Calendars Announced for WeatherTech Championship, Michelin Pilot Challenge and VP Racing SportsCar Challenge
Note: This story has been updated to reflect the revised date for Watkins Glen International.
ELKHART LAKE, Wis. (Aug. 4, 2023) – In keeping with tradition, IMSA today unveiled 2024 schedules for its owned-and-operated series – the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship, IMSA Michelin Pilot Challenge and IMSA VP Racing SportsCar Challenge – as part of the annual midsummer visit to Road America.
In a break from tradition, remaining announcements and business updates delivered as part of IMSA President John Doonan’s annual “State of the Sport” presentation will come at Michelin Raceway Road Atlanta on Thursday, Oct. 12 during the season-ending Motul Petit Le Mans event weekend. But the 2024 schedule announcements still brought with them plenty of news.
“Undoubtedly one of the key elements that has attracted our corporate partners and 18 automotive manufacturers is the annual schedule of events that IMSA is able to deliver,” said IMSA President John Doonan. “The venues and events we visit on an annual basis are world renowned and beloved by race fans and competitors everywhere. We are proud to unveil our 2024 calendar which once again delivers IMSA racing to vitally important markets throughout North America.”
2024 WeatherTech Championship Schedule Sees Detroit Return, Addition to Michelin Endurance Cup
The 2024 WeatherTech Championship schedule is highlighted by the addition of a fifth IMSA Michelin Endurance Cup event, brings the series back to the Motor City after a one-year absence, includes a total of six events that will feature all four classes, one event in which the LMP2 class will compete for overall victory and one GT-only round.
The 2024 campaign will open as usual on the final weekend of January as the eyes of the motorsport world once again will be focused on Daytona International Speedway for the 62nd Rolex 24 At Daytona on the weekend of Jan. 25-28. The twice-around-the-clock battle will award WeatherTech Championship points for all four participating classes – GTP, LMP2, GTD PRO and GTD – marking the first time since the 2019 season that the event will count for WeatherTech Championship points in the LMP2 class.
The Rolex 24 At Daytona also serves as the kick-off to what will be a five-race Michelin Endurance Cup season. The Mobil 1 Twelve Hours of Sebring occupies its traditional slot in the third weekend of March with the 72nd rendition slated for the weekend of March 13-16. The Sahlen’s Six Hours of The Glen brings endurance racing back to New York’s Finger Lakes region on the weekend of June 20-23 for the third Michelin Endurance Cup race of the season.
The new addition to the Michelin Endurance Cup in 2024 is an expansion of the race at Indianapolis Motor Speedway to six hours on the weekend of Sept. 20-22. The endurance race at IMS was widely expected since last summer’s announcement of the WeatherTech Championship’s return to the Speedway for a two-hour and 40-minute race at IMS next month. It will be the series’ first visit to Indianapolis since 2014.
The 2024 WeatherTech Championship and Michelin Endurance Cup season will wrap up at Michelin Raceway Road Atlanta on the weekend of Oct. 9-12 with the 10-hour Motul Petit Le Mans.
The WeatherTech Championship’s return to Detroit comes via a 100-minute race featuring the GTP and GTD PRO classes, which will compete in a 100-minute battle on Saturday, June 1. The series previously raced on Detroit’s Belle Isle circuit through the 2022 season but next year will be its first time on the city’s downtown street circuit, which hosted the IMSA Michelin Pilot Challenge GS class in 2023.
Detroit will be one of two 100-minute sprint races on city streets in 2024, joining the Acura Grand Prix of Long Beach on Saturday, April 20. That race will include the GTP and GTD classes only. WeatherTech Raceway Laguna Seca makes up the other half of IMSA’s annual West Coast Swing, with a two-hour and 40-minute battle involving the GTP, GTD PRO and GTD classes on Sunday, May 12.
The LMP2 class will not compete at WeatherTech Raceway in 2024 but will compete for the overall victory at Canadian Tire Motorsport Park on Sunday, July 14 as the lead class in a two-hour and 40-minute event that also includes the GTD PRO and GTD classes.
Road America will host the only two-hour and 40-minute sprint event to include all four WeatherTech Championship classes as GTP, LMP2, GTD PRO and GTD are set to return to the Kettle Moraine on Sunday, Aug. 4. VIRginia International Raceway will host the lone GT-only WeatherTech Championship race in 2024 with a two-hour and 40-minute contest set for Sunday, Aug. 25.
The GTD PRO and GTD classes each will compete in 10 races in 2024, with nine scheduled for the GTP class and seven for LMP2.
The Roar Before the Rolex 24 also returns as the official warm-up for the 2024 season at Daytona International Speedway on the weekend of Jan. 19-21.
IMSA Michelin Pilot Challenge Schedule Features Return to Mid-Ohio for Four-Hour Feature Race
The 2024 IMSA Michelin Pilot Challenge schedule revealed Friday again includes 10 races for the production-based series, including a return to Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course for a four-hour race that will headline a full weekend of IMSA action.
The Mid-Ohio event weekend slated for June 7-9 returns the Michelin Pilot Challenge to the Lexington, Ohio venue after a one-year absence. It will be Round 4 of the season and the second of two, four-hour races on the calendar.
The first four-hour enduro will once again open the season at Daytona International Speedway on Friday, Jan. 26 as part of the Rolex 24 At Daytona event weekend. From Daytona, the Michelin Pilot Challenge makes its way to Sebring International Raceway on Friday, March 15 for the first of the season’s eight two-hour races for the Grand Sport (GS) and Touring Car (TCR) classes, which will compete simultaneously in every 2024 race.
The series then makes its annual trek to the west coast to WeatherTech Raceway Laguna Seca on Saturday, May 11 for a two-hour battle on the picturesque circuit in Monterey, California. From there it’s on to Mid-Ohio and then Watkins Glen International on Saturday, June 22 for a two-hour battle to close out the first half of the season.
Round 6 takes the series north of the border to Canadian Tire Motorsport Park on Saturday, July 13 ahead of a return to Road America, which hosts the seventh race of the season on the weekend of Aug. 2-4. VIRginia International Raceway occupies its traditional place on the calendar with a two-hour battle planned for Saturday, Aug. 24.
Indianapolis Motor Speedway hosts the penultimate round of the Michelin Pilot Challenge season – this time a two-hour race – on Saturday, Sept. 21, with Michelin Raceway Road Atlanta once again hosting the season finale on Friday, Oct. 11 as part of the annual Motul Petit Le Mans festivities.
One week prior to the season-opening race at Daytona International Speedway, Michelin Pilot Challenge teams again will have the opportunity to test and tune on Daytona’s high banks as part of the Roar Before the Rolex 24 event on Jan. 19-21.
Aside from the Mid-Ohio event, all other Michelin Pilot Challenge races in 2024 will run as companion events to the WeatherTech Championship.
Six-Event, 12-Race Calendar Planned for IMSA VP Racing SportsCar Challenge
Following up a successful debut season in 2023, the IMSA VP Racing SportsCar Challenge returns in 2024 with a six-event calendar for the multi-class series featuring LMP3 and GSX machinery. Each event weekend will feature two, 45-minute sprint races.
The VP Racing Challenge will once again kick off the IMSA racing season with a pair of races as part of the Roar Before the Rolex 24 event on Jan. 19-21. A new event – the Grand Prix of St. Petersburg – will host Rounds 3 and 4 of the season on the weekend of March 9-10.
From there, the series heads to Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course for a pair of races on the weekend of June 7-9 alongside the Michelin Pilot Challenge, which headlines the event weekend. In July, the series returns to Canadian Tire Motorsport Park alongside the WeatherTech Championship and Michelin Pilot Challenge on July 12-14.
VIRginia International Raceway hosts the second-to-last weekend of the season on Aug. 23-25 ahead of the season finale weekend at Michelin Raceway Road Atlanta on Oct. 9-11.
