Whelen’s Roll, Vasser Sullivan’s Reinbold Tribute, Crowds Keep Flocking to IMSA
By John Oreovicz
DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. – Throughout the week leading into the Sahlen’s Six Hours of The Glen at Watkins Glen International, IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship drivers were keeping a wary eye on the weather.
“It’s a lot like Le Mans or Spa in that the weather pops up out of nowhere,” said Ricky Taylor, driver of the Grand Touring Prototype (GTP) class No. 10 Cadillac Wayne Taylor Racing Cadillac V-Series.R.
“Every now and then the weather does seem to be a bit crazy,” added Nicky Catsburg, who competes in the Grand Touring Daytona Pro (GTD PRO) class in the No. 4 Corvette Z06 GT3.R for Corvette Racing by Pratt Miller Motorsports. “I remember a red-flag situation maybe last year or a few years ago.”
Turns out weather was no issue whatsoever for the 2026 Sahlen’s Six Hours, which was run on a picture-perfect early summer day in New York’s Finger Lakes Region. But that didn’t mean the Watkins Glen race was any less chaotic than it generally tends to be – for whatever reason.
There were no red flags for weather or anything else, but also no fewer than nine full-course cautions – the last of which ended the race with Jack Aitken at the front of the field to end a six-hour batttle he and co-drivers Earl Bamber and Frederik Vesti controlled after Aitken earned the Motul Pole Award in the No. 31 Cadillac Whelen Cadillac V-Series.R.
“It’s a big field, fitting into not the biggest track in the world (3.4 miles and 11 turns),” said Aitken. “It’s narrow, it’s fast, and there’s a lot of pinch points going up the hill into some very fast sequences.”
Exhibit A: the early crash that eliminated Colin Braun in the No. 60 Acura Meyer Shank Racing w/Curb Agajanian Acura ARX-06 and the No. 23 Aston Martin THOR Team Aston Martin Valkyrie when driver Roman De Angelis attempted but was unable to respond fast enough to a traffic stack-up approaching the top of The Glen’s famous “Esses.”
“As the race gets to a close, people start taking more risks,” Aitken added. “It’s always going to be quite a cool race because it’s sketchy and it’s a bit scary. But it’s thrilling, that’s for sure.”
That’s one clear takeaway from another action-packed Sahlen’s Six Hours of The Glen. Here are three more…
Magic Eighth Podium for Whelen
Along with teammates Bamber and Vesti, who also turned in strong drives, Aitken and the No. 31 Cadillac V-Series.R extended their advantage in the points standings with a GTP-era record eighth consecutive podium finish – a streak that dates to September 2025. It appears the No. 31 Cadillac is only trending up: Watkins Glen marked the second consecutive race win for the Whelen car, which is displaying a faultless combination of one-lap qualifying speed, smart strategy, and stint-long race pace at every stop on the WeatherTech Championship trail.
Aitken has built a 203-point cushion over Laurin Heinrich (who finished third at Watkins Glen in the No. 5 JDC-Miller MotorSports Porsche 963 with Tijmen van der Helm and Kaylen Frederick) in their fascinating one-on-one battle for the GTP Driver’s championship. Sunday’s runner-up Nick Yelloly and Renger van der Zande (No. 93 Acura Meyer Shank Racing w/Curb Agajanian Acura ARX-06) are the top driver pairing in the standings, 245 points off.
But Aitken isn’t taking the dream season to date for granted. He knows one really bad weekend combined with a really good weekend for his competitors could result in a 150-to-200 point swing.
“You just never know in IMSA racing,” he said. “That’s the cool thing. You can say it’s going to be super predictable, then there’ll be another yellow coming, but then you’ve got a massive green run until right at the end when you can’t go green again.”
He’ll also have to fight off the challenge of Heinrich, whose evolving 2026 schedule has resulted in a full-time GTP campaign in two different Porsches (the No. 5 JDC-Miller car and the No. 7 Porsche Penske Motorsport entry he co-drove to victory in the Rolex 24 At Daytona and the Mobil 1 Twelve Hours of Sebring with Felipe Nasr and Julien Andlauer). The No. 7’s full-time duo is close behind the No. 60 Acura pair, 258 points off Aitken’s lead.
The No. 5 Porsche took advantage of the cautions to rally for Heinrich to claim the final podium spot at Watkins Glen after it fell a lap down earlier in the race and lost a tire in the process. Another electrifying performance that included several daring passes has marked the 24-year-old German as sports car racing’s most exciting young prospect since his countryman (and also Porsche factory driver) Stefan Bellof.
“I have to say a big thank you Porsche and to JDC and my teammates because it was a really good day; we made a good turnaround,” Heinrich said. “There was some very good racing out there today. I think that’s exactly what IMSA stands for and what the fans want to see. It was hard but fair. Very exciting, I hope.
“I’m looking forward to re-watch it tonight.”
Vasser Sullivan Celebrates Reinbold
When a member of the racing community passes away, all branches of the sport feel affected and offer their support. The IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship is no exception.
Dennis Reinbold was best known for the Dreyer & Reinbold Racing team that has competed in the IndyCar Series since the turn of the century, nearly winning the Indianapolis 500 with Ryan Hunter-Reay in 2025. Reinbold, who died earlier in June at the age of 65, was an important mentor to James ‘Sulli’ Sullivan, co-owner of the Vasser Sullivan team that serves as the factory-supported Lexus team in the WeatherTech Championship’s GTD and GTD PRO classes.
The team’s No. 12 GTD and No. 14 GTD PRO entries were fielded under the Vasser Sullivan w/Dreyer & Reinbold banner at Watkins Glen, and Sulli gave an impassioned mid-race interview to NBC Sports during the Sahlen’s Six Hours.
Sulli was later overcome with emotion when Jack Hawksworth and Ben Barnicoat broke a two-plus-year winless streak to claim GTD PRO honors in the No. 14 Lexus RC G GT3.
“A lot of people don’t know that Dennis was so instrumental in helping me get started as an owner in the sport,” Sullivan said. “Our partnership started for an IndyCar race at Baltimore with Jimmy (Vasser) and I look back on it as so instrumental for me. He was a partner before he was a friend.”
Reinbold and Sullivan later joined forces to field teams in RallyCross and X Games competition.
“So many memories,” Sulli reflected. “I don’t know the last time Dennis won a race, but we’re going to make sure it’s today, I think.”
Mission accomplished with the GTD PRO victory. Vasser Sullivan w/Dreyer & Reinbold narrowly missed a podium finish in GTD, with Aaron Telitz, Frankie Montecalvo, and Benjamin Pedersen taking fourth place after a late splash for fuel – ironically, the same issue that befell the same No. 12 GTD car in 2025.
Sports Car Racing’s Roll Isn’t Slowing
The first clue came when leading racing journalist Marshall Pruett’s daily ‘Good Morning from…’ social media post featured an image of several lanes of fans queuing up to get into Watkins Glen International for the Sahlen’s Six Hours weekend.
At 7 o’clock Thursday morning.
Suffice to say the WeatherTech Championship’s popularity was on display for all to see at one of America’s most historic road courses from Thursday to Sunday, with campers packing the property from the Esses to the Boot (and above, on the traditional pre-race open grid walk).
The strong turnout extended a record attendance streak for IMSA and comes on the heels of momentum-building recent news regarding top-class convergence with the FIA World Endurance Championship for 2030 and the introduction of a new LMP2 chassis and Gibson engine package to the WeatherTech Championship in 2029.
“We have been so fortunate since even before the beginning of the 2024 season where we had record attendance at each of the WeatherTech SportsCar Championship events,” said IMSA President John Doonan. “We’re extremely proud of that. The grid walks are packed, and I think you’ll see that continue for the rest of the season all the way to the Motul Petit Le Mans at Michelin Raceway Road Atlanta.”
The GTP class now enjoys its first extended break of the season, allowing LMP2 to take top billing at the next round of the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship – the July 10-12 Chevrolet SportsCar Classic at Canadian Tire Motorsport Park.