2014 United SportsCar Championship

The 2014 United SportsCar Championship (known for sponsorship reasons as the 2014 Tudor United SportsCar Championship) was the inaugural season of the International Motor Sports Association's new series created out of a merger of the Rolex Sports Car Series and the American Le Mans Series and the first to be held under the name as the United SportsCar Championship. It began with the 24 Hours of Daytona, the first time since the 1997 IMSA GT Championship season that IMSA sanctioned an event at Daytona International Speedway on 25 January and ended on 4 October at Petit Le Mans. It was the 44th overall season of IMSA GT championship racing tracing its lineage to the 1971 IMSA GT Championship.

Prototype (P) – a merger of the Daytona Prototypes, the ALMS LMP2 prototypes, and the experimental DeltaWing. The ALMS LMP1 class was discontinued.

RSCS

(PC) – the ALMS spec Corvette-engined Oreca prototypes.

Prototype Challenge

(GTLM) – grand touring cars from the ALMS.

GT Le Mans

(GTD) – a merger of GT and GX cars from the RSCS and the ALMS GT Challenge Porsche GT3s.

GT Daytona

Enforcement of an IMSA rule requiring the display of the car's number on its in-car cameras.

Upgraded video review equipment to high definition (HD).

A new system for cross-checking cars and drivers involved in on-track incidents.

Addition of a third driver advisor to work alongside the IMSA Race Director and two driver advisors to assist with evaluating responsibility in incidents and other on-track situations.

At events where there is only one prototype class in a race, the pits will be opened for that class when the field is packed up and while GT cars are still performing the Pass-Around procedure. This change will expedite the full-course caution process by a full lap.

The “Lap-Down Wave-By” procedure – which provides a strategic opportunity for cars a lap or more behind to gain a lap back by staying on course while leaders make pit stops – will be more limited in its application. There will be no Lap-Down Wave-By in races less than two hours and 30 minutes in length. For races between two-and-a-half hours through six hours, the Lap-Down Wave-By will be used only once in any 90-minute period after 60 minutes from the start of a race. No Lap-Down Wave-By will be used in the last 30 minutes of a race.

Efforts also will be made to use “Debris Yellows” where a situation is likely to involve the simple removal of debris or the flat-tow of a stopped car to a safe location. A Debris Yellow includes the Pass-Around procedure, but the pits remain closed until the race is restarted.

Schedule[edit]

Official Testing[edit]

Three official preseason tests were conducted for 2014 for both team testing and to determine balance of performance adjustments for the classes. They were as follows:

had initially announced intentions to campaign a pair of BMW-Riley Daytona Prototypes, but on November 9, 2013, it was announced that they would not compete in the championship and would instead focus on competing in the Continental Tire Sports Car Challenge ST class.^[42]

Team Sahlen

had planned to compete in the North American Endurance Cup, but pulled out of the championship following a crash at the Daytona 24 Hours that destroyed the car and injured Memo Gidley. Team owner Bob Stallings announced that he was shutting down the team for the remainder of the season.^[43]

GAINSCO/Bob Stallings Racing

Before Sebring, Starworks Motorsport switched to a new V6 engine for their #78 Daytona Prototype.^[38]

Honda

Before Lone Star Le Mans, OAK Racing switched to a new prototype with Honda engine.^[32]

Ligier JS P2

In Laguna Seca, there were two overall winners: one from race which included Prototype and GTLM classes, and other from race which included PC and GTD classes.

In Kansas, there was one overall winner from two combined races which included PC class only.

In Virginia, there were also two overall winners: one from two combined races which included PC class only, and other from race which included GTLM and GTD classes.

Bold indicates overall winner.

Drivers denoted by a † did not complete sufficient laps in order to score points.