24 Hours of Daytona

The24 Hours of Daytona, also known as theRolex 24 At Daytonafor sponsorship reasons, is a 24-hoursports carendurance raceheld annually atDaytona International SpeedwayinDaytona Beach, Florida. It is run on theSports Car Course layout, a 3.56-mile (5.73 km)combined road coursethat uses most of the tri-oval plus an infield road course. Held on the last weekend of January or first weekend of February as part ofSpeedweeks, it is the first major automobile race of the year in North America. The race is sanctioned byIMSAand is the first race of the season for theIMSA SportsCar Championship.
The race has borne the names of several sponsors over the years. Since 1992, theRolexWatch Company has been thetitle sponsorof the race, replacingSunbank, which replacedPepsiin 1984. Winning drivers of all classes receive aRolex Daytonawatch.
The race is known as a leg of the informalTriple Crown of endurance racingalong with the24 Hours of Le Mansand12 Hours of Sebring.
Shortly after the track opened, on April 5, 1959, asix-hour/1000 kilometerUSAC-FIAsports car race was held on the road course. Count Antonio Von Dory andRoberto Miereswon the race in aPorsche, shortened to 560.07 miles (901.35 km) due to darkness.The race used a 3.81-mile layout, running counter-clockwise.This event is not considered to be part of the lineage of the eventual 24-hour race.
In 1962, a 3-hoursports car racewas introduced. Known as the Daytona Continental, it counted towards theFIA's newInternational Championship for GT Manufacturers. The first Continental was won byDan Gurney, driving a 2.7LCoventry Climax-poweredLotus 19.Gurney was a factory Porsche driver at the time, but the 1600-ccPorsche 718was considered too small and slow for what amounted to a sprint race on a very fast course.
In the past, a car had to cross the finish line after 24 hours to be classified, which led to dramatic scenes where damaged cars waited in the pits or on the edge of the track close to the finish line for hours, then restarted their engines and crawled across the finish line one last time in order to finish after the 24 hours and be listed with a finishing distance, rather than dismissed with DNF (did not finish). This was the case in the initial 1962 Daytona Continental (then 3 hours), in whichDan Gurney'sLotus 19had established a lengthy lead when the engine failed with just minutes remaining. Gurney stopped the car at the top of the banking, just short of the finish line. When the three hours had elapsed, Gurney simply cranked the steering wheel to the left (toward the bottom of the banking) and let gravity pull the car across the line, to not only salvage a finishing position, but actually win the race.This led to the international rule requiring a car to cross the line under its own power in order to be classified.
In 1964, the event was expanded to 2,000 km (1,240 mi), doubling the classic 1000 km distance of races atNürburgring,SpaandMonza. The distance amounted to roughly half of the distance the24 Hours of Le Manswinners covered at the time, and was similar in length to the12 Hours of Sebring, which was also held in Florida in March. Starting in 1966, the Daytona race was extended to the same 24-hour length as Le Mans.
The first 24 Hour event in 1966 was won byKen MilesandLloyd Rubydriving aFord Mk. II.Motor Sportreported: "For their first 24-hour race the basic organization was good, but the various officials in many cases were out of touch, childish and lacked the professional touch which one now finds atWatkins Glen."
1966 also sawSuzy Dietrichenter the 24 Hours event, driving a Sunbeam Alpine withJanet GuthrieandDonna Mae Mims. The trio finished 32nd and, along with another women's team in the race, became the first women's teams to finish an international-standard 24-hour race.
After having lost in 1966 at Daytona, Sebring and Le Mans to the Fords, theFerrari Pseries prototypes staged a 1–2–3 side-by-side parade finish at the banked finish line in 1967.TheFerrari 365 GTB/4road car was given the unofficial nameFerrari Daytonain celebration of this victory.
Porscherepeated this show in their 1–2–3 win in the 1968 24 Hours. After the car ofGerhard Mitterhad a big crash caused by tire failure in the banking, his teammateRolf Stommelensupported the car ofVic ElfordandJochen Neerpasch.When the car of the longtime leadersJo SiffertandHans Herrmanndropped to second due to a technical problem, these two also joined the new leaders while continuing with their car. So Porsche managed to put 5 of 8 drivers on the center of the podium, plusJo SchlesserandJoe Buzzettafinishing in third place, with only Mitter being left out.
Lolafinished 1–2 in the 1969 24 Hours of Daytona. The winning car was thePenskeLola T70-Chevrolet ofMark DonohueandChuck Parsons.Few spectators witnessed the achievement asMotor Sportreported: "The Daytona 24-Hour race draws a very small crowd, as can be seen from the empty stands in the background."
1970 saw the race with drivers strapped into their cars, and at the start, drove away. Since 1971, races begin with rolling starts.
In 1972, because of an FIA rule, the race was shortened to six hours, while theenergy crisisled to the cancellation altogether in 1974.TheSports Car Club of Americasanctioning was replaced by theInternational Motor Sports Associationin 1975.
In 1982 the race continued on as part of theIMSA GT Championshipinstead ofWSC.
In2014, the race saw a dramatic crash involvingMemo Gidleywho was driving the pole-sitter DP and Matteo Malucelli, an amateur driver in a Ferrari 458 of the GTD category that has never won a race inNorth American Endurance. At the time of the impact, Malucelli was driving at less than 30 mph and keeping on the track while cars were passing him at 150 mph. Memo, who was side by side to another car couldn't have seen him and impacted front first. The race was subsequently red-flagged. Both drivers survived.
The regular teams were expanded to three drivers in the 1970s. Nowadays, four drivers compete typically because of the longer night driving. In the professional-based DPi Prototype and ACO GTE classes, all four drivers are usually professionals. In the ACO LMP2 and SRO Group GT3-based classes, many of these additional drivers are known as "amateur drivers," under current FIA specifications.  Amateur drivers are sportsman drivers that have built a career in a non-motorsport related occupation.  These type of drivers are typically eligible for IMSA'sJim TruemanandBob Akinawards, awarded to the top driver who is not a professional at the end of season. These amateur drivers or overage professional drivers (FIA Silver or Bronze are typically for amateur drivers but professional drivers over 55 are automatically classified at this level) are required in the car for a specific number of hours. Most often, the fourth driver in all classes is a Daytona-only professional driver of renown that most often has won a major professional championship, such asScott Dixon,Jeff Gordon,Fernando Alonso,Shane van GisbergenandKyle Busch.
Unlike the Le Mans event, the Daytona race is conducted entirely over a closed course within the speedway arena without the use of any public streets. Most parts of the steep banking are included, interrupted with a chicane on the back straight and a sweeping, fast infield section which includes two hairpins. Unlike Le Mans, the race is held in wintertime, when nights are at their longest. There are lights installed around the circuit for night racing, although the infield section is still not as well-lit as the main oval. However, the stadium lights are turned on only to a level of 20%, similar to the stadium lighting setup at Le Mans, with brighter lights around the pit straight, and decent lighting similar to street lights around the circuit.
After several ownership changes atIMSAwhich changed the direction the organization followed, it was decided by the 1990s that the Daytona event would align with theGrand-Amseries, a competitor of theAmerican Le Mans Series, which, as its name implies, uses the same regulations as the Le Mans Series and the 24 Hours of Le Mans. The Grand Am series, though, is instead closely linked toNASCARand the original ideas ofIMSAand focused on controlled costs and close competition.
In order to makesports car racingless expensive than elsewhere, new rules were introduced in 2002. The dedicatedDaytona Prototypes(DP) use less expensive materials and technologies and the car's simple aerodynamics reduce the development and testing costs. The DPs began racing in 2003 with six cars in the race.
Specialist chassis makers likeRiley,Dallara, andLolaprovide the DP cars for the teams and the engines are branded under the names of major car companies likeCadillac,Lexus,Ford,BMW, andPorsche.
2017 saw the introduction of theDPiprototypes. These cars were based on LMP2 chassis with a custom engine and bodywork from a major manufacturer.
For 2023, the race adopted theLMDhprototype specification, althoughLe Mans Hypercarswere also permitted. The series has also returned to the Grand Touring Prototype name from the 1980's.
TheGran Turismoclass cars at Daytona are closer to the road versions, similar to the GT3 class elsewhere. For example, the more standard Cup version of thePorsche 996is used, instead of the usual RS/RSR racing versions. Recent Daytona entries also includeBMW M3sandM6s,Porsche 911s,Chevy CamarosandCorvettes,Mazda RX-8s,Pontiac GTO.Rs, andFerrari F430 Challenges. TheAudi R8and theFerrari 458 Italiadebuted in the 50th anniversary of the race in 2012.
From the era of the IMSA GTO and GTU until the 2015 rule changes,spaceframecars clad in lookalike body panels to compete in GT (the new BMW M6, Chevrolet Camaro, and Mazda RX-8). These rules are similar to the old GTO specification, but with more restrictions. The intent of spaceframe cars is to allow teams to save money, especially after crashes, where teams can rebuild the cars for the next race at a much lower cost, or even redevelop cars, instead of having to write off an entire car after a crash or at the end of a year.
Starting in 2014 the GT Daytona class was restricted exclusively toGroup GT3cars. Alongside this came the GTLM class, usingLM GTEcars, similar to the WEC. In 2022 the GTLM class was replaced by GTD Pro, using the same cars as GTD.A single GTLM car, the Corvette C8.R, was also permitted to compete in the class with its performance adjusted to the GTD cars.
IMSAadapted its current structuring of the class in the 2022 season. These changes split the GT Daytona class into GTD and GTD PRO.Both GTD classes use identical cars built to theFIA GT3technical regulations. The only difference is that GTD requires one amateur driver (with asilver or bronze rating) while driver selection is open in GTD PRO.
The 2013 race was the first and only year for the GX class. Six cars started in the event. The class consisted of purpose-built productionPorsche Cayman SandMazda 6racecars. Mazda debuted their first diesel racecar there which was the first time adiesel fuelracecar ever started at the Daytona 24. Throughout the race, the Caymans were dominant, while all three Mazdas suffered premature engine failure and retired from the race. By a 9-lap lead, the #16 Napleton Porsche Cayman, driven byDavid Donohue, was the GX winner.
Porschehas the most overall victories of any manufacturer with 23, scored by various models, including the road-based 911, 935, and 996. Porsche also won a record 11 consecutive races from 1977 to 1987 and won 18 out of 23 races from 1968 to 1991. The German carmaker also claimed to earn back-to-back wins overall in both the 2024 and 2025 races.
In addition to their 19 wins as both car and engine manufacturer, Porsche has four wins solely as an engine manufacturer, in 1984, and 1995, and two in the Daytona Prototype era, in 2009 and 2010. General Motors has 10 wins between its Oldsmobile, Pontiac, Chevrolet, and Cadillac brands.
Notes: