All Andretti World IndyCar Sequence opponents will compete within the Rolex 24 at Daytona. The identical is true for Chip Ganassi Racing’s three IndyCar drivers, together with all-stars from different racing collection and disciplines ready to descend on Daytona Worldwide Raceway for IMSA’s grand season opener later this month.
WeatherTech SportsCar Championship followers have come to count on a wide range of enjoyable full-time groups and drivers to start out the yr. We additionally count on to see an fascinating mixture of solo drivers and part-time visitor drivers asking for images and autographs. Forward of 24 checks unfold throughout the Roar (January 16-18) and a serious week of motion (January 22-25), IMSA’s choices throughout 4 lessons are to not disappoint.
Andretti World’s presence on the Rolex 24 is an instance of expertise allocation, as Kyle Kirkwood (Vasser Sullivan Lexus GTD Professional), Will Energy (75 Specific Mercedes-AMG GTD) and Marcus Ericsson (Wayne Taylor Racing Lamborghini GTD) are on three completely different groups.
It is a decidedly unusual state of affairs because the trio aren’t in IMSA GTP (the highest class of the collection the place IndyCar’s high drivers are normally populated), however within the entry-level Professional-Am GT class, together with Energy, who will debut on the Rolex 24, and Ericsson, who competed in DPi/GTP in 2022 and 2024.
For All-Professional GT class Kirkwood, whose relationships with 1996 IndyCar champion Jimmy Vasser and businessman James Sullivan predate his IndyCar profession, he has attracted curiosity from IMSA prototype groups, however his return to the manufacturing unit Lexus program in 2026, his seventh season in enduro motion, is by alternative.
The fourth member of the Andretti World Crew is Colton Herta (Cadillac Wayne Taylor Racing GTP), who’s now not a part of the IndyCar program however will seemingly return on the Indianapolis 500. Subsequent season can be spent racing in F2 and take a look at driving for the Cadillac F1 crew, led by Andretti World and TWG Motorsports, which owns Cadillac WTR. GTP initiatives. Of the Andretti and TWG quartet, Herta has essentially the most monitor report on the Rolex 24, successful in 2019 (BMW M8 GTE GTLM) and 2022 (Dragonspeed LMP2).
With Herta factored into his eighth begin, he and his stablemates can be eligible for GTD, GTD Professional and GTP, leaving LMP2 the one one and not using a consultant. Nevertheless, the Professional-Am Prototype class has many acquainted names on the entry listing.
Ed Carpenter Racing’s first-time IndyCar race winner Christian Rasmussen returns to LMP2 (AO Racing) with the defending collection champions and goals so as to add one other Rolex 24 class victory to his 2024 win (Ella Motorsports). Arrow McLaren’s Nolan Siegel has gained two IMSA enduros at Watkins Glen and Petit Le Mans at Highway Atlanta, and has completed on the Rolex 24 podium since 2023, however he has but to win within the Rolex 24 class and may have one other shot at LMP2 (Europol Interpol competitors).
This can be Rasmussen’s fifth Rolex 24 begin within the LMP2 class and his second with AO Racing. Brandon Badrawi/IMSA
Chip Ganassi Racing additionally has a presence in LMP2 with Kiffin Simpson (Tower Motorsports) and new Indy NXT signee James Legislation (Period Motorsports). This consists of four-time Champ Automotive champion Sebastian Bourdais (Tower Motorsports), latest Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing IndyCar driver Pietro Fittipaldi (Pratt Miller Motorsports) and HMD Motors. Add in his youthful brother Enzo (Pratt-Miller Motorsport), who has signed with the Motorsports Indy NXT crew, and former Williams F1 driver Logan Sargent (Ella Motorsport), and there’s no scarcity of veteran and up-and-coming expertise in LMP2. Monitor the race for twenty-four hours.
Returning to GTP, Ganassi’s deep ties to Honda are evident in his use of defending IndyCar champion and Indy 500 winner Alex Palou and six-time IndyCar champion Scott Dixon. (predominant picture) We’re affiliated with our affiliate IndyCar program (Acura Meyer Shank Racing).
Palou, who has gained 4 IndyCar titles, has began three Rolex 24 races with a greatest end of seventh, whereas Dixon has essentially the most expertise with 22 begins. He’s additionally essentially the most profitable of all the celebs, with wins in 2006 (Riley-Lexus Daytona Prototype), 2015 (Riley-Ford DP Prototype), 2018 (Ford GT GTLM), and 2020 (Cadillac DPi).
They are going to be joined by open wheel and inventory automobile ace AJ Allmendinger of the Kaulig Racing NASCAR Cup Sequence crew. He gained the Rolex 24 with MSR in 2012 and can share the No. 60 Acura with Dixon.
There have been hopes that new NASCAR Xfinity Sequence champion Jesse Love would try his first Rolex 24, however these plans fell by, however his 2025 predominant rival, Trackhouse Racing’s Connor Girish, has climbed the IMSA ladder within the Mazda MX-5 Cup Sequence and gained the LMP2 class of the 2024 Rolex 24 earlier than becoming a member of IMSA He’ll make his GTP debut (Motion Specific Racing Cadillac) (period identify). motorsports). Girisch may have Mercedes F1 reserve driver Frédéric Vesti as his teammate within the AXR Cadillac. Vesti gained two enduro races as a GTP crew in 2025, following Daytona.
Final yr, Girish shared a Corvette Z06 GT3 at Daytona with Robert Wickens and Trackhouse teammate Shane van Gisbergen (DXDT Racing). He steps as much as GTP and whereas Van Gisbergen is taking a yr off from the Rolex 24, Wickens is again and has Crew Penske IndyCar frontrunner Scott McLaughlin as his co-driver.
F1 veteran Kevin Magnussen has shifted his focus to manufacturing unit prototype racing with BMW, returning to the Rolex 24 as a part of the German model’s revised GTP actions (BMW M Crew WRT). Magnussen’s former Haas F1 teammate Romain Grosjean, who final competed at Daytona within the Lamborghini GTP program that ended throughout the low season, impressed sufficient Invoice Riley, whose Riley Motorsports campaigned Lamborghini vehicles, to carry Grosjean on board to finish a brand new initiative (Myers Riley Motorsports Ford Mustang GTD).
Extra All-Stars could possibly be confirmed, however the final one to face out is PREMA Racing IndyCar driver Callum Ilott (Mild Motorsport Porsche GTD). He competed within the Rolex 24 for the primary time final yr with LMP2 (Pratt Miller Motorsports) and can compete within the lights for a lot of the WeatherTech Championship season.
