50 Entries for Rolex 24

Photo: Mike Levitt/IMSA

A total of 50 cars are set to take part in this year’s Rolex 24 at Daytona, with the entry list for the mandatory Roar Before the Rolex 24 having been released on Wednesday.

It marks the largest car count for the race since 2018 and comes just a year after an event-low 38 starters.

While teams have been listed, driver lineups are yet to be published by IMSA.

The DPi class sees a seven-car grid, with no major surprises in terms of driver lineups, which had mostly been previously determined and announced.

NTT IndyCar Series star Scott Dixon and ex-Formula 1 driver Marcus Ericsson are expected to be the final two drivers in Chip Ganassi Racing’s Cadillac DPi-V.R lineup.

The CGR entry joins the returning Action Express Racing and No. 5 JDC-Miller Motorsports Cadillacs, with Mazda scaling down to a single DPi entry along with the debut of Meyer Shank Racing and Wayne Taylor Racing Acura ARX-05 cars.

Six of the entries are set for the full season, with the No. 48 Action Express Cadillac currently only committed for Daytona-only.

LMP2 has doubled from five cars in 2020 to ten this year, thanks to an influx of European-based teams contesting the race for the first time.

It includes the likes of High Class Racing, Cetilar Racing and Racing Team Nederland along with recently announced full-season efforts from Tower Motorsport by Starworks, WIN Autosport and class stalwarts PR1/Mathiasen Motorsports.

The new-for-2021 LMP3 class, meanwhile, sees seven entries for Daytona, including at least five full-season teams.

Five of the entries are Ligier JS P320 Nissans, with Muehlner Motorsports and Forty7 Motorsports set to enter Duqueine D08 Nissans for the test and race.

Six entries are set to do battle for GT Le Mans class honors in Daytona, with Corvette Racing and BMW Team RLL back with two cars apiece, although the fate of the German manufacturer’s full-season program still not known.

WeatherTech Racing will make its GTLM debut with a Proton Competition Porsche 911 RSR-19 for the season and Risi Competizione completing the class for the Florida endurance classic.

GT Daytona sees the largest class in 20 entries, featuring nine manufacturers, including an Audi R8 LMS GT3 Evo entered by NTE Sport.

The Roar Before the Rolex 24 will kick off proceedings at Daytona International Speedway on Jan. 22-24 and include the first ever qualifying race to set the grid for the twice-around-the-clock endurance classic the following week.

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