No. 6: IMSA Sports Cars Returning in 2023
December 26, 2022 | By Joey Barnes
Note: The editorial staff at IMS.com is taking a look back at the 10 biggest moments of 2022 at Indianapolis Motor Speedway in this year-end series, with one installment appearing on the site per day in countdown fashion from Dec. 22-31.
The IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship is returning to the Racing Capital of the World for the TireRack.com Battle on the Bricks on Sept. 15-17, 2023.
It will mark the first time IMSA has competed at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway since 2014. Next year’s WeatherTech Championship race is set for a two-hour, 40-minute scrap around the 14-turn, 2.439-mile road course on Sunday, Sept. 17, with live NBC network television coverage.
The day prior, Saturday, Sept. 16, will feature the IMSA Michelin Pilot Challenge as part of a four-hour traffic jam of production-based race cars. Other IMSA-sanctioned single-make series to be announced at a later date.
The IMSA Battle on the Bricks weekend will be a three-day festival showcasing the pinnacle of sports car racing. With 18 different manufacturers currently competing in IMSA and unparalleled fan access to the garage area throughout the weekend, race fans in the IMS infield can get up close and personal with their favorite sports cars, drivers and teams. Additionally, IMSA’s signature pre-race Fan Walk will allow fans in attendance the chance to roam the through the starting grid moment’s ahead of the command to start engines for both the WeatherTech Championship and Michelin Pilot Challenge races.
In one of the more unique opportunities, fans will be able to camp in the IMS infield, access not available for any other race weekend. Powered and primitive spaces will be available to purchase throughout the infield for public camping.
The WeatherTech Championship race marks the return of top-level IMSA competition to the Speedway for the first time since 2014, when co-drivers Christian Fittipaldi and Joao Barbosa claimed the Brickyard Grand Prix victory for Action Express Racing in their No. 5 Corvette Daytona Prototype. The first IMSA race at the Speedway was a three-hour GRAND-AM Rolex Sports Car Series event in 2012 won by Starworks Motorsport co-drivers Alex Popow and Sebastien Bourdais.
Beyond next year, IMSA will return to IMS in 2024 and 2025, as well, for longer endurance races. Fans who purchase race tickets or infield camping in 2023 will have first access to secure those spots for the 2024 IMSA endurance race.