Sports car enthusiasts obviously know their sport has entered a new Golden Age, a period where many manufacturers compete for highest honors each week, and where the winner frequently is not determined until the last possible moment. One year after Cadillac, Acura, BMW and Porsche competed at the top IMSA GTP level, Lamborghini joins the show with its North American debut at the 72nd Mobil 1 Twelve Hours of Sebring Presented by Cadillac. The last half hour of the 71st edition will be remembered for years to come. Two Penske Porsches and Wayne Taylor’s Acura battled for overall victory right into a very physical altercation in Turn 3 that allowed the Action Express Whelen Cadillac team to spray the orange juice atop the podium at Sebring again. Fast forward 12 months when Baseball Hall of Famer Fred McGriff will serve as Grand Marshal for this year’s event that features rock icons Jefferson Starship, rising country star Matt Stell, and eight IMSA races for five touring series. Saturday morning our guests are invited to walk the grid, get close to the race cars just before their 12-hour endurance test, be part of driver introductions and Sebring Hall of Fame inductions, and see fireworks, parachute jumpers, jets flying over the front straight for the National Anthem, all before the green flag starts the race. A dozen hours later, look to the pit structure as the winner crosses the stripe. We have another dazzling fireworks display planned. Even before Saturday’s grand finale, on Friday the Alan Jay 120’s grid walk is back for IMSA Michelin Pilot Challenge. The two-hour race highlights the day that includes qualifying for the Mobil 1 Twelve Hours of Sebring and three additional races, capped by the sunset edition of Porsche Carrera Cup. Music, food, fellowship and shopping are as much a part of the Sebring experience as the historic race itself. Last year, in the merchandise area, we met a young artist, Samantha Zimmerman, who already made a name for herself in the sports car world, particularly among the Porsche crowd. For 2023, she created a Sebring-themed print that caught our eyes and led to first an introduction, and then much more.In the months since, Samantha created the poster for this year’s event with elements that celebrate the Action Express Cadillac’s victory last year, the Lamborghini GTP debut this year, Sebring’s silver plate trophy, orange blossoms and orange juice salutes. She also designed a throwback T-shirt, a very simple design featuring car and driver from the 1950s, a signature oak tree, and a few “easter eggs” for people to find. Those who purchased Officers Club hospitality will see on the walls Samantha’s artwork she recreated from famous Hendricks Field photos into sketches. Lamborghini’s activities around its GTP introduction will be hard to miss, particularly its 160-Lambo car corral near the east end of the paddock.Other corrals feature Cadillac, Corvette, Porsche, Lexus and Ford. As always, that paddock that measures more than half-mile in length, will be open to all ticketholders every day, and this year features IMSA WeatherTech Championship, Michelin Pilot Challenge, Lamborghini Super Trofeo, Porsche Carrera Cup and Whelen Mazda MX-5 Cup teams. Over the past two years, our events staff overhauled pre-event staging, ticketing, entry and traffic logistics, a collective effort that exceeded all expectations for ease of ingress. Guests knew to purchase tickets prior to reaching Gate 1, to have tickets and car passes ready to present, and reviews have been spectacular. Opening our gates on Tuesday afternoon also proved very popular with our guests, so that will return again for 2024. We expect 2024’s attendance numbers to exceed 2023, which was a record year. So we urge all guests to be good stewards of the valuable unreserved spaces just as they were last year. Everyone in the Raceway community worked well together to accommodate the large crowds. IMSA’s five series, GTP hybrid-electrified technology, and ever-increasing car counts require teams to squeeze every square inch and centimeter to be as efficient as possible. Please follow their lead around your own camping areas and make the best possible use of space for the good of all, including many first-time Sebring visitors. Four nights of live music on the Midway, the Hall of Fame’s Gallery of Legends in the paddock, opportunities to drive Cadillacs and Chevrolets, Jordan Taylor’s chicken wing eating contest in the Fan Zone, myriad parties and much more will keep everyone more than entertained. Among the Fan Zone attractions, keeping alive a tradition that started during the pandemic, I will be handing out cans of Yuengling beer on Wednesday evening. I challenge anyone to find a better bargain for beer purchase than our Beverage Barn $25 case price of 16-oz. aluminum bottles. Speaking of bargains, guests looking for a lowest prices for next year’s Mobil 1 Twelve Hours of Sebring will find our ticket staff in a Midway kiosk offering 2025 tickets and parking for the 2024 published price during the race weekend. While you are here, if you happen to bump into an ExxonMobil executive, please tell him or her thank you for 30 years of sponsoring this great event. They will be here in large numbers, celebrating not only that anniversary, but the 50th birthday of the Mobil 1 brand. Sebring is so much more than a motorsports event. It is an annual celebration of good times, history, racing, traditions, music, food, family and comradery.So, get ready. Our annual “get together” has arrived.