Words & photos by Mike Mastracco
Tom is a buddy of mine who goes with me to Watkins Glen Race track several times a year camping, and of course, to watch some racing. Last year during the 6-Hour IMSA race we were having a few beers sitting around our campfire and the 24-hour race at Daytona came up in conversation. Previously we both have gone to the NASCAR Daytona 500 in February, however we thought this race was kind of out of reach. After several months of short discussions, we decided late last fall, to seriously check into going to the 24-hour race in 2025. Then fast forward to January 22, 2025 when we left early on a Wednesday morning by airplane for not so warm and no so sunny Florida.
This was the first IMSA race of 2025, and the 63rd running of the Rolex 24 Hour at Daytona, which was held Saturday January 25th through Sunday January 26th. Start time Saturday was 1:40 pm, the start of a non-stop 24 hours of racing.
Some of the best race car drivers around the world compete in this event. There are four classes in this event. The first two, GTP (Grand Touring Prototype) and LMP2 (Le Mans Prototype 2) class cars each cost in the $3,000,000 bracket. The next two major classes are the Grand Touring Class which includes the GT Daytona, and the GT Daytona Pro. The prices on these types of cars range from $750,000 to $1,000,000. These include more identifiable vehicles such as Mustangs, Corvettes, BMW’s, Porsches and more. All these dollar figures do not include crew expenses, spare parts, and general operating expenses of racing.
We spent all day Thursday and Friday at the track walking around the pits, paddock and checking out team displays throughout the track. We also watched qualification laps and several support races these two days.
Friday morning, we decided to tour the “Motorsports Hall of Fame of America” Museum located inside the main entrance of the Daytona Speedway. We enjoyed cars, boats & motorcycles from the past 100 years of racing. This was my second visit here; both times I enjoyed the time spent looking at all the vehicles and information related to them. This is a must see if you are in the area.
Saturday morning, we arrived at the track about 10 am to get seated and watch the pre-race activities. We then watched the warm-up laps prior to the start of the 24-hour race at 1:40 pm.
We had great seats watching the cars race from the end of the front stretch to the entrance/exit of the infield turns. We could see the International Horseshoe; West Horseshoe and the Carousel Turn which the cars would exit from the infield back onto the oval from that location.
What a great sound the GTP and the LMP 2 cars make at close to 200 MPH as they came down the main straightaway towards the first turn into the infield. There was quite a battle between both GTD classes and a whole lot of passing going on in front of us in all of the four classes. We watched the two GTD Pro Mustangs battle it out with other cars such as Corvettes, BMW’s, Lamborghini’s, Mercedes Benz’s, Lexus’s, Porsche’s, and a Ferrari.
It was unseasonably cold and windy as we left at approximately 5:30 pm to get something to eat and warm up. We came back about 8:30 pm to watch the cars under the lights and the fireworks at 10:00 pm. We left sometime after 10:30 pm while the Mustangs and Corvettes were still in the lead.
After breakfast on Sunday morning we headed straight to the track about 9:00 am. At that point in time the Mustangs were swapping the lead with a couple of Corvettes and a BMW. In the GTP class Porsche has been the team to beat the last few years. Cadillac was the team to beat in the first part of the race. Cadillac, Acura, Porsche, and BMW continued to swap the top positions throughout the entire 24 hours.
After 781 laps, 2,780 miles and a grueling 24 hours the powerhouse team of Porsche Penske Motorsport with the #7 Porsche 963 had the podium finish. This is the third straight year that Porsche Penske Motorsport team finished in the top spot. Acura, Porsche, BMW and Cadillac rounded off the top 5 with only the top three cars being on the main lap.
In the GTD Pro race it was truly a fight to the finish between two Mustangs and two Corvettes. Ford Multimatic Motorsports Mustang #65 finished in 1st place while the Pratt Miller Motorsports Chevrolet Corvette was a very close second and the third spot went to bumper hugging Paul Miller Racing Mustang #64. It was a very tight battle to the finish.
If you did not make it to the Rolex 24 Hours at Daytona this year many of these same cars and drivers will be at Watkins Glen June 19th-22nd 2025 for the annual “IMSA Sahlen’s 6-Hours Of The Glen.” There are also other support races this same weekend such as Michelin Pilot Challenge, Lamborghini Super Trofeo, Porsche Carrera Cup North America and more to see. For more race info visit TheGlen.com