Roar Before the 24 Entry List Revealed

IMSA has released the Roar Before the Rolex 24 entry list on Monday, with 53 cars set to participate.

The projected entry is down 14 cars from the 67 that started the 2014 Rolex 24. However, there could be several cars not running at the Roar that should run at the Rolex.

VIEW: Entry List

There are 16 Prototype, 8 Prototype Challenge, 10 GT Le Mans and 19 GT Daytona cars entered.

The Prototype class stays fairly close to its 2014 numbers with 16 this year after having 18 a year ago.

Four Corvette DPs, all full-season entries, make up the highest number in the field. The two Chip Ganassi Racing Riley-Fords and single Starworks Motorsport, RG Racing and Highway to Help Riley-Dinan BMWs make for nine DPs in the 16-car field.

Six P2-spec cars and the DeltaWing make up the rest. The DeltaWing and Mazda SKYACTIV-D prototypes continue while the pair of Extreme Speed Motorsports HPD ARX-04bs and two Ligier JS P2s, from Michael Shank Racing and Krohn Racing, will all make their first Daytona appearances.

Starworks’ P class entry confirms a very solid lineup of Rubens Barrichello, Brendon Hartley, Ryan Hunter-Reay, Tor Graves and Scott Mayer in the team’s No. 7 Riley-Dinan BMW.

The Highway to Help entry confirms Dorsey Schroeder’s racing return, along with team veterans Jim Pace, Byron Defoor and David Hinton. Only the DeltaWing in P is yet to confirm its lineup, although that lineup is expected out later this week.

Prototype Challenge is slightly down from 9 to 8 cars in the all-Oreca FLM09 class. Notably absent are second Starworks and RSR Racing entries and the 8Star Motorsports car, all of which ran in 2014.

Defending champions CORE autosport lead the field. Other single-car entries come from RSR (renumbered as No. 11), Performance Tech, PR1/Mathiasen, Starworks and JDC-Miller. BAR1 Motorsports has two cars listed, renumbered as Nos. 16 and 61.

RSR’s entry features Bruno Junqueira, Jack Hawksworth, Chris Cumming and a fourth driver TBA. Johnny Mowlem (No. 16) and Martin Plowman (No. 61) lead the BAR1 lineups.

In GT Le Mans, without the factory Dodge Viper SRT program, the class is down to eight full-season entries but still features a bumper crop of 10 for the Roar and Rolex 24.

Two factory Corvettes, Porsches and BMWs apiece are featured along with the Falken Porsche and Risi Ferrari, respectively. AF Corse adds another Ferrari F458 Italia, listed with No. 51, while Aston Martin Racing returns with one Vantage GTE that will wear No. 98.

Notable here are Corvette Racing’s endurance drivers are confirmed, with IndyCar aces Ryan Briscoe and Simon Pagenaud set alongside the four full-season pilots. American Porsche factory ace Patrick Long is confirmed as Team Falken Tire’s third driver, as well.

GT Daytona drops a bit, down from 29 cars a year ago to 19 this year.

The Daytona GTD field includes the previously announced seven full-season entries from Alex Job Racing (Nos. 22, 23), Magnus Racing (No. 44), Paul Miller Racing (No. 48), Dempsey/Wright Motorsports (No. 58), Scuderia Corsa (No. 63), and TRG-AMR (No. 007).

Extra, either Rolex 24 or Tequila Patron North American Endurance Cup entries include previously announced efforts from, Flying Lizard Motorsports (No. 45), AF Corse (No. 49), GB Autosport (No. 81), Scuderia Corsa (No. 64), and TRG-AMR (No. 009).

The pair of Riley Motorsports Dodge Viper GT3-Rs are confirmed, as are other entries from Muehlner Motorsports America, Konrad Motorsport, Park Place Motorsports and Turner Motorsport, the last of which was announced today.