The IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship’s marquee event, the Rolex 24 at Daytona International Speedway, commenced on Saturday. Dries Vanthoor led the field off the starting line, after securing the top spot during qualifying. This year, however, of 61 entries, only three NASCAR drivers are competing in the endurance event. Austin Cindric, one of those drivers, shared his insights on why that was the case before the race began.
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In an interview with Bob Pockrass, the replacement driver filling in for Ben Barker — sidelined by a skiing injury — commented on the sparse NASCAR presence in the Rolex 24. He observed, “The novelty factor of getting a NASCAR guy in the car I think definitely carries some weight from an American TV standpoint.”
Further continuing, he added, “Obviously, a bit of an unknown value as far as the performance in the car and learning the car and this and that. So, obviously, myself and Shane [van Gisbergen] are a bit different than most of the guys in the Cup field with the average GT3 experience…”
Austin Cindric and Shane van Gisbergen are the only two full-time Cup drivers in the Rolex 24 field. Both have significant road-racing experience. Cindric explains why he thinks there aren’t more Cup drivers in the race: pic.twitter.com/cxcvM08R4S
— Bob Pockrass (@bobpockrass) January 25, 2025
Cindric also said that with only 61 entries and several teams eager but unable to participate, the driver often becomes the most dispensable part of the equation. Nevertheless, those who truly are passionate about competing in the race typically find a way to do so. “I think those who wanna do it really bad, end up doing it. I definitely wanted to do it, really bad all these years,” he added.
This year’s Rolex 24 at Daytona sees just two other Cup Series drivers alongside Cindric. Shane van Gisbergen and Connor Zilisch are competing under a collaborative banner between Trackhouse Racing and TF Sport, an initiative called Trackhouse x TF Sport. The venture was a long-held ambition of the Trackhouse owner Justin Marks, who has been seeking the right moment to undertake the challenge.
In addition, NBC Sports analyst Parker Kligerman, who spent the last two seasons racing full-time in the NASCAR Xfinity Series, is set to make his Rolex 24 debut driving the #78 Lamborghini Huracan GT3 EVO2 for Forte Racing in the GTD class.
Last year, Nasr won the race for Porsche Penske Motorsport in the #7 963, alongside Matt Campbell, Dane Cameron, and Josef Newgarden, marking a 55-year milestone for team owner Roger Penske. As the race unfolds, it will be intriguing to see how Cindric fares on the distinguished platform.
