<p>Rotor–stator contact systems induce undesirable phenomena arising from strong nonlinearities, which can lead to damage in mechanical products, reducing safety and performance. To clarify their nature and simulate these phenomena more realistically, high-precision analytical models are required. Accordingly, this study develops an original contact model that captures the contact configurations between the rotor and stator, including stator thickness, which has been neglected in previous studies, and experimentally investigates its validity. An experimental setup is constructed consisting of an overhung rotor surrounded by an annular stator with finite thickness. System behaviors are measured through image analysis using data acquired from a camera. At each drive speed, several distinctive phenomena are observed. Moreover, bouncing motion caused by 3:1 double-loop (DL) internal resonance is successfully demonstrated, in addition to 2:1 single-loop (SL) internal resonance with weak quasiperiodic characters. To represent the observed phenomena, an analytical model is developed based on the finite element method (FEM), Kelvin–Voigt, and smoothed Coulomb models, along with a contact detection method that accounts for geometric shapes and orientations. The experimentally obtained results are reproduced with high accuracy using the developed analytical model, simultaneously demonstrating its superiority over existing models. Valuable insights regarding the dynamic responses and energy tracks are confirmed. Furthermore, the tendency for the frequency components of each phenomenon to increase with increasing stator thickness is shown to depend on the friction coefficient. The validation of the contact model incorporating detailed contact configurations, together with these findings, contributes to improving the safety of rotating machinery.</p>