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WeatherTech Championship

Season to Restart with July Daytona, Sebring Races

IMSA organizes July 4 race at Daytona, additional Sebring event…

Photo: Mike Levitt/IMSA

The IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship will return to racing with a sprint round at Daytona International Speedway in July, as part of a revised schedule released by the sanctioning body on Friday.

Set for July 3-4, the two-hour and 40-minute contest will be followed by an additional race at Sebring International Raceway on July 17-18.

Both races will be run behind closed doors without spectators and to a two-day format that includes unload in the morning of the first day.

The event at Canadian Tire Motorsport Park has been canceled for this year, with the Sahlen’s Six Hours of The Glen rescheduled to Oct. 1-4 and Lime Rock Park to Oct. 30-31.

It will mark the first IMSA-sanctioned Daytona sprint race since 2009 when it was known as the Paul Revere 250 that was run by Grand-Am.

WeatherTech has been confirmed as the Daytona event’s sponsor, with the two Florida races also serving as rounds of the WeatherTech Sprint Cup for GT Daytona class teams. 

The revised Watkins Glen date, meanwhile, clashes with the Indianapolis 8 Hour Intercontinental GT Challenge powered by Pirelli round and GT World Challenge America powered by AWS season finale.

IMSA President John Doonan explained that its return to racing plan will follow safety protocols established by NASCAR, with a focus on medical screenings, social distancing and use of personal protective equipment (PPE).

“We’re very fortunate to be able to open our ‘Back to Racing’ plan at two facilities which are in the IMSA properties family,” said Doonan.

“This will allow us to follow the event protocols that we’ve developed in unison with our colleagues at NASCAR as well as do so at two facilities which we’re very familiar with in order to continue the rest of the season under new strict guidelines.”

It’s unclear when such rules could be relaxed although Doonan said they will continue to follow guidelines laid out by the U.S.Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). 

2020 IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship Schedule (Revised):
Jan. 25-26 — Rolex 24 at Daytona (DPi, LMP2, GTLM, GTD)
July 3-4 — Daytona (DPi, GTLM, GTD)
July 17-18 — Sebring (DPi, LMP2, GTLM, GTD**)
July 31 – Aug. 2 — Road America (DPi, LMP2, GTLM, GTD)
Aug. 21-23 — Virginia Intenational Raceway (GTLM, GTD)
Sept. 4-6 — WeatherTech Raceway Laguna Seca (DPi, LMP2, GTLM, GTD)
Sept. 25-27 — Mid-Ohio (DPi, GTLM, GTD)
Oct. 1-4 — Watkins Glen International (DPi, LMP2, GTLM, GTD)
Oct. 14-17 — Motul Petit Le Mans (DPi, LMP2, GTLM, GTD)
Oct. 30-31 — Lime Rock Park (GTLM, GTD)
Nov. 11-14 — Mobil 1 Twelve Hours of Sebring (DPi, LMP2, GTLM, GTD)

**WeatherTech Sprint Cup only

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

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