DAYTONA BEACH, Florida — At the Cadillac display here at Daytona International Speedway, racing fans mobbed the collection of battery and gas-powered cars. Rolex 24 attendees told The Detroit News they disagreed with government electric vehicle mandates and said the market should offer a choice of gas, electric, hybrid, etc.

With an assist from motorsports, luxury brands see opportunity to sell all of the above.

The highly-touted electric revolution has hit a pothole as U.S. buyers have shied from electrics’ high prices and limited range. As high-powered, high-cost hybrid Cadillac and Acura race cars thundered around the 3.6-mile track, Cadillac and Acura wooed upscale buyers with multi-car garages.

“Racing has a highly engaged fan-base, and our on-track performance and legacy make a difference with our customers,” said Todd Christensen, GM Motorsports Marketing and Activation Director. “The Rolex 24 had record attendance this year and we benefitted, capturing 20 percent more customers who provided information to hear more about our vehicles, across Cadillac and Chevrolet displays than our previous record set last year." -

Customers like Aaron Vanderweide, 30, from Baltimore.

“We own two Teslas, but I love the fact that Cadillac makes a CT4-V with a manual,” he said as he emerged with family from the 472-horsepower, turbo-6-cylinder beast. “I’d buy this as my fun car.”

The CT4 lineup has won multiple awards including 2025 and 2026 J.D. Power Residual Value Awards while the high-performance CT4-V Blackwing was named to the Car and Driver 10Best list for 2022, 2023 and 2026.

Nevertheless, the CT4 was on the chopping block as General Motors Co. touted Cadillac in 2019 as its first all brand to go EV-only by 2030. Tesla Inc. sales were surging among luxury buyers and government rules — particularly in California, the U.S.’s largest market — were ramping up to punish internal combustion production beginning in 2026 with an eye toward a 2035 gas sales ban.

At the introduction of its entry-level Optiq EV SUV in 2024, however, Cadillac boss John Roth told media that ICE and EV powertrains "will coexist for a number of years.”

“We will let the customer be our guide,” he said.

Introduced at dealers last year, the Optiq attracted 12,187 buyers, doubling the CT4’s 5,616 sales for the year (though Optiq lagged sales of Caddy’s discontinued, entry-level XT4 ICE SUV of 22,405 in its last full sales year, 2024).

Shopper Vanderweide liked the choices.

“I think the market will eventually evolve towards electrics,” he said to the roar of V8-powered race cars on Daytona’s high bankings. “But the Blackwings are great for the enthusiast audience that still wants a V-8 or a manual.”

Sorin Luncam, 50, of Boca Raton, Florida, compared his V8-powered 2024 Escalade with a red, $130,300 Escalade IQ EV on the Daytona stand.

“I like EVs, but don’t like the range,” he said. “I also own a Tesla but don’t like having to charge on road trips. When I take the Escalade, I don’t have to stop as much.”

Down Daytona’s crowded midway at the Acura stand, the RSX prototype — Acura’s first, Ohio-made EV due later this year — shared customer stares with a display model of Acura’s hybrid Hypercar and the gas-powered Integra Type S hot hatch.

“The Acura RSX (is) coming, and production starts the second half of this year,” Lance Woelfer, vice president for Honda America sales, said in an interview. “Dealers are really excited about that. The (electric) Honda 0 Series SUV will come after that, then the 0 Series Saloon will be following that, probably in 2027. EVs are something that many of our consumers are interested in.”

Sales of EVs dropped to 5.8% of the U.S. market in the 4th quarter of 2025 as federal tax subsidies dried up and Congress withdrew California’s authority to mandate EV sales through tighter emissions limits. But Honda remains bullish on EVs as part of its so-called Second Founding, which aims to ditch ICE powertrains by 2040.

The Acura and Cadillac racing hybrids are part of their company’s efforts to develop electric components. But Daytona fans interviewed by The News didn’t see the connection between the howling Acura V-6 and Caddy V-8 hybrids on track and consumer-focused EVs.

They did agree that racing is changing their perception of the Cadillac brand.

“Cadillac has my attention because they are putting in the effort to be at the front of the grid along with BMW and Porsche,” said Samuel Hope, 61, of Jacksonville, Florida. “That’s where you have got to be.”

Hope owns a 2018 Porsche 911 and came to Daytona with his Daytona-based pal Darin Schroyer, 59, who owns a 2025 Corvette C8. Neither was interested in Cadillac’s EV lineup, though Hope said the Lyriq and Optiq displayed nearby “upheld the Cadillac name as a luxury brand.”

What did get Hope’s attention was the ferocious, 668-horsepower CT5-V Blackwing sedan at the stand. “I’d buy the manual. The Porsche has a small backseat, and I could get my grandkids into that Cadillac no problem.”

Escalade owner Luncam was also impressed by Cadillac Racing. “This race helps their production cars by pushing them for 24 hours,” he said.

Added Tesla owner Vanderweide: “That Cadillac V-8 is the best-sounding car on track.”

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