The Roar Before the Rolex 24: Today’s best racing value?

By David S. Wallens
Jan 23, 2023 | Daytona, Rolex 24 at Daytona, Roar Before the Rolex 24, rolex 24, Daytona International Speedway, 24 Hours of Daytona

Photography Credit: David S. Wallens

At this weekend’s Roar Before the Rolex 24, you could have rubbed elbows with top drivers, seen the latest race cars, and experienced one of the world’s most famed tracks.

And done it all for $20 or less per day.

For years, the insiders have checked out the pre-season Roar Before the Rolex 24: It felt like 90% of the cars but 10% of the crowd. If anything was lacking, it was just the buzz of a full race weekend.

A few years ago, however, seeds were planned: Actual racing was added to the schedule, while Scouts got their own dedicated camping session.

The Roar started to feel a little special, but it still had that vibe that reminded those in attendance that it was still the pre-season test. Crowds remained modest. You could easily find a place to park.

This year, though, things were different: lots of people, packed bleachers and, we found, difficulty even finding a parking space. The media center had the buzz of a race weekend.

This year’s Roar also saw the debut of the IMSA VP Racing SportsCar Challenge. This new series features Le Mans Prototype 3 machines alongside GT4-spec door-slammers in a pair of 45-minute sprint races per race weekend.

The on-track action closely resembles that seen in the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship, just in a format that’s a little easier to digest. Those in attendance–either lined up along the fences or packed into the stands–emitted the same cheers and gasps of a traditional IMSA race weekend.

And, still, for $20 or less per day.

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Comments

CrashDummy Reader
1/24/23 9:34 a.m.

David S. Wallens said:
This year’s Roar also saw the debut of the IMSA VP Racing SportsCar Challenge. This new series features Le Mans Prototype 3 machines alongside GT4-spec door-slammers in a pair of 45-minute sprint races per race weekend.

I thought the Michelin Pilot Challenge was where GT4 cars raced within the IMSA structure. Am I confused about the cars or are there now two separate GT4 series under the IMSA umbrella? I try to follow it but I have trouble with the constantly evolving alphabet soup of sports car racing. The one car class per race, one driver per car format of NASCAR/F1/IndyCar is a lot easier to follow.

David S. Wallens Editorial Director
1/24/23 11:17 a.m.

Yes, GT4 cars now have two places to race with IMSA.

You can run a GT4 car in the Michelin Pilot Challenge's GS class. These are endurance contests that share the track with the TCR sedans and hatches.

New for this year, you can also run a GT4 car in the VP Racing SportsCar Challenge's GSX class. These are sprint races that share the track with LMP3 prototypes.

The attraction of the new VP program? More to come soon, but it's looking like a good way for drivers to "wade into" the IMSA endurance contests: same cars, same tires and same tracks but with the shorter race format.

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