The No. 31 Whelen Cadillac V-Series .R rolling through the West Horseshoe at Daytona during the Roar Before the 24. (Photo: Jared Bokanoski | The Podium Finish)
DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. – We are just over a month away from teams unloading for the 2026 Roar Before the 24 at Daytona International Speedway to open the IMSA Weathertech Sportscar Championship calendar.
The series will see an increased number of cars compete within its two prototype classes when the green flag flies on the race twice-around-the-clock.
IMSA’s premier GTP class will see an 11-car grid for the full IMSA Weathertech Sportscar Championship and whilst a downgrade from last season on a numbers level from 12 cars to 11 following the exit of both Proton Competition and the pausing of Lamborghini’s SC-63 program, the field is shaping up to be just as competitive. Three Porsche 963s, three Cadillac V-Series .Rs, two Acura ARX06s, a pair of BMW M Hybrid V8s and the full season debut of the Aston Martin Valkyrie make up the five-manufacturer set for 2026.
The defending back-to-back Rolex 24 and series champions Porsche Penske Motorsport will once again return with their Nos. 6 and 7 Porsche 963s, both re-tooled with new lineups following a complete restructuring of the German brand’s motorsport efforts. Out of the No. 6 team is Mathieu Jaminet as he heads to the new Genesis hypercar program whilst Matt Campbell finds himself in a Michelin Endurance Cup role, meaning neither defending drivers’ champions will be on the IMSA grid full time for 2026. In their place steps World Endurance Championship mainstays Laurens Vanthoor and Kevin Estre.
As for their sister No. 7 entry, Felipe Nasr once again finds himself behind the wheel of that car for the full 2026 campaign, looking to defend his 2025 Rolex 24 win. However, instead of Nick Tandy sharing the car with him, Julien Andlauer has been moved into a full-time role for the 2026 IWSC. Joining them for the Michelin Endurance Cup will be Laurin Heinrich, moving up from the GTD Pro ranks to IMSA’s top class.
The No. 31 Whelen Cadillac battles the No. 93 Acura out of the International Horseshoe at Daytona International Speedway. (Photo: Tyson Gifford | The Podium Finish)
Runner-up in the 2026 team’s championship to Porsche Penske is the No. 31 Whelen Engineering Cadillac. Jack Aitken will once again return to the team and be joined by Earl Bamber and Frederik Vesti for the 2026 season. The team currently sits with an unconfirmed fourth driver on the preliminary entry list, however all signs point to 19-year-old Connor Zilisch preparing to get his first stab at the top class of IMSA.
It’s quite the change of pace for the BMW camp as it will experience a change in the manufacturer team operating their IMSA outfit. Team WRT will take the mantle from Rahal Letterman Lannigan for the Nos 24 and 25 BMW M-Hybrid V8s in 2026, however whilst there is a change in team, the driver lineups will remain quite consistent. Both cars will see unchanged lineups as the No. 24 will be piloted by Dries Vanthoor and Sheldon van der Linde for the full season with Robin Frijns competing in the endurance rounds, whilst Rene Rast will be in the car for the Rolex 24.
In the teammate No. 25, it is once again Philipp Eng and Marco Wittmann being joined by Kevin Magnussen for the endurance rounds and Raffaele Marciello for Daytona.
Meyer-Shank Racing with Curb Agajanian returns to the grid with their pair of Acura ARX-06s with fairly consistent lineups versus what they had this past season. The No. 60 will once again be driven by Tom Blomqvist and Colin Braun with IndyCar legend Scott Dixon tagging in for the Endurance Cup while NASCAR Cup Series driver AJ Allmendinger climbs back in the cockpit of prototype machinery for the first time in the GTP era for the Rolex 24 at Daytona.
The No. 40 Wayne Taylor Racing Cadillac crossing the start/finish line during Rolex 24 practice. (Photo: Tyson Gifford | The Podium Finish)
Cadillac Wayne Taylor Racing will be looking for quite the bounce-back in 2026 as their pair of Cadillac V-Series .Rs will see their lineups trimmed down to three drivers. The No. 10 will once again see Ricky Taylor and Felipe Albequerque for the full year as well as the retention of Will Stevens for the Endurance Cup, while the No. 40 will be piloted by Jordan Taylor and Louis Deletraz once more. The big lineup change comes in the form of former IndyCar now Formula 2 driver Colton Herta for the Endurance Rounds.
The team has also retained both Renger van der Zande and Nick Yelloly for the No. 93 entry. They will be joined by Kaku Ohta and four-time IndyCar champion Alex Palou.
JDC-Miller Motorsports stands as the only privateer-backed entry on the grid for the season following the exit of Proton Competition. They will have the No. 85 “banana boat” Porsche 963 piloted by the trio of Nico Pino, Bryce Aron and Tijmen van der Helm.
Rounding off the GTP grid is the No. 23 Aston Martin Valkyrie fielded by The Heart of Racing, which will open the season with their debut at the Rolex 24 at Daytona following the team’s decision to skip 2025’s rendition in lieu of the car making its global debut in the World Endurance Championship’s opening round in Qatar. Coming off the car’s milestone first podium at the season-closing Motul Petit Le Mans, the driver lineup of Ross Gunn, Roman De Angelis, Alex Riberas and Marco Sorensen will be looking to carry that momentum into January when the car tackles the high banks of Daytona for the first time.
GTP will not be the only prototype class on the grid, however, as LMP2 carries a stout 14-car, all-Oreca-07 grid that will serve as the class in this year’s 24-hour event, which sees an increase in size, up from last year’s 12-car lineup.
AO Racing’s No. 99 receiving late-night pit service during the 2025 Rolex 24 at Daytona. (Photo: Jared Bokanoski | The Podium Finish)
Defending 2025 LMP2 champions AO Racing will once again unleash “Spike” on the competition with an unchanged driver lineup for the 2026 season. PJ Hyett will be joined by Dane Cameron for the full year with Jonny Edgar and Christian Rasmussen joining for the Endurance Cup and Daytona, respectively.
The title runners-up TDS Racing will experience a big shift in the team’s makeup for 2026 as Tobi Lutke and David Heinemeier Hanson will move over to the squad from the No. 18 ERA Motorsports entry alongside Mathias Beche and a returning Charles Milesi for Daytona.
Inter Europol will see their efforts expand to two cars for the 2026 Rolex 24 as their full season No. 43 Oreca 07 will have a similar squad behind the wheel. Jeremy Clarke and Tom Dillmann will share the seat for the full campaign with Bijoy Garg stepping in for the Endurance Cup events. For Daytona, they will tap the assistance of Alpine Hypercar driver Antonio Felix da Costa.
Their one-off No. 343 car will be piloted by a familiar lineup to anyone paying attention to the opening Asian Le Mans Series round of the year as Nick Cassidy, Nolan Siegel and Georgios Kolovos will team up with stalwart Kuba Smiechowski to round off the quartet.
United Autosport will return with a pair of Oreca 07s as well. Their No. 2 entry will see a new look for 2026 as Phil Fayer will take over the bronze driver slot in place of Nick Boulle. He will be joined by Mikkel Jensen and Hunter McElrae jumping over from the aforementioned TDS Racing squad, with a returning Ben Hanley, who is back for his third season with the Zak Brown-led team.
As for the defending Rolex 24 LMP2 class champions in their sister No. 22, it is once again defending pole sitter Dan Goldburg in the bronze driver slot. He will compete alongside Paul di Resta and Rasmus Lindh with Gregoire Saucy joining the team for the season opener.
The No. 18 ERA Motorsports Oreca LMP2 qualifying for the Rolex 24 at Daytona. (Photo: Tyson Gifford | The Podium Finish)
One of the biggest announcements to come from the entry list release comes from the ERA Motorsports lineup. A full four-driver reset for the squad sees AI startup head Naveen Rao joined by Ferdinand Habsburg, James Roe and former Formula 1 driver Logan Sargent, who will make his Rolex 24 debut.
For the No. 04 CrowdStrike Racing by APR machine, it will once again be one of the bronze class’s standout names, George Kurtz, behind the wheel for the full season with a returning Malthe Jakobsen and Toby Sowery serving as co-pilots. The trio will also see Peugeot reserve driver Alex Quinn take over the fourth driver slot, replacing the now GTP-bound Colton Herta.
Bryan-Herta Autosport will make their first foray into the LMP2 class with a partnership with mainstay outfit PR1/Mathiasen. The squad will see Misha Goikhberg joined by Harry Tincknell for the full year with former Lexus driver Parker Thompson moving up to the prototype ranks for the endurance rounds. The squad will be rounded out by IMSA fan-favorite and main stay of the grid, Ben Keating, for Daytona.
Tower Motorsports comes into the 2026 Rolex 24 with what is possibly the biggest chip on their shoulder, winning the Florida Endurance Classic on the track, but being disqualified over an infraction that could be reduced down to natural wear and tear. For their 2026 attempt, John Farano will once again share the car with Sebastien Bourdais and Sebastian Alvarez in 2026 while 21-year-old IndyCar driver Kyffin Simpson will round off the team for Daytona.
The Pratt Miller No. 73 LMP2 going through Turn 6 at Daytona. (Photo: Jared Bokanoski | The Podium Finish)
Pratt Miller Motorsports is now in their second LMP2 season in 2026, bringing back full-time driver pairing Chris Cumming and Pietro Fittipaldi, but changing their lineup for the endurance rounds as Manuel Espirito Santo and Pietro’s brother Enzo will join the squad in Daytona.
The final returning full-time team to the grid is AF Corse, whose re-numbered No. 83 will be piloted by Francois Perrodo and Nicklas Nielsen alongside Matthieu Vaxiviere and Dylan Murry.
Two new teams will find themselves on the grid for the 2026 IMSA calendar as Intersport Racing will make their return to IMSA with Jon Field and Oliver Jarvis contesting the full calendar, alongside Seth Lucas for the endurance races and Job van Uitert for the season opener.
The other new squad is Team Tonis, whose lineup currently remains unannounced at this time.
You can view the official Rolex 24 entry list provided by IMSA here.
