2024 IMSA VP Challenge Round at Daytona International Speedway



The 2024 IMSA VP Challenge Round at Daytona International Speedway was a sports car racing event held between 19 and 21 January 2024 at the Daytona International Speedway. It was the first race of the 2024 IMSA VP Racing SportsCar Challenge season and was held during the Roar Before the 24 for the IMSA SportsCar Championship.

The event consisted of two practice sessions, one qualifying session, and two 45 minute races. Both races were won by Steven Aghakhani in the LMP3 class and Luca Mars in the GSX class.  

Race 1
The grid for race 1 was set by the fastest time in a single qualifying session. Car 9 driven by Nathan Martin and Car 72 driven by Frank DePew withdrew prior to qualifying, and Car 78 driven by Jonathan Woolridge withdrew prior to Race 1.

Race 1 Starting Grid
Class pole position is indicated in bold 

Report
On the first lap of the race, Cody Ware spun heading into turn 1, forcing Miguel Villagomez off the track to avoid him. Ware would recover from the spin to later finish 3rd.

With 28 minutes to go, Christopher Tasca suffered a right-rear puncture and had to retire from the race.

With 19 minutes to go, Robbie McWilliams crashed into the tire wall on the outside of the Le Mans Chicane, causing a full course yellow to be thrown on lap 16.

Under full course yellow, Miguel Villagomez suffered a technical issue that caused his car to stop and become stranded coming out of the pit lane. The recovery of his car prolonged the full course yellow.

The race restarted with six minutes remaining with Alex Kirby leading in LMP3 and Gregory Liefooghe leading in GSX.

With two laps left, Steven Aghakhani took the lead into turn two after Alex Kirby went wide exiting turn one. Aghakhani would hold this lead until the end of the race.

On the last lap, Luca Mars drafted off of and passed Gregory Liefooghe in Speedway Turn 4, taking the GSX class win by 0.051 seconds.

Race Results
Class winners are indicated in bold.

Race 2
The grid for race 2 was set by either the driver's second fastest lap in qualifying, or the driver's fastest lap in race 1. The fastest of the two is used.

Race 2 Starting Grid
Class pole position is indicated in bold

Report
On the first lap of the race, Cody Ware went down the inside of several cars at the west horseshoe and made contact with the 77 car of Brian Thienes, causing him to spin. Ware would receive a 10 second time penalty for incident responsibility and would go on to finish third before the penalty, and drop to eighth after it. Thienes would recover to finish fourth.

An incident in the GSX class occurred when Mark Brummond and Sean Quinlan made contact at the International Horseshoe, causing Brummond to go off the track and Quinlan to spin.

The only full course yellow of the race occurred on lap 21, after Alex Kirby spun heading into the Le Mans chicane, stranding his car in the grass.

The race restarted with one lap remaining with Aghakhani and Mars leading their respective classes, both of them holding onto their leads to win.

Race Results
Class winners are indicated in bold. 