Many of the stars of the NTT INDYCAR SERIES and INDY NXT by Firestone have been named to rides for the 62nd annual Rolex 24 At Daytona, the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship race at Daytona International Speedway that will kick off major U.S. motorsports in 2024.
The field of at least 60 cars will include six-time NTT INDYCAR SERIES champion – and three-time Rolex 24 overall winner – Scott Dixon, reigning Indianapolis 500 presented by Gainbridge winner Josef Newgarden and the pairing of podcast partners Alexander Rossi and James Hinchcliffe.
Rossi, the winner of the 2016 Indianapolis 500, was part of the winning Rolex 24 team in 2021. Rossi and Hinchcliffe host “Off Track with Hinch and Rossi,” a regular motorsports podcast.
The Rolex 24 weekend on the 3.56-mile road course is set for Jan. 25-28.
Seven NTT INDYCAR SERIES drivers were listed on the preliminary entry list distributed by IMSA this week. Five will compete in the series’ top class – Grand Touring Pro (GTP) – with Rossi and Kyle Kirkwood competing in GTD Pro. NTT INDYCAR SERIES team owners Roger Penske, Chip Ganassi, Michael Andretti and Bobby Rahal – plus 1996 INDYCAR SERIES champion Jimmy Vasser -- also will field cars through various alliances.
Dixon and Tom Blomqvist will be part of the Cadillac program in GTP. Dixon’s teammates in the No. 01 of Cadillac Racing will be four-time INDYCAR SERIES champion Sebastien Bourdais, an overall Rolex 24 winner in 2014, along with Renger van der Zande. Blomqvist, who has been on the winning team the past two years, will share the No. 31 Whelen Cadillac Racing entry with Pipo Derani and Jack Aitken.
Newgarden will be part of the No. 7 Porsche Penske Motorsports entry that includes Matt Campbell, Felipe Nasr and Frederic Makowiecki. Penske’s sports car operation, which won the TireRack.com Battle on the Bricks at Indianapolis Motor Speedway in September with its No. 6 car (shown above), will again field two Porsche 963s next season.
Colton Herta returns to the Rolex 24. He will share the Wayne Taylor Racing with Andretti No. 40 entry with Jordan Taylor, Louis Deletraz and 2009 Formula One champion Jenson Button. Marcus Ericsson, the winner of the 2022 Indianapolis 500, will drive the team’s other car, the No. 10, alongside Ricky Taylor, Felipe Albuquerque and Brendon Hartley. The team co-owned by Andretti and Wayne Taylor fields a pair of Acura ARX-06, and Acura will be shooting for its fourth consecutive overall win in the event.
There are 10 of the hybrid-electrified prototypes scheduled to compete in GTP.
In Le Mans Prototype 2 (LMP2), the top two finishers in this year's INDY NXT by Firestone -- champion Christian Rasmussen and runner-up Hunter McElrea -- will compete. Rasmussen will drive the No. 18 of Era Motorsports while McElrea will be in the No. 11 TDS Racing. There are 12 entries.
GT Daytona Pro (GTD Pro) has 13 entries, with the No. 9 Pfaff Motorsports McLaren 720 S driven by Rossi, Hinchcliffe, Oliver Jarvis and Marvin Kirchofer. The No. 14 Lexus RC of Vasser Sullivan will have Kirkwood joining former NTT INDYCAR SERIES driver Jack Hawksworth and Ben Barnicoat.
The GT Daytona (GTD) class has the most cars – 25 – and one of them is the No. 43 Andretti Motorsports entry, a Porsche 911, that includes Jarett Andretti and Gabby Chaves.