Cadillac Loses Daytona Pole After Inspection

The starting order for the 2026 Rolex 24 Hours at Daytona was dramatically reshuffled after post-qualifying technical inspections resulted in two major penalties, stripping a pole-winning Cadillac of its place at the head of the field and relegating a leading BMW to the back of its class.

The most significant sanction was handed to the No. 31 Action Express Racing Cadillac V-Series.R, driven in qualifying by Jack Aitken. Having initially secured pole position in the top GTP category, the car was found to be in breach of IMSA technical regulations after inspectors discovered excessive wear to the rear skid block. As a result, the entry shared by Aitken, Earl Bamber, Frederik Vesti and Connor Zilisch has been demoted to the back of the GTP grid.

Skid block wear of this magnitude is highly unusual after a short qualifying run and strongly suggests that the car was set up extremely low to the ground, likely in pursuit of maximum aerodynamic performance. IMSA regulations strictly govern minimum ride height and skid block thickness to prevent precisely such aggressive configurations.

The penalty hands pole position to the No. 93 Meyer Shank Racing Acura ARX-06, crewed by Renger van der Zande, Nick Yelloly, IndyCar champion Alex Palou and Kaku Ohta. The Acura will now lead the field to green, joined on the front row by the No. 40 Wayne Taylor Racing Cadillac driven by Jordan Taylor, Louis Deletraz and Colton Herta.

Further disruption followed in the GTD Pro class, where the No. 1 Paul Miller Racing BMW M4 GT3 was also penalised. Technical officials ruled that the car’s camber settings fell outside the permitted regulatory range, a chassis-related infringement that resulted in the BMW — originally second fastest in class — being sent to the rear of the GTD Pro grid.

These decisions triggered a cascade of changes throughout the field. Several cars were promoted up the order, including the leading Porsche 963, which now starts third overall in GTP. Notably, the No. 59 RLL McLaren entry, making its IMSA SportsCar Championship debut, has been elevated to a front-row starting position in GTD Pro.

Despite the severity of the penalties, the context of a 24-hour endurance race tempers their immediate impact. Starting position, while valuable, is rarely decisive at Daytona, where strategy, traffic management and reliability play a far greater role over the course of a full day and night of racing.

Indeed, Action Express Racing appeared unfazed by its setback. The No. 31 Cadillac returned to the track in Thursday evening practice and promptly topped the timesheets, underlining its underlying pace and signalling that the demotion may prove little more than a temporary blow to morale.

Revised Front of Grid After Penalties

As the Rolex 24 gets underway, both penalised teams will be determined to turn regulatory disappointment into competitive resolve — with 24 hours more than enough time to recover lost ground and reassert their credentials at the front of the field.