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Doonan sees another Rolex 24 bumper crop proving IMSA’s growth on the world stage

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After the presentation of another 61-car capacity grid for next month’s Rolex 24 At Daytona, IMSA President John Doonan noted how global anticipation for the 64th edition of North America’s crown jewel of sports car racing continues to ramp up.

“This race has always been about bringing the best of the best from around the world,” Doonan said Wednesday. “And I think when you look down the entry list – from the top sports car drivers in the world, to IndyCar drivers coming over, to ex-Formula 1 talent, potential NASCAR drivers joining us – I think across the board, we have a ton to be proud of.

“(We’re) fortunate to have manufacturers return. McLaren, of course, is back in GT, and some new teams feature in both categories. Manthey is a world-renowned team on the GT side.

“We’re really proud of where we are. The November test, I felt, was massively energetic to me, because it was people just getting right back to business 30 days after Motul Petit Le Mans.”

The 61 cars across four classes is impressive, leaving the low point of 2020’s 38-car grid (assembled months before the onset of the COVID pandemic) in the rear-view mirror. And that doesn’t include the confidential “reserve list” of nearly 30 cars that didn’t get in, which further reflects the high demand for the event – and the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship as a whole.

“I think the level of competition is at a level I’ve maybe never seen before,” Doonan said of the assembled field for 2026. “I’ve gone to IMSA races since I was nine years old, and when you look at the driving talent, the team talent, the engineering talent – what the manufacturers have done across their customer programs, across their factory-endorsed programs, the competition level in IMSA is at an all-time high.”

Choosing which prospective entries, out of the dozens that were filed, got to fill out this year’s field at Daytona was an excellent problem to have – particularly as 55 of the 61 cars have committed to run the full IMSA WeatherTech season, or at least, the five-race Michelin Endurance Cup comprised of Daytona, Sebring, Watkins Glen, Road America and Indianapolis.

“At one point, based on inquiries for entries, we were close to 90. We were mid-to-upper 80s with teams that wanted to come,” Doonan said.

As for choosing which teams would get the call, Doonan admitted, “I will say, it’s not an easy decision. I’m grateful to my staff. They’ve established an entry process through an entry committee, and I will commend them for building out a process.

“Obviously, we look at full-season teams that are committed to the championship. We look at teams that are committed to the Michelin Endurance Cup. And then, from there, teams that have developed a very special marketing program around their effort for the Rolex 24 only, that type of thing.

“It’s not an easy process, because we have so much interest. But at the same time, we want to put the most competitive field that we can on track – and I think you’re going to see that across the board.”

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In the case of the Rolex 24 field, the final slots went to a combination of additional one-off programs assembled by established teams in the series. Then there’s Magnus Racing, a longtime IMSA stalwart, GetSpeed, an established German outfit with a sterling reputation in competing abroad, and Mühlner Motorsports, which is back at Daytona after a few years out of the American circuit.

It’ll always lead to the inevitable question of how any “outsider” entry with serious ambitions – but without an existing presence in IMSA – could possibly break onto the Rolex 24 grid in the near future.

“One of the beauties, and I’m so proud of our staff for this, is that they had individual meetings with every single entrant. Whether that’s Acura Meyer Shank Racing in a GTP program, or, you know, 13 Autosport out of Canada, TDS, Tower, you name it,” Doonan said.

“These teams, they sat down with every team to understand their marketing plans, their driver line-ups, the association with the manufacturer – and that’s hopefully what makes IMSA different, is a personal relationship with those who want to come and race with us. We’ll continue that, and we’ll continue to try to find ways to give new people a chance, especially as they come up through the IMSA system.”

And of course, there’s always the question of how Daytona could accommodate more of the high-quality entries like the ones that’ll race in six weeks, with the topic of expanding pit lane and the garage space often brought up, just as it is for the 24 Hours of Le Mans.

“We talk to (Daytona International Speedway President) Frank Kelleher, nonstop, specifically about Daytona. We’re trying to make sure that we retain the quality of the show, as well as make sure we maximize things,” Doonan said. “I’m super sensitive to not messing up the quality just to have quantity.

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“But if you roll the clock back to 2020, we had 39 entries and then the grid went up into the 40s. The following season, and every year since, except the year that Brad Pitt’s movie (F1) was shot, we have had 61. And I think it’s a statement about the health of our sport across the board. We want to keep that momentum going for as long as we can.”

Unless Daytona somehow finds space to expand, or IMSA introduces a qualifying race in the style of the Duels at Daytona to determine which cars get into the Rolex 24, there will be these difficult decisions made in the foreseeable future. But it reflects the strength of a series that’s on par with any true FIA world championship in terms of talent and professionalism – one that just so happens to race exclusively in the U.S. and Canada.