 Toney Driver Development Ligier JS P325, Tunjo stayed out front. He beat Golan by 3.729 seconds but the race was often closer than that. 


 

“It was a really tough race, I have to say,” Tunjo said. “We knew it was going to be hard at the beginning. The new car, the turbo had big top speed. So yeah, it was tricky. We had some good fights. At some point, I think with 20 minutes to go, in traffic, I managed to pull a little bit of gap and then at the end, I had a little bit easier race.” 


 

It marks a strong start for the Colombian driver, who raced most VP Racing Challenge events in 2025 but not at Daytona. 


 

“It’s a dream come true to come to Daytona, firstly, and then to win is even more, and I'm doing it with a team that gives me the trust to do it,” he added. “I feel super proud of all the Gebhardt team, and it's a great beginning for the season. It's a long season, a long way, but starting off winning is always special.” 


 

Golan was second for the second straight year at Daytona after emerging ahead in a race-long battle with Danny Soufi, who finished third in the No. 11 PINAXIS-ZONE 4 Racing Duqueine D08. The 2025 P3 Bronze Cup champion, Brian Thienes, opened his 2026 account with the Bronze Cup win, placing fifth overall in P3 aboard the No. 77 Forte Racing Ligier JS P320.

 

Workman’s GT4 Debut Comes Up Aces

Westin Workman has developed a strong body of work in the sports car ladder system, primarily the Whelen Mazda MX-5 Cup Presented by Michelin and Toyota’s GR Cup series. But this weekend marked the Charlotte native’s debut in a GT4-specification car and in IMSA VP Racing SportsCar Challenge. 


 

He’s off to a strong start.


 

From pole, Workman banked an early lead in the GSX field north of eight seconds, and outside of one lap where he had a brief time loss, was never headed. Driving the No. 8 RAFA Racing Toyota GR Supra GT4 EVO2, Workman won by 10.247 seconds. It marks Toyota’s 14th straight GSX race win in the VP Racing Challenge, having won the final race of 2024 at Michelin Raceway Road Atlanta and all 12 races in 2025. 


 

“It’s just a testament to the team, to myself and the people around me,” Workman said. “I couldn't be happier to be here. I am very grateful. This weekend is my first-ever time driving the car, so it was very good to kind of finally feel what this car has to offer.”


 

A race-long battle for second saw fellow series debutante Ismaeel Ellahi in the No. 25 CSM Porsche 718 GT4 RS CS finish slightly ahead of Canadian Justin Di Benedetto in the No. 4 Di Benedetto Racing Porsche. Sean Quinlan, who finished fourth, was the top-finishing GSX Bronze Cup entry in the No. 19 Stephen Cameron Racing Ford Mustang GT4.


 

The second 45-minute race of the weekend goes green at 1:20 p.m. ET Sunday, streaming on Peacock and internationally via IMSA’s Official YouTube channel. 
 

Herta, Zilisch and AO’s ‘Rexy’ LEGO Turn Heads to Start 2026 Roar Test

Two Young American Drivers and One of IMSA’s Popular Teams Undergoing

Rapid Growth 


 

January 16, 2026

By Holly Cain and John Oreovicz

IMSA Wire Service

DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. – Colton Herta arrived at Daytona International Speedway for this week’s IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship’s Roar Before the Rolex 24 test sessions essentially already in “race mode.” It’s been a particularly busy last few months for the American open-wheel star and past Rolex 24 At Daytona class winner.

 

The 25-year-old Californian and recent IndyCar Series headliner has just completed his first test laps in the Hitech TGR car he’ll race in the FIA Formula 2 Series this season. In addition to competing in F2, Herta has been named test driver for the Cadillac Formula 1 Team’s 2026 debut schedule. 

 

This week, however, Herta is again taking to the Daytona road course in preparation for the annual twice-around-the-clock sports car classic, co-driving the No. 40 Cadillac Wayne Taylor Racing Cadillac V-Series.R in the headlining GTP (Grand Touring Prototype) class with Jordan Taylor and Louis Deletraz.

 

It’s a race Herta genuinely looks forward to competing in. And next weekend he’ll attempt to add an overall class victory to the two-trophy haul he already owns in the renowned event – claiming class wins in 2019 (Grand Touring Le Mans) and 2022 (Le Mans Prototype 2) which already has elevated him among the winning ranks in the great 24-hour classic.

“A lot of us open-wheel guys always use this as a pathway to getting ready for our season because it’s always in January and we can get in the car and warm up a little bit. I think that’s where some of the attractiveness comes from,’’ Herta said of his fondness for the Rolex 24.

 

“It is super special and this race is always one that hopefully for the rest of my racing career I can do every year. I love doing this one and all the endurance races, but this one is super special because it’s the hardest to win.’’

 

It may only be January, but Herta smiled and conceded the past few months have been the busiest time of his young career – something he considers to be nothing but positive.

 

“It’s been a crazy year already, already been in different cars before even coming here,” he said. “I’ll need to be a little bit of a chameleon, able to change shades and get in different race cars and adapt quickly. That will be the name of the game this year for me.”


 

On his day one of the Roar, Herta added: "I’m happy with how the first day went. It’s always nice when you get to drive race cars. This Cadillac V-Series.R is super fun. It sounds great. It’s great to drive inside the cockpit, it does what you want as a driver. All happy signs from me for Day 1."

 

Zilisch on the Marquee

Two years ago at Media Day for the Rolex 24, Connor Zilisch was a wide-eyed 17-year-old kid who had nearly won the Mazda MX-5 Cup championship and was about to embark on a stock car career. He went nearly unnoticed in a room packed with sports car and IndyCar stars, and even a few drivers with Formula 1 pedigree.

 

Fast forward 24 months and Zilisch – who nearly won the 2025 NASCAR Xfinity Series (now O’Reilly Auto Parts Series) championship and is moving up to the NASCAR Cup Series with Trackhouse Racing – was arguably the most in-demand driver at Thursday’s Media Day for the 2026 Rolex 24.

 

He’s still just 19, but Zilisch has emerged as a major star wherever he competes. And while he’s set to enjoy a long and prosperous career at NASCAR's top level, the young North Carolina native will always hold sports car racing in high esteem. 

 

“It’s certainly been a wild ride,” Zilisch reflected. “Since the first time I was here 24 months ago today, a lot has changed in my life, and for the better. I’m super grateful.” 

 

Zilisch co-drove to the LMP2 class victory for Era Motorsport in his Rolex 24 debut, and he’s set to make his third start in the Daytona enduro on January 24. Not surprisingly given his meteoric career path, he’ll compete in the top GTP class, in the No. 31 Cadillac Whelen Cadillac V-Series.R. It’s his third class in as many seasons, after the LMP2 debut and a one-off Grand Touring Daytona Pro (GTD PRO) appearance in 2025 as part of an all-star Trackhouse by TF Sport Corvette Z06 GT3.R he shared with Scott McLaughlin, Shane van Gisbergen and Ben Keating.

 

“I get to race in the GTP class for the first time and try to chase a Rolex watch with three other teammates who don’t have one yet. It’s going to be an awesome weekend for all of us,” he said. “I hope I can come back and do this event every year if possible.”

 

AO’s ‘Rexy’ LEGO is Built from Success

In only its fourth year competing, two-time championship-winning team AO Racing may still be a relative “newcomer” to the WeatherTech Championship. However, it’s quickly risen up the popularity charts with the sport’s fans. 

 

Not only does AO Racing boast a talented and championship two-class lineup – its No. 99 ORECA LMP2 07, “Spike, the LMP2 Dragon” won last year’s LMP2 title with owner-driver PJ Hyett and Dane Cameron, and its No. 77 Rexy/Roxy the Dinosaur GTD PRO car hoisted the big trophy in 2024 – AO Racing’s creative car livery has become a hugely popular draw on the grid.

 

So much so that the iconic LEGO brand has recently released the team’s green GTD PRO class Porsche 911 GT3 R as a LEGO TECHNIC building set: the Rexy GT3 RAWR (LEGO Technic Porsche 911 GT3 R REXY AO Racing Car).

 

As with the decorated race team itself, the LEGO version has been an immediate success.

 

The 1,313-piece set, which even includes working airjacks, was released January 1, sold out on the LEGO website within 24 hours and on retail websites in two days, according to a team spokesperson. Fans and LEGO enthusiasts can order the sets on LEGO.com, however, and the team says they will be on sale in stores soon. 

 

This year’s AO Racing driver lineup for the Rolex 24 includes Hyett, Cameron, Jonny Edgar and Christian Rasmussen in the No. 99 ORECA that finished fifth in class last year. Veteran Nick Tandy joins new co-drivers Harry King and Alessio Picarello aboard the No. 77 AO Racing Porsche in GTD PRO, which finished eighth in class in 2025.


 

LEGO Photo courtesy of AO Racing

 

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