IMSA Wire: Michelin Pilot Challenge 2025 Roar Before the Rolex 24 Notebook

Fords, Hondas, Audis Make Waves in Daytona Test while Several Veterans Return
January 19, 2025By Tony DiZinnoIMSA Wire Service

Practice 1 Results Practice 2 Results Practice 3 Results Practice 4 Results Practice 5 Results
DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. –The IMSA Michelin Pilot Challenge series completed a three-day Roar Before the Rolex 24 test on Sunday. The test is not mandatory for competitors, although most made the trip to Daytona International Speedway in advance of Friday’s season-opening BMW M Endurance Challenge four-hour race.
McCumbee McAleer Pair Fast and Climbing Team’s Internal Ladder
If you don’t know the names of Jenson Altzman and Sam Paley now, you might as the 2025 Michelin Pilot Challenge season progresses. Especially as each of them led a session during the weekend, as Altzman was fastest in Friday’s second practice at 1 minute, 53.839 seconds (112.580 mph) and Paley led Saturday’s third practice at 1 minute, 54.208 seconds (112.216 mph).
Altzman, an Arizona native who now lives in Charlotte, and his longtime friend and fellow McCumbee McAleer Racing with AEROSPORT driver Paley are paired up in the team’s No. 13 Ford Mustang GT4 in Grand Sport (GS) for 2025.
It marks the culmination of a journey for both. Altzman is set for his third Michelin Pilot Challenge season – he has three podiums and a best finish of seventh in points – while Paley, who previously drove with MMR in the Whelen Mazda MX-5 Cup Presented by Michelin, makes the leap from Mustang Challenge.
Changes for Altzman this year include adjusting to a new size Michelin front tire on the team’s Mustang GT4 that is more aligned with other Mustang models within the IMSA paddock and having a more consistent co-driver. He’s driven with Paley, team co-owner Chad McCumbee, Ford factory ace Joey Hand and young drivers Gavin Sanders and Nate Cicero in his first two years in the series.
“Last year was a fun and rewarding experience getting to develop the new Mustang GT4 Gen 7 with Chad and the whole team,” Altzman explained. “I’m also looking forward to sharing a car with Sam—this has been a dream since our early MX-5 Cup days, and it’s incredible to see it come to life.”
Paley added, “Jenson is one of my closest friends, and we push each other to be the best versions of ourselves on and off the track. I’ve been working with the MMR crew since 2019, and the progress we’ve made is undeniable. With the team’s hard work, Ford’s support, and Jenson as my teammate, I have high expectations for this season.”
Eversley, Neto Audi and Honda Top TCR Times
Honda was the dominant brand atop the Touring Car (TCR) class times during the weekend, while one of its former drivers showed pace in his new environment at Audi.
Honda entries from MMG (Montreal Motorsports Group) and manufacturer newcomers KMW Motorsports with TMR Engineering led three of the four dry sessions from Friday to Saturday, with Tim Lewis’ lap of 1 minute, 57.449 seconds (109.119 mph) best overall in the No. 5 Honda Civic FL5 TCR.
The outlier was Ryan Eversley, now aboard Precision Racing LA’s No. 7 Audi RS3 LMS TCR, the race-winning veteran now back in the IMSA paddock full-time. He shares his car with 2025 IMSA Diverse Driver Development Scholarship recipient Celso Neto, who also got the hang of all aspects of the IMSA environment during the weekend. Eversley led the Saturday morning practice session.
The weekend for Eversley and Neto got off to a classic “first weekend, new car” start with such a fresh Audi chassis the car still had its initial stickers on board and the team needed to sort its seat for both drivers. Once on board, the pace was there as both drivers came to grips with their new beast.
“The weekend has been going great,” Neto said (pictured above). “A lot of learning by everybody, especially myself being a new track and new car for myself. Happy with the progress we have made in race pace and looking to keep improving that over the official practice sessions coming up. It’s been great to have Ryan with us during this new step in my career into endurance racing!”
Veterans Making a Comeback
After impressing in his first outing with Hattori Motorsports to cap off the 2024 GS season, Zach Veach (pictured right) was named to start 2025 in the team’s renumbered No. 16 Toyota GR Supra GT4 EVO2 (had been No. 50). He tested this weekend with JP Southern and Harrison Goodman.Andy Lally will race alongside longtime friend and co-driver Spencer Pumpelly twice next weekend. Lally joins Pumpelly and Thomas Collingwood as third driver of the No. 38 BGB Motorsports Porsche 718 GT4 RS CS in Grand Sport. The only catch is that Friday’s BMW M Endurance Challenge overlaps with the WeatherTech SportsCar Championship autograph session, and Lally appears set to miss the reveal of Magnus Racing’s latest creative hero card design. “The reveal is it’s always like five minutes before the drivers autograph session, and Spence found me a seat in the GS race, so I’m actually gonna do that and I’m gonna miss it unless I can sneak a look when the package comes in,” Lally said.Fellow sports car veteran Guy Cosmo is back driving, albeit for this weekend only during the Roar test. Cosmo shared the No. 43 MDK Motorsports Porsche 718 GT4 RS CS with Tom Tait this weekend. Tait and Slade Stewart will run as a Bronze Cup-entered GS car in the BMW M Endurance Challenge, with Cosmo likely on-site to coach.Robert Megennis will be driving a different car in Daytona than he will the rest of the 2025 GS season. Megennis, who raced with Turner Motorsport in GS the last two years, shares the No. 67 CSM Porsche 718 GT4 RS CS with young drivers Gordon Scully and Morgan Burkhard. Starting at Sebring, he’ll be in the team’s second car, the No. 2 CSM entry with Nikita Lastochkin.