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 on or around Independence Day, the same weekend of the NASCAR Cup Series' Firecracker 400. 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.

WeatherTech 240
Grand-Am Rolex Sports Car Series
VenueDaytona International Speedway
Corporate sponsorWeatherTech
First race1967
First Grand-Am race2000
Last race2020
Distance249.2 Miles
Laps70
Previous namesBrumos Porsche 250 (2005-2010)
Paul Revere 250 (1967-2004)

From 1967 to 1968, the race was sanctioned by the SCCA. From 1969 to 1972, it was held as part of the NASCAR Grand American tour. Starting in 1973, it became part of the IMSA 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 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, due to the COVID-19 pandemic, 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

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Date Overall Winner(s) Entrant Car Distance/Duration Report
SCCA Trans-Am
July 4, 1967   Parnelli Jones Bud Moore Mercury Cougar 250 mi (400 km) report
NASCAR Grand Touring/Grand American
July 4, 1968   Lloyd Ruby Bud Moore Mercury Cougar 250 mi (400 km) report
July 4, 1969   Pete Hamilton Chevrolet Camaro 250 mi (400 km) report
July 4, 1970   Jim Paschal AMC Javelin 250 mi (400 km) report
July 4, 1971   Buck Baker Pontiac Firebird 250 mi (400 km) report
July 4, 1972   Vince Gimondo Chevrolet Camaro 250 mi (400 km) report
IMSA GT Championship
July 4, 1973   Gene Felton Gene Felton Chevrolet Camaro 250 mi (400 km) report
July 4, 1974   Hurley Haywood Applejack Racing Porsche Carrera RSR 250 mi (400 km) report
July 4, 1975   Hans-Joachim Stuck BMW Motorsport BMW 3.0 CSL 250 mi (400 km) report
July 4, 1976   Al Holbert Holbert Racing Chevrolet Monza 250 mi (400 km) report
July 4, 1977   George Dyer George Dyer Porsche 934 250 mi (400 km) report
July 4, 1978   Peter Gregg Brumos Porsche Porsche 935 250 mi (400 km) report
July 4, 1979   Charles Mendez
  Hurley Haywood
Porsche 935 250 mi (400 km) report
July 4, 1980   John Fitzpatrick Dick Barbour Racing Porsche 935 K3 250 mi (400 km) report
July 5, 1981   Mauricio de Narvaez
  Hurley Haywood
Dick Barbour Racing Porsche 935J 250 mi (400 km) report
July 3, 1982   Ted Field
  Danny Ongais
Interscope Racing Lola T600-Chevrolet 250 mi (400 km) report
July 4, 1983   A. J. Foyt
  Hurley Haywood
Preston Henn Porsche 935 250 mi (400 km) report
SCCA Trans-Am
July 3, 1984   Willy T. Ribbs Jack Roush Mercury Capri 157 mi (253 km)A report
AMA Championship Cup Series
July 3, 1985   Larry Shorts
  Gregg Smrz
Dr. John's Team Moto Guzzi Moto Guzzi Le Mans 250 mi (400 km)[1] report
October 19, 1986B   Merrill Moen
  Otis Lance
Team Lockhart Suzuki GSX-R1100 250 mi (400 km)[2] report
Grand-Am Rolex Sports Car Series
June 29, 2000   James Weaver
  Andy Wallace
Dyson Racing Riley & Scott Mk III-Ford 250 mi (400 km) report
July 4, 2002   James Weaver
  Chris Dyson
Dyson Racing Riley & Scott Mk III-Ford 250 mi (400 km) report
July 3, 2003   Forest Barber
  Terry Borcheller
Bell Motorsports Doran JE4-Chevrolet 250 mi (400 km) report
July 1, 2004   Wayne Taylor
  Max Angelelli
SunTrust Racing Riley Mk XI-Pontiac 250 mi (400 km) report
June 30, 2005   Butch Leitzinger
  Elliott Forbes-Robinson
Howard Boss Motorsports Crawford DP03-Pontiac 250 mi (400 km) report
June 29, 2006   Colin Braun
  Jörg Bergmeister
Krohn Racing Riley Mk XI-Ford 250 mi (400 km) report
July 5, 2007   Alex Gurney
  Jon Fogarty
GAINSCO/Bob Stallings Racing Riley Mk XI-Pontiac 250 mi (400 km) report
July 3, 2008   Memo Rojas
  Scott Pruett
Chip Ganassi Racing Riley Mk XX-Lexus 250 mi (400 km) report
July 4, 2009   Max Angelelli
  Brian Frisselle
SunTrust Racing Dallara DP01-Ford 250 mi (400 km) report
July 3, 2010   Memo Rojas
  Scott Pruett
Chip Ganassi Racing Riley Mk XX-BMW 250 mi (400 km) report
IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship
July 4, 2020   Jonathan Bomarito
  Harry Tincknell
Mazda Motorsports Mazda MZ-2.0T 2.0 L Turbo I4 2 hours, 40 minutes report
  • ^A Run in twin 22-lap heats.
  • ^B 1986 motorcycle event was scheduled for July 3, but was rained out and rescheduled for October.[3]

Double Duty

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

References

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  1. ^ Assoc, American Motorcyclist (September 1985). "Paul Revere's fastest ride". American Motorcyclist. 39 (9). Retrieved April 3, 2010.
  2. ^ Wood, Bill (January 1987). "First to last". American Motorcyclist. 41 (1). Retrieved April 3, 2010.
  3. ^ Assoc, American Motorcyclist (September 1986). "Parade Lap: Revere rained out". American Motorcyclist. 40 (8). Retrieved April 3, 2010.
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