Robby Foley has had a busy few weeks behind the wheel of his Turner Motorsports BMW. From COTA to Laguna Seca and now Sebring, the veteran driver has logged plenty of laps leading into Turner’s return to the Sunshine State.

The 2026 season has already delivered strong results for Turner Motorsports. Following a podium finish at Long Beach in IMSA, along with championship battles in both IMSA and GT World Challenge America, Foley has consistently remained in contention.

“Yeah, I think we started out with some disappointment at Daytona after having a really fast car,” said Foley. “We still finished 10th inside the Top 10 in the competitive races. It was good, but we definitely left there wanting more. Then we racked up a top five at the Sebring 12, a podium at Long Beach, which was great. which puts us in a great position in the points now. I think GTD is so strong that you basically have to finish in the Top 7 or 8 every race to kind of stay in the picture and we’ve been able to do that consistently. We know how to fight for the championship. We fought for it in 2024, albeit the 57 Winward car was pretty dominant that year.”

“But, it’s been great as well on this side (GT World Challenge America) side of things. Moving up to PRO. We had a strong Sonoma, even though the results didn’t show, and then, finished second at COTA. I think our mentality is always to kind of maximize each weekend.”

“I think as deep as the fields are, especially in IMSA these days, you can’t afford to throw away points. There’s a lot of different mentalities in the driving that goes on in IMSA. A lot of desperation that pays off often. Then there’s some heroics that sometimes pays off short term and some people stretch out through the whole season and it works out. But for us, we just try to think big picture.”

“We finished together with Patrick and generally the tenure of the team, we’ve always finished inside the Top 4 or 5 in points. Even last year, we didn’t have a very sexy year. We finished 4th in points, knocking on the door of third. We’re going to try to do that, maximize our package. We’ve had fast cars this year and just try to convert on that.”

Part of that speed can be attributed to BMW’s EVO package, which the manufacturer introduced in 2025.

Heading into 2026, the package received additional refinements, and the BMW M4 GT3 EVO has shown impressive pace throughout the season.

“The proper EVO came last year. This year we had a small update to the turbochargers and stuff that basically the EVO kit, just timing-wise, couldn’t. To make a long story short, we have some small updates for this year, but talking about the EVO in general, it’s kind of the second year with the basic package of the EVO.”

“It’s definitely changed the car a bunch for the positive. Tire degradation’s a bit better. The car’s a little easier to keep in the aero window. BMW’s done a lot of work to just refine what was already a winning car. We learn about it every weekend. I think both interestingly in IMSA and in SRO, we’ve had new tires in the last year. So, they are actually quite a bit different than what we’ve been running before. So, that’s taken some adaptation.”

“It’s a new car in some ways. It’s the same car in other ways, and you’re constantly learning and evolving. So, I think each day we learn something a little bit new. Like here, we are at Sebring this weekend. The track temp is in the 130s in Fahrenheit, which is very rare at a racetrack in general. So that’s a new challenge. It keeps you on your toes for sure.”

The IMSA GTD championship has been far more open in 2026 compared to recent seasons. After Winward Racing controlled much of the category in 2024 and 2025 en route to consecutive championships, several teams have emerged as title contenders this year, including Turner Motorsports.

“They (Winward Racing) definitely racked up a couple wins early in the past few seasons,” said Foley. “They’ve had a clear lead and then they managed from there. They do a very good job. Their platform is strong. I think me personally, it doesn’t change my mentality. I sort of wonder if some of the more aggressive drivers and teams will take a slightly different approach.”

“If you look at the championships in the past couple of years, the average finish is somewhere between 3rd and 5th. You can win and then finish 7th or you can finish 3rd and 4th a bunch. For us, I think the way that we restack the field and the aggression level, just the way those races are, it’s definitely intense and many things can go wrong. It’s not all dictated by pace. It’s not all dictated by strategy. Although the strategy is very important, it can definitely turn upside down pretty quick.”

“So, for us, not to sound like a broken record, but just being consistent and taking what you can get on a given day and not being desperate. Laguna, we finished 7th. There were plenty of situations where I was frustrated with a couple of things that were going on and could have maybe finished a spot or two higher if I was ultra-aggressive but easily could have finished last. That’s kind of the mentality. Then when you’re in a good position, like in Long Beach, where we could get up to 2nd, you have to maximize that. We’ll try to keep doing that the rest of the year.”

Away from GT3 competition, Foley also remains active in Turner Motorsports’ GT4 program in IMSA Michelin Pilot Challenge. Despite competing at the top level of GT racing, he said driving the BMW M4 GT4 EVO continues to fuel his passion for racing.

“Yeah, I love the racing,” said Foley. “I think it’s one of the most competitive series because of the nature of the cars. You can race quite close. There’s not a lot of air wash. There’s a tiny bit, but not much.”

“It’s a cool dynamic within the team because we have Dillon (Machavern) and Luca (Mars), two young guys and quick guys that drive together. Then we have myself and Vin (Vincett Barletta). It allows us to split the strategies kind of often.”

“Vin and I won the championship in 2023. The rules were slightly different with the way they do the short yellows and stuff now, but basically it’s a great dynamic within the team and I still love the challenge of that racing and a lot of times trying to rip through the field.”

“It’s awesome to see Luca and Dillon leading the points for now. They’re two very smart drivers as well. Collectively on our team throughout, we have big picture thinkers, which to me, that’s what you have to be to win a championship. I think my first year in GS was in 2019. I took a little bit of a hiatus in the last couple of years just with the way things have worked out.”

“But I love the series. We had a little bit of a rough Sebring in the No. 96 here, but we’re trying to get it back on track. We had a great fifth-place finish at Laguna, so looking forward to the next one.”

The recent stretch of races has also created a demanding travel schedule, with events at Circuit of The Americas, Laguna Seca, and Sebring all packed into a short window.

“Yeah, it is, but it’s still difficult, especially because I haven’t been home,” Foley said. “I think I’ve been home two days out of six weeks, two or three days. I’ve also snuck in some coaching in between all this and some different things. I’ve definitely been living at racetracks.”

“The biggest thing is just staying calm and taking it as it comes,” he continued. “You can’t let travel frustrations upset you. I’ve had a couple of days in between where I’ve had a day or two off and I just go to the next racetrack, find a place to do laundry, relax, and kind of just get a reset in.”

Maintaining a physical routine has become especially important given the demands of endurance racing.

“Racing’s hard on your body,” Foley said. “It’s different being a tall guy. I struggle with seats and whatever. My shoulders and my back is always a moving target, so I got to do certain exercises to keep myself going. But now I have a good routine and I love it for sure.”

Working alongside Patrick Gallagher and Justin Rothberg has also contributed to Turner’s recent success. Foley described the pair as talented drivers at different stages of development.

“Patrick I’ve known for a long time,” Foley said. “He and I have a similar background in racing. We both kind of raced MX-5s here and there. He’s a little older than me, but we kind of raced similar cars. We’ve done similar stuff. So, for me, I’ve been doing GT cars longer than him, so I’ve been able to kind of help him adapt to that.”

“Justin (Rothberg) is new to racing, even though he’s been in this paddock for a few years now,” Foley said. “He’s won some championships — three championships, actually, two GT World Challenge and one GT America. And he has another championship before that. So Justin’s got a lot of accolades, but still, he’s gaining experience each and every time.”

“The first year was teaching Justin everything,” Foley said. “He’s never done a pit stop, driver change, outlaps, especially we took the tire warmers away at some point, so we had to do cold tire outlaps. What’s a full course yellow? How do the tires cool down and get warm again?”

“Coming into 2025, there was less to teach him, and it was more focusing on small details,” he continued. “This year jumping up to PRO is more about Justin’s pace again, where last year was more focusing on dotting I’s and crossing T’s, doing everything right. Now we have to go after the last bit of pace to get him up to speed and he’s been doing well.”

The Turner driver also reacted to his teammate, Rothberg’s ARCA debut at Toledo last season, where the GT World Challenge competitor made the jump into stock car racing.

“Yeah, I was just a fan there,” Foley said. “I was just basically hanging out as a fan and I watched that. It was cool. He’s been doing some oval stuff as well. I think he’s loving that and doing well. He’s going to dabble in that a bit more this summer.”

When asked whether he would consider trying ARCA competition himself, Foley admitted the opportunity is intriguing.

“I would love to,” Foley said. “I don’t necessarily have the time and I don’t want to jeopardize the day job, for lack of a better term. But I would love to try an oval on dirt, on asphalt, just to give it a shot. So that’d be fun.”

As GT World Challenge America prepares for Sebring’s unique three-hour evening race, Turner Motorsport’s endurance racing background could prove to be an advantage. Having run back in March for the 12 Hours of Sebring, the long-form racing experience may show itself.

“Yeah, I mean, it’s more like the race that we know from March,” Foley said. “We have a lot of experience there with this car in terms of how the car will change just as it kind of noses over from day into evening.”

“We’re not going to go into the night here where there’s kind of more drastic temperature change, but just like any racetrack, it’s temperature dependent,” he added. “For us, the balance will shift a little bit and we have to kind of preempt that or just be prepared for that, which we have good data on what we think is going to happen.”

 

Image Courtesy to BMW