DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. – AO Racing continues to evolve and enhance its cars, as its No. 99 “Spike” the Dragon Le Mans Prototype 2 (LMP2) livery will have a refresh to start the 2026 IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship season.
Usually known as “Spike, the Purple LMP2 Dragon,” the team has revealed a striking new gold livery on social media for this car for the 64th Rolex 24 At Daytona.
In its words, “While Spike the Dragon rested deep in his lair, he molted and his purple scales were shed! This month, the 2025 @imsa_racing WeatherTech and @elms_official champion returns to Daytona International Speedway, reborn in gold! ”
AO’s “Spike” had a banner 2025 season that included multiple wins in IMSA LMP2 competition at Canadian Tire Motorsport Park and Road America, the LMP2 season title for full-season drivers PJ Hyett and Dane Cameron, and the Jim Trueman Award for Hyett.
It also achieved a European Le Mans Series title in LMP2 Pro/Am with Hyett, Cameron and Louis Delétraz, with the same trio also combining to win that class at the 24 Hours of Le Mans.
Hyett, Cameron, Jonny Edgar and Christian Rasmussen will go for gold in the 64th Rolex 24 At Daytona now aboard a gold livery car, as the team seeks its first Rolex 24 win after a near-miss in 2025. Cameron and Rasmussen both won their classes in 2024, with Cameron winning overall as part of Porsche Penske Motorsport’s No. 7 Porsche 963 and Rasmussen on board the No. 18 Era Motorsport ORECA in LMP2.
“It was really disappointing that it got away from us there, but I think it was probably better than I expected for our kind of first race altogether,” Cameron reflected on 2025’s Rolex 24 during the IMSA-sanctioned November test. “We’re hoping to be able to, you know, go a few steps better and kind of close the deal this story.
“You definitely need to get to the end and get in one piece. but it’s also very competitive, so you need the pace,” he added. “I think we’re in a good position to do so, that’s kind of why we wanted to keep everybody together as, you know. When you looked back at it, it was like, okay, we were within an hour of winning the thing, you know, so we don’t need to turn the thing upside down, we just need to, you know, try to do it over again and hope she stays together.”
The 64th Rolex 24 At Daytona airs live starting Saturday, January 24, on NBC at 1:30 p.m. ET with flag-to-flag streaming coverage on Peacock.