Scott Dixon, Alex Palou Aim To Jump-Start Season With Rolex 24 Win
The NTT INDYCAR SERIES contingent racing for overall victory this weekend at the Rolex 24 At Daytona is small but mighty.
Just two full-time series drivers are racing in the premier Grand Touring Prototype (GTP) class in the twice-around-the-clock endurance classic that starts the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship, as Chip Ganassi Racing teammates and multiple series champions Scott Dixon and Alex Palou will join forces with Acura Meyer Shank Racing w/Curb-Agajanian, which also fields a Honda-powered team in the NTT INDYCAR SERIES.
Racing takes place from 2 p.m. ET Saturday until 2 p.m. Sunday on the 12-turn, 3.56-mile circuit that includes part of Daytona International Speedway’s famous high-banked oval. Live coverage will be split between NBC, Peacock and the IMSA YouTube channel. Visit IMSA.com for the coverage schedule.
Dixon will share the No. 60 Acura ARX-06 (photo, top) with former INDYCAR SERIES drivers Tom Blomqvist, Colin Braun and AJ Allmendinger. Six-time NTT INDYCAR SERIES champion Dixon is aiming for his fourth overall victory in the prestigious race that serves as the traditional opener of the North American road racing season. His previous overall wins came in 2006, 2015 and 2020.
Four-time and three-time reigning NTT INDYCAR SERIES champion will share MSR’s No. 93 Acura ARX-06 with Renger van der Zande, Nick Yelloly and Kaku Ohta. Palou seeks his first overall Rolex 24 victory and podium finish in his fourth career start in the race.
There are 11 GTP cars fighting for overall victory this year. The No. 7 Penske Porsche Motorsport Porsche 963 has won the last two years, with Felipe Nasr, Julien Andlauer and Laurin Heinrich defending the title in the cockpit this weekend.
While Dixon and Palou are the only INDYCAR drivers in the premier class, a handful of NTT INDYCAR SERIES and INDY NXT by Firestone drivers are sprinkled throughout the lower classes.
Kyffin Simpson of Chip Ganassi Racing is driving No. 8 Tower Motorsports entry (photo, above) in the LMP2 class, with four-time INDYCAR SERIES champion Sebastien Bourdais one of his three teammates.
INDY NXT rookie Enzo Fittipaldi, who led the two-day team test this week at Sebring International Raceway with HMD Motorsports, is staying in Florida to share the No. 73 Pratt Miller Motorsports car in LMP2 with a team that includes his brother, former INDYCAR SERIES driver Pietro Fittipaldi.
2025 Milwaukee Mile race winner Christian Rasmussen of Ed Carpenter Racing also is racing in the LMP2 class, driving the No. 99 AO Racing car. Arrow McLaren veteran Nolan Siegel is driving in LMP2 in the No. 343 Inter Europol Competition entry.
Two-time NTT INDYCAR SERIES champion Will Power, who moved to Andretti Global this offseason after a long tenure with Team Penske, will make his IMSA debut in the GTD Pro class, sharing the No. 75 Express Mercedes-AMG GT3 (photo, above) with Kenny Habul, Maro Engel and Chaz Mostert.
Three-time 2025 race winner Kyle Kirkwood of Andretti Global will continue moonlighting with Vasser Sullivan Racing in IMSA competition, sharing the team’s No. 14 Lexus RC F with Jack Hawksworth and Ben Barnicoat in the GTD Pro class.
Three INDYCAR drivers are racing in the ultra-competitive GTD class, which includes 21 of the 60 cars in the field.
NTT INDYCAR SERIES race winner Scott McLaughlin of Team Penske will drive the No. 36 DXDT Racing Chevrolet Corvette Z06, with Marcus Ericsson of Andretti Global continuing his trend of participating in this race recently in even-numbered years, driving the No. 45 Wayne Taylor Racing Lamborghini Huracan EVO2. Ericsson also raced in the Rolex 24 in 2022 and 2024, both times in prototypes.
INDY NXT veteran James Roe of Chip Ganassi Racing rounds out the INDYCAR contingent in GTD, sharing the No. 80 Lone Star Racing Mercedes-AMG GT3.
