A six-hour, 1,000-kilometer USAC-FIA sports car race was held at Daytona on April 5, 1959, shortly after the track opened, but is not considered part of the lineage of the eventual 24-hour event. The race that became the Rolex 24 grew from a 3-hour sports car event introduced in 1962 under the name the Daytona Continental, which counted toward the FIA International Championship for GT Manufacturers. Dan Gurney won the inaugural Continental in a Coventry Climax-powered Lotus 19. A famous incident from that first race saw Gurney's Lotus fail with minutes remaining while he led; he stopped the car just short of the finish line, and when the three hours elapsed he steered the stricken car downhill under gravity to cross the line and win — an outcome that contributed to the international rule requiring cars to cross the finish line under their own power.
The event was expanded to 2,000 km in 1964. Starting in 1966, it was extended to 24 hours to match the duration of Le Mans.
The first 24-hour edition in 1966 was won by Ken Miles and Lloyd Ruby in a Ford Mk. II. That same year Suzy Dietrich, Janet Guthrie, and Donna Mae Mims competed as a women's crew in a Sunbeam Alpine, finishing 32nd and becoming part of the first women's teams to complete an international-standard 24-hour race.
Ferrari responded to Ford's 1966 dominance by engineering a celebrated 1-2-3 finish in 1967, the P-series prototypes crossing the line side by side in the banking. The Ferrari 365 GTB/4 road car was subsequently given the unofficial name Ferrari Daytona in honor of the result. Porsche then staged its own 1-2-3 in 1968 and went on to dominate the race through subsequent decades.
Lola took overall victory in 1969 with Mark Donohue and Chuck Parsons driving the Penske Lola T70-Chevrolet. Running formats changed through the early 1970s; a 1972 FIA rule limited engine displacement to 3.0 liters, prompting Porsche to withdraw that season, while the energy crisis led to cancellation of the race entirely in 1974. IMSA replaced SCCA sanctioning in 1975.
Pepsi became title sponsor in 1984, succeeded by Sunbank, and then in 1992 by Rolex — a partnership that has continued since. The Rolex title brought with it one of motorsport's most recognizable winner's prizes: a Rolex Daytona watch presented to the winners of each class, a tradition with roots in the 1964 event when chronographs served as practical timing instruments for racers.
The race fields roughly 60 cars competing across multiple classes simultaneously. Teams typically assign three to five drivers per car, rotating through the 24-hour duration. The top-tier prototype class has evolved through several regulatory generations — from Group C-era machinery through the Daytona Prototype (DP) formula introduced in 2003, the DPi (Daytona Prototype international) format introduced in 2017, and ultimately to LMDh prototypes for 2023, with Le Mans Hypercar machines also permitted.
The GT Daytona (GTD) class uses FIA GT3-specification cars, and since 2022 has been split into GTD and GTD Pro. GTD requires at least one amateur-rated driver; GTD Pro allows fully professional lineups. Many prominent crossover drivers have competed in the race as fourth drivers in endurance configurations, including Formula 1 champions and NASCAR regulars.
Porsche holds the record for most overall victories by a manufacturer, with 23 wins including a record 11 consecutive victories from 1977 through 1987. The 1989 edition was delayed for four hours by fog, the longest fog stoppage in the race's history; a 2011 race was paused so long by fog that the pace car itself had to stop for fuel.
In 2014 a major crash involving Memo Gidley and Matteo Malucelli prompted a red flag; both drivers survived. In 2023, an Acura ARX-06 became the first hybrid car to win the overall classification at Daytona, as the series adopted the LMDh specification. Porsche claimed back-to-back overall victories in both the 2024 and 2025 races.
Unlike Le Mans, the Daytona race is conducted entirely within the closed speedway property, using no public roads. The circuit features the steep banking of the tri-oval interrupted by a chicane on the back straight and a sweeping infield section with two hairpins. Night racing is accommodated by track lighting, though at reduced intensity similar to the approach used at Le Mans.
The Rolex 24 anchors the North American endurance racing calendar and serves as a proving ground for manufacturer programs, driver combinations, and class regulations. Its timing at the very start of the racing year, combined with its multi-class format and 24-hour duration, gives it a character distinct from any other event in North American motorsport.