LEXINGTON — IMSA sports car racing returns to the Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course in 2024 after a one-year absence.

Track officials announced Friday that IMSA will come to the permanent road course near Lexington on June 7 to 9, headlined by the Michelin Pilot Challenge.

The weekend will feature a four-hour Michelin Pilot Challenge endurance race – one of only two such competitions on the 2024 IMSA schedule – and the debut of the new IMSA-sanctioned Mustang Challenge.

The weekend will be Round 4 of the season and the second of two, four-hour races on the racing calendar.

“Sports car racing was a key foundation in the Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course being built and the track has a proud history of hosting IMSA events dating back to 1972,” Craig Rust, president of Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course, said in a press release.

“We are very excited to bring IMSA competition back to Mid-Ohio. The four-hour Pilot Challenge race, plus the inaugural Mustang Challenge event, further expands the motorsports offerings for our fans in 2024.” 

The headlining four-hour Michelin Pilot Challenge endurance race at Mid-Ohio is one of two four-hour competitions on the series’ 2024 slate. Mid-Ohio joins Daytona International Speedway as the two tracks set to host four-hour races next year.

The return of an IMSA sports car endurance race to Mid-Ohio next year ties into the sanctioning body’s long history at the track.

The “Six Hours of Mid-Ohio” in 1972, featuring a 49-car field won by Bob Beasley and Michael Keyser, was IMSA’s first-ever race at the road course. 

IMSA officials’ 2024 season schedule announcement today also confirmed that the Idemitsu Mazda MX-5 Cup presented by BFGoodrich® Tires and VP Racing SportsCar Challenge will join the Michelin Pilot Challenge and the all-new Mustang Challenge on the weekend schedule.

The Mustang Challenge, a single-make racing series featuring the new Ford Mustang Dark Horse R, will compete for the first time in a pair of races on the 2.258-mile, 13-turn course, launching its inaugural six-weekend, 12-race campaign. 

Aside from the Mid-Ohio event, all other Michelin Pilot Challenge races in 2024 will run as companion events to the WeatherTech Championship.

Further details about this new event and the 2024 Mid-Ohio season schedule will be released at a later date, track officials said.

Children 12 and under receive free general admission when accompanied by a ticketed adult at all Mid-Ohio events. Visit midohio.com for more information, and follow its Facebook page @MidOhioSportsCarCourse, Twitter @Mid_Ohio or Instagram @officialmidohio for the latest news.

About Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course:

A comprehensive motorsports facility in Lexington, Ohio, Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course sits on 380 acres and features a permanent road-racing circuit with two primary race track configurations: 2.4-mile, 15-turn or 2.258-mile, 13-turn layout. Located 60 miles north of Columbus and 75 miles south of Cleveland near Mansfield, the natural terrain road course is commonly referred to as the “Most Competitive in the U.S.” and annually hosts a diversity of locally, regionally and nationally-sanctioned race events for amateur, club and professional drivers and riders. It is also home to The Mid-Ohio School, featuring over 20 driving and riding courses, for teenagers to professional racers using Honda vehicles. Opened in 1962, Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course has been owned and operated by Green Savoree Mid-Ohio, LLC since 2011, just the raceway’s third private ownership group in its history.