DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. — Though Oscar Tunjo (Le Mans Prototype 3, P3) and Westin Workman (Grand Sport X, GSX) doubled up their wins in the IMSA VP Racing SportsCar Challenge 2026 season opener, their second races of the weekend were anything but a sunny Sunday drive.
Both drivers overcame adversity and adverse conditions to score back-to-back wins to open their accounts in pursuit of the season championships.
With rain coming in right before the race Sunday at Daytona International Speedway – coincidentally, as it did last year in race two at Daytona – IMSA officials declared a wet start for all competitors to shift to wet-weather Michelin tires.
Tunjo, driving the No. 1 Gebhardt Motorsport USA Inc. Duqueine D08, started on pole and led the opening eight laps, but the middle of the 45-minute race saw a round robin of leaders. First Tunjo’s teammate Danny Soufi in the No. 11 PINAXIS-ZONE 4 Racing Duqueine and then Brady Golan in the No. 30 Toney Driver Development Ligier JS P325 took turns in the lead.
Golan, however, drifted off course on Lap 18 on a damp patch and into the wet grass at the Turn 4 kink, proceeding to hit the tire barrier in Turn 5. Following a lengthy yellow to remove debris, there was enough time to get in a one-lap dash around the 3.56-mile road course with a green-and-white-flag finish.
Tunjo was able to streak away by 5.089 seconds over Brian Thienes, the P3 Bronze Cup winner in the No. 77 Forte Racing Ligier JS P320, and Golan’s teammate Lincoln Day in the No. 95 Toney Driver Development Ligier JS P325. Both Thienes and Day benefited from Golan and Soufi’s delays.
“That was a pretty tricky race, I have to say one of the hardest of my career,” Tunjo said. “When I went out, it didn’t look like it was that wet, but also for me it was a bit tricky because I was the leading car, so I didn’t have a sense of where to brake and how to make everything.
“I got some help from Valentino (Catalano, 2025 P3 champion and Tunjo’s 2025 teammate) from last year. And yeah, we changed the lead a few times. I went off a few times also, so it was not an easy situation, but very happy to come back.
“I had some small issues with the car at the end of the race and bringing it into the flag was the main focus at the end with the win. I feel sorry for Golan and I hope he’s OK, but happy to get the second win in a row and do it here in Daytona.”
Workman’s second win of the weekend in GSX, driving the No. 8 RAFA Racing Toyota GR Supra GT4 EVO2, was even more eventful.
The polesitter pitted before the green flag to fix an air jack and then stopped on the backstraight after resuming from the pits to re-cycle the power steering. Either way, he would have to start at the back of the 12-car GSX and 22-car overall field.
In just three laps, Workman had already climbed to fourth and by Lap 8, he made it past Justin Di Benedetto (No. 4 Di Benedetto Racing Porsche 718 GT4 RS CS) for the lead.
Both drivers had a healthy, clean battle following Workman’s comeback and Di Benedetto held on to be close enough to get the lead back. He was unable to do so after the one-lap dash and ended 1.142 seconds behind Workman. Sean Quinlan captured the GSX Bronze Cup win and finished third among all GSX entries in his No. 19 Stephen Cameron Racing Ford Mustang GT4.
“Even with all the issues, I regained confidence that we could still win the race,” Workman said. “The car is really good in the wet. Once I got to the lead, I pulled out a little gap. Then at the end there was a one-lap shootout, which was very fun. I kind of studied the driver behind me a little bit, and I knew if I drove it in a little deep in Turn 5, he would follow me and he would go in even deeper. He made a mistake and I was able to pull out a gap and win the race.”
Workman said he had only one tough pass among the 11 back to the front.
“I had one that was difficult because I knew the outside was a little bit faster, so I would catch some people off guard with that,” he explained. “There was one time I was trying to pass one of the BMWs. They didn’t see me come around the outside and shoved me off a little bit but I regained it.”
Of the battle with Workman, Di Benedetto added: “Racing with Westin is awesome. Like, just pure clean racing, tricky conditions, and I think he gave us the absolute utmost respect.”
