What is the Rolex 24 at Daytona?
The Rolex 24 acts as the opening round of the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship season, a North American sports car series. It is similar to the global FIA World Endurance Championship, with a number of its entrants also appearing at the 24 Hours of Le Mans each year.
The Daytona race has been a staple of the sports car racing calendar since its first running in 1962, back when it was a three-hour event and was first won by Dan Gurney. The race became a 24-hour race in 1966 before moving to a six-hour format for 1972 due to an energy crisis, only to return to its twice-around-the-clock format one year later.
Since 1991, Rolex has enjoyed title sponsorship of the 24 Hours of Daytona (hence it being called the Rolex 24), with the winning drivers in every class receiving a steel Rolex Daytona watch.
Notable previous winners of the race include Pedro Rodriguez, Juan Pablo Montoya, A. J. Foyt, Al Unser Jr., Scott Dixon, Mario Andretti and Jacky Ickx.
The Rolex 24 is identified as being one of three endurance ‘classics’ through the sports car racing season, linking up with the 24 Hours of Le Mans and 12 Hours of Sebring to form an unofficial ‘triple crown’ (similar to the one Alonso is chasing).
