DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. – Whether they embrace it or not, Denis Dupont and Preston Brown are the undisputed kings of IMSA Michelin Pilot Challenge’s four-hour endurance races.
As the series heads back to Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course for the third edition of the O’Reilly Auto Parts 4 Hours of Mid-Ohio, Dupont and Brown are seeking their fourth four-hour race win in the last two years in the No. 76 Bryan Herta Autosport with Curb Agajanian Hyundai Elantra N TCR in Touring Car (TCR).
In five total four-hour starts together in the No. 76 Herta Hyundai, Dupont and Brown have three wins (Mid-Ohio 2024 and Daytona International Speedway 2025, 2026) and two second-place finishes (Daytona 2024, Mid-Ohio 2025).
“No pressure, right?” Dupont laughed. “We love the four-hour races. We seem to do our best there. We stay composed, we execute and we’re there at the end.”
They were also unique among BHA’s quartet of entries in sticking to a two-driver lineup at the first four-hour race at Daytona, while each of the team’s No. 18, 33 and 98 cars added a third driver.
“Two years ago we had a third (driver), and we got second,” Brown explained. “That went fine, but I think it’s a case where Denis and I click, and we don’t necessarily want to put more things into the equation.”
At Daytona, Dupont’s charge to pass teammate Bryson Morris in the No. 33 Hyundai he shares with Mason Filippi came after several hours of clean but intense racing.
“It was such great TCR racing,” Brown reflected. “The first three cars were nose-to-tail forever. It shows how well IMSA’s doing with this series, and I was so impressed. Denis was biding his time.”
Dupont and Brown have four career wins apiece, with three of them in the four-hour races. Their only sprint triumph came at WeatherTech Raceway Laguna Seca in 2025.
The pair finished second to teammates Filippi and Morris this year in Monterey after a comeback drive, as the No. 76 car recovered from an early-race flat tire aided by some well-timed caution flags.
“When we went green after the second yellow we didn’t have the tires fully warmed up, so I slid off the end of the Corkscrew and got the flat,” Brown said. “Luckily it was a fast tire change, and the debris from a subsequent yellow saved us. With an hour to go, Denis knew he had to make the tires go, and he did it.”
The Dupont/Brown pair sits second in the TCR championship, 110 points behind Filippi and Morris, who are off to a strong start with two thirds and a win this year. Filippi and two-time TCR champion (2023 and 2025) Harry Gottsacker won in Mid-Ohio last year in the Herta team’s No. 98 Hyundai.
Always keen to impress not far from its Marysville, Ohio plant, Honda will look to snap the Hyundai win streak at Mid-Ohio with its quartet of cars, including the No. 89 HART Honda Civic FL5 TCR of Chad Gilsinger, Tyler Chambers and Cameron Lawrence. The HART entry was second to start the year in Daytona. Honda of America Racing Team (HART) is a volunteer activity welcoming Honda associates from all backgrounds to enhance their skillsets in the intense, high-speed world of racing.
The No. 93 MMG Honda Civic FL5 TCR won the pole at Mid-Ohio last year as Karl Wittmer set a track record, and Wittmer and LP Montour scored an overdue first podium of 2026 at Monterey. Their midseason run of form last year started in Ohio as they finished third behind the two BHA Hyundais. Honda’s last four-hour race win occurred in Watkins Glen in 2021. Dai Yoshihara resumes as third driver this race.
GS: Turner BMW Has a Pair of Wins to Defend
In GS and overall, Turner Motorsport is riding high heading to Mid-Ohio as the winners of both the most recent 2026 race and last year’s Mid-Ohio race.
The commonality between the two is Dillon Machavern, who shared the No. 95 BMW M4 GT4 EVO on both occasions. Machavern watched on the pit box as co-driver Francis Selldorff held off a host of challengers last year while in Monterey and did the same in Monterey this year as Luca Mars brought the No. 95 car home to the win at WeatherTech Raceway Laguna Seca.
Finishes of fourth, third and first have positioned the No. 95 car with the pair of past GS champions leading Daan Arrow and Bryce Ward in their No. 57 Winward Racing Mercedes-AMG GT GT4 by 30 points (they’ve finished third, second and fourth).
Two other cars have opened the year strongly with three top-10 finishes in as many races to sit third and fourth in points. McCumbee McAleer Racing’s Nate Cicero has scored a pair of poles in Daytona and Monterey and along with Robert Noaker, finished sixth, eighth and third to start the year in the No. 13 Ford Mustang GT4. Auto Technic Racing’s Austin Krainz and Stevan McAleer have been BMW’s other model of consistency with results of fifth, fifth and sixth in the No. 27 BMW M4 GT4 EVO as they continue to close on an elusive first victory.
Entry List Updates and Weekend Schedule
A field of 46 cars is split 30 GS and 16 TCR, with the following changes or tweaks since Monterey:
- Madeline Stewart resumes as third driver in the No. 2 CSM Porsche 718 GT4 RS CS alongside Monterey runners-up Gordon Scully and Morgan Burkhard, as Stewart and Jonathan Browne’s No. 3 car did not enter this race.
- Medusa Motorsports is set for its first four-hour race with its new No. 4 Aston Martin Vantage AMR GT4 Evo, having switched from Ford at the previous round in Monterey, and adds Sebastian Saavedra as third driver alongside Hunter Yeany and Athan Sterling.
- Third GS drivers Martin Sarukanyan (No. 14 Circle H Racing), Mike Ortmann (No. 26 Heart of Racing Team), and Kris Wilson (No. 64 TeamTGM) rejoin the cars they raced in at the first four-hour race in Daytona.
- Casey Moyer fills in for Scott Thomson in the No. 30 LAP Motorsports Ford Mustang GT4 alongside Clayton Wiliams.
- Kingpin Racing makes its first Michelin Pilot Challenge start of 2026 with Rob Walker, Chad Carnevale and Murray Wunderly sharing the No. 53 Toyota GR Supra GT4 EVO2.
- BGB Motorsports returns for the first time since Sebring with Spencer Pumpelly, Thomas Collingwood and third driver 2025 GS champion Jan Heylen aboard the No. 83 Porsche 718 GT4 RS CS.
- Gou Racing with Stallion continues with the No. 55 Audi RS3 LMS TCR after moving from Cupra in Monterey. The team missed this race last year.
- Shifted TCR lineups this race include new or returning third drivers Maciej Tobola (No. 15 Rockwell Autosport Development), Eric Rockwell (No. 31 RVA Graphics Motorsports by Speed Syndicate), Mario Farnbacher (No. 72 Pegram Racing) and Dai Yoshihara (No. 93 MMG).
- Caleb Bacon joins Victor Gonzalez Racing’s No. 21 Cupra Leon VZ TCR this race alongside Steven Clemons.
Michelin Pilot Challenge teams have two one-hour practice sessions, one apiece on Friday afternoon and Saturday morning, before qualifying Saturday afternoon. Sunday’s four-hour race rolls off at 12:15 p.m. ET, streaming live flag-to-flag on Peacock and ad-free courtesy of Michelin via IMSA’s Official YouTube channel.
Fast Facts
O’Reilly Auto Parts 4 Hours of Mid-Ohio
Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course – Lexington, Ohio
June 5-7, 2026
Race Day/Time:Â Sunday, June 7, 12:15 p.m. ET
Peacock Streaming Coverage: LIVE – Flag-to-flag beginning at 12:10 p.m. ET (available outside the U.S. on IMSA.tv and ad-free globally, courtesy of Michelin via IMSA’s Official YouTube channel)
Circuit Type:Â 2.258-mile, 13-turn road course
Classes Competing:Â Grand Sport (GS), Touring Car (TCR)
Race Length:Â Four hours
Michelin Pilot Challenge Track Records
- GS:Â Michael de Quesada, McLaren Artura GT4, 1:26.262 / 94.233 mph, June 2024 (Qualifying)
- TCR:Â Karl Wittmer, Honda Civic FL5 TCR, 1:26.747 / 93.706 mph, June 2025 (Qualifying)
2025 O’Reilly Auto Parts 4 Hours of Mid-Ohio Winners
- GS:Â Francis Selldorff/Dillon Machavern, No. 95 Turner Motorsport BMW M4 GT4 EVO
- TCR:Â Mason Filippi/Harry Gottsacker, No. 98 Bryan Herta Autosport with Curb Agajanian Hyundai Elantra N TCR
Storylines
- Four-Hour Showcase:Â For a third straight year, the Mid-Ohio Michelin Pilot Challenge race serves as the headline event of a standalone weekend apart from an IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship event, and the four-hour duration tests strategy, speed and fuel mileage.
- Summer Stretch Starting:Â The Mid-Ohio round kicks off the hectic summer five-race stretch of racing for Michelin Pilot Challenge competitors over the next three months, after three races in the first five months to start the year.
Who’s Hot?
- Turner and Winward:Â On weekends where their Michelin Pilot Challenge teams are participating without their WeatherTech Championship programs present, these are the top two GS teams with a combined six top-five results from six starts this year.
- Bryan Herta Autosport and Hyundai: Bryan Herta Autosport’s Hyundai Elantra N TCR car has won two of the first three races to start 2026, split between its No. 76 of Preston Brown and Denis Dupont at Daytona and Mason Filippi and Bryson Morris in the No. 33 at Monterey.
Who’s Good Here?
- Bill Auberlen:Â The winningest driver in WeatherTech Championship history has five top-level IMSA wins and two Michelin Pilot Challenge wins (back-to-back with Turner Motorsport, 20 and 21 years ago) at Mid-Ohio. Together with Samantha Tan, the No. 38 ST Racing by Random Vandals BMW M4 GT4 EVO will be one to watch in the four-hour.
- Bryan Herta Autosport and Hyundai:Â The team has won the last four Mid-Ohio rounds with its Hyundai Elantra N TCR and four different combinations (Parker Chase/Ryan Norman in 2021, Chase/Harry Gottsacker in 2022, Preston Brown/Denis Dupont in 2024, Gottsacker/Mason Filippi in 2025).
- Turner Motorsport: Turner has three of BMW’s eight wins at Mid-Ohio in Michelin Pilot Challenge, including last year in GS.