DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. — The IMSA Michelin Pilot Problem is equal components sustaining its core high quality of entries and increasing each the standard and amount throughout its Grand Sport (GS) and Touring Automobile (TCR) lessons to open the 2026 season at Daytona Worldwide Speedway.
With 49 vehicles testing throughout the Roar Earlier than the Rolex 24 and the grid increasing to 51 for this week’s four-hour BMW M Endurance Problem, the collection boasts its largest Daytona automotive depend since 2020. That 12 months’s cut up of 51 vehicles was divided into 33 GS and 18 TCR. This 12 months, there will likely be 35 GS and 16 TCR entries.
Beginning in GS, the identical seven producers current from 2025 carry into 2026. BMW leads the way in which with 9 vehicles, whereas Ford follows carefully with eight. Porsche runs six vehicles, Aston Martin 5, Toyota 4, Mercedes-AMG two and McLaren one.
Defending champions RS1 step as much as the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship, leaving the GS title race huge open. Jan Heylen is again for Daytona as a part of BGB Motorsports’ entry with Spencer Pumpelly and Thomas Collingwood of their No. 83 Porsche 718 GT4 RS CS. Everybody down from second to twelfth within the championship is again for 2026; those who completed second via fifth have nearly as good an opportunity as any to emerge on high.
From Jeff Westphal and Sean McAlister (No. 39 CarBahn by Peregrine racing BMW M4 GT4 EVO) to Austin Krainz and Stevan McAleer (No. 27 AutoTechnic BMW M4 GT4 EVO) in BMWs to the brand new younger pairing of Nate Cicero and Robert Noaker (No. 13 McCumbee McAleer Racing Ford Mustang GT4) and the skilled duo of Michael Cooper and Moisey Uretsky (No. 44 Ibiza Farm Motorsport McLaren Artura GT4), all or any might as soon as once more contend for the title. Cooper and Uretsky received Daytona final 12 months and the final two races of 2025.
Turner Motorsport has a twin menace with 4 previous GS champions (Dillon Machavern and Luca Mars in No. 95, Vin Barletta and Robby Foley in No. 96) aboard its pair of BMW M4 GT4 EVOs.
Additional previous champions Matt Plumb (No. 46 Workforce TGM) and Billy Johnson (No. 59 KOHR Motorsports) resume their battle to interrupt their tie on 24 victories because the collection’ winningest driver, now each driving Ford Mustang GT4s following Workforce TGM’s swap. They’ll share their vehicles with Paul Holton (No. 46) and Robert Michaelian (No. 59) respectively; KOHR’s second automotive of Evan Slater and Ray Mason (No. 60 Ford) will honor the lifetime of the late NASCAR star Greg Biffle and his household with a Grainger-blessed tribute livery in Daytona. TGM’s second automotive, the No. 64 Ford options defending Bronze Cup GS champions Ted Giovanis, Hugh Plumb and common Daytona third driver Kris Wilson.
Each Insurgent Rock Racing’s No. 71 Aston Martin Vantage AMR GT4 EVO (Frank DePew and previous GS champion Robin Liddell) and Winward Racing’s No. 57 Mercedes-AMG GT GT4 (Daan Arrow and Bryce Ward) are good for wins however will look to rebound after winless 2025s. Steven Cameron Racing/Racing to Finish Alzheimer’s (Sean Quinlan and Greg Liefooghe of their No. 19 Ford Mustang GT4) was a quiet however strong top-10 ending entrant in 2026 and seeks to affix the listing of winners, as does previous TCR champions Mikey Taylor and Chris Miller driving UniTronic JDC-Miller MotorSports’ No. 17 Porsche 718 GT4 RS CS in its second 12 months at school.
Legends and younger stars additionally dot the category. The brand new-look Random Vandals Racing entries function IMSA’s all-time winningest driver, Invoice Auberlen, and three youthful stars in IMSA 3D Scholarship recipient Nicky Hays, IMSA VP Racing SportsCar Problem GTDX Bronze Cup champion Samantha Tan and previous Michelin Pilot Problem race winner Robert Megennis cut up between its No. 38 (ST by Random Vandals, Tan and Auberlen) and No. 92 (Random Vandals, Hays and Megennis) vehicles.
Previous collection champion Owen Trinkler is one other making a welcome return, as a part of VRC Motorsports Group LLC’s new No. 91 Porsche 718 GT4 RS CS with Dan Ammann and Darren Legislation for Daytona. Toyota has a focused younger driver strategy in its 4 GR Supra GT4 EVOs: hold a watch out for any and all of 2025 VP Racing Problem GSX champion Kiko Porto and Varun Choksey (No. 12 RAFA Racing), Jaxon Bell and Ford Koch (No. 23 Koch-Copeland Motorsports), Caio Chaves and Thiago Camilo (No. 54 PANAM Motorsport) and Harrison Goodman and Lucas Weisenberg (No. 67 BSI Racing).
There are seven ladies in GS, together with the aforementioned Tan. There’s an all-female lineup of Hannahs Grisham and Greenemeier aboard Coronary heart of Racing Workforce’s No. 26 Aston Martin Vantage AMR GT4 EVO. Madeline Stewart graduates from Porsche Carrera Cup North America in CSM’s No. 2 Porsche Cayman GT4 RS CS.
Megan Tomlinson steps up from Touring Automobile (TCR) to GS within the No. 22 Shopify Racing Powered by TWOth Porsche together with her father Ron. Then there’s two spouse and husband groups; Aurora Straus shares with Kenny Murillo shortly after they tied the knot within the No. 24 Murillo Racing Mercedes-AMG GT GT4. Christine and Ben Sloss are again for his or her second season within the No. 10 van der Steur Racing Aston Martin Vantage AMR GT4 EVO, one among a number of high quality Bronze Cup entries.
CarBahn (No. 37) and Auto Technic (No. 26) have further BMW entries for Daytona, 89x Motorsports (No. 8 Aston Martin Vantage GT4) and LAP Motorsports (No. 30 Ford Mustang GT4) are again after partial 2025 seasons, Circle H Racing (No. 14 Aston Martin Vantage AMR GT4 EVO) switches workforce names and vehicles, whereas extra collection newcomers embrace Medusa Motorsports (No. 4 Ford Mustang GT4), VPX Motorsport (No. 7 Porsche 718 GT4 RS CS) and Thunder Bunny (No. 66 BMW M4 GT4 EVO).
Hyundai has had power in numbers the final a number of Touring Automobile (TCR) seasons, however a wider unfold is clear heading into 2026. Hyundai has nonetheless received the final six TCR producer championships (2020 via 2025) and 6 of the final seven driver titles (2019 via 2023, 2025) however should work laborious to defend their crowns in 2026.
As ever, the Bryan Herta Autosport w/Curb Agajanian quartet of Hyundai Elantra N TCRs count on to contend. And likewise as ordinary, there’s slight refreshes of the lineup for 2 of its 4 vehicles. Mason Filippi now joins Bryson Morris within the workforce’s No. 33 Hyundai, with 2019 TCR champion Mark Wilkins and Madison Aust uniting within the No. 98 Hyundai. Wilkins and Filippi primarily commerce between the No. 33 and 98 from this 12 months, whereas Aust strikes from the workforce’s developmental No. 9 automotive into Herta’s flagship No. 98 automotive for her second season.
Final 12 months’s runner-up Denis Dupont and Preston Brown stay unchanged within the No. 76 Hyundai, and veteran Jon Miller and Lance Bergstein are set for a full 12 months with Herta of their No. 18 Elantra. The 2-time and defending TCR champion, Harry Gottsacker, shifts to the third driver slot alongside Miller and Bergstein at the least for Daytona. Rockwell Autosport Improvement, a Herta-affiliated entry, prepares for its first full 12 months with Hyundai with its new-look lineup of Doug Oakley and Daniel Hanley.
Cupra enters on a excessive from a two-win end to 2025 for its second 12 months, increasing from two to 4 vehicles. The Victor Gonzalez Racing Workforce expands again to 2 vehicles, with Franco Girolami becoming a member of Tyler Gonzalez for a full season in its No. 99 Cupra Leon VZ TCR and newcomers William Tally and Steven Clemons sharing the sister No. 21 automotive. The aligned forces of Gou Racing and collection newcomers Stallion Motorsports may even search to impress. The daddy-son Eduardo and Eddie Gou share their No. 55 Cupra whereas the all-Brazilian pairing of 2025-’26 IMSA 3D Scholarship recipient Celso Neto and Raphael Reis search to attain their first wins in IMSA in Stallion’s No. 77 Cupra.
Honda, too, has a quartet of contenders. MMG’s LP Montour and Karl Wittmer almost received the 2025 TCR title and can look to leap two spots in 2026 of their No. 93 Honda Civic FL5 TCR, joined at Daytona by Dai Yoshihara. KMW Motorsports with TMR Engineering seeks a bounce again marketing campaign in its second 12 months with Honda whereas Pegram Racing’s father-daughter pairing of Larry and Riley Pegram switches from Hyundai this 12 months. Veteran part-timers HART will as soon as once more return for an additional season as their schedule permits.
That leaves Audi with the fewest vehicles, three, however nonetheless power in its effort. Baker Racing ascends because the model’s most voluminous entry with a pair of RS3 LMS TCRs; James Vance, the father-and-son pair of Dean and Sam Baker and Indy automotive veteran Bruno Junqueira impressed most of the time in 2025 however didn’t have full outcomes to justify the promise. The returning RVA Graphics by Velocity Syndicate effort received at VIR final 12 months and seeks extra success in 2026.
