The 2020 WeatherTech 240 was a sports car race sanctioned by the International Motor Sports Association (IMSA). The race was held at the Daytona International Speedway combined road course in Daytona Beach, Florida, on July 4, 2020. This race was the second round of the 2020 WeatherTech SportsCar Championship, and the first round of the 2020 WeatherTech Sprint Cup.

Taylor and García's GTLM class victory marked the first victory for the new Corvette C8.R, alongside Corvette Racing's 100th win in IMSA competition. The race was also just the 12th caution-free race since the merger in 2014.

Background

The race was the first for the series following the suspension due to the COVID-19 pandemic, and was initially announced to be run behind closed doors. However, it was later announced that a maximum of 5,000 fans were to be admitted, with all required to be residents of the state of Florida. The race was also the first time since 2010 that the WeatherTech SportsCar Championship or its previous series had competed in the Paul Revere 250 Independence Day event.

Before the race, Ryan Briscoe, Renger van der Zande, Scott Dixon, and Kamui Kobayashi led the DPi Drivers' Championship with 35 points each, ahead of Oliver Jarvis, Tristan Nunez, and Olivier Pla with 32 points each, and Sébastien Bourdais, João Barbosa, and Loïc Duval with 30 points each. With 35 points, the GTLM Drivers' Championship was led by John Edwards, Jesse Krohn, Augusto Farfus, and Chaz Mostert with a three-point advantage over Earl Bamber, Laurens Vanthoor, and Mathieu Jaminet. In GTD, the Drivers' Championship was led by Bryan Sellers, Madison Snow, Corey Lewis, and Andrea Caldarelli with 35 points, ahead of Andy Lally, John Potter, Spencer Pumpelly, and Marco Mapelli with 32 points each. Cadillac, BMW, and Lamborghini were leading their respective Manufacturers' Championships, while Konica Minolta Cadillac DPi-V.R, BMW Team RLL, and Paul Miller Racing each led their own Teams' Championships.

Entries

A total of 26 cars took part in the event, down from the 39 entries from the season's opening event. There were 8 cars in the DPi class, 6 cars in the GTLM class, and 12 cars in the GTD class. In DPi, Gabby Chaves filled in for Felipe Nasr in the Whelen Engineering Racing entry, due to Nasr testing positive for COVID-19. Multimatic Motorsports took over the Mazda DPi program from Joest Racing. The LMP2 class did not participate in the event. In GTLM, Risi Competizione were absent. In GTD, Paul Miller Racing, the GTD class winner in the Rolex 24, didn't enter the event due to effects of the pandemic. Likewise, Pfaff Motorsports also didn't enter, due to travel restrictions surrounding being based in Canada. The No. 19 GEAR Racing powered by GRT Grasser entry, the No. 91 of Wright Motorsports, and the No. 23 Heart of Racing Team Aston Martin all declined to enter the event as well. Team Hardpoint made their series debut, and Gradient Racing returned for the first time since 2018. Prior to the event, Aaron Telitz was announced as the replacement for Parker Chase in the No. 14 entry for AIM Vasser Sullivan. Compass Racing made their season debut.

Practice There were two practice sessions preceding the start of the race on Saturday, one on Friday and one on Saturday. The first session on Friday lasted one hour while the second session on Saturday lasted 75 minutes.

Practice 1 The first practice session took place at 6:15 pm ET on Friday and ended with Juan Pablo Montoya topping the charts for Acura Team Penske, with a lap time of 1:35.960. The GTLM class was topped by the #912 Porsche GT Team Porsche 911 RSR-19 of Laurens Vanthoor with a time of 1:44.003. Tommy Milner in the #4 Corvette Racing entry was second and Nick Tandy rounded out the top 3. The GTD class was topped by the #63 Scuderia Corsa Ferrari 488 GT3 of Toni Vilander with a time of 1:47.481. ClassTeamDriverTime1DPi6Acura Team PenskeJuan Pablo Montoya1:35.960_2DPi31Whelen Engineering RacingPipo Derani1:35.976 +0.0163DPi55Mazda MotorsportsHarry Tincknell 1:36.013 +0.053Sources:

Practice 2 The second and final practice session took place at 10:15 am ET on Saturday and ended with Oliver Jarvis topping the charts for Mazda Motorsports, with a lap time of 1:34.398. The GTLM class was topped by the #911 Porsche GT Team Porsche 911 RSR-19 of Nick Tandy with a time of 1:42.990. Oliver Gavin in the #4 Corvette Racing entry was second and Jordan Taylor rounded out the top 3. The GTD class was topped by the #14 AIM Vasser Sullivan Lexus RC F GT3 of Aaron Telitz with a time of 1:46.694. ClassTeamDriverTime1DPi77Mazda MotorsportsOliver Jarvis1:34.398_2DPi7Acura Team PenskeHélio Castroneves1:34.646 +0.2483DPi55Mazda MotorsportsJonathan Bomarito1:34.689 +0.291Sources:

Qualifying

Saturday's afternoon qualifying was broken into three sessions, with one session for the DPi, GTLM, and GTD classes, which lasted for 15 minutes each, and a ten minute interval between the sessions. The rules dictated that all teams nominated a driver to qualify their cars, with the Pro-Am (GTD) class requiring a Bronze/Silver Rated Driver to qualify the car. The competitors' fastest lap times determined the starting order. IMSA then arranged the grid to put DPis ahead of the GTLM and GTD cars.

Qualifying was broken into three sessions. The first was for cars in GTD class. Corey Fergus qualified on pole for the class driving the #76 car for Compass Racing, beating Aaron Telitz in the #14 AIM Vasser Sullivan entry by less than two tenths of a second.

The second session of qualifying was for cars in the GTLM class. Oliver Gavin qualified on pole driving the #4 car for Corvette Racing, besting Jordan Taylor in the sister #3 Corvette Racing entry.

The final session of qualifying was for the DPi class. Hélio Castroneves qualified on pole driving the #7 car for Acura Team Penske, beating Oliver Jarvis in the #77 Mazda Motorsports by less than fifty-hundredths of a second.

Qualifying results Pole positions in each class are indicated in bold and by . ClassTeamDriverTime1DPi7 Acura Team Penske Hélio Castroneves1:34.390 _ 12 DPi 77 Mazda Motorsports Oliver Jarvis 1:34.422 +0.032 23 DPi 55 Mazda Motorsports Jonathan Bomarito 1:34.454 +0.064 34 DPi 6 Acura Team Penske Juan Pablo Montoya 1:34.532 +0.142 45 DPi 10 Konica Minolta Cadillac Ryan Briscoe 1:35.061 +0.671 56 DPi 31 Whelen Engineering Racing Gabby Chaves 1:35.244 +0.854 67 DPi 5 JDC-Mustang Sampling Racing João Barbosa 1:35.737 +1.347 78 DPi 85 JDC-Miller MotorSports Chris Miller 1:35.945 +1.555 89GTLM4 Corvette Racing Oliver Gavin1:42.251 +7.861 910 GTLM 3 Corvette Racing Jordan Taylor 1:42.523 +8.133 1011 GTLM 24 BMW Team RLL Jesse Krohn 1:42.628 +8.238 1112 GTLM 912 Porsche GT Team Laurens Vanthoor 1:42.629 +8.239 1213 GTLM 25 BMW Team RLL Bruno Spengler 1:42.674 +8.284 1314 GTLM 911 Porsche GT Team Nick Tandy 1:42.754 +8.364 1415GTD76 Compass Racing Corey Fergus1:47.015 +12.625 1516 GTD 14 AIM Vasser Sullivan Aaron Telitz 1:47.152 +12.762 1617 GTD 96 Turner Motorsport Robby Foley 1:47.468 +13.078 1718 GTD 12 AIM Vasser Sullivan Frankie Montecalvo 1:47.502 +13.112 1819 GTD 63 Scuderia Corsa Cooper MacNeil 1:47.595 +13.205 1920 GTD 86 Meyer Shank Racing with Curb-Agajanian Matt McMurry 1:47.779 +13.389 2021 GTD 57 Heinricher Racing with MSR Curb-Agajanian Misha Goikhberg 1:47.799 +13.409 2122 GTD 16 Wright Motorsports Ryan Hardwick 1:47.839 +13.449 2223 GTD 74 Riley Motorsports Gar Robinson 1:47.998 +13.608 2324 GTD 44 GRT Magnus John Potter 1:48.772 +14.382 2625 GTD 22 Gradient Racing Till Bechtolsheimer 1:48.795 +14.405 2426 GTD 30 Team Hardpoint Rob Ferriol 1:49.193 +14.803 25Sources:

The No. 44 GRT Magnus entry was moved to the back of the GTD field as per Article 40.1.4 of the Sporting regulations (Change of starting tires).

Race

Post-race As a result of winning the race, Bomarito and Tincknell advanced from sixth to third in the DPi Drivers' Championship. Jarvis and Nunez jumped from second to first while Briscoe and van der Zande dropped from first to second. In GTLM, Bamber and Vanthoor jumped to first after being second coming into the event. Edwards and Krohn dropped from first to third while Antonio García and Jordan Taylor advanced from fourth to second. As a result of winning the race, Hawksworth advanced from eighth to first in the GTD Drivers' Championship. Telitz jumped from twelfth to second while Lally and Potter dropped from second to third. Bell and Montecalvo jumped to fifth after being from twelfth coming into the event. Cadillac, BMW, and Lamborghini continued to top their respective Manufacturers' Championships while Mazda Motorsports, Porsche GT Team, and AIM Vasser Sullivan became the leaders of their respective class Teams' Championships with nine rounds remaining in the season.

Result Due to a lightning storm, the race start was delayed. While the race was originally scheduled to end at sunset, a considerable portion of the race ended up running after dark. The race ran full course caution free.

Class winners are denoted in bold and .

Pos Class Team Drivers Chassis Laps Time/Retired Engine 1 DPi 55 Mazda Motorsports Jonathan Bomarito Harry Tincknell Mazda RT24-P 95 2:40:11.281 Mazda MZ-2.0T 2.0 L Turbo I4 2 DPi 77 Mazda Motorsports Oliver Jarvis Tristan Nunez Mazda RT24-P 95 +10.168s Mazda MZ-2.0T 2.0 L Turbo I4 3 DPi 5 JDC-Mustang Sampling Racing João Barbosa Sébastien Bourdais Cadillac DPi-V.R 95 +15.378s Cadillac 5.5 L V8 4 DPi 6 Acura Team Penske Juan Pablo Montoya Dane Cameron Acura ARX-05 95 +27.335s Acura AR35TT 3.5 L Turbo V6 5 DPi 31 Whelen Engineering Racing Gabby Chaves Pipo Derani Cadillac DPi-V.R 95 +31.275s Cadillac 5.5 L V8 6 DPi 10 Konica Minolta Cadillac Renger van der Zande Ryan Briscoe Cadillac DPi-V.R 95 +1:06.779 Cadillac 5.5 L V8 7 DPi 85 JDC-Miller MotorSports Chris Miller Tristan Vautier Cadillac DPi-V.R 95 +1:18.511 Cadillac 5.5 L V8 8 GTLM 3 Corvette Racing Jordan Taylor Antonio García Chevrolet Corvette C8.R 90 +5 Laps Chevrolet 5.5 L V8 9 GTLM 912 Porsche GT Team Earl Bamber Laurens Vanthoor Porsche 911 RSR-19 90 +5 Laps Porsche 4.2 L Flat-6 10 GTLM 911 Porsche GT Team Frédéric Makowiecki Nick Tandy Porsche 911 RSR-19 90 +5 Laps Porsche 4.2 L Flat-6 11 GTLM 25 BMW Team RLL Connor De Phillippi Bruno Spengler BMW M8 GTE 90 +5 Laps BMW S63 4.0 L Turbo V8 12 GTLM 4 Corvette Racing Oliver Gavin Tommy Milner Chevrolet Corvette C8.R 89 +6 Laps Chevrolet 5.5 L V8 13 GTLM 24 BMW Team RLL John Edwards Jesse Krohn BMW M8 GTE 89 +6 Laps BMW S63 4.0 L Turbo V8 14 GTD 14 AIM Vasser Sullivan Jack Hawksworth Aaron Telitz Lexus RC F GT3 87 +8 Laps Lexus 5.0 L V8 15 GTD 12 AIM Vasser Sullivan Frankie Montecalvo Townsend Bell Lexus RC F GT3 86 +9 Laps Lexus 5.0 L V8 16 GTD 86 Meyer Shank Racing with Curb-Agajanian Mario Farnbacher Matt McMurry Acura NSX GT3 Evo 86 +9 Laps Acura 3.5 L Turbo V6 17 GTD 57 Heinricher Racing with MSR Curb-Agajanian Álvaro Parente Mikhail Goikhberg Acura NSX GT3 Evo 86 +9 Laps Acura 3.5 L Turbo V6 18 GTD 63 Scuderia Corsa Cooper MacNeil Toni Vilander Ferrari 488 GT3 86 +9 Laps Ferrari F154CB 3.9 L Turbo V8 19 GTD 74 Riley Motorsports Lawson Aschenbach Gar Robinson Mercedes-AMG GT3 Evo 85 +10 Laps Mercedes-AMG M159 6.2 L V8 20 GTD 16 Wright Motorsports Ryan Hardwick Patrick Long Porsche 911 GT3 R 85 +10 Laps Porsche 4.0 L Flat-6 21 GTD 96 Turner Motorsport Robby Foley Bill Auberlen BMW M6 GT3 85 +10 Laps BMW 4.4 L Turbo V8 22 GTD 44 GRT Magnus John Potter Andy Lally Lamborghini Huracán GT3 Evo 85 +10 Laps Lamborghini 5.2 L V10 23 GTD 22 Gradient Racing Till Bechtolsheimer Marc Miller Acura NSX GT3 Evo 85 +10 Laps Acura 3.5 L Turbo V6 24 GTD 76 Compass Racing Corey Fergus Paul Holton McLaren 720S GT3 85 +10 Laps McLaren M840T 4.0 L Turbo V8 25 GTD 30 Team Hardpoint Rob Ferriol Spencer Pumpelly Audi R8 LMS Evo 84 +11 Laps Audi 5.2 L V10 26 DPi 7 Acura Team Penske Hélio Castroneves Ricky Taylor Acura ARX-05 43 Engine Acura AR35TT 3.5 L Turbo V6Sources: