The 2026 racing season is underway. We kicked it off with a trip over to Daytona International Speedway to shoot the Roar Before the Rolex 24. The Roar is a 3-day practice session for teams preparing for the Rolex 24, the iconic 24-hour endurance race.
It seems like every year the Roar manages to land on the coldest weekend of winter. This year was no different as temperatures started off near freezing. But skies were clear, so the sun helped to warm things nicely. Although it never reached 60 degrees, the lack of wind helped immensely.
The Rolex 24 is an amazing motorsports experience. It brings together drivers from around the world to compete in the ultimate team racing event. Drivers from many of the other top series like IndyCar, F1, and NASCAR join the regular teams in the Weathertech IMSA series for the 24-hour race. The incredible part of endurance racing is that 4 different classes of cars race at the same time. There are 61 cars entered. The high-tech hybrid GTP cars are the fastest. They are million-dollar machines with many advanced features that eventually find their way to passenger vehicles. The remainder of the field is comprised of cars from Lamborghini, Ferrari, Corvettes, Aston Martin, Porsche, Mercedes AMG, Lexus, BMW, and Mustang GT.
The Roar and the Rolex 24 are amazing fan-friendly experiences. Not only are ticket prices very affordable, but fans have open access to the garage areas, and they are allowed on pit lane to view the cars prior to the race. There is even a huge camping event for Boy Scouts during the Roar and parking for all fans during the Roar is free. It is definitely one of the best events for families in all sports. It’s also a great opportunity for photographers without credentials. Using a small step ladder, we can get over the fences around the infield to get clear shots of the cars as they fly past.
What is truly incredible about this event is that after 24 hours of continuous high-speed racing, from daylight through darkness and back to daylight again, sometimes through periods of pouring rain, the margin of victory for the class winners is often just a few seconds! If a person was looking to attend a marquee auto race, this one should be very high on the list.
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