Newgarden, McLaughlin to make IMSA debuts in Daytona 24 Hours
Team Penske IndyCar drivers Josef Newgarden and Scott McLaughlin will make their IMSA SportsCar Championship debuts in the Daytona 24 Hours next month with LMP2 squad Tower Motorsports.

Two-time IndyCar champion Newgarden and his race-winning team-mate McLaughlin will share the team's ORECA-Gibson 07 with 2021 Formula Regional Americas champion Kyffin Simpson and the team's 2022 LMP2 champion John Farano.
Along with Farano’s title, the Rick Capone-run squad won the teams' title this year as Farano and Louis Deletraz racked up two wins and three further podium finishes.
Newgarden described the IMSA season-opener as “an event that was on my bucket list, along with the 24 Hours of Le Mans”, and said he was eager to make a successful start to his 2023 campaign with Tower.
”I am beyond grateful for this opportunity,” said Newgarden.
“We’re a group of very competitive people, and we all want to win.
“I think this is a very exciting challenge and I believe this team can accomplish great things together.
”I have a close relationship with Scott (McLaughlin) as well and I couldn’t be happier to be doing this with him as team-mate.”
Three-times Supercars champion and 2019 Bathurst 1000 winner McLaughlin added: “I’m thrilled to have the opportunity to race with this amazing group of drivers.

#8 Tower Motorsport Oreca LMP2 07: John Farano, Louis Deletraz
Photo by: Jake Galstad / Motorsport Images
“This is a stellar lineup and a perfect chance to show what we can do together.
“This is a proven crew that clearly knows how to win races, and that’s exactly what we’re setting out to accomplish at Daytona.”
Simpson ran IMSA’s four endurance rounds, driving Gradient Racing’s Acura NSX in the GT Daytona class, and won at Petit Le Mans.
Farano declared: “We know we have the potential to challenge for a win at Daytona. There’s nothing we want more than to expand on our strengths and pick up some more hardware when we cross that finish line.
“I’m elated to partner with Josef and Scott, who are seasoned pros and will undoubtedly bring that added spark and determination to the team.
“I am equally excited to welcome the very talented Kyffin Simpson to our team and looking forward to sharing our car with him for all the IMSA Michelin Endurance Cup races.”

Bourdais: Reliability will decide who wins first GTP race in Daytona
Grosjean joins Lamborghini's ranks ahead of 2024 LMDh drive

Latest news
Daytona 24, Hour 3: Cadillac leads Acura and Porsche
The #01 Chip Ganassi Racing Cadillac leads the Acuras of Meyer Shank Racing and Wayne Taylor Racing after three hours of action in the 61st Daytona 24 Hours.
Hughes "happy to feel a nudge" over the line from Evans after Diriyah FE energy shortage
McLaren Formula E driver Jake Hughes says he was "happy to feel a nudge" from Mitch Evans in the Diriyah E-Prix, which pushed him over the finish line for fifth.
Daytona 24, Hour 1: Acura leads, BMW in trouble early
Tom Blomqvist lead the opening hour of the Daytona 24 Hours aboard the Meyer Shank Racing Acura, as BMW became the first of the GTP manufacturers to hit trouble.
F1 champion Button "definitely interested" in NASCAR road course outings
The 2009 Formula 1 World Champion Jenson Button says competing in NASCAR Cup races on road courses is something he is "definitely interested in".
The big question concerning IMSA's new LMDh cars on their debut
The new LMDh era finally begins in earnest this weekend with the IMSA SportsCar Championship curtain-raiser at Daytona. The prospect of multiple marques going all guns blazing for victory over 24 hours is a salivating one for fans of sportscar racing, but what are the chances of the new hybrid machines (known as GTP cars Stateside) proving reliable enough to win on debut?
Inside BMW's long-awaited prototype racing return
Much like German OEM rival Porsche, BMW's absence from sportscar racing’s top flight will be ended this weekend when a pair of M Hybrid V8 prototypes make their debut in the Daytona 24 Hours. A programme focused on the IMSA SportsCar Championship for now will expand to the World Endurance Championship and Le Mans next year, in a sign of both its ambition and pragmatism
How Porsche and Penske are gearing up for sportscar racing's bold new era
Porsche and Penske have teamed up to tackle the world's biggest sportscar races in 2023 with the new 963 LMDh car. Autosport was on hand at the recent Daytona test to hear from key players in the partnership as it prepares for dual campaigns across the IMSA SportsCar Championship and World Endurance Championship
The plug in and play stand-ins who got their timing just right
Nyck de Vries’s Italian GP exploits weren’t the first post-eleventh-hour call-up in motorsport history, and won’t be the last either. Here are some offbeat tales from the past
The long road to convergence for sportscar racing's new golden age
The organisers of the World Endurance Championship and IMSA SportsCar Championship worked together to devise the popular new LMDh rule set. But to turn it from an idea into reality, some serious compromises were involved - both from the prospective LMDh entrants and those with existing Le Mans Hypercar projects...
How Porsche's Le Mans legend changed the game
The 956 set the bar at the dawn of Group C 40 years ago, and that mark only rose higher through the 1980s, both in the world championship and in the US. It and its successor, the longer-wheelbase 962, were voted as Autosport's greatest sportscar in 2020 - here's why
Why BMW shouldn't be overlooked on its return to prototypes
OPINION: While the focus has been on the exciting prospect of Ferrari vs Porsche at the Le Mans 24 Hours next year, BMW’s factory return to endurance racing should not be ignored. It won't be at the French classic next year as it focuses efforts on the IMSA SportsCar Championship, but could be a dark horse in 2024 when it returns to La Sarthe with the crack WRT squad
The British pair at the heart of Lexus's IMSA push
Have you heard the one about two northerners driving for a Japanese manufacturer in America’s top sportscar series? Time to sit down and talk with Jack Hawksworth and Ben Barnicoat about racing across the pond… and your accent being mistaken for Australian
Subscribe and access Autosport.com with your ad-blocker.
From Formula 1 to MotoGP we report straight from the paddock because we love our sport, just like you. In order to keep delivering our expert journalism, our website uses advertising. Still, we want to give you the opportunity to enjoy an ad-free and tracker-free website and to continue using your adblocker.
You have 2 options:
- Become a subscriber.
- Disable your adblocker.