Daytona's Big Race: More Than Just Cars and Speed

The Rolex 24 at Daytona is more than just a race; it's a spectacle. Fans and drivers alike are buzzing with excitement. The event has grown in popularity, drawing huge crowds. This year, the buzz is even louder. The IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship is at its peak, and everyone wants to be part of it. Jim Matthews stole the show in a pre-race event. He won the HSR IMSA Classic, beating Ford's CEO, Jim Farley. Matthews drove a vintage Riley & Scott Mk. III Oldsmobile, a car that won the Rolex 24 back in 1996. Farley, on the other hand, drove a 2002 Riley & Scott Mk IIIC Ford. Matthews' victory was a close one, winning by nearly nine seconds. IMSA had to issue a pre-race bulletin about the LMP2 leader light system. There were some issues with it, so teams were told to disconnect it for the race. However, the system had to stay installed as per the technical regulations. The leader light system, used in other classes like GTP, GTD Pro, and GTD, is integrated differently in LMP2 cars. This has caused some reliability problems in the past. Roger Penske's team has a lot on their plate. They acknowledged that lack of experience with the Porsche 963 played a role in not selecting NTT IndyCar Series stars Josef Newgarden and Scott McLaughlin as fourth drivers. Both had tested with the team but hadn't raced the car since. Penske also revealed that they considered running a throwback livery on one of their 963s. However, they decided against it to focus on winning their third consecutive Rolex 24. Team Penske has a remarkable record with Porsche machinery. They have 198 starts and 50 wins, a 25 percent win rate. This weekend, they are aiming for their third straight overall win at the Rolex 24. IMSA will be keeping a close eye on the top-four finishing cars from the GTP and GTD Pro classes. These cars will undergo a comprehensive vehicle inspection overnight on Sunday. The inspection will start at 8 a. m. on Monday, and cars that pass will be released by 3 p. m. Teams will need to provide various equipment for the inspection, or they could face technical non-compliance. Laurens Vanthoor, a Porsche Penske Motorsport driver, expects to race a similar number of times this year. Despite switching to the IMSA GTP ranks full-time, he had a remarkable win record last year. He took six wins and 11 podiums out of 16 race starts. As for the pace car, it's a Type-992 Porsche 911 GT3 RS equipped with a Manthey Kit. The AMR Safety Team has new recovery trucks this year, in the form of 2026 Ford F-150 Raptors.IMSA has some new partners this year. Sentronics Limited, a UK-based innovator in ultrasonic fluid flow sensor technology, has signed a multi-year marketing agreement with IMSA. BDO USA, a global advisory and professional services firm, has also expanded its partnership with IMSA. They will be the 'Official Digital Transformation Partner of IMSA Labs. ' IMSA Labs was introduced as part of the third IMSA Technology Symposium at Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University. Corvette Racing has some impressive stats. Their entries have combined to complete 74, 013. 04 racing miles at Daytona International Speedway since 1999. That's 3, 218 trips across the length of Daytona Beach. More than 462, 758 miles have been completed by the program since its inception. The half-million mark is expected to be surpassed midway through this season. Ford is celebrating 125 years of racing this year. The 1901 “Sweepstakes” car, which started it all for the ‘Blue Oval, ’ will be featured on-site in the Ford midway display. This year also marks 60 years since Ken Miles and Lloyd Ruby led the Ford GT40 Mk II to Ford’s first 24 Hours of Daytona victory. Magnus Racing’s fan-favorite webcast is back for the race. It will provide viewers with behind-the-scenes access to their pit box with live cameras and team radio communication. The webcast will be streamed on the team’s YouTube channel. NBC Sports’ coverage of the 54th Rolex 24 at Daytona kicks off on Saturday at 1:30 p. m. ET on NBC. The network will also broadcast the final two hours of the race on Sunday from 12-2 p. m. The entire race will be available live and flag-to-flag on Peacock. Leigh Diffey will anchor the coverage along with Brian Till, Calvin Fish, Townsend Bell, and Oliver Gavin in the booth. Dave Burns, Kevin Lee, Matt Yocum, Chris Wilner, and Amanda Busick will be on pit lane. Marty Snider and Steve Letarte will be on the Peacock Pit Box. IMSA Radio’s team will serve as the commentary of the international feed available on IMSA’s YouTube channel. John Hindhaugh, Ryan Myrehn, Bruce Jones, and Peter Mackay will be in the booth, with Arjuna Kankipati, Neil Cole, Duncan Vincent, and Peter Snowdon on pit lane.