The 25 Hours of Thunderhill is an endurance racing event held annually during the first weekend in December in Northern California, at the Thunderhill Raceway Park; just outside the small city of Willows. The race is longest road event on a closed course in the United States.
It has been run since 2003, [1] sanctioned by the National Auto Sport Association. [2] It is the successor to the Timex 12 Hours of Thunderhill event run between 1998 and 2002. [3]
World records in the marathon are ratified by World Athletics, the international governing body for the sport of athletics.
Daytona International Speedway is a race track in Daytona Beach, Florida, United States, about 50 mi (80 km) north of Orlando. 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. The venue also hosts the 24 Hours of Daytona, the most prestigious IMSA race and one of the three events that make up the Triple Crown of endurance racing. In addition to NASCAR and IMSA, the track also hosts races of ARCA, AMA Superbike, SCCA, and AMA Supercross. The track features multiple layouts including the primary 2.500 mi (4.023 km) high-speed tri-oval, a 3.560 mi (5.729 km) sports car course, a 2.950 mi (4.748 km) motorcycle course, and a 1,320 ft (400 m) karting and motorcycle flat-track. The track's 180-acre (73 ha) infield includes the 29-acre (12 ha) Lake Lloyd, which has hosted powerboat racing.
Alfred Unser Jr. – nicknamed "Little Al" to distinguish him from his father, Al Unser – is an American retired racing driver. Known primarily for his Championship car career, Unser won two CART championships, and is a two-time winner of the Indianapolis 500.
Thunderhill Raceway Park is a motorsports complex located 7 miles west of Willows, California, United States, in the Sacramento Valley. It is the venue for the longest automobile race in the United States, the 25 Hours of Thunderhill, held annually during the first weekend in December.
Kazunori Yamauchi, nicknamed "Kaz", is a Japanese game designer and racing driver. He is the CEO of Polyphony Digital and producer of the Gran Turismo video game series.
The National Auto Sport Association (NASA) is an American motorsports organization promoting road racing and high-performance driver education.
Benji LaCrosse is an American racecar driver. He was the 2006 IMCA Modified national champion, and the winner of the 2005 IMCA SuperNationals.
The Flying Lizard Motorsports group is a motorsport team from Sonoma, California, formed by Seth Neiman in early 2003. The team competed in the full American Le Mans Series season, as well as the 24 Hours of Daytona, and the 24 Hours of Le Mans. The team went on to win six driver and team championships in the American Le Mans Series, becoming a Porsche factory team and Porsche Motorsport North America's development partner from 2007 to 2012. The team helped develop the first- and second-generation 997 GT3 RSR as well as bring it to victory several times in its six-year run in the series. The team solely raced Porsche cars from 2004 to 2019, becoming a staple in the Porsche racing community.
The Bathurst 12 Hour, currently known as the Repco Bathurst 12 Hour for sponsorship reasons, is an annual endurance race for GT and production cars held at the Mount Panorama Circuit, in Bathurst, Australia. The race was first held in 1991 for Series Production cars and moved to Sydney's Eastern Creek Raceway in 1995 before being discontinued. The race was revived in 2007, again for production cars, before adding a new class for GT3 and other GT cars in 2011. This has led to unprecedented domestic and international exposure for the event. In all, twenty one races have taken place; twenty at Mount Panorama and one at Eastern Creek Raceway.
Shane Robert van Gisbergen, also known by his initials SVG, is a New Zealand professional racing driver. He competes full-time in the NASCAR Xfinity Series, driving the No. 97 Chevrolet Camaro for Kaulig Racing in partnership with Trackhouse Racing, part-time in the NASCAR Cup Series, driving the No. 16 Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 for Kaulig Racing and the No. 91 Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 for Trackhouse Racing, and part-time in the ARCA Menards Series, driving the No. 28 Chevrolet SS for Pinnacle Racing Group. He is known for his time racing in the Supercars Championship, last driving the No. 97 Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 car for Triple Eight Race Engineering. He is a three-time Supercars Champion, winning driver's titles in 2016, 2021, and 2022. With a total of 80 wins and 46 pole positions, van Gisbergen is 4th on the all-time wins list in the Supercars Championship. He has won the Bathurst 1000 three times, in 2020, 2022, and 2023.
The 24 Hours of Lemons, sometimes styled as "24 Hours of LeMons", "24 Hours of LeMONS", or "24 Hours of LEMONS", is a series of endurance races held on paved road race courses across the United States. The series holds the Guinness World Record for the "Most participants in one race".
Bruce Hill was an American stock car racing driver from Topeka, Kansas. He competed in the Winston Cup Series, ARCA, and in the NASCAR West Series. He also competed in late model races around his hometown later in life.
Carl Rydquist is a Swedish-American FIA Silver and Trans-Am racing driver and a SAG-AFTRA licensed stunt and precision driver who has won many auto races and racing championships. Rydquist gained notoriety for his speed in 2001 when he beat more than 1100 enthusiasts and professional racedrivers in a gocart challenge created by Eurosport to promote their Super Racing Weekend FIA GT and ETCC sports coverage. The event propelled him to his first GT Endurance ride with Apex Racing's Porsche. Rydquist actively competes in racing and has competed in professional drifting. In Rydquist's auto racing career, he currently has a victory in more than one third of his races and podium finishes in three out of four Touring and GT car endurance and sprint races.
The Ginetta G57 P2 is a sports prototype developed by British car constructor Ginetta Cars. The car made its race track debut in 2016.
Jeff Shafer is a former racing driver. Shafer competed in USF2000, Atlantic Championship among other series.
Roger Eagleton is an American race car driver and entrepreneur, born in Glendale, California. He is currently based in Waikiki, Honolulu and is the 2019 Trans-Am West Coast Champion in the GT Class.
Spoon Inc., commonly known as Spoon Sports, is a Japanese company specializing in engine tuning and aftermarket parts designed to make Honda cars high performing vehicles. The company's Type One showroom has helped Honda vehicles become major contenders in motorsports competitions. These included the models that participated in the Tsukuba 9 Hours Endurance Race, the Super Taikyu, and Nürburgring 24 Hours.
Brian Parker Frisselle is an American former racing driver.
Mason Filippi is an American auto racing driver who competes in the TCR class of the Michelin Pilot Challenge for Bryan Herta Autosport. He previously raced for Bryan Herta Autosport, finishing the Michelin Pilot Challenge in second place in 2019 and third in 2020. Filippi also piloted touring cars in the TC America Series and the Pirelli World Challenge from 2017 to 2019, finishing in the top five of the standings each season. Prior to racing touring cars, he drove Spec Miatas, competing in the Global MX-5 Cup and the Teen Mazda Challenge and winning the 25 Hours of Thunderhill race in 2015 and 2016.
Kyle Marcelli is a Canadian racing driver who currently competes in the Michelin Pilot Challenge.