After two decades at Thunderhill Raceway in Northern California, the NASA 25 Hours of Thunderhill is moving to a new location for 2025. Ozarks International Raceway in Gravois Mills, Mo., will be the site of the event this year, which will take place November 13-16, 2025.
“We are thrilled to bring The NASA 25 Hour to Ozarks International Raceway,” said NASA MidAmerica Regional Director Donna Lane. “The track’s demanding layout and modern facilities make it the perfect stage for this iconic race. It’s a new era, and “The 25 Hour” is truly back in 2025.”
Begun in 1998 as the Timex 12 Hours of Thunderhill, the race expanded to 25 hours in 2003, and evolved to become one of the most grueling endurance races in the nation, attracting amateur and professional sports car drivers from around the world. From the challenging track and the weather to the speed differentials among the cars involved, nothing about the 25 Hours of Thunderhill is easy. Almost anyone can enter, but if you want to win, you had better bring your best.
“I am proud to see the legacy of the 25 Hours of Thunderhill race carry on,” said NASA NorCal Regional Director Jerry Kunzman. “This move ensures that the spirit of endurance racing lives on, challenging new generations of racers and captivating fans across the country.”
Kunzman partnered with Thunderhill Raceway for two decades on the event. Originally conceived as a way to fill the December calendar at a time when there wasn’t a lot of a racing going on, “The 25,” as it became known, took on a life of its own. It went from a regional event to one that attracted racing teams from around the nation and from as far away as New Zealand, Europe, and Japan. NASA NorCal, Thunderhill Raceway, NASA National, NASA MidAmerica and, of course, Ozarks International Raceway all agreed to move the event for 2025 to revitalize the event and provide new challenges.
Ozarks International Raceway is a 3.97-mile-long track and a state-of-the-art facility in the heart of the Ozarks. The track has several layouts, but the longest configuration truly shows what this facility is about, with 19 thrilling corners, 150 feet of elevation change overall, and 1,200 feet elevation change over a single lap.
Relocating the race was conceived to put it in a more central location to give racing teams around the country an easier tow, and to reinvigorate interest in the longest closed-course endurance race in North America. The 2025 event will use the same rulebook to guide the competition on track. Because the location is new and in a different NASA Region, there will be some variances in how the event is staged and run, but they will be minor.
More information will be available in the coming weeks and months. Interested drivers and teams are encouraged to contact the NASA MidAmerica Region.
