The season opener of the 2026 International Motor Sports Association season at Daytona International Speedway will take place on Saturday, Jan. 24.
The opening race is the Rolex 24, a non-stop 24-hour race between four different race classes. The classes are Grand Touring Prototype, Le Mans Prototype 2, GT Daytona Pro and GT Daytona.
This year, some of the biggest names in motorsports will be taking the stage at Daytona. This year’s Rolex 24 has attracted NASCAR’s Connor Zilisch and AJ Allmendinger. IndyCar’s Kyffin Simpson, Alex Palou, Scott Dixon, Jacob Abel, Christian Rasmussen, James Hinchcliffe, Will Power, Scott McLaughlin, Nolan Siegal, Marcus Ericsson and Callum Ilott will also be in attendance.
The Rolex 24 also has former Formula 1 and 2 drivers Felipe Nasr, Will Stevens, Kevin Magnussen, Fredrick Vesti, Jack Aitken, Logan Sargent, Pietro Fittapaldi, Enzo Fittapaldi, Juri Vips and Romain Grojean. Colton Herta is also racing in the Rolex 24. He switched from IndyCar to F2 for this upcoming season.
Additionally, there are some big story lines for this upcoming season.
Penske Porsche won the past two GTP manufacturers, teams and driver’s championships in convincing fashion, so the question is, can they keep it up?
Their driver moves over the offseason have provided the confidence to repeat. Two-time World Endurance Championship champion Kevin Estre and one-time WEC champion and IMSA GTD and GTLM champion Laurens Vanthoor re-join IMSA full-time to an already stacked Porsche Penske No. 6 lineup with IMSA GTP and GTD Pro champion Matt Campbell.
Penske Porsches’ other line-up is also strong. The No. 7 includes three-time IMSA champion Nasr, 2018 LMGTE Am Le Mans 24 Hour winner Julien Andlauer and one-time IMSA GTD Pro champion Laurin Heinrich.
Pair that with a car that was almost unbeatable last season, and it can spell trouble for the rest of the GTP teams.
McLaren will be making a return to IMSA for the first time since 2023 in a partnership with Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing, so will they be competitive in a very tight GTD Pro class?
McLaren has been ingrained in sports car racing since 1995 when they came out with the F1 GTR. They also had success with their 12C GT3 and now they are returning to IMSA with the GT3 EVO.
McLaren had left IMSA following the 2023 season followingafter their 720S GT3 suffering from reliability issues and limited factory support. They came back in 2026 with a new fire in a partnership RLL Racing who has been in IMSA since 2007.
RLL Racing won the 2010 and 2011 GT classes when they partnered with BMW, so they know how to win in IMSA.
RLL Team McLaren No. 59 drivers are Max Esterson, Nikita Johnson, Juri Vips and Dean MacDonald. Those four don’t have the pedigree of some of the other drivers in the GTD Pro class, but are all very talented in their own rights.
Pair that with all-around winning machines across motorsports in McLaren and RLL Racing and they certainly have a chance to win the GTE Pro class this season.
The 2026 IMSA season will be exciting, especially the Rolex 24, so make sure to tune in from Saturday Jan. 24 to Sunday Jan. 25 from 1:30 p.m. to 1:30 p.m.