Four-Hour BMW M Endurance Challenge Race Set to Pack Action, Drama
By Tony DiZinno
Entry List (Click Here)
DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. – Over the past 24 years, the IMSA Michelin Pilot Challenge series has regularly provided some of the best racing of an entire IMSA weekend and season. The mix of wide-open competition and the camaraderie among many of its drivers often delivers a wild race affair, usually in the closing minutes of the standard two-hour race or endurance-type four-hour race.
As the BMW M Endurance Challenge is a latter race type, the four-hour race on the 3.56-mile Daytona International Speedway often comes down to the final four minutes as teams try to stretch fuel mileage and/or engage in hard-fought battles for the lead.
Those entered include 26 Grand Sport (GS) class competitors from seven auto manufacturers (Aston Martin, BMW, Ford, McLaren, Mercedes-AMG, Porsche, Toyota) and 16 Touring Car (TCR) class competitors from four (Audi, Cupra, Honda, Hyundai).
Neither will have a repeat Daytona winner in the same class in 2025. The Kellymoss with Riley team, whose young trio of Riley Dickinson, Michael McCarthy and Brady Golan eked out just enough fuel in their No. 91 Porsche 718 GT4 RS CS to win overall, eschews an entry this year.
Meanwhile, TCR winners UniTronic/JDC-Miller MotorSports’ Chris Miller and Mikey Taylor had a heroic effort to even make the start in their No 17 Audi RS3 LMS TCR entry with a last-second replacement part installed within an hour of the green flag.
Grand Sport: 26 Contenders from 7 Brands
Instead of adding just a new part, TCR season champions Miller and Taylor are adding both a new car and a new class to their season: a Porsche they’ll race in GS. They’re one of five entered.
Porsche has two returning 2024 race-winning teams in RS1 and BGB Motorsports, plus CSM and CDR Valkyrie. RS1’s new lineup of Jan Heylen and Luca Mars (No. 28 Porsche) and BGB’s regular pair of Spencer Pumpelly and Thomas Collingwood (No. 38 Porsche) should contend for wins, especially as Heylen, Pumpelly and Mars have won either Michelin Pilot Challenge or VP Racing SportsCar Challenge titles.
Aston Martin enters 2025 as the defending GS manufacturer champion, thanks in large part to Team TGM’s efforts with its two AMR Vantage GT4 EVOs. Defending driver champion Matt Plumb is back with Paul Holton in their quest to repeat, although this time Holton will have the advantage of sharing the No. 46 car for the full year after coming on board at Sebring in 2025.
There’s another goal for Plumb in 2025: re-establish himself as the series’ all-time wins leader. He and Billy Johnson are tied on 24, with his most recent win coming at Watkins Glen International last June. Beyond Team TGM, Rebel Rock Racing and van der Steur Racing field the other three Aston Martins.
Johnson’s full-time series return is one of Ford’s key story lines for the season among its five cars. He’s with past GS and last year’s VP Challenge GSX title-winning team KOHR Motorsports, in one of the team’s two cars. He’ll share the No. 59 Ford Mustang GT4 with Bob Michaelian and should figure at the front often during the year.
Keep an eye as well on the young pairing of Jenson Altzman and Sam Paley in the No. 13 McCumbee McAleer Racing with AEROSPORT entry. Both have shown promise in their IMSA development series careers and may break through for their first GS wins in 2025. Single Stephen Cameron Racing and LAP Motorsports Fords complete the quintet.
Although the five Aston Martins, Fords and Porsches apiece comprise 15 of the 26 GS entries at Daytona, it’s race sponsor BMW that is the most popular model in action to kick off the year.
Six M4 GT4s – split three apiece between the initial M4 and new-for-2025 EVO version – will vie to bring BMW back to GS victory lane at Daytona for the first time since 2014 (Shelby Blackstock and Ashley Freiberg shared the winning BMW M3). Turner Motorsport’s pair of BMW M4 GT4 EVOs have revised lineups while CarBahn with Peregrine Racing’s pair of past GS champion Jeff Westphal and Sean McAlister are back in their No. 39 BMW M4 GT4; they won most recently at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway in September.
Stevan McAleer switches to Auto Technic’s No 27 BMW M4 GT4 EVO for 2025 from RS1 as he searches for an elusive GS title to add to his 2015 Street Tuner (ST) crown. Team ACP-Tangerine has two Bronze Cup-entered BMW M4 GT4s.
The five remaining entries are three Toyota GR Supra GT4 EVO2 cars, with past Michelin Pilot Challenge winners Hattori Motorsports and newcomers RAFA Racing and Kingpin Racing present, and a single entry apiece from McLaren (Accelerating Performance) and Mercedes-AMG (Winward Racing).
Touring Car: Hyundai Heavy with Audi, Honda, Cupra Challengers
Hyundai’s five-year run atop the TCR driver’s championship (2019 through 2023) ended in 2024, although the brand’s strength in numbers ensured it completed a six-pack of TCR manufacturer titles. As it prepares to regain the driver’s crown in 2025 with Miller and Taylor moving into GS, there are seven Hyundai Veloster N TCR cars, most in with a title shout.
Perennial championship contenders Bryan Herta Autosport with Curb-Agajanian won all those five and has two past champions back this year. Mark Wilkins (2019, with Michael Lewis) and Harry Gottsacker (2023, with Robert Wickens) will fly the flag in BHA’s now-traditional Nos. 33 and 98 Hyundais, respectively.
Wilkins will race alongside rising star Bryson Morris while Gottsacker sees Wickens head to the WeatherTech Championship with DXDT Racing, and will race alongside fellow Hyundai veteran Mason Filippi instead. Denis Dupont and Preston Brown (No. 76) and team newcomers Maddie Aust and Suellio Almeida (No. 9) complete the BHA quartet. Two Victor Gonzalez Racing and one Pegram Racing Hyundai finish the set.
Audi is next up in volume with five cars. Two Precision Racing LA entries will be worth watching, with IMSA Diverse Driver Development Scholarship recipient Celso Neto and past TCR race winner Ryan Eversley spearheading the team’s No. 7 car. Single entries from Baker Racing, Rockwell Autosport Development and Rumcastle Racing by Speed Syndicate round out the class.
Honda has three intriguing entries. MMG (Montreal Motorsports Group) returns after a 2024 VIR win with the pair of Dai Yoshihara and Karl Wittmer in its No. 93 Honda Civic FL5 TCR. Longtime Honda of America associates are back in the No. 89 HART entry, which runs sporadic IMSA events. New to the fold this year is KMW Motorsports with TMR Engineering, leaving its plucky Alfa Romeo for a Honda for the pair of Tim Lewis Jr. and William Tally.
A single Cupra completes the field, as Gou Racing shifts from Audi to IMSA’s newest automotive brand.
Family Ties: Eight Families to Watch This Season
This year’s Michelin Pilot Challenge field begins with seven different sets of families competing in the same car, and an eighth in separate cars:
- Brothers Matt (No. 46) and Hugh (No. 64) Plumb split in the two No. 46 Team TGM Aston Martin AMR GT4 Evo cars in GS; Hugh Plumb and Ted Giovanis were the 2024 GS Bronze Cup champions.
- Husband-and-wife Ben and Christine Sloss in the No. 15 van der Steur Racing Aston Martin Vantage AMR GT4 Evo, a Bronze Cup entry in GS.
- Father-and-son Roland and Austin Krainz share the No. 27 Auto Technic Racing BMW M4 GT4 EVO, sharing with Stevan McAleer. McAleer and Austin Krainz will race the full calendar with Roland third driver in four-hour races.
- Father-and-son Eddie and Eduardo Gou share the No. 55 Gou Racing CUPRA Leon VZ, as they move over from Audi.
- Father-and-son Alex and Eric Rockwell share the No. 10 Rockwell Autosport Development Audi RS3 LMS TCR with Christina Lam; the Rockwells have run occasional races for several years.
- Father-and-son Dean and Sam Baker share the No. 52 Baker Racing Audi RS3 LMS TCR with James Vance at Daytona; the Bakers ran occasional 2024 races.
- Father-and-daughter Larry and Riley Pegram share the No. 72 Pegram Racing Hyundai Veloster N TCR; ran occasional 2024 races.
- Father-and-daughter Ron and Megan Tomlinson share the No. 37 Precision Racing LA Audi RS3 LMS TCR; new to the championship in 2025.
The Michelin Pilot Challenge has two one-hour practice sessions, Wednesday at 3 p.m. ET and Thursday at 8:45 a.m. ET. Qualifying takes place Thursday 1:15 p.m. ET. A final 30-minute practice session takes place Friday morning at 9:25 a.m. ET before the green flag of the four-hour race at 1:45 p.m. ET. Live coverage streams on Peacock (U.S.) and YouTube.com/IMSAOfficial (outside the U.S.).
Fast Facts
BMW M Endurance Challenge
Daytona International Speedway – Daytona Beach, Fla.
Jan. 22-24, 2025
Race Day/Time: Friday, Jan. 24, 1:45 p.m. ET
Peacock Streaming Coverage: LIVE – Flag-to-flag beginning at 1:40 p.m. (available outside the U.S. on IMSA.tv and youtube.com/IMSAOfficial)
Circuit Type: 3.56-mile, 12-turn road course
Classes Competing: Grand Sport (GS), Touring Car (TCR)
Race Length: Four hours
Michelin Pilot Challenge Track Records
GS: Paul Holton, McLaren GT4, 1:52.143 / 114.227 mph, January 2019 (Qualifying)
TCR: Harry Gottsacker, Hyundai Elantra N TCR, 1:56.757 / 109.766 mph, January 2024 (Qualifying)
2024 BMW M Endurance Challenge Winners
GS: Riley Dickinson/Michael McCarthy/Brady Golan, No. 91 Kellymoss with Riley Porsche 718 GT4 RS CS
TCR: Chris Miller/Mikey Taylor, No. 17 Unitronic/JDC-Miller MotorSports Audi RS3 LMS TCR