2026 IMSA VP Racing SportsCar Challenge

2026 IMSA VP Racing SportsCar Challenge

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Parent series:
IMSA SportsCar Championship
Michelin Pilot Challenge

The 2026 IMSA VP Racing SportsCar Challenge season is the fourth season of the IMSA VP Racing SportsCar Challenge after being established in 2023 as a replacement for the IMSA Prototype Challenge. The season will begin on January 16 at Daytona International Speedway and will conclude on October 3 at Road Atlanta. This season will mark the debut of the new, third-generation LMP3 cars in this series. ^{[1] [2]} On October 29, it been announced that the new BMW M2 Challenge cars (BMC) will be added alongside the LMP3 class in the endurance rounds. ^[3]

Classes

• Le Mans Prototype 3 (LMP3)
• GT Daytona X (GTDX)
• Grand Sport X (GSX)
• BMW M2 Challenge (BMC)

Calendar

The provisional schedule was released on September 16, 2025, at IMSA's annual State of the Sport Address, featuring sixteen rounds split across ten race weekends, which will be made up of 6 Sprint and 4 Endurance rounds. All ten events had confirmed dates. ^[4]

Round	Circuit	Length	Classes	Date
1	Daytona International Speedway, Daytona Beach, Florida	2 x 45 minutes	LMP3, GSX	January 16–19
2	Circuit of the Americas, Austin, Texas	2 x 45 minutes	LMP3, GTDX, GSX	February 27–28
3	Sebring International Raceway, Sebring, Florida	2 hours	LMP3, BMC	March 6–8
4	Circuit of the Americas, Austin, Texas	2 hours	LMP3, BMC	May 7–9
5	Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course, Lexington, Ohio	2 x 45 minutes	LMP3, GTDX, GSX	June 5–7
6	Virginia International Raceway, Alton, Virginia	2 hours	LMP3, BMC	June 19–21
7	Canadian Tire Motorsport Park, Bowmanville, Ontario	2 x 45 minutes	LMP3, GTDX, GSX	July 10–12
8	Road America, Elkhart Lake, Wisconsin	2 hours	LMP3, BMC	August 14–16
9	Virginia International Raceway, Alton, Virginia	2 x 45 minutes	GTDX, GSX	August 21–23
10	Michelin Raceway Road Atlanta, Braselton, Georgia	2 x 45 minutes	LMP3, GTDX, GSX	October 1–3

Entry list

LMP3

Team Car Engine No. Drivers Rounds LMP3 Gen 3 Shopify Racing powered by TWOth [5] [6] Ligier JS P325 Toyota V35A-FTS 3.5 L Turbo V6 2 Travis Hill [7] 1 Toney Driver Development [8] Ligier JS P325 Toyota V35A-FTS 3.5 L Turbo V6 30 Brady Golan [7] 1 95 Lincoln Day [8] 1 LMP3 Gen 2 Gebhardt Motorsport [9] Duqueine M30 - D08 Nissan VK56DE 5.6 L V8 1 Óscar Tunjo [9] 1 11 Danny Soufi [9] 1 31 Jérémy Siffert [9] 1 Mishumotors Ligier JS P320 Nissan VK56DE 5.6 L V8 70 Mirco Schultis 1 Forte Racing [8] 77 Brian Thienes [8] 1 86 Jon Hirshberg [8] 1 FastMD with Remstar [8] Duqueine M30 - D08 Nissan VK56DE 5.6 L V8 87 Farhan Siddiqi [8] 1

GTDX

Team Car Engine No. Drivers Rounds Ruckus Racing [10] Porsche 911 GT3 R (992) Porsche M97/80 4.2 L Flat-6 45 Scott Blind [10] TBC Rebel Rock Racing [11] Aston Martin Vantage AMR GT3 Evo Aston Martin AMR16A 4.0 L Turbo V8 72 Frank DePew [11] TBC

GSX

Team Car Engine No. Drivers Rounds Di Benedetto Racing [12] Porsche 718 Cayman GT4 RS Clubsport Porsche MDG 4.0 L Flat-6 4 Justin Di Benedetto [12] 1 RAFA Racing Team [13] Toyota GR Supra GT4 Evo2 BMW B58B30 3.0 L Twin Turbo I6 8 Westin Workman [13] 1 68 Rafael Martinez [8] 1 Stephen Cameron Racing [14] Ford Mustang GT4 (2024) Ford Coyote 5.0 L V8 19 Sean Quinlan 1 Czabok-Simpson Motorsport [15] Porsche 718 Cayman GT4 RS Clubsport Porsche MDG 4.0 L Flat-6 25 Ismaeel Ellahi [15] 1 Auto Technic Racing [8] BMW M4 GT4 Evo (G82) BMW S58B30T0 3.0 L Twin Turbo I6 26 Tiger Tari [8] 1 CarBahn Motorsports 35 Courtney Crone [16] 1 Kingpin Racing [17] Toyota GR Supra GT4 Evo2 BMW B58B30 3.0 L Twin Turbo I6 81 Jon Brel [17] 1 89x Motorsports [8] Aston Martin Vantage AMR GT4 Mercedes-Benz M177 4.0 L Turbo V8 89 Mike Fitzpatrick [8] 1 Vintage Racing Company [8] Porsche 718 Cayman GT4 RS Clubsport Porsche MDG 4.0 L Flat-6 91 Dan Ammann [8] 1 Panam Motorsport [8] Toyota GR Supra GT4 Evo2 BMW B58B30 3.0 L Twin-Turbo I6 98 Cecilia Rabelo [8] 1 Goldcrest Motorsports [8] Porsche 718 Cayman GT4 RS Clubsport Porsche MDG 4.0 L Flat-6 808 Jim Jonsin [8] 1

BMC

Team Car Engine No. Drivers Rounds

Race results

Bold indicates overall winner.

Round		Circuit	P3 Winner	GTDX Winner	GSX Winner	BMC Winner
1	R1	Daytona	#1 Gebhardt Motorsport	no entries	#8 RAFA Racing	did not participate
			Óscar Tunjo		Westin Workman
	R2		#1 Gebhardt Motorsport		#8 RAFA Racing
			Óscar Tunjo		Westin Workman
2	R1	COTA				did not participate
	R2
3		Sebring		did not participate	did not participate
4		COTA		did not participate	did not participate
5	R1	Mid-Ohio				did not participate
	R2
6		Virginia		did not participate	did not participate
7	R1	Mosport				did not participate
	R2
8		Road America		did not participate	did not participate
9	R1	VIR	did not participate			did not participate
	R2
10	R1	Road Atlanta				did not participate
	R2

Championship standings

Points system

Championship points are awarded in each class at the finish of each event. Points are awarded based on finishing positions in the race as shown in the chart below. ^[18]

Position	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	14	15	16	17	18	19	20	21	22	23	24	25	26	27	28	29	30+
Race	350	320	300	280	260	250	240	230	220	210	200	190	180	170	160	150	140	130	120	110	100	90	80	70	60	50	40	30	20	10

Driver's championships

LMP3 Driver's championship

Pos. Drivers DAY AUS1 SEB AUS2 MOH VIR MOS ELK ATL Points 1 Óscar Tunjo 1 1 700 2 Brian Thienes 5 2 580 3 Lincoln Day 4 3 580 4 Brady Golan 2 10 530 5 Danny Soufi 3 8 530 6 Mirco Schultis 9 4 500 7 Travis Hill 8 5 490 8 Jérémy Siffert 7 7 480 9 Jon Hirshberg 6 9 470 10 Farhan Siddiqi 10 6 460

Colour Result Gold Winner Silver Second place Bronze Third place Green Points classification Blue Non-points classification Non-classified finish (NC) Purple Retired, not classified (Ret) Red Did not qualify (DNQ) Did not pre-qualify (DNPQ) Black Disqualified (DSQ) White Did not start (DNS) Withdrew (WD) Race cancelled (C) Blank Did not practice (DNP) Did not arrive (DNA) Excluded (EX) Bold - Pole position Italics - Fastest lap

GSX Driver's championship

Pos. Drivers DAY AUS MOH MOS VIR ATL Points 1 Westin Workman 1 1 700 2 Justin Di Benedetto 3 2 620 3 Sean Quinlan 4 3 580 4 Ismaeel Ellahi 2 10 530 5 Courtney Crone 7 4 520 6 Dan Ammann 5 5 520 7 Rafael Martinez 6 7 490 8 Cecilia Rabelo 9 6 470 9 Jon Brel 8 9 450 10 Jim Jonsin 12 8 420 11 Mike Fitzpatrick 10 12 400 12 Tiger Tari 11 11 400

Colour Result Gold Winner Silver Second place Bronze Third place Green Points classification Blue Non-points classification Non-classified finish (NC) Purple Retired, not classified (Ret) Red Did not qualify (DNQ) Did not pre-qualify (DNPQ) Black Disqualified (DSQ) White Did not start (DNS) Withdrew (WD) Race cancelled (C) Blank Did not practice (DNP) Did not arrive (DNA) Excluded (EX) Bold - Pole position Italics - Fastest lap

References

1. "ACO announces next-gen LMP3 from 2025". 24 Hours of Le Mans . Automobile Club de l'Ouest. July 11, 2024. Retrieved February 3, 2025.
2. "IMSA Expands, Enhances Next Era of LMP3 Competition". imsa.com. International Motor Sports Association. August 1, 2025. Retrieved August 1, 2025.
3. "BMW M2 Challenge Class Added to VPRC Enduros". Sportscar365. John Days Media. October 29, 2025. Retrieved October 29, 2025.
4. "Expanded VP Racing Challenge 2026 Schedule Revealed". Sportscar365. John Days Media. September 16, 2025. Retrieved September 16, 2025.
5. "TWOth Autosport Sets Sights on IMSA LMP3 in 2026 with New Ligier JS P325". IMSA.com. International Motor Sports Association. November 3, 2025. Retrieved November 3, 2025.
6. Dagys, John (January 8, 2026). "TWOth Autosport Rebrands to Shopify Racing for IMSA Efforts". Sportscar365. John Dagys Media. Retrieved January 8, 2026.
7. "IMSA VP Racing SportsCar Challenge Set to Start 2026 Season in Daytona". imsa.com. January 13, 2026. Retrieved January 14, 2026.
8. Dagys, John (January 7, 2026). "GTDX Remains Eligible Class Despite No Entries for Daytona". Sportscar365. John Dagys Media. Retrieved January 7, 2026.
9. Dagys, John (December 31, 2025). "Siffert to Make IMSA Debut in Gebhardt LMP3 Entry at Daytona". Sportscar365. John Dagys Media. Retrieved December 31, 2025.
10. Grace, Jonathan (October 8, 2025). "Blind Lining Up GT3 Effort After Single-Make Success". Sportscar365. John Dagys Media. Retrieved October 8, 2025.
11. Dagys, John (November 14, 2025). "Rebel Rock Steps Up to Aston Martin Vantage GT3 Evo". Sportscar365. John Dagys Media. Retrieved November 14, 2025.
12. Dagys, John (January 6, 2026). "Di Benedetto to Continue in Porsche GSX Entry". Sportscar365. John Dagys Media. Retrieved January 6, 2026.
13. Staff (January 6, 2026). "GR Cup Champion Workman Joins RAFA; Set for GSX Debut". Sportscar365. John Dagys Media. Retrieved January 6, 2026.
14. Staff, Sportscar365 (November 19, 2025). "Quinlan, Liefooghe to Continue in Stephen Cameron Mustang GT4". Sportscar365. John Dagys Media. Retrieved November 19, 2025.
15. "Czabok-Simpson Motorsport Announces Ismaeel Ellahi for VP Racing SportsCar Challenge Program". IMSA.com. International Motor Sports Association. December 17, 2025. Retrieved December 17, 2025.
16. RACERS (January 16, 2026). "Courtney Crone returns to IMSA VP Racing Sportscar Challenge with Peregrine Racing for GSX campaign". Racers. Retrieved January 16, 2026.
17. Dagys, John (January 7, 2026). "Kingpin Signs Brel for Toyota GSX Campaign". Sportscar365. John Dagys Media. Retrieved January 7, 2026.
18. "2026 VP Racing SportsCar Racing Challenge Regulations" (PDF). Retrieved January 17, 2025.