WeatherTech Championship Season Features 75th Mobil 1 Twelve Hours of Sebring; Michelin Pilot Challenge Adds Second Headline Event at Lime Rock Park

SEBRING, Fla. (March 19, 2026) – The International Motor Sports Association (IMSA) today revealed its 2027 schedules for the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship and IMSA Michelin Pilot Challenge, becoming the first major auto racing sanctioning body to announce its schedule for the following season for the third consecutive year.

“Announcing our schedule this early in the year, which has now become our tradition, is a testament to the stability of our events and our promoter relationships, and we are grateful to all of our promoter partners,” said IMSA CEO Ed Bennett. “It also provides an opportunity for everybody involved – from stakeholders and participants to IMSA race fans – to adequately make their plans to attend well in advance. Nearly all of our events have seen year-over-year attendance increases the past few years, so it is conceivable that our strategy of announcing our schedules in March is paying dividends.”

The WeatherTech Championship again features an 11-race season with some subtle changes, while the Michelin Pilot Challenge again features 10 races but will include a second headlining event in 2027.

2027 IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship to Feature Milestone Event at Sebring

Stability remains the name of the game with the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship, with all 11 venues that have hosted the series for the past several seasons returning in 2027.

“Each season presents an opportunity to build on IMSA’s incredible momentum, and the 2027 schedule represents the very best of our longstanding partnerships and world class venues,” said IMSA President John Doonan. “We are grateful for the continued collaboration with our television partner, NBC Sports, whose support allows us to showcase IMSA’s thrilling, multi class racing to race fans everywhere. We also appreciate the cooperation from our fellow sanctioning bodies as we all work together in good faith to minimize date conflicts and create the strongest possible calendar for teams, partners, and fans.

“The 2027 season is especially meaningful as we celebrate several historic milestones: the 75th running of the Mobil 1 Twelve Hours of Sebring, the 70th anniversary of WeatherTech Raceway Laguna Seca, the 65th Rolex 24 At Daytona and the 30th running of Motul Petit Le Mans. These iconic events represent the heart and soul of sports car racing, and we look forward to honoring their legacies with our competitors and passionate fanbase next season.”

The season will start one weekend later than it has traditionally started with the 65th running of the Rolex 24 At Daytona slated for the weekend of January 28-31 on the 3.56-mile Daytona International Speedway circuit. Daytona again kicks off the “36 Hours of Florida,” and will be followed by the milestone 75th running of the Mobil 1 Twelve Hours of Sebring on March 17-20.

Both races again will be part of the five-race IMSA Michelin Endurance Cup season and will include all four classes – Grand Touring Prototype (GTP), Le Mans Prototype 2 (LMP2), Grand Touring Daytona Pro (GTD PRO) and Grand Touring Daytona (GTD).

From there, the series makes its way to California for the annual “West Coast Swing,” featuring the 100-minute Acura Grand Prix of Long Beach on April 16-17 and a two-hour, 40-minute race at WeatherTech Raceway Laguna Seca in Monterey, California on April 30-May 2. Long Beach will feature the GTP and GTD classes, while GTD PRO joins the party in Monterey.

The streets of downtown Detroit again will feature the sights and sounds of GTP and GTD PRO machinery on June 4-5 when the series returns for another 100-minute battle as part of the Chevrolet Detroit Grand Prix. The Sahlen’s Six Hours of The Glen opens the summer portion of the season with the WeatherTech Championship making its annual voyage to New York’s Finger Lakes region for the annual four-class, six-hour clash on June 24-27. Watkins Glen marks the halfway point in the battle for the Michelin Endurance Cup.

Canadian Tire Motorsport Park in Bowmanville, Ontario brings three WeatherTech Championship classes – LMP2, GTD PRO and GTD – north of the border for two hours and 40 minutes of racing on July 9-11. All four classes reunite in Elkhart Lake, Wisconsin for another six-hour battle on the famed, four-mile Road America circuit on July 29-August 1 which marks the penultimate race of the 2027 Michelin Endurance Cup.

VIRginia International Raceway in Alton, Virginia hosts its traditional, two-hour, 40-minute battle for the GTD PRO and GTD classes in the Michelin GT Challenge on August 20-22. After a nearly one-month break, all four classes will reunite at Indianapolis Motor Speedway for the two-hour, 40-minute TireRack.com Battle on the Bricks for the secondto-last WeatherTech Championship race of the season on September 17-19.

All of that will set the stage for an epic, 10-hour finale – the 30th Motul Petit Le Mans – at Michelin Raceway Road Atlanta in Braselton, Georgia on October 6-9 to close out both the 2027 WeatherTech Championship and Michelin Endurance Cup seasons.

The 2027 season again will open with three days of testing at the Roar Before the Rolex 24 on January 22-24. The Roar is mandatory for all teams competing in the Rolex 24 At Daytona.

Expanded IMSA-Sanctioned Testing Planned at Tracks Hosting Endurance Events

In addition to unveiling the 2027 WeatherTech Championship schedule, IMSA also unveiled plans to offer expanded sanctioned testing prior to the five IMSA Michelin Endurance Cup events at each of the facilities hosting these events. The sanctioned tests would be for active WeatherTech Championship competitors only. More information and specific dates will be announced later.

2027 IMSA Michelin Pilot Challenge Sees Return to Lime Rock Park for Headline Race

The two-class IMSA Michelin Pilot Challenge – featuring the Grand Sport (GS) and Touring Car (TCR) classes – will be the weekend headliner for two of its 10 event weekends in 2027 as the series tops the bill in a return to Lime Rock Park in addition to being the main attraction with its annual four-hour race at Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course.

The FCP Euro Northeast Grand Prix will serve as the penultimate round of the 2027 Michelin Pilot Challenge, bringing the series to the 1.5-mile bullring in Lakeville, Connecticut on the weekend of September 23-25. The two-hour race will be the first IMSA-sanctioned race at Lime Rock since the 2023 season.

“The loyal fans at Lime Rock Park have been hungry for a return of IMSA competition and we are thrilled to bring it to them in the fall of 2027,” said Doonan. “This race will give the IMSA Michelin Pilot Challenge another well-deserved opportunity in the spotlight and will undoubtedly be a highlight of what we expect will be another highly competitive season in 2027.”

Eight of the 10 Michelin Pilot Challenge races will run as a companion to the WeatherTech Championship season. The season will open with the traditional four-hour battle at Daytona International Speedway on the weekend of January 28-31, followed by the trek to Sebring International Raceway for the first of eight two-hour races in the season on March 17-20. 

The series will forego a trek to the West Coast in 2027, returning to competition with the second and final four-hour race of the season as the headliner at Mid-Ohio on June 11-13. Watkins Glen International is next on June 24-27, followed by Canadian Tire Motorsport Park on July 9-11 to close out the first half of the season.

Road America opens the second half on July 29-August 1, followed by VIRginia International Raceway on August 20-22 and Indianapolis Motor Speedway on September 17-19. It will be a quick, one-week turnaround for the series to get to Lime Rock, followed by a two-week break prior to the season finale at Michelin Raceway Road Atlanta on October 6-9.

The 2027 Michelin Pilot Challenge season again opens with three days of non-mandatory testing at the Roar Before the Rolex 24 on January 22-24.