DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. — Building on IMSA’s decades-long role as a proving ground for advanced automotive and related technologies and in tandem with the exponential growth in data and AI-focused innovations, IMSA has launched IMSA Labs as a formalized platform for continued innovation and collaboration between the motorsports sanctioning body and its automotive and technology partners.
IMSA Labs provides a platform for partners to engage through three clear, yet flexible, pathways: Foundational, Program and Ecosystem to meet partners where they are and grow with them.
The formal launch occurred today as part of the third annual IMSA Technology Symposium, held at Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University, on the eve of the 2026 IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship season. At Daytona International Speedway and across the IMSA season, cutting-edge technologies and IMSA’s racing expertise featuring its 18 automotive partners unite, creating a dynamic environment where innovation is on full display.
“For decades, Michelin and the 18 auto manufacturers who compete in IMSA have relied on our platform as a true laboratory, using the pressure and unpredictability of motorsport to develop and validate breakthrough innovations,” said IMSA President John Doonan. “By combining IMSA’s rich portfolio of data signals with advanced AI technologies, we are now positioned to accelerate that legacy of innovation even further.
“IMSA Labs represents a bold step into new territory, opening our doors to the world’s leading technology companies to test, refine, and prove their solutions in an environment where every millisecond matters. Together, we’re unlocking transformative value for our current partners while creating unprecedented opportunities for those who will join us in the future.”
While IMSA Labs is a new name and new platform, it essentially serves as a natural next chapter after the nearly 60 years where IMSA has served as a validation point for some of the most technologically advanced vehicles in motorsports. Many automotive technologies almost taken for granted now—such as turbocharging, anti-lock brakes, traction control, hybrid systems, all-wheel drive and rear-view cameras, to name but six—have been developed and battle-tested by manufacturers in IMSA racing for decades.
This new framework expands on what’s already been organically developing for years, with a more structured format that can bring the data behind-the-scenes fully to life. With the enhanced data revealed, fans can benefit from and engage with that data as they’re consuming IMSA content through both real-world and digital interactions.
IMSA Labs is set to provide a governed, repeatable framework that allows partners to engage with confidence, clarity, and long-term impact. Additionally, IMSA Labs is set to provide the “connective tissue”—structure, governance, and program management—that allows ideas to move from concept to impact.
In a single sentence, if IMSA is the racing product, IMSA Labs is a holistic, all-encompassing name for the development platform within the racing product.
