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More on 2026 IMSA Schedule; Redemptive Goals for Corvette; Michelin Pilot Challenge Qualifying Recap
March 13, 2025
By Holly Cain
IMSA Wire Service
SEBRING, Fla. – On Thursday, two days before the green flag falls for the 73rd Mobil 1 Twelve Hours of Sebring, IMSA became the first major racing governing body to release its 2026 schedule. IMSA revealed the 11-race weekend IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship slate, which will include a shift of its fifth IMSA Michelin Endurance Cup race – now with Motul title sponsorship – in the new year to Elkhart Lake, Wisc.
It’s something IMSA President John Doonan says will be highly anticipated by both fans and race teams.
“Over the years we’ve tried to create stability, stability in partners with all of our long-term entitlement partners being with us into the 2030 timeframe,” Doonan explained. “We believe the schedule and getting it out early does the same. Venues and dates are important cadence, so what you see in the 2026 calendar are similar venues to where we’re at today with a bit of a twist. And we’re excited about that.
“We want to create excitement and newness for our fans and race teams primarily and Road America has provided that fan experience,” he added, noting Road America, in particular, makes such a concerted effort to make the event family friendly.
“I think one of the things through the pandemic that really gave us a boost, besides convergence and all the things, is the idea you can come to an IMSA race and pull your family road car, your camper, right up to the fence and have the action right in front of you.
“The fan attendance that we’ve seen at these venues is I think a big spark to bringing out families.”
Road America replaces Indianapolis among the five Michelin Endurance Cup rounds. The four traditional endurance races at Daytona International Speedway, Sebring International Raceway, Watkins Glen International and Michelin Raceway Road Atlanta – which comprise the other 52 hours of the 58 that make up the Michelin Endurance Cup – continue as normal.
Also of note, the IMSA Michelin Pilot Challenge will have its standalone race at the Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course next season for a third straight year – a four-hour event June 7 – and Doonan said he is open to adding more of these standalones to that series in the future. This year’s Mid-Ohio date is June 6-8.
New Livery, New Goal for Corvette Racing by Pratt Miller Motorsports
Last year’s Grand Touring Daytona Pro (GTD PRO) class at Sebring was decided in particularly dramatic fashion, as contact from another GT car appeared to take out the second-place No. 3 Corvette Racing by Pratt Miller Motorsports Corvette Z06 GT3.R out of podium contention inside the final 10 minutes of the round-the-clock race.
Instead of hoisting a trophy minutes later, however, the Corvette drivers settled for a 10th place finish despite the full-day’s work out front.
Unsurprisingly, those Corvette drivers have not forgotten the outcome. The podium miss stings still 12 months later.
“There isn’t another track like it which always keeps things interesting,’’ said Corvette’s Antonio Garcia, who made his American racing debut at Sebring in 2007.
“I think this year we want to win this one more than almost any other given our pace last year. The ending was really unfortunate, but we know that this year we will have another strong package. Daytona was a near-miss so hopefully we can fix that this time.”
Adorned in a new white-and-blue Mobil 1 livery, one of several new ones in the field this weekend in the Mobil 1-sponsored race, Garcia and co-drivers Alexander Sims and Daniel Juncadella seek a rebound result.
Historical Blink of An Eye
The four classes of competition in last year’s 12-hour race featured some of the closest finishes in the race’s storied 73-year history. Three of the four class victories were settled by less than a single second after half a day of hardcore competition on the always-challenging Sebring circuit.
Wayne Taylor Racing with Andretti claimed the overall and prototype win in the No. 40 Acura ARX-06 by a slight 0.981-second over the No. 01 Cadillac V-Series.R. The LMP2 class was decided by 1.127-seconds – Era Motorsport taking the largest margin of victory in the four classes.
The No. 14 Vasser Sullivan Racing Lexus RC F GT3 prevailed in the GTD PRO class by the closest margin of victory on the night – 0.121-second while the No. 57 Winward Racing Mercedes-AMG GT3 won the GTD class by 0.646-second.
Saturday’s 73rd Mobil 1 Twelve Hours of Sebring streams live, flag-to-flag, exclusively on Peacock in the U.S. starting at 10:00 a.m. ET and streams internationally on IMSA’s official YouTube channel.
Holton, Morris Secure Michelin Pilot Challenge Motul Pole Awards
Florida’s own Paul Holton put the No. 46 Team TGM Aston Martin Vantage AMR GT4 Evo on pole position for Friday’s Round 2 of the IMSA Michelin Pilot Challenge season, and the 250th Grand Sport (GS) class race since 2001, the Alan Jay Automotive Network 120 (2:15 p.m. ET, Peacock, YouTube). He’ll share his car with Matt Plumb.
Holton’s lap of 2 minutes, 10.771 seconds (102.958 mph) in the Aston Martin was a mere 0.073-second faster than Californian Sean McAlister in the No. 39 CarBahn with Peregrine Racing BMW M4 GT4 EVO around the historic 3.74-mile Sebring track – McAlister’s final lap qualifying push to try and claim pole position in the closing seconds of the session fell just short, impeded by another car on track.
Five different manufacturers – Aston Martin, BMW, Porsche, Toyota and Ford – claimed the top five qualifying positions. With Mercedes-AMG in ninth, six automotive brands are all separated by less than one second in the 25-car GS class.
“First couple laps nobody wanted to go [out] first,” Holton said smiling, adding, “This track is a quite long technical track and we wanted to get the draft. We’re struggling a little bit between the corners here this weekend. But our car really likes the hot conditions and when it warms up like this the car comes to life, the motor comes to life and it’s a good car to drive here in Sebring, Florida.
“It’s a two-hour race and also we only used one lap [of tires]. We want to keep them as fresh as possible as we can. What matters is the end of the race tomorrow, not qualifying.”
The No. 28 RS1 Porsche 718 GT4 RS CS co-driven by Jan Heylen and Luca Mars paced practice overall and was third in qualifying.
Bryson Morris won pole position in the 15-car Touring Car (TCR) class, turning a fast lap of 2 minutes, 12.181 seconds (101.860 mph) in the No. 33 Bryan Herta Autosport with Curb Agajanian Hyundai Elantra N – also turning only a single full-on lap during the 15-minute qualifier. It’s his second Motul Pole Award in as many races this season, and he’ll share the car with Mark Wilkins.
Morris’ time just bettered Bryan Herta Autosport teammate – and fellow Tennessee-native – Mason Filippi, who will start second in the team’s No. 98 Hyundai.
“I made a little mistake there or it would have been quicker,” Morris said, adding, “Really unexpected honestly, but second pole in a row so we know we can get pole and we have a good car.”
The No. 93 MMG Honda Civic FL5 co-driven by LP Montour and Karl Wittmer led practice in the TCR Class went on to qualify third in class.
