The Rolex 24 Hours of Daytona is one of the most iconic motorsports events in the calendar year. It’s endurance racing at its finest that also allows international automakers to showcase their innovation. However, a notable absentee from the event this year was the Chevrolet Garage 56 project car. The Garage 56 is a modified Camaro based on the current Next Gen race car from the Cup Series. Aiming to showcase that a stock car is more than just sheer power and left turns, it made its way to the 24 Hours of Le Mans event last year. So, its absence at the IMSA’s very own 24-hour Daytona endurance event raised a few eyebrows.

Addressing the concerns regarding the Garage 56 project’s no-show, Parker Kligerman explained that the motive for the innovation project laid out by Chevrolet was completed at last year’s Le Mans event. He went on to explain the crowds at both NASCAR and IMSA do overlap to an extent and that is why the experimental car was not featured at the Daytona International Speedway.

Kligerman feels Garage 56 did not need to run or accomplish anything at Rolex 24

Speaking on his YouTube show, The Money Lap, Kligerman was taking viewers’ questions on various topics regarding motorsports events. He answered a fan’s question about the absence of Chevy’s Garage 56 project at the 24 Hours of Daytona. While he wasn’t abreast of the whole scenario, in his explanation he stated that the job was already done by the car’s presence at last year’s Le Mans race.

Kilgerman said, “I haven’t really researched this too much but I’m gonna essentially say that yes, it proved what it needed to do. It accomplished what they wanted out of it. Most of all it was about representing NASCAR, an American stock-car style car, abroad in front of a huge international audience and that’s what it did.”

Defending the move made by Chevrolet to not field the car, he added, “I saw it winning internet awards as greatest moments in motorsports in 2023. It did everything you hoped and it spread the great word of NASCAR to a whole new audience. So, I don’t see any reason (with) the Rolex 24 being in their backyard. Although it had a record crowd last year and I’m assuming a record crowd will happen again, that crowd very much overlaps with NASCAR in general. So I don’t see any reason it had to run.”

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It’s not just the Chevy 56 car absence that has stirred up some fans but also the non-attendance of full-time NASCAR Cup drivers at the event.

No full-time NASCAR Cup Series driver to feature in 24-hour race at Daytona

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NASCAR Cup Series drivers do have a knack of competing in different disciplines of races and the Rolex 24-Hours of Daytona is one of those. The event is sort of an unofficial start to the NASCAR season and drivers do like to get some seat time right before they enter the points races. Over the years, the likes of Dale Earnhardt Jr, Tony Stewart, Jimmie Johnson, Jeff Gordon, Kyle Busch, and Chase Briscoe have all featured at the event. A.J. Allmendinger even won the event back in 2012.

Unfortunately, there won’t be any full-time NASCAR Cup drivers participating in the event this time. However, a trio of notable Toyota drivers did make a feature at the Michelin Pilot Challenge, the race preceding the 24-hour event. The three racers were 23XI’s Bubba Wallace, LMC’s John Hunter Nemechek, and Tricon Garage’s Corey Heim. With a 27th-place finish at the event, they did get a fair share of the road course racing experience which will come in handy later on in the season.

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With the IMSA events about to conclude, all eyes will be on the Busch Light Clash at the Coliseum on February 4th where the fans will see their favorite Cup drivers in action for the first time this season. We all know what comes next: the Daytona 500.