STEAM CORNERS, Ohio — It will have been more than three months since IMSA VP Racing SportsCar Challenge competitors ran sprint races in 2026 when they arrive at the Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course.
But inevitably, a lot of action tends to follow the field around the 2.258-mile rolling road course in central Ohio.
Last year’s races were split between a cloudy but clear Saturday and a soggy Sunday morning on a wet track. They also saw six different possible winners from six classes (the three classes times two races) – no winner swept in any of Le Mans Prototype 3 (P3), Grand Sport X (GSX) and Grand Touring Daytona X (GTDX).
Oscar Tunjo was one of those six winners last year, and the only one of the six from 2025 who has a chance to double up in 2026. The Colombian scored his first P3 victory in race two last year and is back solo in his No. 1 Gebhardt Motorsport USA Inc. Duqueine D08 this weekend.
Tunjo has three wins from six starts in 2026, the two sprint races at Daytona International Speedway to start the year and the first Airbnb Endurance Challenge round at Sebring International Raceway in March. He’s finished third in the other three races – two sprint and one endurance, all at Circuit of The Americas – to lead both the overall standings by 250 points (1,950-1,700) and sprint standings by 210 (1,300 to 1,090).
Brian Thienes has enjoyed a strong start to the year across both formats in his No. 77 Forte Racing entry, a Ligier JS P320 to start the year before switching to the new generation Ligier JS P325 during the last sprint round at COTA. Thienes has three combined podium finishes – all second-place results – to rank second in overall points and first among Bronze Cup classified entrants.
Second in the sprint standings is Danny Soufi, one of Tunjo’s teammates under the Gebhardt umbrella in the No. 11 PINAXIS-ZONE 4 Racing Duqueine. He has a best finish of third in Daytona.
Toney Driver Development has been the hottest team of the series of late, winning all three COTA rounds with Wyatt Brichacek at the wheel for all three wins and Titus Sherlock joining him for the last. Brichacek raced the No. 30 Ligier JS P325 in sprint rounds and has been in the No. 95 Ligier in endurance races; he sits sixth in the overall standings after not racing Daytona.
Sherlock has deputized for Lincoln Day on three occasions and finished on the podium each time. Day is scheduled to return this weekend in the No. 95 car, while Gian Buffomante of Naperville, Ill. – a finalist for IMSA’s 3D Scholarship for 2027 – is set to debut in the No. 30 car. Buffomante has NASCAR Craftsman Trucks and Trans-Am racing experience.
One other new entrant this race is Slade Stewart, a Lamborghini Super Trofeo North America veteran who will race the No. 29 Riley Ligier JS P320.
The story in GSX has revolved solely around Westin Workman, a perfect four-for-four to start the season in his No. 8 RAFA Racing Toyota GR Supra GT4 EVO2. Workman swept both Daytona and COTA to build a 240-point lead after scoring the maximum number of points through four races.
A Toyota entry has won the last 17 GSX races dating to the 2024 season finale weekend at Michelin Raceway Road Atlanta, with the last win of 2024, all 12 in 2025 and the first four in 2026.
Courtney Crone scored her first two podiums in GSX at COTA in her No. 35 CarBahn Motorsports BMW M4 GT4 EVO and will look to break through in class this weekend to stop the Workman win streak.
Rafa Martinez (No. 68 RAFA Racing Toyota GR Supra GT4 EVO2) is best of the Bronze Cup drivers ahead of Dan Ammann (No. 91 VRC Motorsports Group, LLC Porsche 718 GT4 RS CS) by 40 points. Sean Quinlan (No. 19 Stephen Cameron Racing Ford Mustang GT4) and Marc Austin (No. 22 Mad Joker Racing by Lone Star Racing Mercedes-AMG GT GT4) swept the Bronze Cup rounds at Daytona and COTA, respectively, but neither is a full-season entrant.
