NASCAR
Who From Stock Car Racing is in IMSA Sports Car Racing’s Season Opener?
DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. – This weekend marks one of the biggest on the calendar for global sports car racing. The 2025 IMSA season gets underway with the 63rd running of the Rolex 24 at Daytona. A 61-car grid features dozens of drivers representing 31 different nations. As always with this prestigious endurance race, a few NASCAR talents have migrated down to Daytona a few weeks early. Here are the familiar faces NASCAR fans should keep an eye on at Daytona this weekend.
- Austin Cindric – The 2022 Daytona 500 champion and Cup Rookie of the Year makes his fifth Rolex 24 showing. The Penske driver will be substituting in a Ford Multimatic Motorsports Mustang GT3, part of the GTD Pro class. Cindric’s best Rolex result has been fifth.
- Parker Kligerman – Recently retired from full-time NASCAR competition and moving to The CW’s Xfinity Series booth, Kligerman reunites with Big Machine Racing. The Connecticut native will hop in a Lamborghini Huracan fielded by Forte Racing in the GTD class. Despite his vast road racing background, PK is making his Rolex 24 debut.
- Connor Zilisch – Trackhouse Racing will debut a brand new partnership with TF Sport and field a No. 91 Corvette Z06 in GTD Pro. Part of their driver lineup is defending Rolex 24 LMP2 winner Connor Zilisch. The 18-year-old will be racing for a second watch just days prior to a full-time Xfinity Series campaign and roughly a month before his Cup debut.
- Shane van Gisbergen – The New Zealand star will also be involved in the Trackhouse entry, being paired up with Zilisch and his best friend Scott McLaughlin. Sports car veteran Ben Keating will round out this lineup as well. SVG is no stranger to the Rolex 24, having raced here five times before but most recently in 2020.
- Kamui Kobayashi – The Japanese native who’s made a pair of starts across the last two years for 23XI Racing is back for another timepiece. The Cadillac DPi veteran was part of their wins in 2019 and 2020. Kobayashi eyes a third wristwatch with Wayne Taylor’s team once again, now part of the GTP class.
- Mike Rockenfeller – No sports car endurance race is truly complete without Mike Rockenfeller in the field. The past Le Mans 24 and Rolex winner is a teammate to the aforementioned Cindric. Their third driver in the Multimatic Ford will be Sebastian Priaulx. Rockenfeller also took part in 2023’s Le Mans race as part of NASCAR’s Garage 56 lineup. ‘Rocky’ has made five road course Cup starts since 2022 as well, with a best result of 19th.
- Andy Lally – 2011’s Cup Series Rookie of the Year is gearing up for a 25th and final hurrah in the Rolex 24. The four-time GT/GTD winner of the twice round the clock classic has called this year’s Rolex his last IMSA start. Lally will be transitioning into a new role as President of the Trans Am Series after this weekend. Few across American sports car history have as much experience as Lally on Daytona’s high banks. Can the Magnus Racing driver go out on top?
- Joey Hand – Factory Ford driver Joey Hand is also behind the wheel of a GTD Mustang, for Gradient Racing. The road course ace has two past Rolex wins, both coming with Chip Ganassi Racing. More recently Hand has gotten his feet wet in NASCAR ranks, making eight Cup starts since 2021. This duration was highlighted by a Stage win and fourth-place finish last year at Chicago. Owning wins between Daytona, Le Mans, and Sebring, Hand is another decorated veteran who can never be counted out.
- Colin Braun – After taking a year off, Meyer-Shank Racing returns with a vengeance to Daytona, eyeing a third-straight win. Colin Braun helped deliver the No. 60 their most recent win in 2023, and was LMP2 runner-up a year ago. The American has nearly 100 combined Truck and Xfinity starts to his name, most recently in 2011. The pink and white colors are likely to be in the wind out front with a star-studded lineup including Braun, Scott Dixon, Felix Rosenqvist and Tom Blomqvist.
- Daniil Kvyat – Past F1 mainstay Daniil Kvyat has made sports cars his new home in recent years. The Russian native did briefly integrate into NASCAR though, making three Cup road course starts for Team Hezeberg in 2022. The last two years have also seen him make one Xfinity start apiece. His time in WEC has seen a best result of runner-up at Sebring. The Lamborghini driver will aim for one spot higher on the GTP podium.
- Kenny Habul – SunEnergy1 is a familiar name to Chase Elliott fans; the man behind that brand is sports car racer Kenny Habul. Owning 16 starts across Xfinity and Trucks, Habul established himself as a road course ringer in the 2010s. The businessman-turned-driver has won two of the last three Bathurst 12 Hour endurance races, and hopes for a similar result in Daytona. He is part of the 75 Express Mercedes-AMG GT3 lineup.
- Spencer Pumpelly – Making his 25th Rolex 24 showing is Virginia native and two-time winner Spencer Pumpelly. Having five Xfinity Series starts since 2021, Pumpelly is another full-time sports car racer who’s dabbled in NASCAR. He will try and better the runner-up he’s seen in two of the last three years with Magnus Racing.
- Patrick Gallagher – Rounding out the Turner Motorsport BMW in GTD is past Xfinity road course ringer Patrick Gallagher. He is making his third Rolex start and second with this team. His best result across eight Xfinity starts was 19th at Road America in 2022 with RSS Racing.
NBC is the home for uninterrupted flag-to-flag Rolex 24 coverage this weekend. The race will be on NBC Saturday from 1:30-2:30 p.m. ET, before moving to USA Network until 6:30 p.m. Television coverage will resume Sunday from noon until 2 p.m. ET on NBC. Complete streaming coverage is also available through Peacock, IMSA.TV, and YouTube.
Written by Peter Stratta
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Photo Credits to IMSA
