Five Different IMSA Bronze-Specific Championships to be Decided by Michelin Raceway Road Atlanta
By Tony DiZinno
IMSA NewsWire
DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. – Bronze-rated drivers make up a key part of multiple IMSA-sanctioned championships. Ahead of the final two race weekends of the year at Indianapolis Motor Speedway and Michelin Raceway Road Atlanta, here’s a look at the Bronze-specific battles across the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship, IMSA Michelin Pilot Challenge and IMSA VP Racing SportsCar Challenge.
WeatherTech Championship Jim Trueman Award
Points for the Jim Trueman Award mirror the finishing results for Le Mans Prototype 2 (LMP2) drivers in the WeatherTech Championship and the winner receives an invitation to the following year’s 24 Hours of Le Mans.
The top four Bronze-rated drivers in LMP2 have a realistic shot to claim the Jim Trueman Award in 2026, which would also coincide with them and their pro-rated co-driver winning the LMP2 title outright. Two past Jim Trueman Award winners in George Kurtz and PJ Hyett are among the contenders.
Kurtz leads with 1,701 points in his No. 04 CrowdStrike Racing by APR ORECA LMP2 07, 36 clear of Jeremy Clarke in his No. 43 Inter Europol Competition ORECA. Kurtz has both Rolex 24 At Daytona and 24 Hours of Le Mans class wins to his name in 2026 and three straight runner-up finishes in IMSA. But Clarke is on a roll with back-to-back wins at Canadian Tire Motorsport Park and Road America.
Last year’s champion Hyett, in the No. 99 AO Racing ORECA, sits third and 119 points in arrears, with Daniel Goldburg, in the No. 22 United Autosports USA ORECA in fourth and 184 back.
There’s upwards of 150 points that can be gained in a single race weekend among 11 full-season cars, with more possible based on qualifying points. Though Kurtz and Clarke have the best chance, a strong Indianapolis for either or both of Hyett and Goldburg could propel them back into contention.
WeatherTech Championship Bob Akin Award
For most of 2026, the Grand Touring Daytona (GTD) battle for the Bob Akin Award, and one of IMSA’s subsequent invitations to the following year’s 24 Hours of Le Mans that goes with it, has been a four-car battle. In recent rounds, the last two winners have emerged once again as the primary combatants.
Past Bob Akin Award winner Brendan Iribe, in the No. 70 Inception Racing Ferrari 296 GT3 EVO, has just moved ahead of longtime rival Orey Fidani, the two-time defending winner who is seeking a three-peat in his No. 13 13 Autosport Corvette Z06 GT3.R. Through eight races, Iribe holds a 20-point lead on Fidani. There’s an intriguing divide in their scores in the four sprint rounds versus four IMSA Michelin Endurance Cup rounds.
The 13 Autosport team has excelled in getting key results in the races with more Bronze-entered drivers; Fidani has 1,300 Bronze points in the four longest races so far, while Iribe has 1,100. The results flip the other way in the sprint rounds, where Iribe has 1,400 points as the top finishing Bronze-rated driver in all four, with Fidani scoring 1,180 points.
The more points you can bank in a race with more Bronze entries, the better your chances are of securing the full-season honor as you have the ability to expand the in-race gap. With two races remaining, one sprint and one endurance round apiece, the Bronze-rated entries will fluctuate. Three are anticipated at Indianapolis but at least six are anticipated for the season finale at Motul Petit Le Mans. The Inception crew won in GTD at Indianapolis last year but lost the Bob Akin Award at Michelin Raceway Road Atlanta after being caught up in a first-lap incident.
Michelin Pilot Challenge GS Bronze Cup
There’s an under-the-radar but intense rivalry brewing among the two full-season Bronze Cup entries in IMSA Michelin Pilot Challenge Grand Sport (GS). Hugh Plumb and Ted Giovanis have won the last two Bronze Cup titles aboard their No. 64 Team TGM entry, then an Aston Martin. They’re now trying to defend it with a Ford Mustang GT4. They won the first three Bronze Cup races of the year, and a key fourth win at VIR has netted them a 40-point lead.
Until VIR, series newcomers VRC Motorsports Group, LLC with Dan Ammann and Owen Trinkler in their No. 91 Porsche 718 GT4 RS CS, were surging. Ammann and Trinkler won the Bronze Cup in four straight races from Mid-Ohio through Road America to get within 10 points – or one position – of Plumb and Giovanis.
Trinkler, who has more than 200 Michelin Pilot Challenge starts as the championship’s active starts leader, is a former Team TGM driver. Now with Ammann, a Historic Sportscar Racing (HSR) endurance champion co-driver in his first IMSA season, Trinkler is looking to beat his former squad.
VP Racing Challenge LMP3 Bronze Cup
Bronze-rated drivers have been a regular part of IMSA’s Le Mans Prototype 3 (LMP3) competition in 2026, across both VP Racing SportsCar Challenge 45-minute, single-driver sprint races and IMSA Airbnb Endurance Challenge two-hour, two-driver endurance races. After 12 rounds, there is a dead heat between the two top LMP3 drivers in the championship.
Multiple-time Bronze Cup champion Brian Thienes is trying to defend his crown aboard Forte Racing’s No. 77 Ligier JS P325. But he’s had strong competition all year from Travis Hill in the TWOth Autosport-prepared No. 2 Shopify Racing Ligier JS P325.
They’re deadlocked on 3,750 points with two rounds to go. Thienes has four Bronze Cup wins, although none since the COTA endurance round in May. Hill has five Bronze Cup wins, including a sprint sweep at his home track of Canadian Tire Motorsport Park in June.
Put simply, whichever driver finishes ahead in the two races at Michelin Raceway Road Atlanta will claim this title.
VP Racing Challenge GSX Bronze Cup
The GSX Bronze Cup in VP Racing Challenge turned on its head at VIR. Heading into VIR, Ammann (No. 91 VRC Motorsports Group, LLC Porsche 718 GT4 RS CS), led Rafa Martinez (No. 68 RAFA Racing Toyota GR Supra GT4 EVO2) by 30 points and Jon Brel (No. 81 Kingpin Racing Toyota GR Supra GT4 EVO2) by 40.
Full-timers Ammann and Brel secured their first Bronze wins of the season at CTMP, bucking an unusual run where part-time GSX entries swept the first six races of the year.
But Brel had a dynamic VIR weekend with two Bronze wins while both Martinez and Ammann encountered weekend issues. Leaving the weekend, Brel now holds a 110-point lead on Martinez and 380 on Ammann.
VP Racing Challenge only has one more weekend at Michelin Raceway with two races, while both Michelin Pilot Challenge and the WeatherTech Championship have two more weekends left to settle these titles.