Ryan: Prestigious Rolex 24 Mile Endurance Race to kick off 2025 racing season
It's known as the “Center of the World of Racing” year-round, but it's during the last two weeks of January each year that Daytona International Speedway realizes its cosmopolitan prowess.
In the depths of winter, the racetrack's garage comes to life, crackling with delightful accents and the alluring electricity of exotic machinery. Famous drivers representing nearly every continent take turns driving highly sophisticated cars, swapping places during the 24-hour race. More than a dozen well-known car manufacturers crowded the circuit's famous 31-degree bank with the world's most recognized luxury car brands.
The Rolex 24 at Daytona’s reputation is rooted in its 63-year history as a motorsports mecca, a reputation that will be reaffirmed in 2025 on the 12-lap, 3.56-mile road course. The 61-car field will feature winners at some of the world's most iconic racetracks – Daytona, Indianapolis, Le Mans, Spa and Bathurst to name a few.
The name “International Championship” was claimed long ago, but its ethos applies to Central Florida's sports car extravaganza as much as to any racing event in the world.
Stars from NASCAR, Formula 1, IndyCar, Formula E and the World Endurance Championship will compete around the clock in an Olympic event of staggering scale and fierce competition.
More: NASCAR Drivers Rolex History 24 | Top 10 NASCAR Moments
“The great thing about the Rolex 24 is that the great drivers all want to win the race,” said Ricky Taylor, the 2017 and ’21 Rolex 24 overall winner, whose team competes with Jeff Gordon Gordon, Fernando Alonso and Scott Dixon With three drivers winning the event together, the superstars teamed up over Memorial Day weekend to win the Triple Crown of the Monaco Grand Prix, Indy 500 and Coca-Cola 600. “It's been an honor to drive with a lot of them. It's been an honor to learn from each other and see what makes these great drivers great. It's just so cool to be a driver.”
Other reasons why the Rolex 24 is a popular product during the global racing season:
– It’s so coveted… and so hard to win. The list of Daytona road race winners naturally includes some of the biggest names in American racing: Gordon, Dan Gurney, Mario Andretti and AJ Foyt.
But many NASCAR champions have tried and failed to obtain the unique trophy (steel and gold Rolex Oyster Perpetual Cosmograph Daytona, white dial) awarded to each champion. With at least three drivers sharing the steering wheel at every entry, in heavy traffic, a pilot can make a mistake (especially in the early morning when reflexes are waning), or a part fails during the nearly 3,000-mile race, and victory is out of reach .
With three runner-up finishes in nine races, Jimmie Johnson is within striking distance of winning this rare watch, and the seven-time NASCAR Cup champion has even assembled a Rolex 24 team for the 2021-22 season. Hope to become famous in one fell swoop. His bucket list.
Kurt Busch, Tony Stewart and Kyle Busch have also chased Rolex 24 wins, as has Dale Earnhardt Jr., He made his debut in 2001 in the No. 3 Corvette with his late father.
More: Kyle Busch: 'Enjoying the experience' on Rolex 24
— History goes beyond sports cars: When NASCAR founder Bill France created the Daytona Continental in 1962, the concept behind the Rolex 24 was to showcase world-class drivers from different disciplines on his new track. More than sixty years later, the Rolex 24 continues to fulfill France’s vision of positioning Daytona as a destination event.
One of the best examples this year is the Trackhouse Racing Corvette, which will pit two Americans (Ben Keating and rising star Connor Zilisch) against two New Zealanders (who also happen to be three-time Supercars champions) and American expats who have excelled in Australia composition. Four-time NASCAR champion Shane van Gisbergen, who will compete full-time in Cup Series this year, will compete in the Rolex 24 for the sixth time while seven-time IndyCar champion S. Scott McLaughlin will be making his third start at Daytona, but first in GT.
RELATED: Nasr scores major Rolex 24 win for Penske and Porsche | Photos of the 2024 Rolex 24
The field of more than 200 drivers will include many of these driver combinations, whose collective resumes are highlighted by wins in F1, Indy 500 and Daytona 500 (with 2022 champion Austin Cindric as injury Replacements later joined the Ford lineup).
— Cars are stars, too: The Rolex 24 at Daytona was a flashpoint in the “Ford vs. Ferrari” wars of the 1960s, and now it's at the center of a manufacturer conflict in the grand touring prototype category.
Since the introduction of new cars with hybrid engines in 2023, IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship teams can compete for the championship at Daytona and the 24 Hours of Le Mans. This bridge between the world's two major endurance races has led to the rise of automakers, with BMW, Porsche and Lamborghini joining Acura and Cadillac in IMSA's top class (Aston Martin is also scheduled to compete in the Sebring XII hour endurance race).
The GT class is based on the production model and has more brand diversity. Last year, Ford rejoined the highly competitive GTD Pro category, which already includes Corvette, Ferrari, Lexus, Mercedes, BMW, Lamborghini and Aston Martin, with the Mustang GT3.
— The Party That Never Stops: The infield draws a different crowd than the Daytona 500 (there are far fewer BMWs, Porsches and Mercedes clogging the roads in February), but the passion of the fans is similar to an unprecedented passion for car culture . As the sun sets hours after the green flag goes up, Lloyd Lake's colorful Ferris Wheel becomes a beacon in the atmosphere of late-night fireworks and early-morning barbecue revelry.
Nate Ryan has been writing about NASCAR since 1996, when he worked at the San Bernardino Sun, the Richmond Times-Dispatch, USA Today and the past 11 years at NBC Sports Digital work. He has also covered a variety of other motorsport events, including IndyCar and the IMSA series (including five Rolex 24 Hours of Daytona).