Massive crowd breaks attendance record for Rolex 24 at Daytona

This is going to be a very fun season of racing if the Rolex 24 at Daytona crowd is any indication of how excited fans are to be at the track. It is a nice day in Florida and weeks before NASCAR takes the track, IMSA has brought out a record audience.

There was word that this might end up being the best crowd ever for this event. However, it wasn’t until we saw it this morning and afternoon that it really sank in. There are thousands in attendance to see this 24-hour endurance race.

The Rolex 24 at Daytona is one of the best events of the year. Now, it has the best crowd in its history. There are fans all over the stands, and while it isn’t the size of a Daytona 500 crowd, it is a massive group in the seats for this IMSA race.

George Silbermann, president of ACCUS took a picture to try and give folks at home a general idea of the crowd size.

Approx 1 hour to green @IMSA @Rolex24Hours @DAYTONA .

Pano of the crowd on the tri-oval just before the intro of the GTP cars & drivers.

Overall, the largest crowd in the 62-year history of the event. This pic is only a portion. The infield is jam-packed. pic.twitter.com/x5BJy9CLHl

— George Silbermann (@ACCUSmayor) January 27, 2024

Pit road was covered with fans prior to the start of the race. Credit it to Drive to Survive, say it’s because of the overall wave of motorsports enthusiasm, or even blame it on the success of Garage 56 at Le Mans.

Whatever the reason, major motorsports in the United States are starting off with a bang. This only gets me more excited for the Daytona 500 in a few weeks. This is going to be a great year for racing.

Safety car wrecks hours before Rolex 24 at Daytona

The bad news, the safety car wrecked. Hours before the Rolex 24 at Daytona got going, the safety car took a hard hit on the track. It totaled the vehicle and fans took plenty of pictures of the aftermath.

Hot laps are a regular thing for the pace car to do before a race. It allows the track to be checked for debris or other issues. However, something went wrong this morning and the safety car ended up hitting a wall.

In the first hour of this 24-hour race at Daytona, we’ve already seen seven cars involved in incidents. That ranges from wrecks to mechanical and electrical issues. The 2023 GTD Pro champions of Vasser Sullivan wrecked hard and will not be able to defend their championship if they even get back on track at all.

Record-breaking crowd, chaos before and during the race – this is shaping up to be a great Rolex 24 at Daytona, folks. Make sure to tune in on Peacock or USA Network for coverage.