IMSA Acquires Historic Sportscar Racing

With this weekend’s 60th Rolex 24 At Daytona serving as an appropriate backdrop, the International Motor Sports Association (IMSA) and Historic Sportscar Racing (HSR) announced this evening an arrangement bringing HSR’s popular events and iconic, vintage and historic sports cars from throughout more than 50 years of IMSA and beyond into the IMSA portfolio.

The annual HSR calendar features numerous successful events at a variety of IMSA/NASCAR properties, including Daytona International Speedway, Sebring International Raceway and Michelin Raceway Road Atlanta. HSR’s trio of blockbuster events includes the “HSR Classics” at Daytona and Sebring and The HSR Mitty at Michelin Raceway, which celebrates its 44th running this year as one of the oldest vintage and historic races in the United States.

The 2022 HSR season opens with the annual Spring Fling at Sebring on April 6-8. A nine-event calendar includes repeat visits to Sebring and Michelin Raceway, as well as events at Barber Motorsports Park, Road America and WeatherTech Raceway Laguna Seca, where HSR debuted in 2021 as the sanctioning body for the Rolex Monterey Motorsports Reunion.

“IMSA’s future is extremely bright, with many new and innovative platforms debuting over the next several years,” said IMSA President John Doonan. “Bringing HSR into the IMSA family substantially strengthens the links to previous generations of sports car racing, from eras that predate IMSA all the way through to cars that have competed in the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship.”

HSR’s roots can be traced to a group of Jaguar enthusiasts from Atlanta in the mid-1970s, who organized what became “The Mitty” for the first time in 1977. HSR’s first event as a sanctioning body was held at Sebring in 1991, and since that time, HSR has organized and sanctioned more than 250 events in the United States and Canada.

“When IMSA first approached me about their interest in being involved in the vintage and historic racing scene, I knew this could be the perfect opportunity for both HSR and IMSA,” said HSR President David Hinton, who became a co-owner of HSR in 2012 and will remain with the organization as part of the new HSR entity. “John Doonan’s enthusiasm and love for our sport is unquestionable, and I look forward to working with him and the entire IMSA team as we continue to grow the HSR brand and footprint.”

HSR becomes the eighth racing series to be sanctioned by IMSA. It joins the flagship WeatherTech Championship, as well as IMSA Michelin Pilot Challenge, IMSA Prototype Challenge and four single-make series: Ferrari Challenge North America, Idemitsu Mazda MX-5 Cup Presented by BFGoodrich Tires, Lamborghini Super Trofeo North America and Porsche Carrera Cup North America. IMSA also is active in eSports as sanctioning body for the IMSA iRacing Pro Series.