Dupont and Brown open the IMSA season with victory at Daytona

The Bryan Herta Autosport with Curb Agajanian team began the 2025 IMSA Michelin Pilot Challenge season in style, claiming a 1-2 finish with its Hyundai Elantra N cars in the four-hour race at Daytona International Speedway.

Denis Dupont and Preston Brown were the lucky pair who achieved the feat, driving the #76 Elantra from ninth on the grid to the win and played the better pit strategy game to leapfrog the otherwise pacesetting #33 sister car driven by Bryson Morris and Mark Wilkins.

Morris had qualified on pole and led a race-high 48 of 109 laps in class but fell behind the #76 car as the race progressed past the final pit stop sequence. Wilkins pushed Dupont hard enough in the finish and made one final passing attempt high in the tri-oval on the final lap, only to come up short by just 0.067 of a second.

Behind the pair of Hyundai cars, Audi completed the podium with Ryan Eversley and Celso Neto sharing the #7 Precision Racing LA car.

The series will resume on Friday, March 14, at Sebring International Raceway with a two-hour race.

Daytona – Race

1. D. Dupont/P. Brown (Bryan Herta Autosport, Hyundai Elantra N), 109 laps
2. B. Morris/M. Wilkins (Bryan Herta Autosport, Hyundai Elantra N), 0.067
3. R. Eversley/C. Neto (Precision Racing LA, Audi RS 3 LMS II), 7.420

Championship points

1. D. Dupont/P. Brown, 350; 2. B. Morris/M. Wilkins 320; 3. R. Eversley/C. Neto, 300

Picture: IMSA/LAT Images