26 Entries for IMSA’s Return to Racing at Daytona

Photo: Mike Levitt/IMSA

A total of 26 cars are set to take part in IMSA’s return to racing with the WeatherTech 240 at Daytona.

The entry list for the second round of the WeatherTech SportsCar Championship, released on Wednesday, features a largely unchanged grid in the DPi and GT Le Mans classes, with eight and six entries, respectively, although a number of changes have occurred in GT Daytona since the start of the coronavirus pandemic.

Twelve GTD entires are set for the two-hour and 40-minute race on July 4, with notable omissions including points leaders Paul Miller Racing, leading Porsche customer squad Pfaff Motorsports and The Heart of Racing’s Aston Martin Vantage GT3.

Wright Motorsports, meanwhile, is down to a single entry after plans to enter a second Porsche for the WeatherTech Sprint Cup, which also kicks off next weekend.

The Sprint Cup, however, has boosted the grid in the form of Compass Racing’s McLaren 720S GT3 of Paul Holton and Corey Fergus and the Gradient Racing Acura NSX GT3 Evo, which will be driven by Marc Miller and Till Bechtolsheimer.

Team Hardpoint, which reportedly purchased an Audi R8 LMS GT3 Evo from Rick Ware Racing, will make its WeatherTech Championship debut with Spencer Pumpelly and Rob Ferriol. 

As previously reported by Sportscar365, GEAR Racing’s split with Grasser Racing Team has resulted in the absence of the No. 19 Lamborghini Huracan GT3 Evo, despite efforts from the Austrian squad to fill the seats.

It reduces Grasser’s presence to a single Lamborghini entered under GRT Magnus, along with the pair of Meyer Shank Racing-entered Acuras, Riley Motorsports Mercedes-AMG GT3, Turner Motorsport BMW M6 GT3 and Scuderia Corsa Ferrari 488 GT3 Evo 2020.

Announced earlier on Wednesday, Aaron Telitz will replace Parker Chase at the wheel of AIM Vasser Sullivan’s No. 14 Lexus RC F GT3, as part of the team’s continued two-car effort.

Plans for both RWR and PPM to field cars in the Sprint Cup appear to not have materialized. 

There have been no lineup changes in DPi or GTLM, other than the confirmed continuation of Tristan Vautier and Chris Miller in the No. 85 JDC-Miller Motorsports Cadillac DPi-V.R.

Renger van der Zande and Ryan Briscoe of Wayne Taylor Racing head in as the DPi championship leaders following their victory in January’s Rolex 24 at Daytona, with BMW Team RLL’s John Edwards and Jesse Krohn leading the way in GTLM.

Of note, the Daytona race will mark the first outing for Mazda’s RT24-Ps under the Multimatic banner after the elapsing of Joest’s contract in March.

As planned, LMP2 cars will rejoin the WeatherTech Championship in the next round at Sebring on July 17-18.

The July 3-4 event at Daytona International Speedway, which will be open to 5,000 spectators, kicks off with an evening practice session next Friday, followed by practice and qualifying on Saturday and the race at 6:05 p.m. ET with live coverage on NBCSN.

John Dagys

John Dagys is the founder and Editor-in-Chief of Sportscar365. Dagys spent eight years as a motorsports correspondent for FOXSports.com and SPEED Channel and has contributed to numerous other motorsports publications worldwide. Contact John