The race has borne the names of several sponsors over the years. Since 1992, the
Rolex Watch Company has been the
title sponsor of the race, replacing
Sunbank, which replaced
Pepsi in 1984. Winning drivers of all classes receive a
Rolex Daytona watch.
Shortly after the track opened, on April 5, 1959, a
six-hour/1000 kilometerUSAC-
FIA sports car race was held on the road course. Count Antonio Von Dory and
Roberto Mieres won the race in a
Porsche, shortened to 560.07 miles due to darkness.[6] The race used a 3.81-mile layout, running counter-clockwise.[7] This event is not considered to be part of the lineage of the eventual 24-hour race.[8][9]
In 1962, a 3-hour
sports car race was introduced. Known as the Daytona Continental, it counted towards the
FIA's new
International Championship for GT Manufacturers. The first Continental was won by
Dan Gurney, driving a 2.7L
Coventry Climax-powered
Lotus 19.[1] Gurney was a factory Porsche driver at the time, but the 1600-cc
Porsche 718 was considered too small and slow for what amounted to a sprint race on a very fast course.
In the past, a car had to cross the finish line after 24 hours to be classified, which led to dramatic scenes where damaged cars waited in the pits or on the edge of the track close to the finish line for hours, then restarted their engines and crawled across the finish line one last time in order to finish after the 24 hours and be listed with a finishing distance, rather than dismissed with DNF (did not finish). This was the case in the initial 1962 Daytona Continental (then 3 hours), in which
Dan Gurney's
Lotus 19 had established a lengthy lead when the engine failed with just minutes remaining. Gurney stopped the car at the top of the banking, just short of the finish line. When the three hours had elapsed, Gurney simply cranked the steering wheel to the left (toward the bottom of the banking) and let gravity pull the car across the line, to not only salvage a finishing position, but actually win the race.[1] This led to the international rule requiring a car to cross the line under its own power in order to be classified.
In 1964, the event was expanded to 2,000 km (1,240 mi), doubling the classic 1000 km distance of races at
Nürburgring,
Spa and
Monza. The distance amounted to roughly half of the distance the
24 Hours of Le Mans winners covered at the time, and was similar in length to the
12 Hours of Sebring, which was also held in Florida in March. Starting in 1966, the Daytona race was extended to the same 24-hour length as Le Mans.
24-hour history
The first 24 Hour event in 1966 was won by
Ken Miles and
Lloyd Ruby driving a
Ford Mk. II. Motor Sport reported: "For their first 24-hour race the basic organization was good, but the various officials in many cases were out of touch, childish and lacked the professional touch which one now finds at
Watkins Glen."[10]
1966 also saw
Suzy Dietrich enter the 24 Hours event, driving a Sunbeam Alpine with
Janet Guthrie and
Donna Mae Mims. The trio finished 32nd and, along with another women's team in the race, became the first women's teams to finish an international-standard 24-hour race.[11]
After having lost in 1966 at Daytona, Sebring and Le Mans to the Fords, the
Ferrari P series prototypes staged a 1–2–3 side-by-side parade finish at the banked finish line in 1967.[12] The
Ferrari 365 GTB/4 road car was given the unofficial name Ferrari Daytona in celebration of this victory.[13]
Pit box of the Ford team during the 24 hours of Daytona, 1967
Porsche repeated this show in their 1–2–3 win in the 1968 24 Hours. After the car of
Gerhard Mitter had a big crash caused by tire failure in the banking, his teammate
Rolf Stommelen supported the car of
Vic Elford and
Jochen Neerpasch.[clarification needed] When the car of the longtime leaders
Jo Siffert and
Hans Herrmann dropped to second due to a technical problem, these two also joined the new leaders while continuing with their car. So Porsche managed to put 5 of 8 drivers on the center of the podium, plus
Jo Schlesser and
Joe Buzzetta finishing in third place, with only Mitter being left out.[14]
Lola finished 1–2 in the 1969 24 Hours of Daytona. The winning car was the
PenskeLola T70-Chevrolet of
Mark Donohue and
Chuck Parsons.[15] Few spectators witnessed the achievement as Motor Sport reported: "The Daytona 24-Hour race draws a very small crowd, as can be seen from the empty stands in the background."[16]
1970 saw the race with drivers strapped into their cars, and at the start, drove away. Since 1971, races begin with rolling starts.
In
2014, the race saw a dramatic crash involving
Memo Gidley who was driving the pole-sitter DP and
Matteo Malucelli, an amateur driver in a Ferrari 458 of the GTD category that has never won a race in
North American Endurance. At the time of the impact, Malucelli was driving at less than 30 mph and keeping on the track while cars were passing him at 150 mph. Memo, who was side by side to another car couldn't have seen him and impacted front first. The race was subsequently red-flagged. Both drivers survived.
The regular teams were expanded to three drivers in the 1970s. Nowadays, four drivers compete typically because of the longer night driving. In the professional-based DPi Prototype and ACO GTE classes, all four drivers are usually professionals. In the ACO LMP2 and SRO Group GT3-based classes, many of these additional drivers are known as "amateur drivers," under current FIA specifications. Amateur drivers are sportsman drivers that have built a career in a non-motorsport related occupation. These type of drivers are typically eligible for IMSA's
Jim Trueman and
Bob Akin awards, awarded to the top driver who is not a professional at the end of season. These amateur drivers or overage professional drivers (FIA Silver or Bronze are typically for amateur drivers but professional drivers over 55 are automatically classified at this level) are required in the car for a specific number of hours. Most often, the fourth driver in all classes is a Daytona-only professional driver of renown that most often has won a major professional championship, such as
Scott Dixon,
Jeff Gordon,
Fernando Alonso,
Shane van Gisbergen and
Kyle Busch.
Unlike the Le Mans event, the Daytona race is conducted entirely over a closed course within the speedway arena without the use of any public streets. Most parts of the steep banking are included, interrupted with a chicane on the back straight and a sweeping, fast infield section which includes two hairpins. Unlike Le Mans, the race is held in wintertime, when nights are at their longest. There are lights installed around the circuit for night racing, although the infield section is still not as well-lit as the main oval. However, the stadium lights are turned on only to a level of 20%, similar to the stadium lighting setup at Le Mans, with brighter lights around the pit straight, and decent lighting similar to street lights around the circuit.[19]
GTP
Daytona PrototypeLe Mans Daytona h
After several ownership changes at
IMSA which changed the direction the organization followed, it was decided by the 1990s that the Daytona event would align with the
Grand-Am series, a competitor of the
American Le Mans Series, which, as its name implies, uses the same regulations as the Le Mans Series and the 24 Hours of Le Mans. The Grand Am series, though, is instead closely linked to
NASCAR and the original ideas of
IMSA and focused on controlled costs and close competition.
In order to make
sports car racing less expensive than elsewhere, new rules were introduced in 2002. The dedicated
Daytona Prototypes (DP) use less expensive materials and technologies and the car's simple aerodynamics reduce the development and testing costs. The DPs began racing in 2003 with six cars in the race.[20]
Specialist chassis makers like
Riley,
Dallara, and
Lola provide the DP cars for the teams and the engines are branded under the names of major car companies like
Cadillac,
Lexus,
Ford,
BMW, and
Porsche.
2017 saw the introduction of the
DPi prototypes. These cars were based on LMP2 chasses with a custom engine and bodywork from a major manufacturer.
For 2023, the race will adopt the
LMDh prototype specification, although
Le Mans Hypercars will also be permitted. The series will also return to the Grand Touring Prototype name from the 1980's.
GT3
Ford Mustang GT car during the 2012 Daytona 24 hours
From the era of the IMSA GTO and GTU until the 2015 rule changes,
spaceframe cars clad in lookalike body panels to compete in GT (the new BMW M6, Chevrolet Camaro, and Mazda RX-8). These rules are similar to the old GTO specification, but with more restrictions. The intent of spaceframe cars is to allow teams to save money, especially after crashes, where teams can rebuild the cars for the next race at a much lower cost, or even redevelop cars, instead of having to write off an entire car after a crash or at the end of a year.
Starting in 2014 the GT Daytona class was restricted exclusively to
Group GT3 cars. Alongside this came the GTLM class, using
LM GTE cars, similar to the WEC. In 2022 the GTLM class was replaced by GTD Pro, using the same cars as GTD.[21] A single GTLM car, the Corvette C8.R, was also permitted to compete in the class with its performance adjusted to the GTD cars.
GX Class
The 2013 race was the first and only year for the GX class. Six cars started in the event. The class consisted of purpose built production
Porsche Cayman S and
Mazda 6 racecars. Mazda debuted their first diesel racecar there which is the first time a
diesel fuel racecar ever started at the Daytona 24. Throughout the race the Caymans were dominant, while all three Mazdas suffered premature engine failure and retired from the race. By a 9 lap lead, the #16 Napleton Porsche Cayman, driven by
David Donohue, was the GX winner.
Porsche has the most overall victories of any manufacturer with 23, scored by various models, including the road based 911, 935 and 996. Porsche also won a record 11 consecutive races from 1977 to 1987 and won 18 out of 23 races from 1968 to 1991.
In addition to their 19 wins as both car and engine manufacturer, Porsche has four wins solely as an engine manufacturer, in 1984, 1995, and two in the Daytona Prototype era in 2009 and 2010. General Motors has 10 wins between its Oldsmobile, Pontiac, Chevrolet, and Cadillac brands.