Trent Hindman: From Upstart to IMSA Veteran

Today, Trent Hindman is a veteran racer in the IMSA paddock. The first time that we sat down with him, he was an 18-year-old who was racing in his first full season in what was then the Continental Tire SportsCar Challenge for Fall-Line Motorsports. He ended up winning the Grand Sport title that year with the now-retired John Edwards in a BMW M3. Things have changed substantially since he entered the sport in the middle of the American Le Mans Series/Grand-Am merger.

“I’m very, very lucky to still be here after all that time and be reasonably young through this process,” the now-30-year-old Hindman told Frontstretch. “Everything that’s happened from that first Daytona in what is now Pilot Challenge in [Grand Sport] with Fall-Line to now everything that’s happened since, I’m incredibly fortunate. It’s fun to look back and think about all the folks that I’ve been lucky to work with, and all the cars that I’ve been able to drive over the years.”

After all this time, Hindman is actually pretty unsure what it truly takes to stick around long-term in sports car racing. Results definitely help as this is a results-intensive sport. He has three class victories in WeatherTech and 16 podium finishes. He’s also a past champion of the GTD class for Meyer Shank Racing with Curb-Agajanian with Mario Farnbacher in 2019, driving an Acura NSX GT3.

Understanding the cars is critical. Being able to properly work with teammates in a constructive environment is another important requirement. On the podcast Dinner With Racers, they stress being likable in general in Pro-Am environments as well. That’s not just an on-track requirement, but off-track as well.

Despite the championship, it got a little harder for Hindman to get WeatherTech rides. For much of the time since then, he’s served as the Pro driver in a Pro-Am lineup. That meant a couple of part-time seasons. He also drove in Pirelli GT4 America SprintX and Michelin Pilot Challenge with Alan Brynjolfsson’s VOLT Racing effort before the duo moved up to WeatherTech in 2023.

After a brief campaign with Kellymoss in 2024 combined with a full-time in Pilot Challenge for Rennsport One, where he won two races and finished second in GS points with Stevan McAleer, Hindman joined Wayne Taylor Racing for a full-time effort in its Lamborghini Huracan GT3 EVO2 alongside Danny Formal last year. In addition, the team also has Graham Doyle for the five Michelin Endurance Cup races. All three drivers are back with WTR for their second straight year.

“[Danny’s] resume speaks for itself,” Hindman told Frontstretch earlier this year. “He’s a legend in a go-kart. I’m jealous that he still gets to do a bunch of go-kart racing, but it’s cool. Fun to watch.”

“He’s a good dude, a great guy,” Hindman continued. “Very fortunate to be working with him and having the knowledge that he has from the past and all the years that he’s had driving the Huracan [in Super Trofeo], it helps our program tremendously. Just fortunate to have him here and I’m looking forward to another good year together.”

In addition to running in WeatherTech, Formal is full-time in Lamborghini Super Trofeo North America’s Pro-Am class with Doyle. They are currently leading the points after sweeping the first two weekends of the season.

For 2026, WTR’s GTD effort is all but unchanged. The only change of note was bringing in NTT IndyCar Series regular Marcus Ericcson for the Rolex 24 at Daytona. Hindman believes that continuity is key.

“Yeah, it’s not even just the driver group [being the same],” Hindman said. “It’s the engineering staff, the folks we have working on the car day in and day out. It’s all very much the same as last year. I think in this sport, that’s huge. It’s a massive advantage because there’s a lot of teams … that have a pretty high turnover rate. If you’re a group that can maintain the same core group of people working on the cars, it’s a huge advantage. It just makes rolling into the next year that much more seamless and we’re very fortunate to have that luxury at WTR.”

This year, Lamborghini has introduced the new Temerario GT3 to the grid. This car with a twin-turbo V8 engine debuted with Pfaff Motorsports at the Mobil 1 12 Hours of Sebring in March. So far, Pfaff’s best finish with the car in GTD Pro was a second in Detroit earlier this month.

WTR, at the time we met with Hindman, was not planning on running the new car this season. Normally, IMSA rules don’t necessarily allow this once the new car debuts, but special dispensation has allowed the Huracan to race in WeatherTech for the entirety of 2026.

“[Running the Huracan] was really the plan from the get go,” Hindman stated. “The Temerario looks like an incredible car. Can’t wait to maybe get our hands on it at some points. Either way, one of the main points of this season is sticking with what you know. A package that the team has a lot of experience with. Now, Danny, Graham and I together have a good amount of data and collective experience with [the car]. It’s good for us from a competition standpoint to stick with what we know, but selfishly speaking, you can’t beat the sound of a 5.0-liter V10.”

Despite his career success, Hindman understands that the results still need to come if he’s going to keep racing at the highest levels. If they stop coming, then he’ll have to go look at something else.

For this year, Hindman is looking at the pinnacle for himself and Formal.

“It’s all about the championship for us,” Hindman stated. “That was the goal last year as well, but unfortunately, the way things transpired throughout the year, we found ourselves out of the hunt early in the season. There were a lot of lessons learned that laid the groundwork for what’s coming this year.”

Hindman and Formal are currently eighth in GTD points. They are coming off of a victory last time out at WeatherTech Raceway Laguna Seca.

This weekend, they will return to action with Doyle at Watkins Glen International. Frontstretch will be on-site in the Finger Lakes to bring you all the action.

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Phil Allaway has three primary roles at Frontstretch. He's the manager of the Frontstretch email 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 Frontstretch 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.

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