BRASELTON, Ga. — Circle H Racing and drivers Martin Sarukhanyan and Thomas Merrill claimed their first IMSA Michelin Pilot Challenge Grand Sport (GS) class victory Friday at Michelin Raceway Road Atlanta in the No. 14 Aston Martin Vantage AMR GT4 Evo.
Their triumph in the Fox Factory 120 put an emphatic bookend on a season that opened with a second-place finish at Daytona International Speedway.
While they won the race, Austin Krainz and Stevan McAleer won this year’s GS championship in their No. 27 AutoTechnic Racing BMW M4 GT4 EVO despite not winning a race. They punctuated their season-long consistency with a third-place finish at Michelin Raceway.
It was the first IMSA championship for Krainz and the second for McAleer, who earned the season crown in the former ST class in 2015.
The 11-year gap between McAleer’s championships ties for the most in Michelin Pilot Challenge history with Matt Plumb, the series’ career wins leader with 24.
The race started with five potential champions, and a revolving door atop the charts in the “points as they run” standings. However, Sarukhanyan and Merrill drove past all of them from 25th on the grid.
Merrill gained four places during the only restart of a largely clean race and was running second when leader Michael Cooper (No. 44 Ibiza Farm Motorsport McLaren Artura GT4) suffered a mechanical failure with 15 minutes remaining.
Incidentally, both drivers needed to cycle through the Touring Car (TCR) leaders, who were running toward the front of the overall field while on one-stop pit strategies compared to the GS’ field’s two.
The victory came in Merrill’s 19th GS class start. Sarukhanyan ran the Michelin Pilot Challenge’s pair of four-hour endurance races earlier this year; he subbed for David Hampton here to win in just his third IMPC race.
Circle H Racing won twice in Michelin Pilot Challenge competition under the Archangel Motorsports banner, most recently at Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course in 2024.
On Friday, Sarukhanyan advanced four places before handing the car to Merrill.
“It was a different experience for me,” Sarukhanyan said. “It was my first qualifying, my first start of the race. It was kind of a surreal experience. This is something I’ll just soak in and keep in my mind for the weeks and months to come until Daytona comes around, and hopefully we can do it again.”
Merrill relished a day when the No. 14 team had to pace to win on a day when the race came to them.
“I think that was a classic IMSA race – really hard fought, but clean, from what I could see,” Merrill said. “Definitely credit to the competitors for racing hard but clean. It was just really enjoyable.
“We know we’re capable of this, but throughout the season we’ve made things maybe a little bit more complicated and missed some opportunities,” he added. “I think today was a good example of just doing the simple things well and being there at the end.”
Krainz started the No. 27 BMW in 11th place and maintained that position through his stint. McAleer also took advantage of the only restart of the race to leapfrog a pair of his key championship competitors – Robert Noaker in the No. 13 McCumbee McAleer Racing Ford Mustang GT4 (of which he is a co-owner), and Dillon Machavern in the No. 95 Turner Motorsport BMW M4 GT4 EVO he shared with Luca Mars.
In the second half of the race, McAleer knew he was in a solid position for the championship – especially after Cooper and the No. 44 McLaren dropped out.
“We knew that the No. 44 car was going to be as fast as it can be and the goal was to get as close to that car as we could, and to get by the cars that were important and close that gap. Once I got clear of them, I just put my head down and hit my marks.”
McAleer confirmed all the cliches about racing drivers hearing strange noises from the car down the stretch are true.
“I’ve been in this position before, both as a winner and a loser,” he said. “You can hear every nut and bolt creak on that car. You think, ‘I have a flat, I don’t have a flat…the gearbox is breaking.’ The mindset was really to try and do everything we’ve done all season.”
Added Krainz: “I always try to stay as close as I can to the championship contenders and give Stevan a car with no damage and let him go to work. He has been a great mentor, a great friend, a great coach, and a brilliant co-driver. I’m really grateful for this opportunity.”
Bryson Morris and Mason Fillippi simply needed to start the Fox Factory 120 at Michelin Raceway Road Atlanta to clinch the Touring Car (TCR) class championship of the IMSA Michelin Pilot Challenge. Mission accomplished, and so much more.
Fillippi and Mason combined to drive the No. 33 Bryan Herta Autosport with Curb Agajanian Hyundai Elantra N TCR to the race win, crossing the line under caution in front of the No. 21 Victor Gonzalez Racing Cupra Leon VZ TCR shared by William Tally and Caleb Bacon.
The No. 56 Baker Racing Audi RS3 LMS TCR of Dean Baker and Kenny Riedmann ultimately finished third, with the No. 18 car assessed a penalty for incident responsibilty late in the race. Another car that went from podium-to-unrepresentative finish came when the polesitting No. 93 MMG Honda Civic FL5 TCR, qualified by Karl Wittmer and finished by LP Montour, was spun at the start/finish line by another competitor.
The win and championship combo was a nice one for the No. 33 car. It’s the first IMSA championship for both young American drivers – Filippi, 28, and Morris, 22. Bryan Herta Autosport and Hyundai have won seven of the last eight TCR titles.
Morris gained a place on the start from third on the grid. The No. 33 dropped back to third under caution during the only pit stop exchange of the race, but Fillippi quickly moved into the lead following the restart and he held it comfortably until the second and final caution flew with just three minutes remaining.
With the championship already clinched, a third victory in 2026 was an additional bonus for the No. 33 duo.
“We’ve had a few wins here in the past, and Road Atlanta is one of my favorite tracks on the schedule, so I looked at Bryson before the weekend started and said, ‘We’re going to go for the win,” Fillippi said. “And that’s what we did.”
“I was really nervous on the first two formation laps,” admitted Morris, who started the race. “I wasn’t weaving as hard on the warmup laps as I maybe normally would, just to make sure we started. I’ve been coming here since I was like three years old every year to watch the race. So, it’s really cool to win it and now win the championship as well.”
The championship is the culmination of an incredible run at BHA for Fillippi, who now owns 12 Michelin Pilot Challenge race wins in a run that’s dated the entirety of the team’s tenure in this championship. He was unlucky to miss out on Harry Gottsacker’s 2025 title as he missed one race with a schedule conflict. Meanwhile, this was Morris’s fourth victory.
“Bryan Herta Autosport has been my home ever since I stepped foot into the paddock, so it’s been amazing to be with them since 2019,” Fillippi reflected. “It’s also really cool to get this championship this year with Bryson. He’s always been super quick ever since he jumped on the team, and I was extremely excited to hear I was going to pair with him this year.”
