One more roar before '24: Road Atlanta field is loaded for 2023 IMSA season finale

Several class championships are still on the line. Plus, there'll be several well-known ringers to make it all the more interesting!

The 2023 IMSA season is only a few days away from its final race on the calendar, settling the championship battles ongoing at Road Atlanta this weekend.

While many people will be eager to see how the full-time drivers will settle their season-long chase for the championship in a 10-hour duel, there will be many familiar faces from other racing series on the grid that are creating what is a very fitting lineup for a historic season in the sport.

Just to put into perspective how loaded this race will be, the field will feature former F1 world champion Jenson Button, Indianapolis 500 winners and champions including reigning 500 champ Josef Newgarden and Helio Castroneves, not to mention this year’s overall Le Mans winners in Alessandro Pier Guidi and James Calado.

If that isn’t enough, the grid will also feature IndyCar regulars such as Scott McLaughlin, Scott Dixon, and Kyle Kirkwood, plus a former Rolex 24 winner in Andy Laly.

The season-ending IMSA grid should make this one of the most highly anticipated races of the season, and with the way the year started with the introduction of the GTP car, it adds more icing on the cake.

There are a few keys on the grid that are eye-catching, one of which is ‘Spiderman” himself, Castroneves.

For the Brazilian four-time Indy 500 champion, this could be his last appearance in the GTP, especially now that Meyer Shank Racing will be stepping away from competing in IMSA next year — an exciting way to culminate what has been an interesting season for the veteran driver.

The other key is Nolan Siegel, who will be piloting in two classes at Road Atlanta, namely the LMP2 and LMP3 classes.

It will be truly interesting to see how Siegel manages both cars, and with a bright future ahead in the IndyCar scene, it will be a nice sight to see amongst other IndyCar futures and regulars across the usual IMSA grid and group in those classes.

Beyond that, just having the stars that are involved in the race is a great sendoff for the season.

It will hopefully create more of a draw for the sport in the final race of the season and maybe attract new fans for next season once the calendar flips towards the off-season.

With that being said, combined with the talent level on display and the tight battles for championships, this year’s Road Atlanta race may be one of the most memorable races we have seen in quite some time.

Here's this weekend's who's who: