24 Hours of Daytona Review

Photographers Insight to the Rolex 24h

Through the Lens; What the Rolex 24 Really Demands

Photographing a 24-hour race sounds romantic until you’re actually doing it. The Rolex 24 isn’t just about showing up with a camera for a long time—it’s about surviving a full day of constant decision-making while your brain slowly negotiates its resignation. Every hour introduces a new problem to solve: where the light is headed, what the weather is about to ruin, and whether your legs still qualify as structural members.

Sleep deprivation is part of the assignment. You learn quickly that endurance racing doesn’t pause for rest, and neither can you. Blue Powerade and Diet Coke kept us going through the long stretches where the adrenaline started to dip and the fatigue felt heavy. This year, heavy fog and extended yellow-flag running changed the rhythm of the night. We made the call to shut down around 2:30 a.m., head back to our Airbnb, and return in the morning. That decision felt strategic—choosing clarity over exhaustion, knowing the race would still have something new to say at dawn.

Light is the real opponent. Daylight is forgiving; night is not. Once the sun drops, every frame becomes a negotiation between shutter speed, noise, and motion. However, night photography is also where you can finally get creative. We had the opportunity to capture glowing brake lights, neon tailight streaks, and some really slow shutter pans. You don’t always get a chance to capture racing at night but we made every moment count.

IMSA makes this possible with exceptional access, particularly in the pit lane. Shooting the pits is an exercise in high-stakes intensity that never lets up. Whether you are battling the midday glare or the neon-lit grit of midnight, the atmosphere is electric and dangerous. You are constantly dodging mechanics and air hoses to capture the frantic, human side of the sport. Endurance racing rewards those who look beyond lap times. At the Rolex 24, you don’t just photograph what’s fast—you photograph what lasts.

Paul Miller GTD Pro Comeback

From the Back to the Top: Paul Miller Racing’s GTD Pro Triumph

The 2026 Rolex 24 at Daytona delivered everything endurance racing promises: unpredictability, attrition, and results shaped as much by patience as by pace. Porsche Penske Motorsport continued its dominance at the top, with the No. 7 Porsche 963 of Felipe Nasr, Julien Andlauer, and Laurin Heinrich claiming overall victory after a race heavily influenced by long caution periods and overnight fog. Cadillac and BMW rounded out the overall podium, while CrowdStrike Racing by APR secured the LMP2 win. But one of the most compelling stories of the weekend unfolded deeper in the field, in GTD Pro.

Paul Miller Racing’s path to victory began in the worst possible position—dead last on the GTD Pro grid. A combination of qualifying misfortune and penalties meant the BMW M4 GT3 started the race with its back firmly against the wall. In a 24-hour race, that deficit is survivable, but only if every decision over the next day is nearly flawless.

What followed was a masterclass in endurance racing execution. While others cycled in and out of trouble, Paul Miller Racing focused on clean stints, precise pit stops, and staying out of unnecessary risk during Daytona’s frequent restarts. As night fell and the race settled into long green-flag runs, the BMW quietly worked its way forward, capitalizing on consistency rather than raw aggression.

The extended fog caution reset the field and created a late-race shootout, but by that point Paul Miller Racing was no longer a comeback story—it was a contender. In the closing hours, the team executed when it mattered most, putting itself in position and delivering under pressure to secure the GTD Pro class win.

From starting last to standing on the top step of the podium, Paul Miller Racing’s victory was a reminder of what the Rolex 24 ultimately rewards: discipline, teamwork, and the ability to play the long game when everyone else is chasing the moment.

IMSA’s Popularity

The Series You Can Still Touch – IMSA feels real in an era where motorsport feels distant

I want you to do me a favor: go ahead and think about the biggest racing series in the world. Maybe you think about the World Endurance Championship (WEC). How about MotoGP? Possibly even NASCAR. Most likely, you’re thinking about something that rhymes with ‘Shmormula Shmone’. IMSA? Not usually top of mind, as it remains in the shadows of these giants in terms of viewership. Although it remains the premier North American sports car racing organization, the International Motor Sports Racing Association has seen a decline since its heyday of fire-breathing V8s and V12s of the 1980s. Today, even the Kentucky Derby garners a larger audience tuning in on cable than any IMSA race. But don’t count IMSA out; recent changes over the years have created a snowball effect among fans.

For starters, the move from the expensive GTLM class to more affordable GT3-based GTD and GTD Pro in 2022, followed by the replacement of DPi with GTP in 2023, expanded manufacturer participation and drew more fans. Including LMP2, this brings four distinct classes to IMSA’s WeatherTech Sportscar Championship. Across IMSA’s various series in 2026 — from WeatherTech to Michelin Pilot Challenge, Miata MX-5 Cup, Porsche Carrera Cup, Lamborghini Super Trofeo and more — cars from well over a dozen different manufacturers are competing. Compared to just three manufacturers in NASCAR (four if you include Craftsman Truck series) and only two engine suppliers in INDYCAR, you’re much more likely to see your favorite manufacturer in IMSA. GTP has proved to be especially popular over the last few years — the cars have character and demand your attention. Sleek, instantly recognizable designs. Hybrid powertrains. Dramatic bump starts. Add in an orchestra of exhaust notes, from Cadillac’s thunderous V8 to Aston Martin’s shrieking V12, and you have a formula that’s impossible to ignore. Remember IMSA’s heyday of V8s and V12s in the 1980s? I think you’re connecting the dots. Lastly and arguably most importantly, the driving force behind IMSA’s popularity surge is access. As long as you stay behind the fences, VIP areas, and the hot pit lane, you can go virtually anywhere — with just a general admission ticket. Pit lane walks? Ordinary. Want to chat with some mechanics in the paddock? Go right ahead. You can get so close to the cars that you start to question “Am I really allowed to be here?”. So what about some of the other racing series like WEC, Formula 1, or even NASCAR? They must allow you good access right? They sure do, as long as you break out the credit card, or multiple.

So what has all of this resulted in? Well to put it plainly, IMSA has been on a hot streak over the last few years with surging viewership and spectator attendance. Since 2024, IMSA’s official YouTube account quintupled from 300k subscribers to over 1.5 million subscribers. IMSA’s social media followers have increased by 120% since 2023 with a total online footprint of 3.7 million followers. Total online engagements are up over 200% as well. These numbers aren’t just increasing, they’re exploding. Race attendance is also skyrocketing. Last year, 100,000 spectators attended Petit Le Mans, with tickets completely selling out for the entire weekend according to Michelin Raceway Road Atlanta. So many people showed up, the raceway’s staff had to start turning away eager spectators — and that isn’t even the biggest event of the season. That crown belongs to the Rolex 24h at Daytona, which IMSA claims attracted over 180,000 spectators this year. Young fan attendance has also erupted, with over 50% increases in TV and livestream viewers in the 18-34 year old range. Easy to start a young fan base when all they need is a (relatively) cheap general admission ticket to get hooked.

IMSA is not the biggest racing series on the planet, not even close. It doesn’t have the global machine of Formula 1. It doesn’t own the mythos of the 24 Hours of Le Mans like WEC. It doesn’t deliver the knife edge chaos of MotoGP. It faces broadcast fragmentation, marathon race lengths that test casual attention spans, and a schedule rooted firmly in North America. But what IMSA has is something increasingly rare in modern motorsport: authenticity. You can walk the paddock. You can stand feet — even inches — away from a $3 million prototype firing to life. You can watch world-class factory drivers battle through traffic at 2 a.m. and feel like you’re part of it — not separated from it. That’s why grandstands are filling. That’s why YouTube numbers are exploding. That’s why manufacturers are showing up to fight. IMSA may not dominate headlines, but it dominates experience. And in a world where motorsport is becoming more polished, more expensive, and more distant, that might be its greatest advantage. You may not have thought of IMSA when I asked you what the biggest racing series in the world is. But maybe the better question isn’t which series is the biggest — it’s which one feels the most real.

About The Author