Program For High School Students Set to Continue Online and at Six More Weekends in 2026
DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. – Throughout 2025, IMSA highlighted Science, Technology Engineering, and Math elements to premier the IMSA STEM curriculum across both six IMSA race markets, as well as online as part of its new partnership with Gainbridge® and an expanded partnership with Konica Minolta. With the first year of the program in the books, it’s worth reflecting on what was achieved for students across the U.S. and Canada.
The IMSA STEM curriculum was developed in conjunction with EVERFI who works with 60,000+ teachers and their schools throughout the country, providing interactive, game-based lessons, at no cost to the schools, teachers or students.
In 2025, with curriculum developed in conjunction with EVERFI, the IMSA STEM program reached more than 14,000 students, more than 420 schools and nearly 500 teachers, primarily through an online resource. In addition, 180 students attended the six on-site programs held at IMSA race venues during the 2025 season, roughly 30 per program.
Students completed a pre-course survey before and post-course survey at the end of the program. Students increased their knowledge of engineering career opportunities across two modules – Building & Moving and Engineering Careers Within Auto Racing – by 65 percentage points while nearly half, 49 percent, expressed at least some degree of interest in a career in auto racing after completing the two modules. Perhaps more importantly, 93 percent of those students identified potential career paths they did not know existed prior.
“Everfi, IMSA and the Indianapolis Motor Speedway put together such a cool day for us,” a Purdue Polytech High School teacher relayed after the IMSA STEM curriculum day at the TireRack.com Battle On The Bricks in Indianapolis. “Our students got to learn about careers in manufacturing, Motorsports and engineering in general, and it has been such a breath fresh air to see students see why the classes that they’re taking in STEM especially matter in the real world.”
A student who attended the same day added, “For me, the activities were great. Every single one was very informative and interesting. Like I said, I loved talking to the race teams about the data collection. It was crazy to be so close to the race cars as we were walking from location to location.”
The first of six IMSA STEM curriculum days of 2025 premiered during the Roar Before the Rolex 24 test at Daytona International Speedway. A group of 30 students from two local high schools in Volusia County, Port Orange-based Spruce Creek High School and Atlantic High School, visited the track on Friday and went through four specific stations that ladder up to the STEM curriculum.
Students ran through the following four stations at Daytona, with similar stations occurring throughout the year:
- Tires, Traction and Tread at the Michelin Tire Center, focusing on Physics and Engineering
- Data-Driven Racing at the IMSA Engineering Center, focusing on Data Science and Technology
- Engineering Safety at the IMSA Tech Inspection Area, focusing on Material Science
- IMSA Technology Lab – Grand Touring Prototype (GTP) Hybrid Electrified Race Car at the No. 31 Cadillac Whelen Cadillac V-Series.R garage, focusing on Physics and Engineering
“I’m so proud that we could kick this off this year,” IMSA President John Doonan said during the Roar. “It’s something, that I think is incredibly important for the entire sport. I have a personal interest and fascination with it, simply because I have had an experience and been able to do this previously in IMSA.”
For 2026, the IMSA STEM curriculum program will continue at the same six venues as in 2025. Four of the six events come in the front half of the season while students are still in school through the Chevrolet Detroit Grand Prix weekend at the streets of Detroit, with a continuation of the program in the fall.
2026 IMSA STEM SCHEDULE
- Daytona International Speedway – 1/16
- Long Beach Street Circuit – 4/17
- WeatherTech Raceway Laguna Seca – 5/1
- Detroit Street Circuit – 5/29
- Indianapolis Motor Speedway – 9/18
- Michelin Raceway Road Atlanta – 10/1