The 2019 IMSA SportsCar Championship (known for sponsorship reasons as the 2019 IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship) was the 49th motor racing championship sanctioned by the

International Motor Sports Association The International Motor Sports Association (IMSA) is a North American sports car racing sanctioning body based in Daytona Beach, Florida, under the jurisdiction of the ACCUS arm of the FIA. It was started by John Bishop, a former executive dir ...

(IMSA) (which traces its lineage back to the 1971 IMSA GT Championship). It was the sixth season of the United SportsCar Championship and fourth to be held under the name as the

IMSA SportsCar Championship The IMSA SportsCar Championship, currently known as the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship under sponsorship, is a sports car racing series based in the United States and Canada and organized by the International Motor Sports Association (I ...

. It began on January 26 with the

24 Hours of Daytona The 24 Hours of Daytona, also known as the Rolex 24 At Daytona for sponsorship reasons, is a 24-hour sports car racing, sports car Endurance racing (motorsport), endurance race held annually at Daytona International Speedway in Daytona Beach, Flo ...

, and ended on October 12 with the

Petit Le Mans Petit Le Mans (French language, French for ''Little Le Mans'') is a sports car racing, sports car Endurance racing (motorsport), endurance race held annually at Road Atlanta in Braselton, Georgia, United States. The race has been held for a durat ...

. The 2019 season marked the 50th anniversary since the founding of the

Series news

NBC Sports Group NBC Sports Group is a division of NBCUniversal Media Group that is responsible for NBC Sports' media properties, encompassing the NBC television network's sports division as well as day-to-day operation of the company's sports-oriented cable netw ...

took over from

Fox Sports Fox Sports is the brand name for a number of sports channels, broadcast divisions, programming, and other media around the world. The name originates from Fox Broadcasting Company in the United States, which in turn derives its name from Fox Fi ...

as the series' official broadcaster. Coverage alternates between local NBC stations,

NBC Sports Network NBCSN (also known as NBC Sports Network) was an American sports television channel owned by the NBC Sports Group division of NBCUniversal, a subsidiary of Comcast. It originally launched on July 1, 1995, as the Outdoor Life Network (OLN), w ...

CNBC CNBC is an American List of business news channels, business news channel owned by the NBCUniversal News Group, a unit of Comcast's NBCUniversal. The network broadcasts live business news and analysis programming during the morning, Day ...

, and livestreams. *

Michelin Michelin ( , ), in full ("General Company of the Michelin Enterprises P.L.S."), is a French multinational tyre manufacturing company based in Clermont-Ferrand in the Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes '' région'' of France. It is the second largest t ...

increased its

IMSA The International Motor Sports Association (IMSA) is a North American sports car racing sanctioning body based in Daytona Beach, Florida, under the jurisdiction of the Automobile Competition Committee for the United States, ACCUS arm of the Féd ...

involvement by becoming the sole official tire supplier of the series, following the departure of

Continental Tire Continental AG, commonly known as Continental and colloquially as Conti, is a German multinational Automotive industry, automotive parts manufacturing company. Headquartered in Hanover, Lower Saxony, it is the world's third-List of the largest ...

at the end of 2018. * As part of a plan to attempt to cut costs for the series' GT Daytona (GTD) class, the 2019 season featured a new support championship called the WeatherTech Sprint Cup. The championship was held for the GT Daytona class at the sprint events of the calendar. * After an eleven-year partnership, Tequila Patrón ended their involvement with IMSA altogether at the end of the 2018 season. They also ended their sponsorship of the

Extreme Speed Motorsports Extreme Speed Motorsports (ESM) was an American auto racing team based out of Riviera Beach, Florida, Riviera Beach, Florida. Founded by Scott Sharp and Patrón CEO Ed Brown (racing driver), Ed Brown, the team competed in the FIA World Endurance ...

prototype team, who subsequently closed down operations.

took Patrón's place as the sponsor of the endurance cup. * As part of the celebration of the 50th anniversary of IMSA, multiple teams adopted racing liveries created in tribute to iconic teams throughout IMSA's history, such as

Brumos Porsche Brumos Racing was an automobile racing team based in Jacksonville, Florida. 24 Hours of Daytona wins Brumos has won the 24 Hours of Daytona four times. In 1973, Peter Gregg and Hurley Haywood won with a Porsche Carrera RSR, they repeated in 19 ...

, Electramotive Engineering,

Roush Racing Roush Fenway Keselowski Racing, doing business as RFK Racing, is an American professional stock car organization that currently competes in the NASCAR Cup Series. One of NASCAR's largest racing teams in the 2000s and early 2010s, Roush formerly ...

, and Comptech Acura.

Classes

Daytona Prototype international A Daytona Prototype International (DPi) was a type of sports prototype racing car developed specifically for the International Motor Sports Association's WeatherTech SportsCar Championship, as their top class of car, acting as a direct replaceme ...

(DPi) * Le Mans Prototype 2 (LMP2) * GT Le Mans (GTLM) * GT Daytona (GTD) The Prototype class, which previously combined Daytona Prototype international cars alongside Le Mans Prototype 2 cars, was now split into two separate classes.

Rule changes

* The DPi class is now the lead class of the championship, and features teams with full professional lineups running DPi cars. The class has its own Balance of Performance (BoP). The LMP2 class is the lower prototype class in the championship, featuring Global LMP2 cars with Pro-Am lineups. There is no BoP applied to the LMP2 class. * Le Mans Prototype 2 (LMP2) and GT Daytona (GTD), the Pro-Am classes of the championship, must adhere to driver rating requirements. Each car is only allowed two

Platinum Platinum is a chemical element; it has Symbol (chemistry), symbol Pt and atomic number 78. It is a density, dense, malleable, ductility, ductile, highly unreactive, precious metal, precious, silverish-white transition metal. Its name origina ...

-rated or

Gold Gold is a chemical element; it has chemical symbol Au (from Latin ) and atomic number 79. In its pure form, it is a brightness, bright, slightly orange-yellow, dense, soft, malleable, and ductile metal. Chemically, gold is a transition metal ...

-rated drivers for the endurance events, alongside the requirement of at least one Bronze-rated or Silver-rated driver for all sprint races. In these classes, the Bronze or Silver-rated drivers are required to start the race.

Schedule

The 2019 schedule was released on August 3, 2018 and features twelve rounds. Notes:

Entries

Daytona Prototype international (DPi)

Le Mans Prototype 2 (LMP2)

In accordance with the 2017 LMP2 regulations, all cars in the LMP2 class use the Gibson GK428

V8 engine A V8 engine is an eight- cylinder piston engine in which two banks of four cylinders share a common crankshaft and are arranged in a V configuration. Origins The first known V8 was the Antoinette, designed by Léon Levavasseur, a ...

GT Le Mans (GTLM)

{{United SportsCar Championship WeatherTech SportsCar Championship seasons

WeatherTech SportsCar Championship The IMSA SportsCar Championship, currently known as the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship under sponsorship, is a sports car racing series based in the United States and Canada and organized by the International Motor Sports Association (I ...