Since 1992, Rolex has been the title sponsor, replacing Sunbank, which had itself replaced Pepsi in 1984. Winning drivers of all classes receive a Rolex Daytona watch, a tradition begun in 1964 for the Daytona Continental.
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, the event being 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, counting towards the FIA's new International Championship for GT Manufacturers. The first Continental was won by Dan Gurney driving a 2.7L Coventry Climax-powered Lotus 19. During that race Gurney's Lotus 19 suffered engine failure with minutes remaining; he stopped just short of the finish line. When the three hours elapsed, Gurney steered the car to let gravity pull it across the line, winning the race. This incident led to the international rule requiring a car to cross the finish line under its own power to be classified.
In 1964 the event was expanded to 2,000 km (1,240 mi). Starting in 1966 the Daytona 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. Motor Sport reported that the basic organisation was good but that officials "in many cases were out of touch, childish and lacked the professional touch." The 1966 race also saw Suzy Dietrich enter with Janet Guthrie and Donna Mae Mims, finishing 32nd in a Sunbeam Alpine; along with another women's team in the race, they became the first women's teams to finish an international-standard 24-hour race.
In 1967, after losses to Ford at Daytona, Sebring and Le Mans the prior year, the Ferrari P series prototypes staged a 1–2–3 side-by-side parade finish at the banked finish line. The Ferrari 365 GTB/4 road car was given the unofficial name Ferrari Daytona in celebration of that victory.
Porsche repeated a 1–2–3 win in 1968. After Gerhard Mitter suffered a large crash caused by tyre failure in the banking, his teammate Rolf Stommelen supported the car of Vic Elford and Jochen Neerpasch. When the car of longtime leaders Jo Siffert and Hans Herrmann dropped to second due to a technical problem, those two also joined the new leaders. Porsche placed five of eight drivers on the centre of the podium, with Jo Schlesser and Joe Buzzetta third.
Lola finished 1–2 in the 1969 race; the winning car was the Penske Lola T70-Chevrolet of Mark Donohue and Chuck Parsons. Motor Sport noted: "The Daytona 24-Hour race draws a very small crowd."
From 1970 drivers began strapped into their cars at the start; rolling starts were introduced in 1971. In 1972 rules limited cars to 3.0 litres and imposed a weight limit, causing Porsche to withdraw that year and resulting in a Ferrari victory. An FIA rule also shortened the 1972 race to six hours, and the energy crisis led to outright cancellation 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. In 1989 the race was delayed four hours due to fog, the longest fog delay in the race's history; cars were required to follow a pace car during the pause. In 2011 a fog delay lasted so long that the pace car had to stop for fuel.
A significant crash occurred in 2014 involving Memo Gidley, driving the pole-sitting Daytona Prototype, and Matteo Malucelli, an amateur driver in a Ferrari 458 of the GTD class. Malucelli was travelling at less than 30 mph while other cars passed at 150 mph; Gidley, alongside another car, could not see him and impacted front-first. The race was subsequently red-flagged. Both drivers survived.
In the 1990s the Daytona event aligned with the Grand-Am series, which was linked to NASCAR and focused on controlled costs and close competition. New rules introduced in 2002 created the Daytona Prototype (DP) class, using less expensive materials and simplified aerodynamics. The DPs began racing in 2003 with six cars. Specialist chassis makers including Riley, Dallara and Lola supplied the cars, powered by engines branded by Cadillac, Lexus, Ford, BMW and Porsche.
In 2017 the DPi prototype was introduced, based on LMP2 chassis with 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 an Acura ARX-06 GTP became the first hybrid car to win the Rolex 24 at Daytona.
The GT Daytona class uses cars built closer to road versions, comparable to the GT3 class. From 2014 the class was restricted exclusively to Group GT3 cars. Alongside this the GTLM class used LM GTE cars. In 2022 GTLM was replaced by GTD Pro, using the same cars as GTD. The difference between GTD and GTD Pro is that GTD requires one amateur driver carrying an FIA Silver or Bronze rating, while GTD Pro has open driver selection. The fourth driver in all classes is typically a Daytona-only professional of renown; the corpus names Scott Dixon, Jeff Gordon, Fernando Alonso, Shane van Gisbergen and Kyle Busch in this role.
Porsche holds the most overall victories of any manufacturer with 23, scored across various models including the 911, 935 and 996. Porsche also won 11 consecutive races from 1977 to 1987 and 18 out of 23 races from 1968 to 1991. Porsche claimed back-to-back overall wins in both the 2024 and 2025 races. In addition to 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 holds 10 wins between its Oldsmobile, Pontiac, Chevrolet and Cadillac brands.
This article is based solely on the supplied corpus. No external sources were consulted; claims that could not be substantiated against the corpus were omitted under the drop-the-claim rule.
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