Roar 2026

Daytona just hits different. This isn’t a new revelation, but yet, it just… never gets old.

It was as I was walking through the WeatherTech paddock Thursday morning of the Roar while the teams had just started unloading that it hit me. The load-in part felt “normal”, like any other race weekend I’ve experienced over the last decade… but then I turned the corner from the GTD side of the Yellow garages and looked out on the tri-oval/main grandstands. In those few footsteps, I had a minor out-of-body experience. I flashed back to my first Rolex as a fan and how star struck I felt the first time seeing DIS in real life after watching races at it on TV my entire life.

Then I sighed as a smirk washed over my face.

There’s no place like this. There is no other track on the North American sportscar calendar that we spend nearly 10 consecutive days at. Before the Rolex even begins, you’re already borderline sick of the place… but as soon as the green drops on the 24, everything goes out the window. It’s like being at a completely different racetrack. You will lose track of time and manage to somehow leave the track without getting everything on your ideal shot list over that 24hr period. This place wears you down both physically and mentally, yet when you finally get to rest Sunday evening after the Rolex, you’re already thinking about next year.

I hope I never don’t feel this way...