IMSA officially announced the 2026 schedules for both the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship and IMSA Michelin Pilot Challenge Thursday (March 13) at Sebring International Raceway. With teams and drivers competing in so many different series, the goal was to get their schedule for next year out as soon as they possibly could in order to avoid conflicts with other series.
IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship
With that in mind, the 2026 schedule looks very similar to 2025. There will be a total of 11 race weekends for WeatherTech teams, the same as this year. There will once again be five Michelin Endurance Cup races, but there is one major change there.
In 2026, Road America will hold a six-hour race on Aug. 2. The name was not announced, but the event will have title sponsorship from Motul. This event will see the current WeatherTech race on that weekend upgraded from a sprint race to an enduro. Indianapolis Motor Speedway will drop back down to a 160-minute sprint race.
Like in 2025, all four classes will compete in six of the 11 rounds together. These are the five Michelin Endurance Cup races, plus the sprint race in Indianapolis.
GTP cars will compete in nine of the 11 rounds. The exceptions will be Canadian Tire Motorsport Park, which has conflicted in recent years with FIA World Endurance Championship races, and VIRginia International Raceway.
LMP2 teams will have seven races in 2026, starting in Daytona. No word on whether the Rolex 24 at Daytona will count towards season-long points in class (it hasn’t in recent years), but it will count towards the Michelin Endurance Cup.
They will once again be the headlining class at Canadian Tire Motorsport Park in July for their first sprint race of the year. Indianapolis will be the only other sprint race for the class.
Both the GTD Pro and GTD classes have 10 races each. The classes will split the two 100-minute sprint races. GTD teams will team up with GTP at Long Beach, while the GTD Pro class will race in Detroit. The race at VIRginia International Raceway will continue to be a GT-only event.
2026 IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship Schedule
| Dates | Track | Event | Classes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Jan. 16-18 | Daytona International Speedway | ROAR Before the 24 | All |
| Jan. 21-25 | Daytona International Speedway | Rolex 24 at Daytona | All |
| March 18-21 | Sebring International Raceway | Mobil 1 12 Hours of Sebring | All |
| April 17-18 | Streets of Long Beach | Acura Grand Prix of Long Beach | GTP, GTD |
| May 1-3 | WeatherTech Raceway Laguna Seca | N/A | GTP, GTD Pro, GTD |
| May 29-30 | Streets of Detroit | N/A | GTP, GTD Pro |
| June 25-28 | Watkins Glen International | Sahlen's Six Hours at the Glen | All |
| July 10-12 | Canadian Tire Motorsport Park | N/A | LMP2, GTD Pro, GTD |
| Aug. 21-23 | VIRginia International Raceway | Michelin GT Challenge at VIR | GTD Pro, GTD |
| Sept. 18-20 | Indianapolis Motor Speedway | N/A | All |
| Sept. 30-Oct. 3 | Michelin Raceway Road Atlanta | Motul Petit Le Mans | All |
IMSA Michelin Pilot Challenge
For IMSA’s primary support class, not much will change for 2026. They will still have 10 races on the schedule, nine of which will be as primary support to WeatherTech.
Two races will be four hours in length. They will be the season opener in Daytona and at Mid-Ohio, the series’ sole standalone event. The other races will continue to be two hours in length.
2026 IMSA Michelin Pilot Challenge Schedule
| Dates | Track | Event |
|---|---|---|
| Jan. 16-18 | Daytona International Speedway | ROAR Before the 24 |
| Jan. 21-24 | Daytona International Speedway | BMW M Endurance Challenge |
| March 18-20 | Sebring International Raceway | Alan Jay Automotive Network 120 |
| May 1-3 | WeatherTech Raceway Laguna Seca | WeatherTech Raceway Laguna Seca 120 |
| June 5-7 | Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course | O'Reilly Auto Parts 4 Hours of Mid-Ohio |
| June 25-27 | Watkins Glen International | N/A |
| July 10-11 | Canadian Tire Motorsport Park | Canadian Tire Motorsport Park 120 |
| July 30-Aug. 1 | Road America | Road America 120 |
| Aug. 21-22 | VIRginia International Raceway | Virginia Is For Racing Lovers Grand Prix |
| Sept. 18-19 | Indianapolis Motor Speedway | Indianapolis Motor Speedway 120 |
| Sept. 30-Oct. 2 | Michelin Raceway Road Atlanta | FOX Factory 120 |
Schedules for the remainder of IMSA’s support and one-make series were not announced Thursday. Those schedules will be released at a later date.
Phil Allaway has three primary roles at Frontstretch. He's the manager of the site's FREE e-mail newsletter that publishes Monday-Friday and occasionally on weekends. He keeps TV broadcasters honest with weekly editions of Couch Potato Tuesday and serves as the site's Sports Car racing editor.
Outside of Frontstretch, Phil is the press officer for Lebanon Valley Speedway in West Lebanon, N.Y. He covers all the action on the high-banked dirt track from regular DIRTcar Modified racing to occasional visits from touring series such as the Super DIRTcar Series.