The race has borne the names of several sponsors over the years. Rolex has been the title sponsor since 1992, replacing Sunbank, which had replaced Pepsi in 1984. Winning drivers of all classes receive a Rolex Daytona watch, a tradition that started in 1964 for the Daytona Continental, when chronographs were regarded as "tool watches" for those in the racing industry, used for timing purposes.
Shortly after the track opened, on April 5, 1959, a six-hour/1000 kilometre USAC-FIA sports car race was held on the road course. Count Antonio Von Dory and Roberto Mieres won the race in a Porsche, shortened to 560.07 miles (901.35 km) due to darkness. The race used a 3.81-mile layout, running clockwise. This event is not considered part of the lineage of the eventual 24-hour race.
In 1962, a 3-hour sports car race was introduced. First known as the Daytona Continental, it counted towards the FIA's new International Championship for GT Manufacturers. Dan Gurney won the first Continental, driving a 2.7L Coventry Climax-powered Lotus 19. In that initial 1962 race, Gurney's Lotus 19 had established a lengthy lead when the engine failed with minutes remaining. He stopped the car at the top of the banking, just short of the finish line, and when the three hours had elapsed he cranked the steering wheel left and let gravity pull the car across the line to win the race. This led to an international rule requiring a car to cross the line under its own power in order to be classified.
In 1964, the event was expanded to 2,000 km (1,240 mi), doubling the classic 1000 km distance of races at the Nürburgring, Spa and Monza. Starting in 1966, the race was extended to the same 24-hour length as Le Mans.
The first 24-hour event in 1966 was won by Ken Miles and Lloyd Ruby driving a Ford Mk. II. That same year, Suzy Dietrich entered the event driving a Sunbeam Alpine with Janet Guthrie and Donna Mae Mims; the trio finished 32nd and, along with another women's team in the race, became the first women's teams to finish an international-standard 24-hour race.
After losing in 1966 at Daytona, Sebring and Le Mans to the Fords, the Ferrari P series prototypes staged a 1–2–3 side-by-side parade finish at the banked finish line in 1967. The Ferrari 365 GTB/4 road car was given the unofficial name "Ferrari Daytona" in celebration of this victory. Porsche repeated this show with a 1–2–3 win in the 1968 event. After Gerhard Mitter had a major crash caused by tire failure on the banking, his teammate Rolf Stommelen supported the car of Vic Elford and Jochen Neerpasch. When the long-time leaders Jo Siffert and Hans Herrmann dropped to second due to a technical problem, they also joined the new leaders, allowing Porsche to put five of eight drivers on the centre of the podium, with Jo Schlesser and Joe Buzzetta finishing third.
Lola finished 1–2 in the 1969 event, the winning car being the Penske Lola T70-Chevrolet of Mark Donohue and Chuck Parsons. In 1970 drivers were strapped into their cars and drove away at the start; since 1971, races have begun with rolling starts. In 1972, the rules changed, limiting cars to 3.0 litres instead of the previous 5.0 litres and introducing a weight limit, which caused Porsche to back out of the series for that year and led to a Ferrari victory. Also in 1972, an FIA rule shortened the race to six hours, and the energy crisis led to cancellation altogether in 1974. The Sports Car Club of America sanctioning was replaced by the International Motor Sports Association in 1975. In 1982 the race continued as part of the IMSA GT Championship.
The race has been paused due to fog multiple times. In 1989 it was delayed by fog for four hours, the longest such pause; during these stoppages cars follow a pace car. In 2011, the delay was so long that the pace car had to stop for fuel. In 2014, a dramatic crash occurred involving Memo Gidley, driving the pole-sitting DP, and Matteo Malucelli in a Ferrari 458 of the GTD category. Malucelli was travelling at less than 30 mph while cars passed at 150 mph; the race was red-flagged and both drivers survived.
Regular teams were expanded to three drivers in the 1970s; nowadays four drivers typically compete because of the longer night driving. In the professional-based prototype and GTE classes, all four drivers are usually professionals. In the LMP2 and GT3-based classes, many additional drivers are amateurs — sportsman drivers who have built a career in a non-motorsport occupation — eligible for IMSA's Jim Trueman and Bob Akin awards. Often the fourth driver is a Daytona-only professional of renown who has won a major professional championship, such as Scott Dixon, Jeff Gordon, Fernando Alonso, Shane van Gisbergen or Kyle Busch.
Unlike Le Mans, the race is conducted entirely over a closed course within the speedway arena without the use of any public streets, using most of the steep banking interrupted by a chicane on the back straight and a fast infield section with two hairpins. Also unlike Le Mans, it is held in wintertime when nights are longest. Lights are installed around the circuit, though the infield is less well-lit than the main oval, with the stadium lights run at only 20%.
After several ownership changes at IMSA, it was decided by the 1990s that the Daytona event would align with the Grand-Am series, a competitor of the American Le Mans Series. The Grand-Am series was closely linked to NASCAR and focused on controlled costs and close competition. To make sports car racing less expensive, new rules in 2002 introduced the Daytona Prototypes (DP), which used less expensive materials and simple aerodynamics; the DPs began racing in 2003 with six cars. Specialist chassis makers like Riley, Dallara and Lola provided the DP cars, with engines branded under major manufacturers including Cadillac, Lexus, Ford, BMW and Porsche.
The 2017 season introduced the DPi prototypes, based on LMP2 chassis with a custom engine and bodywork from a major manufacturer. For 2023, the race adopted the LMDh prototype specification, with Le Mans Hypercars also permitted, and the series returned to the Grand Touring Prototype name from the 1980s. In 2023, the first hybrid car, an Acura ARX-06 GTP, won the Rolex 24. IMSA set regulations and penalties for the hybrid engines, using monitors to track total energy used by the car.
The Gran Turismo class cars at Daytona are closer to the road versions, similar to the GT3 class elsewhere. Recent entries have included BMW M3s and M6s, Porsche 911s, Chevrolet Camaros and Corvettes, Mazda RX-8s, Pontiac GTO.Rs and Ferrari F430 Challenges; the Audi R8 and the Ferrari 458 Italia debuted at the 50th anniversary race in 2012. From the era of the IMSA GTO and GTU until the 2015 rule changes, spaceframe cars clad in lookalike body panels competed in GT, intended to let teams rebuild cars cheaply after crashes. Starting in 2014 the GT Daytona class was restricted exclusively to Group GT3 cars, alongside the GTLM class using LM GTE cars. In 2022 the GTLM class was replaced by GTD Pro, using the same cars as GTD, with a single Corvette C8.R permitted under adjusted performance. The 2022 season split the class into GTD and GTD PRO; both use identical FIA GT3 cars, the only difference being that GTD requires one amateur driver while driver selection is open in GTD PRO.
Porsche has the most overall victories of any manufacturer with 23, scored by various models including the road-based 911, 935 and 996. Porsche also won a record 11 consecutive races from 1977 to 1987 and 18 of 23 races from 1968 to 1991, and claimed back-to-back overall wins in the 2024 and 2025 races. In addition to its 21 wins as both car and engine manufacturer, Porsche has four wins solely as an engine manufacturer, in 1984, 1995, 2009 and 2010. General Motors has 10 wins between its Oldsmobile, Pontiac, Chevrolet and Cadillac brands.
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