The WeatherTech 240, also previously known as the Paul Revere 250, was a sports car race held on the road course at

Daytona International Speedway Daytona International Speedway is a race track in Daytona Beach, Florida, United States. Since opening in 1959, it has been the home of the Daytona 500, the most prestigious race in NASCAR as well as its season opening event. In addition to NASC ...

on or around Independence Day, the same weekend of the NASCAR Cup Series'

Firecracker 400 The Coke Zero Sugar 400 is an annual NASCAR Cup Series stock car race at Daytona International Speedway. First held in 1959, the event consists of 160 laps, , and is the second of two major stock car events held at Daytona on the Cup Series cir ...

. It has been held off-and-on over the history of that event, either the same night, or a couple days before. Traditionally, the race was held late at night, and finished in the early morning hours of the next day. The theme of the race was based on the famous "Midnight Ride" of Revolutionary War patriot

Paul Revere Paul Revere (; December 21, 1734 O.S. (January 1, 1735 N.S.)May 10, 1818) was an American silversmith, engraver, early industrialist, Sons of Liberty member, and Patriot and Founding Father. He is best known for his midnight ride to a ...

. From 1967 to 1968, the race was sanctioned by the

SCCA The Sports Car Club of America (SCCA) is a non-profit American automobile club and sanctioning body supporting road racing, rallying, and autocross in the United States. Formed in 1944, it runs many programs for both amateur and professional ...

. From 1969 to 1972, it was held as part of the

NASCAR The National Association for Stock Car Auto Racing, LLC (NASCAR) is an American auto racing sanctioning and operating company that is best known for stock car racing. The privately owned company was founded by Bill France Sr. in 1948, and ...

Grand American Grand American was a NASCAR sanctioned series of pony car stock cars. The series ran from 1968 until 1972. The series was called "Grand Touring" from 1968 to 1969. History The series formed in 1968 under the name "Grand Touring" as a competitor ...

tour. Starting in 1973, it became part of the

IMSA The International Motor Sports Association (IMSA) is a North American sports car racing sanctioning body based in Daytona Beach, Florida under the jurisdiction of the ACCUS arm of the FIA. It was started by John Bishop, a former executive direc ...

circuit, and continued through 1983. In some years, NASCAR drivers that raced in the Firecracker 400 in the morning, also took part in Paul Revere 250 that same night. In 1984, it switched to an SCCA

Trans-Am The Trans-Am Series is a sports car racing series held in North America. Founded in 1966, it is sanctioned by the Sports Car Club of America (SCCA). Primarily based in the United States, the series competes on a variety of track types includi ...

event for one season. For 1985–1986, it was a motorcycle race, then it was discontinued. In 2000, the event was revived by the Grand Am series. The tradition of starting late at night, however, was muted somewhat. The event was scheduled as a Thursday or Friday night event, held immediately following NASCAR pole qualifying and/or final practice. The start time would be roughly 10 p.m. eastern. Attendance for the weeknight races was very sparse. NASCAR's typical weeknight qualifying crowd is normally small, and most of those that were in attendance left as soon as qualifying was over. In 2009, the race was moved to Saturday afternoon as part of a Grand Am/NASCAR day-night doubleheader. The race was removed from the schedule after 2010, and went on hiatus for a decade. In

2020 2020 was heavily defined by the COVID-19 pandemic, which led to global social and economic disruption, mass cancellations and postponements of events, worldwide lockdowns and the largest economic recession since the Great Depression in t ...

, due to the

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic, also known as the coronavirus pandemic, is an ongoing global pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The novel virus was first identi ...

, IMSA reorganized their schedule. They announced they would be resuming their season at Daytona with an evening race on July 4, marking the return of summer sportscar racing at Daytona. The race was named the WeatherTech 240, with a duration of 2 hours and 40 minutes, and was to be held in front of a limited number of spectators.

Past winners

* Run in twin 22-lap heats. * 1986 motorcycle event was scheduled for July 3, but was rained out and rescheduled for October.

Double Duty

In the earlier years of the event, a number of NASCAR drivers who participated in the Firecracker 400 also drove in the Paul Revere 250 in the same day or same weekend. In recent years, some drivers have also dabbled in the "double duty." In 2009, Scott Speed and

Kyle Busch Kyle Thomas Busch (born May 2, 1985) is an American professional stock car racing driver and team owner. He currently competes full-time in the NASCAR Cup Series, driving the No. 8 Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 for Richard Childress Racing and part-time ...

raced in both events in the same day, teaming up at Chip Ganassi Racing for the '250.'

References

External links

Grand-Am race pageUltimate Racing History: Daytona archive
{{United SportsCar Championship races Motorsport in Daytona Beach, Florida IMSA GT Championship races Grand-Am races Recurring sporting events established in 1967 Recurring sporting events disestablished in 2009 1967 establishments in Florida 2009 disestablishments in Florida