STEAM CORNERS, Ohio — Whether they embrace it or not, Denis Dupont and Preston Brown are the undisputed kings of IMSA Michelin Pilot Challenge’s four-hour endurance races.
As the series heads back to Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course for the third edition of the O’Reilly Auto Parts 4 Hours of Mid-Ohio, Dupont and Brown are seeking their fourth four-hour race win in the last two years in the No. 76 Bryan Herta Autosport with Curb Agajanian Hyundai Elantra N TCR in Touring Car.
In five total four-hour starts together in the No. 76 Herta Hyundai, Dupont and Brown have three wins (Mid-Ohio 2024 and Daytona International Speedway 2025, 2026) and two second-place finishes (Daytona 2024, Mid-Ohio 2025).
“No pressure, right?” Dupont laughed. “We love the four-hour races. We seem to do our best there. We stay composed, we execute and we’re there at the end.”
They were also unique among BHA’s quartet of entries in sticking to a two-driver lineup at the first four-hour race at Daytona, while each of the team’s No. 18, 33 and 98 cars added a third driver.
“Two years ago we had a third (driver), and we got second,” Brown explained. “That went fine, but I think it’s a case where Denis and I click, and we don’t necessarily want to put more things into the equation.”
At Daytona, Dupont’s charge to pass teammate Bryson Morris in the No. 33 Hyundai he shares with Mason Filippi came after several hours of clean but intense racing.
“It was such great TCR racing,” Brown reflected. “The first three cars were nose-to-tail forever. It shows how well IMSA’s doing with this series, and I was so impressed. Denis was biding his time.”
Dupont and Brown have four career wins apiece, with three of them in the four-hour races. Their only sprint triumph came at WeatherTech Raceway Laguna Seca in 2025.
The pair finished second to teammates Filippi and Morris this year in Monterey after a comeback drive, as the No. 76 car recovered from an early-race flat tire aided by some well-timed caution flags.
“When we went green after the second yellow we didn’t have the tires fully warmed up, so I slid off the end of the Corkscrew and got the flat,” Brown said. “Luckily it was a fast tire change, and the debris from a subsequent yellow saved us. With an hour to go, Denis knew he had to make the tires go, and he did it.”
The Dupont/Brown pair sits second in the TCR championship, 110 points behind Filippi and Morris, who are off to a strong start with two thirds and a win this year. Filippi and two-time TCR champion (2023 and 2025) Harry Gottsacker won in Mid-Ohio last year in the Herta team’s No. 98 Hyundai.
Always keen to impress not far from its Marysville, Ohio plant, Honda will look to snap the Hyundai win streak at Mid-Ohio with its quartet of cars, including the No. 89 HART Honda Civic FL5 TCR of Chad Gilsinger, Tyler Chambers and Cameron Lawrence. The HART entry was second to start the year in Daytona. Honda of America Racing Team is a volunteer activity welcoming Honda associates from all backgrounds to enhance their skillsets in the intense, high-speed world of racing.
The No. 93 MMG Honda Civic FL5 TCR won the pole at Mid-Ohio last year as Karl Wittmer set a track record, and Wittmer and LP Montour scored an overdue first podium of 2026 at Monterey. Their midseason run of form last year started in Ohio as they finished third behind the two BHA Hyundais. Honda’s last four-hour race win occurred in Watkins Glen in 2021. Dai Yoshihara resumes as third driver this race.
In GS and overall, Turner Motorsport is riding high heading to Mid-Ohio as the winners of both the most recent 2026 race and last year’s Mid-Ohio race.
The commonality between the two is Dillon Machavern, who shared the No. 95 BMW M4 GT4 EVO on both occasions. Machavern watched on the pit box as co-driver Francis Selldorff held off a host of challengers last year while in Monterey and did the same in Monterey this year as Luca Mars brought the No. 95 car home to the win at WeatherTech Raceway Laguna Seca.
Finishes of fourth, third and first have positioned the No. 95 car with the pair of past GS champions leading Daan Arrow and Bryce Ward in their No. 57 Winward Racing Mercedes-AMG GT GT4 by 30 points (they’ve finished third, second and fourth).
Two other cars have opened the year strongly with three top-10 finishes in as many races to sit third and fourth in points. McCumbee McAleer Racing’s Nate Cicero has scored a pair of poles in Daytona and Monterey and along with Robert Noaker, finished sixth, eighth and third to start the year in the No. 13 Ford Mustang GT4. Auto Technic Racing’s Austin Krainz and Stevan McAleer have been BMW’s other model of consistency with results of fifth, fifth and sixth in the No. 27 BMW M4 GT4 EVO as they continue to close on an elusive first victory.
