The 2026 season schedule has been released for the WeatherTech SportsCar Championship and the Michelin Pilot Challenge, two of IMSA’s top-level series.

Most of the schedule remains unchanged, with all tracks from 2025 and previous years retained on the series calendar. However, there are some notable format adjustments to races that add intrigue heading into next season.

The 2026 season will begin largely unchanged, with Daytona, Sebring, Long Beach, and Laguna Seca all remaining on the calendar in similar time frames. Sebring’s later March date is designed to allow IndyCar drivers to participate in the “once around the clock” feature, which now takes place a week after IndyCar’s inaugural race on the streets of Arlington.

The Michelin Pilot Challenge will support three of the first four races, taking an off-weekend during Long Beach.

After the Florida and California swings, the series shifts to the Midwest with the return to the streets of Detroit for the WeatherTech SportsCar Championship, headlined by the GTP and GTD Pro classes.

A track with mixed reviews, IMSA will support IndyCar for the final time in 2026 in the Motor City, marking the third consecutive year that the top sports car series has competed on the downtown street circuit.

The Michelin Pilot Challenge will host its standalone feature event from June 5-7 at Mid-Ohio, featuring a four-hour endurance race for the second straight year, just ahead of the WEC’s 24 Hours of Le Mans.

All classes will reunite for the WeatherTech SportsCar Championship in late June for the 6 Hours of the Glen at Watkins Glen. This date shift avoids a scheduling conflict with Le Mans. Meanwhile, LMP2 cars will once again headline the early July weekend at Canadian Tire Motorsport Park (CTMP).

The most significant change on the calendar is the Road America weekend, which will now feature a six-hour format in early August. Previously a sprint race, Road America will now include all four classes and join the Michelin Endurance Cup schedule, replacing Indianapolis.

VIR will close out August with IMSA’s GTD-only round, followed by the final two races of the season: the sprint-format Indy weekend in September and the Motul Petit Le Mans 10-hour race at Road Atlanta in October, serving as the season finale.

In total, the WeatherTech SportsCar Championship and Michelin Pilot Challenge will pair up for ten events, with two standalone races for the top series and one solo weekend for the Pilot Challenge.

“Doing things like this, in our opinion, gives everybody—from race teams to drivers to very important partners, our broadcast partners, and ultimately, the biggest beneficiaries, the fans—confidence that the schedule is intact and what we’re going to do,” IMSA President John Doonan stated to the media at Sebring. “As you know, over the years, we have tried to create stability—stability in partners, with all of our long-term entitlement partners committed into the 2030 timeframe. Our partnership with NBC does the same thing in terms of stability. We believe the schedule and getting it out early does the same. Also, venues and dates are important for cadence. What you see in the 2026 calendar are similar venues to where we’re at today, with a bit of a twist. We’re very excited about that.”

 
 

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