Road America 6 Hours 2026: Preview, Form & Who to Watch
IMSA's WeatherTech SportsCar Championship heads to Road America this weekend for something the historic Wisconsin road course has never hosted: a full six-hour endurance race. It's Round 8 of 2026, the GTP prototypes' first outing in five weeks, and it arrives with a championship that's tilting hard in one direction. Here's the form guide.
A first: six hours at Road America
For 2026, IMSA promoted the Road America round to a full six-hour race and a round of the Michelin Endurance Cup — the first six-hour event in the track's IMSA history, up from the old 2-hour-40-minute sprint. (Road America effectively swapped endurance status with the Indianapolis round this season.) The Motul SportsCar Endurance Grand Prix drew a 54-car entry across all four classes.
The extra distance matters. None of the front-running GTP cars has raced a six-hour event at this circuit, so fuel and tire strategy — and the timing of full-course cautions, which decided both last year's Road America race and this year's Watkins Glen enduro — become even bigger variables on a 4.048-mile, 14-turn track that rewards top speed and commitment through the Kink.
The 2026 GTP title picture
The story of the GTP season is the No. 31 Cadillac of Whelen/Action Express Racing. Jack Aitken leads the championship on 2,145 points — a commanding 203-point cushion over Porsche's Laurin Heinrich (1,942) — and the No. 31 has won the last two GTP rounds, at Detroit and Watkins Glen, riding a class-record eight straight podiums. Cadillac also leads Porsche in the manufacturers' standings.
That margin is big enough that Aitken and co-driver Earl Bamber can't mathematically be caught at Road America itself — but it's not a title clinched. Three GTP rounds remain (Road America, Indianapolis on Sep 20 and Petit Le Mans on Oct 3), so there's plenty of racing left. For everyone else, this weekend is about winning races and chipping away.
Who's won in 2026
Victories have been spread across three manufacturers through the first seven rounds (GTP did not compete at the CTMP round on Jul 12):
| Rolex 24, Daytona | No. 7 Porsche Penske — Nasr / Andlauer |
| 12 Hours of Sebring | No. 7 Porsche Penske — Nasr / Andlauer |
| Long Beach | No. 93 Acura Meyer Shank — van der Zande / Yelloly |
| Monterey | No. 5 JDC-Miller Porsche — Heinrich |
| Detroit | No. 31 Cadillac Action Express — Aitken / Bamber |
| Watkins Glen | No. 31 Cadillac Action Express — Aitken / Bamber / Vesti |
Manufacturer wins so far: Porsche 3, Cadillac 2, Acura 1. Neither BMW nor Lamborghini has won a GTP race in 2026.
Road America recent winners
Recent history at the track leans Porsche and BMW:
| 2025 | No. 24 BMW M Team RLL — Vanthoor / Eng (BMW 1-2) |
| 2024 | No. 6 Porsche Penske — Jaminet / Tandy (Porsche 1-2) |
| 2023 | Porsche Penske — Campbell / Nasr |
BMW M Team RLL are the defending Road America winners — though the marque is still chasing its first GTP victory of 2026.
The GT classes
The GT battles are far tighter than GTP. In GTD Pro, the No. 1 Paul Miller Racing BMW M4 of Connor De Phillippi and Neil Verhagen leads the standings. In GTD, Eduardo "Dudu" Barrichello heads the class in the No. 27 Heart of Racing Aston Martin, with Aston Martin and Ferrari separated by only a handful of points in the manufacturers' fight. With bigger fields and closer margins, the GT classes often serve up the best racing of the afternoon.
Ones to Watch
Our picks below are informed opinion based on the form above — not a crystal ball.
The clear form pick. The No. 31 has won at Detroit and Watkins Glen back-to-back and hasn't been off the podium in eight races. On current pace they're the ones to beat — six-hour unknown or not.
The pairing that swept Daytona and Sebring, in the team that won the last two Porsche victories at Road America. If anyone has the endurance pedigree to spoil the Cadillac party, it's Penske.
A track-specific pick more than a form one: BMW RLL won here in 2025 (a BMW 1-2) but hasn't won a GTP race yet this season. Road America has been a happy hunting ground, and a strategy race could drag them back into it.
Second in the championship and already a winner this year at Monterey. Realistically the only driver with even a remote shot at the title math, so expect a maximum-attack afternoon.
How to watch: Peacock streams the full six hours flag-to-flag, with qualifying on Saturday afternoon — the only way to catch the whole race start to finish. Select windows also air on NBC's networks. For the complete channel breakdown, see our How to Watch IMSA in 2026 guide.
Full event details & how to watch →
Form and standings verified as of publication (Sunday, July 26, 2026). "Ones to watch" are our opinion — see our Editorial Policy. Start times shown in US Eastern; on the schedule they convert to your local zone.
