INDIANAPOLIS — Results of the Indianapolis Motor Speedway 120 race repeated 2025 in many ways, but that doesn’t mean the 2026 IMSA Michelin Pilot Challenge edition lacked drama or late excitement.
A one-lap dash to the finish following a late full-course caution saw the lead change hands in both series classes. Michael Cooper drove his No. 44 Ibiza Farm Motorsport McLaren Artura GT4 into first place and on to victory for himself and co-driver Moisey Uretsky in the Grand Sport (GS) class to triumph on the IMS road course for the second straight year.
In the Touring Car (TCR) class, Tyler Gonzalez lost the lead on the same restart but recaptured it in the same spot as Cooper in GS, taking the win for a second straight year in the No. 99 Victor Gonzalez Racing Cupra Leon VZ TCR he shared with Steven Clemons (a different co-driver from 2025).
Cooper and the No. 44 McLaren were among the larger group of GS cars opting for a two-stop strategy in the two-hour race. A small GS contingent gambled on a single stop that became increasingly unlikely as the closing hour ran caution-free until the race-leading No. 43 Andretti Performance Porsche 718 GT4 RS CS ran out of fuel and stopped on track with seven minutes remaining, bringing out the yellow.
When racing resumed for the last lap, Cooper trailed Mike Skeen in the No. 60 KohR Motorsports Ford Mustang GT4, with a pair of lapped cars between them. Cooper quickly dispatched the interlopers before diving inside Skeen into Turn 7.
The cars made hard contact but both kept going. Cooper won by 2.377 seconds over Skeen and co-driver Evan Slater. Sean McAlister and Jeff Westphal brought the No. 39 CarBahn with Peregrine Racing BMW M4 GT4 home in third.
Cooper was confident he’d have the opportunity to make a bid for the lead against Skeen. He just wasn’t sure when or where.
“I expected an opportunity, but what I didn’t expect was all the weaving he did before that,” Cooper said. “He didn’t really pick a lane too well, and then at the last second he decided to go to the right and I went to the left and got through. Just awesome to win here again. I’m stoked for the whole Ibiza Farm Motorsport team.”
Uretsky, who was watching Cooper’s charge from the pit wall, was able to provide a play-by-play of the proceedings.
“We were good on fuel and strategy and we did not need that last yellow,” Uretsky said. “That made it a bit exciting. But again, it’s all about the team. We’ve been executing really well; everyone does their part. We just ran a good fuel-save strategy, in clean air and competitive times. That kept us right there at the front. Cooper took care of the rest, as always.”
Skeen was confident the No. 60 Mustang had the fuel to win had the race stayed green to the finish.
“We were fuel saving the whole stint, backing it up and just trying to manage the pace based on the cars that were pitting and the gaps and everything,” Skeen said. “We knew once the (Andretti Porsche) ran out of fuel we kind of had it because we had enough fuel. We had a 30-second gap or so back to P2 at that point, so if we hadn’t had the yellow, I think we were kind of golden.”
Of Cooper’s aggressive pass for the lead, Skeen added, “I think it was still pretty much a Hail Mary from that McLaren. Doored us real hard, bent the front suspension and pushed us out of the track. Knocked the wheel out of my hand, honestly. Not super happy with that, but I guess it stands. We’ll take the second place and be proud of the KohR Motorsports guys.”
Another crucial last-lap event came when the No. 95 Turner Motorsport BMW stopped on track before crawling to the finish. Turner drivers Dillon Machavern and Luca Mars dropped from 10th place to 17th and saw their GS championship lead evaporate.
They now trail the No. 27 AutoTechnic Racing BMW duo of Austin Krainz and Stevan McAleer (who finished fifth) unofficially by 40 points heading to the season finale Oct. 2 at Michelin Raceway Road Atlanta. Robert Noaker and Finn Wiebelhaus finished eighth in their No. 13 McCumbee McAleer Racing Ford Mustang GT4, which leaves Noaker third and 50 back.
Gonzalez led 30 straight laps in the No. 99 VGR Cupra before almost seeing it slip away during the last-lap melee. Karl Wittmer in the No. 93 MMG Honda Civic FL5 TCR got the jump coming out of Turn 14 on the restart and overtook Gonzalez by the time they reached the start-finish line to begin the final lap around the 2.439-mile circuit.
Gonzalez stayed on Wittmer’s bumper until they also approached a slick Turn 7 where light rain began falling moments earlier. Wittmer slid wide and was passed by both Gonzalez and Denis Dupont in the No. 76 Bryan Herta Autosport with Curb-Agajanian Hyundai Elantra N TCR.
The margin between the top three was just 1.110 seconds at the finish, and all three had different perspectives of the last lap.
“Karl got a really good run on me coming to the green on my restart and got around me, but I was able to get back around him in (Turn) 7,” Gonzalez reported. “We both went deep, we both went way too deep, and Denis almost got us both. But I was able to get it stopped just in time, turn and hit the power down. Super happy to win this one, man. Two races in a row with VGR, two years in a row at Indy, so it means a lot to win here.”
Dupont, who made it to second, noted: “I took a good restart. I don’t know what happened to the Cupra. There was a slow car on the left; I was surprised. But I started to see the first two guys fighting and I was like, let’s try to be smart and pick up the pieces. In Turn 7 I saw a gap and I was like, let me grab my line and I was alongside. We’re playing the championship, so let me just get the 93. We have a chance at P2, not P1.”
