Ten current NTT INDYCAR SERIES drivers will add to a constellation of some of the biggest stars in global racing this weekend at Daytona International Speedway, aiming for victory in the 59th Rolex 24 At Daytona.
The annual endurance classic is the unofficial kickoff to the international racing season and also is an all-star race of sorts, drawing drivers from IMSA, INDYCAR, NASCAR, the World Endurance Championship and other prominent series.
Racing starts at 3:40 p.m. (ET) Saturday, Jan. 30, with coverage starting at 3:30 p.m. on NBC.
Six-time NTT INDYCAR SERIES champion Scott Dixon and two-time Indianapolis 500 winner Juan Pablo Montoya will lead the INDYCAR contingent into the twice-around-the-clock race, both seeking their fourth overall victory while driving in the premier Daytona Prototype International (DPi) class.
Dixon shared overall victory honors in 2006, 2015 and 2020, with Montoya taking the top spot in 2007, 2008 and 2015. Dixon will aim for win No. 4 – and fifth overall, as he was part of the class-winning GT Le Mans team in 2018 – in the No. 01 Cadillac Chip Ganassi Racing entry shared with Renger van der Zende and Formula One veteran Kevin Magnussen. Montoya is driving the No. 60 Meyer Shank Racing with Curb-Agajanian Acura with Olivier Pla, Dane Cameron and Champ Car race winner and NASCAR standout AJ Allmendinger.
Four-time INDYCAR SERIES champion Sebastien Bourdais will try for his second overall win behind the wheel of the No. 5 Mustang Sampling/JDC-Miller MotorSports Cadillac shared with fellow Frenchmen Loic Duval and INDYCAR veteran Tristan Vautier. Bourdais won the race overall in 2014.
Bourdais will have the best starting spot among the seven current NTT INDYCAR SERIES drivers competing in the race, launching from the grid in third after the team earned that place in the 100-minute qualifying race last Sunday.
Other active INDYCAR drivers racing in the DPi class are Indy 500 winners Helio Castroneves, Alexander Rossi and Simon Pagenaud, and series newcomer and seven-time NASCAR Cup Series champion Jimmie Johnson.
Rossi and Castroneves will share the seat in the No. 10 Konica Minolta Acura ARX-05 with Ricky Taylor and Filipe Albuquerque, while Pagenaud and Johnson will tag-team with Kamui Kobayashi and Mike Rockenfeller in the No. 48 Ally Cadillac Racing entry.
INDYCAR also will be represented in two of the other four classes racing together on the 3.56-mile “roval” that incorporates an infield road course with portions of Daytona’s high-banked oval.
2020 NTT INDYCAR SERIES Rookie of the Year Rinus VeeKay is the lone series representative in the Le Mans Prototype 2 class, less-powerful prototypes than the DPi class. VeeKay is sharing the No. 81 DragonSpeed USA Oreca with Indianapolis 500 veteran Ben Hanley, Rob Hodes and Garett Grist.
Series standout Colton Herta and recent series returnee Ed Jones will race in the GT Daytona class, based on GT3 production sports cars.
Herta will aim for his second Rolex 24 class victory in the No. 96 Turner Motorsport BMW M6. He won GT Le Mans class honors with Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing’s BMW in his debut Rolex 24 start, in 2019.
Jones, who was announced Wednesday as the driver for Dale Coyne Racing and Vasser Sullivan Racing, will share the No. 63 Scuderia Corsa Ferrari 488 with INDYCAR veteran Ryan Briscoe, Bret Curtis and Marcos Gomes.
Live TV coverage of the race will be spread among NBC, NBCSN and NBC Sports’ streaming. Visit https://www.imsa.com/events/2021-rolex-24-at-daytona/ for the complete schedule.