United SportsCar Championship to feature 29 Prototypes
The debut season of the TUDOR United SportsCar Championship in 2014 will include 29 prototype race cars across the Prototype (P) and Prototype Challenge (PC) categories, International Motor Sports Association (IMSA) officials have confirmed.
The P class will include an intriguing mix of 17 race cars battling for overall victories. The class merges Daytona Prototype (DP) race cars, which previously competed in the GRAND-AM Rolex Sports Car Series, with P2 and DeltaWing prototypes from the American Le Mans Series presented by Tequila Patr?n.
The PC class - which utilizes a spec ORECA FLM09 exclusively - will include a dozen entries in 2014.
IMSA officials expanded the PC field by two entries after announcing a tentative cap of 10 entries from the class in October.
"Our Prototype class showcases the merger of the ALMS and the Rolex Series with a variety of terrific cars from both series - in addition to a few new entries," said IMSA president and chief operating officer Scott Atherton. "The Prototype Challenge class, meanwhile, not only will expand from our projection earlier this fall, but will include more cars than we saw at any point in the 2013 ALMS season."
A field of 17 Prototypes is expected at the season-opening Rolex 24 At Daytona, with 12 P cars committed to competing in every TUDOR Championship round.
The full-time entries include one DP car each from Action Express Racing, Wayne Taylor Racing, Marsh Racing, Michael Shank Racing, Spirit of Daytona Racing and Chip Ganassi Racing with Felix Sabates. Extreme Speed Motorsports and SpeedSource each will field a pair of LMP2 cars, with one DeltaWing entry and another entry to be announced shortly.
Part-time entries in the P class include second cars from Action Express Racing and Chip Ganassi Racing, as well as single entries from GAINSCO/Bob Stallings Racing and OAK Racing. The first alternate in the P category is the Corvette DP from 8Star Motorsports. A Starworks Motorsport Riley DP is the second alternate in the P class, with a Project Libra Radical listed as the third alternate.
The 12 PC entries accepted include two cars each from BAR1 Motorsports, RSR Racing, Level 5 Motorsports and Starworks Motorsport, and single entries from CORE autosport, 8Star Motorsports, PR1 Mathiasen Motorsports and Performance Tech Motorsports. Pickett Racing has the first alternate in the PC class, followed by JDC/Miller MotorSports.
Together with the GT Le Mans (GTLM) and GT Daytona (GTD) entries also announced, a total of 68 entries will open the season at the 52nd Rolex 24 At Daytona on January 25-26. It will be the largest Rolex 24 field since 71 cars participated in the 2007 event.
A complete breakdown of entries for all four classes follows below:
Prototype (P) - 17 Entries
Action Express Racing (2),Chip Ganassi Racing with Felix Sabates (2), DeltaWing Racing (1), Extreme Speed Motorsports (2), GAINSCO/Bob Stallings Racing (1), Highway To Help (1), Marsh Racing (1), Michael Shank Racing (1), OAK Racing (1), SpeedSource (2), Spirit of Daytona Racing (1), Wayne Taylor Racing (1), TBA (1). First Alternate - 8Star Motorsports, Second Alternate - Starworks Motorsport, Third Alternate - Project Libra.
Prototype Challenge (PC) - 12 Entries
BAR1 Motorsports (2), CORE autosport (1), Level 5 Motorsports (2), Performance Tech Motorsports (1), PR1 Mathiasen Motorsports (1), RSR Racing (2), Starworks Motorsport (2), 8Star Motorsports (1). First Alternate - Pickett Racing, Second Alternate - JDC-Miller MotorSports.
GT Le Mans (GTLM) - 12 Entries
Aston Martin Racing (1), BMW Team RLL (2), Porsche North America (2), Corvette Racing (2), Krohn Racing/Risi Competizione (1), Risi Competizione (1), SRT Motorsports (2), Team Falken Tire (1)
GT Daytona (GTD) - 28 Entries
Alex Job Racing (1), Dempsey Racing (2), Fall-Line Motorsports (1), Flying Lizard Motorsports (2), GB Autosport (1), GMG Racing (1), Horton Autosport (2), Level 5 Motorsports (1), Magnus Racing (1), Muehlner Motorsports America (2), NGT Motorsport (1), Paul Miller Racing (1), Riley Motorsports (1), Scuderia Corsa (2), SMP/ESM Racing (1), Snow Racing (1), Spirit of Race (2), Team Seattle/Alex Job Racing (1), TRG-AMR North America (2), Turner Motorsport (1), TBA (1). First Alternate - Konrad Motorsport, Second Alternate - Level 5 Motorsports, Third Alternate - Scuderia Corsa, Fourth Alternate - SMP/ESM Racing.