IMSA Will Return to Real Racing on July 4 With All-New Daytona Sprint Race
Sebring is also back on the schedule.
Although NASCAR will be the first series to return to real-life racing at Darlington this weekend, IMSA has announced its plans to restart its season on July 4. However, instead of running a previously scheduled race, the WeatherTech Championship will contest an all-new sprint event at Daytona International Speedway.
The two-hour, 40-minute round will mark the first time IMSA has ran a non-endurance race at Daytona since 2009, back when it was Grand-Am. It'll be hosted without spectators, as will the follow-up round at Sebring on July 17-18. This has become standard procedure for those who are opting to ditch sim racing in favor of real-deal action, with NASCAR and IndyCar taking the same approach.
“IMSA is grateful to all of our promoter partners for collaborating with us to develop a revised schedule of outstanding events,” said IMSA President John Doonan. “Our No. 1 priority since March has been to get back to racing as safely and as quickly as possible, and this revised schedule is evidence of that. We appreciate the patience, cooperation, and input of our IMSA stakeholders, and we all are very much looking forward to going racing again this summer and putting on amazing races for our audience.”
A host of rescheduling was necessary to make this return possible, with Watkins Glen giving up its original June slot and trading it for October 2-4. Likewise, organizers of the Canadian Tire Motorsport Park event opted to cancel entirely due to border-related complications. That round was slated to take place on July 5.
Revised 2020 IMSA WeatherTech Championship Season Schedule:
Jan. 25-26 Daytona International Speedway 24 hours DPi, LMP2*, GTLM, GTD
July 3-4 Daytona International Speedway 2 hr., 40 min. DPi, GTLM, GTD
July 17-18 Sebring International Raceway 2 hr., 40 min. DPi, LMP2, GTLM, GTD**
July 31-Aug. 2 Road America 2 hr., 40 min. DPi, LMP2, GTLM, GTD
Aug. 21-23 VIRginia International Raceway 2 hr., 40 min GTLM, GTD
Sept. 4-6 WeatherTech Raceway Laguna Seca 2 hr., 40 min. DPi, LMP2, GTLM, GTD
Sept. 25-27 Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course 2 hr., 40 min. DPi, GTLM, GTD
Oct. 2-4 Watkins Glen International 6 hours DPi, LMP2, GTLM, GTD
Oct. 14-17 Michelin Raceway Road Atlanta 10 hours DPi, LMP2, GTLM, GTD
Oct. 30-31 Lime Rock Park 2 hr., 40 min. GTLM, GTD
Nov. 11-14 Sebring International Raceway 12 hours DPi, LMP2, GTLM, GTD
* – points awarded toward Michelin Endurance Cup only
** – points awarded toward WeatherTech Sprint Cup only
