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Rolex 24 at Daytona and Roar Before weekends are fast approaching, here are the schedules

ryan pritt, daytona beach news-journal
·3 min read

The new year is here and right behind it, the roar is coming.

Daytona International Speedway will come to life in the coming weeks, highlighted by back-to-back weekends of racing as the Roar Before The Rolex 24 and the 62nd Rolex 24 at Daytona are set to close out January.

The Roar will feature three days of practices, qualifying and the first two official races of the year, Friday through Sunday, Jan. 20-22. Entries in the Rolex 24 and the Michelin Pilot Challenge will go through numerous testing sessions with a pair of VP Racing SportsCar Challenge races scheduled, one on Saturday and one on Sunday.

After a couple of days off, racing resumes on Wednesday, Jan. 25 with a Mazda MX-5 Cup practice followed by a Michelin Pilot Challenge testing session before full slates scheduled for Thursday and Friday. Highlighting those days will be two Mazda MX-5 Cup races and the four-hour-long BMW M Endurance Challenge at Daytona, set for a 1:45 p.m. green flag on Friday, Jan. 27.

All of it leads up to the start of the 62nd running of the Rolex 24 at Daytona, set to begin at 1:40 p.m.

Here is the schedule for the Roar Before the Rolex 24 and the 62nd running of the Rolex 24 at Daytona:

IMSA SCHEDULE: Rolex 24 at Daytona coming fast; here's a look at entire IMSA sports-car schedule for 2024

The No. 04 Oreca LMP2 07 flies through the trioval, Wednesday December 6, 2023, as IMSA teams take to Daytona International Speedway for the first of four days of testing for the Rolex 24.
The No. 04 Oreca LMP2 07 flies through the trioval, Wednesday December 6, 2023, as IMSA teams take to Daytona International Speedway for the first of four days of testing for the Rolex 24.

Friday, Jan. 19

8:45-9:15 a.m.: VP Racing SportsCar Challenge, practice 1

9:30-10:45: Michelin Pilot Challenge, practice 1

11 a.m.-12:30 p.m.: WeatherTech Championship, practice 1

1:45-2:15: VP Racing SportsCar Challenge, practice 2

2:30-4: Michelin Pilot Challenge, practice 2

4:15-6: WeatherTech Championship, practice 2

Saturday, Jan. 20

8:40-9:15 a.m.: VP Racing SportsCar Challenge, qualifying

9:30-11: Michelin Pilot Challenge, practice 3

11:15 a.m.-12:45 p.m.: WeatherTech Championship, practice 3

2:05-2:50: VP Racing SportsCar Challenge, race 1 of 2

3:10-4:10: WeatherTech Championship, practice 4

4:30-5:30: Michelin Pilot Challenge, practice 4

6:30-8:30: WeatherTech Championship, practice 5

Sunday, Jan. 21

10:15-11:15 a.m.: Michelin Pilot Challenge, practice 5

12:20-1:05 p.m.: VP Racing SportsCar Challenge, race 2 of 2

1:25-1:40: WeatherTech Championship, practice 6

1:45-3:20: WeatherTech Championship, qualifying

Wednesday, Jan. 24

1-1:45 p.m.: Mazda MX-5 Cup, practice 1

3:05-4:05: Michelin Pilot Challenge, practice 1

4:20-5:05: Mazda MX-5 Cup, practice 2

Thursday, Jan. 25

The first of two Mazda MX-5 Cup races will highlight the day on Thursday, Jan. 26.
The first of two Mazda MX-5 Cup races will highlight the day on Thursday, Jan. 26.

8:45-9:45 a.m.: Michelin Pilot Challenge, practice 2

10:05-11:35: WeatherTech Championship, practice 1

11:55 a.m.-12:15 p.m.: Mazda MX-5 Cup, qualifying

1:15-1:50: Michelin Pilot Challenge, qualifying

2:10-3:55: WeatherTech Championship, practice 2

4:15-5: Mazda MX-5 Cup, race 1

6:35-8:05: WeatherTech Championship, practice 3

Friday, Jan. 26

9:25-9:55 a.m.: Michelin Pilot Challenge, practice 3

10:15-11: Mazda MX-5 Cup, race 2 of 2

11:20 a.m.-12:20 p.m.: WeatherTech Championship, practice 4

1:45-5:45: BMW M Endurance Challenge at Daytona

Saturday, Jan. 27

1:40 p.m.: Rolex 24 at Daytona begins

Sunday, Jan. 28

1:40 p.m.: Rolex 24 at Daytona ends

This article originally appeared on The Daytona Beach News-Journal: Rolex 24 at Daytona and Roar Before the 24 schedules\, Jan. 20-29