The Rolex 24 at Daytona will usher in a new era of sports car racing with a preliminary entry list at the maximum size for the new Grand Touring Prototype division.
There are 60 cars entered in the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship season opener Jan. 28-29 at Daytona International Speedway. IMSA officials said more than 70 entries were received for the 61st Rolex 24 at Daytona, but the field is being capped at 60 because the LMDh cars of the premier GTP class will require larger pit boxes than the previous DPi category.
There are nine entries in GTP across four manufacturers: three from Cadillac (two for Chip Ganassi Racing; one for Action Express Racing; two from Acura (Meyer Shank Racing and Wayne Taylor Racing); two from Porsche (Team Penske) and two from BMW (Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing).
61ST ROLEX 24 AT DAYTONA: Click here for the preliminary entry list
IMSA released an entry list Thursday that contained team, car number, manufacturer, tire, engine and fuel designations. A finalized entry list with driver lineups is expected in early January. Teams that submitted entries without being selected for the race have been placed on a reserve list and could be entered in the event of withdrawals.
“More than 70 total entries and a 60-car field as we kick off a new era for WeatherTech Championship competition speaks volumes for the interest in international endurance sports car racing and our IMSA platform,” IMSA president John Doonan said in a release. “Arriving at this 60-car entry list for the 61st Rolex 24 At Daytona required a substantial effort from our team at IMSA. We are proud to present one of the strongest and most competitive fields we have seen and cannot wait to put on a tremendous show for a global audience of racing fans next month.”
According to IMSA, 56 of the 60 entries will be competing in the four-race Michelin Endurance Cup, and 45 cars will run the full season.
Here is the entry breakdown for the other four classes: LMP2 (10), LMP3 (nine), GTD Pro (eight) and GTD (24 across nine manufacturers).
GTP cars tested at Daytona last week. The full field will test Jan. 20-22 in the Roar Before the Rolex 24 at Daytona. The Rolex 24 at Daytona field will be set Jan. 22 in a traditional qualifying session (after a qualifying race had been used the past two years).
Click here to view the preliminary entry list for the 61st Rolex 24 at Daytona.
The Eldora Million returns in 2023, but this time it is available for sprint car drivers.
Eldora Speedway owner Tony Stewart announced an unsanctioned sprint car race will be held on July 12-13 with a total purse of $1.4 million and a little more than $1 million paid to the winner.
Last year, the speedway resurrected the Eldora Million for late models after a 21-year hiatus. Jonathan Davenport held off a late-race charge from Chris Madden and Tim McCreadie to win the $1,002,022 purse. This year, the prize has one dollar added to the payout in deference to it being held in 2023.
“All of us at Eldora are super excited to host the first million-dollar-to-win sprint car race,” said Stewart in a press release. “Back in 2003, Eldora hosted a non-wing race that paid $200,000 to winner Jac Haudenschild, but this will be the first time a sprint car driver will race for a winner’s check worth $1 million.
“This will showcase the best of the best, and you’re going to want to see how this race unfolds where in the final laps, with guys still in the hunt running close together, what they will do to win a million dollars.”
The 2023 Eldora Million falls between two World of Outlaw Sprint Car Series races also held in Ohio. The Brad Doty Classic will be held at Attica (Ohio) Raceway on July 11 and the Kings Royal is scheduled for July 14-15. Rules for that series include an exclusivity bonus for drivers that run no more than four races outside of the Outlaws. Drivers can run up to eight races and still be eligible for the points fund and its bonuses, but those races must be outside of 48 hours or a 100-mile radius on either side of a scheduled event.
Attica is 135 miles from Rossburg, where Eldora is located, but the Brad Doty Classic is only 24 hours removed. The World of Outlaws have not yet announced whether an exception will be made for this event.
In its history, Eldora Speedway has hosted 16 previous races with six-figure paydays including 12 Historic Big Ones and three Kings Royals that have paid that much. The Outlaws’ sanctioned 2023 Kings Royal will pay $175,000 to win.
“I think it’s been long overdue,” Stewart, who enters his 19th season as owner of Eldora, added. “We’ve had two, $1 million-to-win dirt late model races at Eldora, but to finally do it for the sprint car community is something that makes all of us at Eldora really proud. Sprint car drivers put on some of the best shows in all of racing and this is our way of saying thank you.”
The Eldora Million feature on Thursday will be seeded by preliminary races held on Wednesday. Drivers will be split into two groups with 12,000-to-win features.
“This format will offer an exciting, unique program of racing on Wednesday and Thursday for fans and competitors,” said Jerry Gappens, General Manager of Eldora. “Wednesday’s program is a ‘big bang for the buck’ for the fans with … twin 25-lap features. For competitors, it basically compresses two nights of preliminary action into one night and guarantees 48 different cars will race in a feature.”