Doonan: IMSA Has Nearly 90 Entry Requests for Rolex 24

Photo: Jake Galstad/IMSA

IMSA President John Doonan revealed they’ve received nearly 90 entry requests for January’s Rolex 24 at Daytona, hinting that the 2025 WeatherTech SportsCar Championship season opener could exceed its previous 61-car cap.

The sanctioning body on Friday unveiled a 48-car full season, and 56-car Michelin Endurance Cup field for next year, with one additional full-time entry set to still be announced.

Doonan, however, told reporters that the Rolex 24 field will have “a few surprises” in the field.

“If you took the ones that actually entered, and the space we have for them, and you looked at folks that wanted to potentially add a second car, or someone else new that wanted to come, we were mid-80s to almost 90 cars that wanted to be with us at the Rolex 24,” he said.

Doonan confirmed they’ve received 87 or 88 requests for the twice-around-the-clock Florida endurance classic, with the full entry list set to be released in December after being determined by the IMSA selection committee.

“It’s an incredible statement about where the sport is at right now,” he said. “Obviously we only have so many pit stalls, we only have so much room in the paddock and garage spaces.

“It’s about how our sport can be in this moment. It’s really, really incredible.”

This weekend’s season-ending Motul Petit Le Mans, meanwhile, sees an near-capacity 53-car field following the late withdrawal of the Andretti Motorsports Porsche 911 GT3 R.

Doonan revealed that Michelin Raceway Road Atlanta will have the capacity to run up to 57 cars next year, thanks to an expansion of the paddock and re-location of victory lane to the support paddock side of the track.

“We made provisions,” he said. “We made a big investment in the paddock here. If you walk back where the industry support trailers are, we cut into the hill, we paved more space to accept 14 more transporters.

“We could take a field of 57. It will work on pit lane as well.

“I think we’re super sensitive to quality, not only on the race track but in pit lane, and not just quantity.

“We’re trying to be smart. We want as many people to be able to participate as possible but you’ve got to be careful when you have too much of a good thing.”

When asked by Sportscar365 on Daytona’s capacity, after previously running 61 cars, Doonan said: “wait and see.”

“We’ve been talking to [Daytona International Speedway] what’s possible.”

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