BRASELTON, Ga. — At Michelin Raceway Road Atlanta Thursday (Oct. 9), IMSA held their annual State of the Sport Address. Here, IMSA president John Doonan spoke to the sport’s stakeholders (executives, media, team owners, manufacturer reps, etc.) about where the sport is at the moment and where it is going.
The general feel is that IMSA is still continuing to grow. At Michelin Raceway Road Atlanta, infield parking is already closed for the weekend two days prior to Motul Petit Le Mans.
Attendance continues to grow. According to Doonan, nearly every track on the schedule has had at or near record attendance this season. The pre-race Fan Walks have been nearly standing room only at some tracks.
There is also growth in younger audiences at events. It’s a common sight to see young fans at the track with their families, along with young adults.
TV ratings for IMSA on TV has been “encouraging” in 2025. Doonan noted growth of “double-digit” percentages in the 18-34 age group.
IMSA announced a 10-year extension of their relationship with Michelin that goes through 2035. In addition. Michelin will sponsor a new sustainability award for the GTP class that will start in Daytona next year.
As part of the annual announcement, the list of licensed full-time teams for the 2026 IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship was revealed. Doonan described it as “max capacity” for the season.
In GTP, there are 11 full-time squads for 2026. The big change here is that Team WRT, the Belgian factory squad, will take over the BMW factory entries from Team RLL. The BMWs will still use Nos. 24 and 25.
As of right now, Lamborghini will not be back with their SC63 next season as their current relationship with Riley Motorsports will cease after Sunday. The manufacturer is currently looking for a new partner to run their cars.
LMP2 will have 12 full-time teams. Team Tonis, which debuted at Road America back in August, will be in for the full season. In addition, Intersport Racing will be back in the series for the first time since 2006.
As previously announced, Bryan Herta Autosport is stepping up into LMP2 for the first time. They’ll run in partnership with PR1/Mathiasen Motorsports.
GTD Pro will have eight full-time teams. Likely the biggest surprise here is that Paul Miller Racing only has one car on the entry list (the No. 1). They currently field two full-time BMW M4 GT3 Evos.
Four more will race in the Michelin Endurance Cup races.
Manthey Racing has committed to the five Michelin Endurance Cup races with two Porsche 911 GT3 Rs, one in GTD Pro and one in GTD.
Risi Competizione will be back for the endurance races with their own Ferrari. This year, they’ve helped to operate DragonSpeed’s Ferrari. Triarsi Competizione will also field a GTD Pro entry for the first time, the No. 033.
GTD will have 14 full-time teams and another five in for the Michelin Endurance Cup races.
Van der Steur Racing will step up to the full schedule with their Aston Martin after running the Michelin Endurance Cup this season. Without the support from Risi Competizione in 2026, DragonSpeed will drop down to GTD, but still race full-time.
The No. 13 for 13 Motorsports is the current Andrew Wojteczko Autosport. The team is simply rebranding themselves.
Riley Motorsports is switching classes. On Wednesday, they announced their move from LMP2 to GTD with a Ford Mustang GT3. The team will also switch numbers from No. 74 to No. 16.
Rennsport One, which currently competes in GT World Challenge America powered by AWS and IMSA Michelin Pilot Challenge, will move up into WeatherTech for the first time. They’ll field the No. 83 in the endurance events.
Triarsi Competizione is currently only planning Michelin Endurance Cup schedules for two cars (No. 023 in GTD and the aforementioned No. 033 in GTD Pro). No word on whether they would continue full-time in the series.
After the announcement, Doonan indicated that there is still some room for additional entries. Daytona still has substantial demand for entries well beyond the 60-61 cars that have run in recent years.
IMSA also announced that Nicky Hays is the winner of the 2026 IMSA Diverse Driver Development Scholarship. He will use that scholarship to race full-time in IMSA Michelin Pilot Challenge for Random Vandals Racing. The raccoon-branded BMW squad will return to the series after spending 2025 focusing on SRO America.
Hays comes to Pilot Challenge after racing full-time in Lamborghini Super Trofeo North America for Ansa Motorsports with Antoine Comeau. The duo are currently fifth in the Pro-Am standings with just the World Finals remaining.
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.