Report: NASCAR, IMSA discussing shared race weekend in the future

Could NASCAR and IMSA be close to sharing a race weekend together once again? Apparently, the two sides have been talking. Then again, the sports car series is owned by NASCAR itself.

IMSA has wrapped up its season at Road Atlanta. NASCAR is starting to close down its season with only four weekends left before a champion is crowned. So, it is not strange for anyone to be talking about the future and what is next for both series.

Adam Stern of Sports Business Journal reports that IMSA President John Doonan has met with NASCAR executives and talked about a shared weekend. The two series last came together at the Charlotte Roval in 2020 as part of the COVID year.

There hasn’t been a truly shared weekend, with all classes of IMSA competing as well as the NASCAR Cup Series, since 2014.

“Ben Kennedy, Steve O’Donnell, Steve Phelps and I sit down a lot and talk about places where, ‘Could we run with you together,’ so those talks are ongoing,” Doonan told Stern and SBJ. “I think it would be incredible for them to come to some of the places we race, and there’s quite a few places I can think of on their schedule — in particular we did it during COVID at the Charlotte Roval — that I would love to see us collaborate on.

“Nothing to announce, but I think the discussions are ongoing where there’s a lot of benefit to share a weekend and give the fans a different experience.” 

It doesn’t sound like there are any concrete plans. However, it is clear the two sides are interested in coming together at some point in the future.

NASCAR and IMSA together makes more sense than ever

With the move to more road courses and now to street courses, NASCAR has evolved. This is the best time for IMSA and the Cup Series to come together. With drivers like Shane van Gisbergen and Connor Zilisch coming up through the ranks, there is talent for crossover as well.

Earlier this year in the Roar Before the 24, even Bubba Wallace hopped in an IMSA sports car. Drivers in NASCAR have to know road course racing, and it has made fans learn more. The two series are different, but similar in many ways. Why not put them together and have a big weekend of racing?

I think it would be great to see more NASCAR drivers participate in the Rolex 24 at Daytona again. It feels like that has been lost in recent years. Trackhouse Racing could put together one hell of a team with SVG, Zilisch, and either Daniel Suárez or Ross Chastain.

NASCAR and IMSA should come together. There are a lot of logistics that have to go into putting together a big race weekend like that. Scheduling matters. But if there is any way to get it done in the next few years, I think they should go for it.

What do you think? Would you watch 12 hours of sports car racing with the Cup Series as the Sunday headliner?