Crunch Time at IMSA. Mid Season Report

Crunch Time at IMSA. Mid Season Report

By Eddie LePine & Jack Webster. All images by Jack Webster

With the conclusion of the Sahlen’s Six Hours of the Glen, we are now halfway through the 2026
IMSA Michelin Endurance Cup Championship.

Endurance racing, versus sprint racing, has always appealed to us – there is something special
about all the disciplines that have to come together for success in endurance sports car races.
From the selection of co-drivers, to strategy, to crew teamwork, to just plain luck – it seems to us
that winning a single endurance race is a very difficult thing – let alone a championship.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

And just like when we were kids playing with our slot cars, there is something quite appealing
about spending countless hours cleaning, polishing and preparing your race car for battle and
then thrashing the crap out of it for hours and hours. It’s all about the pride of survival of the
fittest. After the contest, you gladly display your machine’s wounds as a badge of honor. Then
you put countless more hours into making it perfect again, in both appearance and function, just
to be able to send it into battle once again.

IMSA has always offered us some of the best endurance races ever devised. It starts its season
with the Rolex 24 at Daytona – the longest race on the calendar. In so many ways, it is much
tougher that its sister 24 Hour contest in France, the 24 Hours of Le Mans. At Daytona almost
half of the race is run in darkness, on a track that is less than 4 miles in length, with a high
banked oval connected to a challenging road course. A driver never gets to relax, for a lap at
Daytona is constant action and reaction, traffic and passing. Couple that with four different
classes of cars racing at the same time with different degrees of driver talent and the result is a
non-stop 24-hour sprint race that challenges man and machine like no other. Then throw in the
unpredictable Florida January weather for good measure (like this year’s heavy fog overnight).

Wisconsin fans are finally getting the race they have lobbied for (and deserved) for years: a 6-
Hour proper endurance contest on the beautiful four-mile track outside of the village of Elkhart
Lake.

After barely recovering from Daytona, the IMSA teams head to the second part of the unofficial
“36 Hours of Florida”, the Mobil 1 Twelve Hours of Sebring held every year in March during
college spring break. From the high banks at Daytona to the bumpy historic airport circuit in
central Florida, the teams and drivers are required to adapt their styles and equipment to survive
what almost everyone in motorsports considers the toughest race on the planet. Twelve hours of
racing at Sebring has been likened to racing twenty-four hours anywhere else – or even longer.
“Respect the Bumps” is the semi-official motto of the track. If you fail to respect this circuit, it
will come back to bite you, again and again. Just ask anyone who has raced there.

The middle of the IMSA season moves from sprint race to sprint race – some as short as 100
minutes, most in the two hour and forty-minute variety. CTMP (Mosport to us old timers), just
concluded their sprint race for LMP2 and GT class cars, so the next race on the schedule will
reunite all four IMSA classes for a highly anticipated endurance race to be held at one of our
favorite circuits anywhere – Road America.

Wisconsin fans are finally getting the race they have lobbied for (and deserved) for years: a 6-
Hour proper endurance contest on the beautiful four-mile track outside of the village of Elkhart
Lake. If local hotel bookings are any indication, the crowd that will be showing up at Road
America will be of epic proportions. We will be on hand in person to take part in covering this
highly anticipated event – officially named the Motul SportsCar Endurance Grand Prix.

After the Road America IMSA Michelin Endurance Cup round, it only remains for the
traditional season ending Motul Petit Le Mans at Michelin Raceway Road Atlanta to determine
both the overall IMSA champions and the Michelin Endurance Cup Champions as well (two
sprint races are to be held prior to Petit Le Mans which earn points for the WeatherTech
Championship).

Going into the Elkhart Lake race, the standings are quite tight (as they usually are) in all four
IMSA classes in the endurance championship. After sweeping the 36 Hours of Florida in GTP,
Porsche leads the driver, team and manufacturer championships. Watkins Glen was taken by the
Whelen Cadillac, so they are within striking distance for the championship in GTP.

All the other classes (LMP2, GTD-PRO and GTD) are just as tight, with the AO Racing team
and drivers leading in LMP2. In GTD-PRO. BMW, Chevrolet, Porsche and Lexus are neck and
neck going into the final two endurance races – it is anyone’s championship to win (or lose) at
this point. In the GTD class, consisting of pro drivers matched with gentlemen pilots, Ferrari and
AF Corse sit atop the standings, with Aston Martin and Porsche nipping at their heels.

Stay tuned, it’s going to be one heck of an endurance ride to the finish of the season.
If at all possible, you should make plans to get to see one of these remaining endurance races in
person. Take your pick, you can’t go wrong, for both tracks are among the best in the world.
North to Elkhart Lake or south to Road Atlanta, all roads lead to outstanding IMSA endurance
racing action.

As always, we will see you at the races.