IMSA 2026 – Two to Go in a Record Season!

IMSA 2026 – Two to Go in a Record Season!

By Jack Webster & Eddie LePine. Photos by Jack Webster

With the completion of the GTD/GTD-PRO only round at VIR, the 2026 IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship has come down to its final two rounds, both of which will feature all four classes on the track at the same time – GTP, LMP2, GTD-PRO and GTD.

Next up will be the Battle on the Bricks at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway on September 20, which will now be a standard sprint race event of 2 hours and 40 minutes instead of the 6 hours as was run last year. Road America getting an endurance contest in 2026 and beyond has resulted in the Indy event being reduced in length and taken out of the Michelin Endurance Championship.

Following Indy, the season ending Motul Petit Le Mans will be held at Michelin Raceway Road Atlanta on October 3 – a fitting track and endurance race (10 hours) to end a remarkable season of IMSA racing.

After the last two races, all the season results in the WeatherTech SportsCar Championship and the Michelin Endurance Cup will be known, and all driver, team and manufacturer champions will be crowned.

Until the checkered flag falls at the conclusion of Motul Petit Le Mans, all those championships are still up for grabs – IMSA competition is that good, that close.

With record in-person attendance, increased TV ratings, and record social media impressions, the 2026 season will be one for the history books. 

However, as 2026 comes to an end and the 2027 season looms around the corner, there seem to be some storm clouds brewing on the horizon for IMSA and its teams.

It has already been announced that HRC US (Acura), will not be coming back next year, idling the two GTP Acura entries of MSR. There is no immediate replacement for the loss of these two cars currently planned by other teams or manufacturers and everyone is hopeful that new GTP entries from McLaren, Ford and Genesis will make their IMSA presence known sooner rather than later.

Also, fan favorite Pfaff Motorsports has announced that they are taking their Lamborghini Temerario GT3 off the grid next season to concentrate on Pfaff’s other motorsport interests, including ownership and running of Canadian Tire Motorsports Park (or Mosport to the old timers). Their departure will leave a huge hole in the GTD-PRO ranks, just as the new Lamborghini has been developed into a real winner by the team. Pfaff has won the last two GTD-PRO rounds in a row – Road America and VIR. With two races to go, the team has put themselves in a competitive position to challenge for the 2026 championship. It will be a shame to see them depart the series, but if they can take the championship, what a way to go out!

Also, sadly, DragonSpeed has announced their departure from the GTD ranks next year, so their well-prepared Chevrolet Corvette Z06 GT3.R will no longer be part of the IMSA grid.

Current GTD-PRO championship leader Paul Miller Racing with their BMW M4 GT3 EVO is also a question mark for the 2027 season, although final plans going forward have not yet been announced.     

It is currently a tough economic climate for teams (in any form of motorsport) to be able to raise the funds needed to field competitive teams. In particular it is challenging for the pro-am drivers/owners who must balance business obligations with the rising cost of their racing and are the ones who write the checks to keep their teams afloat. We have been there, done that, and know the issues they face every day. 

Not only is financing a challenge for individual teams, but it is also a challenge for manufacturers, as evidenced by the financial difficulties faced by the legendary sports car maker Porsche. While the Porsche Penske GTP program is expected to continue through 2027 and perhaps beyond, one cannot help but notice that Porsche withdrew from the FIA-WEC (and Le Mans) for financial reasons and has not yet announced plans to return.

On a bright note, regarding Porsche, the JDC Miller team, running a 2025 spec Porsche 963 has been doing quite well in the IMSA championship and their driver Lauren Heinrich is in second place (just behind Cadillac pilot Jack Aitken) in the GTP championship. After Porsche Penske’s dominance at Daytona and Sebring at the beginning of the season, a championship win by JDC or Heinrich would truly be a David vs Goliath moment in racing history.  

All in all, it has been a successful season for IMSA and the WeatherTech SportsCar Championship. We are there and see the record crowds, knowledgeable spectators, and the top-notch drivers and teams. We have seen the fans of Road America get their well-deserved endurance race and seen them come out in record numbers to celebrate and support IMSA. Sports car racing seems to have found its audience, at least in the US with the IMSA brand. IMSA has done, and continues to do, a lot of things right.

 

With any sport that has grown as rapidly as IMSA has the past few seasons, there are bound to be a few bumps in the road. Occasionally teams, manufacturers and sponsors will come and go, but we have full confidence that IMSA and its partners will smooth out those bumps and continue to move from success to success.

In the meantime, we will see you at the races.  

Read about Bill Auberlin’s record breaking career