Rolex 24 at Daytona Preview

Rolex 24 at Daytona practice (Photo by: Rolex Photo)

The IMSA racing series kicks off the season opener with the Rolex 24 hours at the Daytona International Speedway with a full field of 61 cars.

Heading into this race, Aston Martin is making their debut with the #23 Aston Martin Valkyrie Hypercar in the GTP class with the drivers being Ross Gunn, Roman De Angelis, Alex Riberas, and Marco Sorenson.

In recent news, it was announced back in December, Penske driver Josef Newgarden, who is part of Team Penske in the NTT Indycar Series, will not compete in this years Rolex 24, despite testing for Porsche Penske during winter.

However, his Indycar teammate Scott McLaughlin will be racing, but not with Porsche Penske. Instead, he will be in the #36 Corvette Z06 GT3. R. for DXDT Racing Alongside Mason Filippi, Charlie Eastwood, and Salih Yoluc in the GTD class.

The reason for both Newgarden and Mclaughlin not being apart of the Porsche Penske program for this years Rolex 24 is for Team Penske to run a leaner, more efficient program heading into the 2026 season.

Many speculate this years Rolex 24 could be Cadillac's race to lose, but with the likes of Porsche Penske, and BMW to potentially challenge as well, many questions are still to be answered. The Rolex 24 hours at Daytona kicks off this Saturday at 1:30 P.M. Est.