Wide Open GS Title Battle Entering Road Atlanta Finale

Under the current IMSA Michelin Pilot Challenge points structure introduced in 2021, there’s been an 80 percent hit rate of drivers leading the points at the second-to-last race and securing the championship at the Michelin Raceway Road Atlanta season finale. The two times out of ten it didn’t happen, the lead was 30 points or less.

First-time 2026 GS championship leaders Austin Krainz and Stevan McAleer in the No. 27 AutoTechnic Racing BMW M4 GT4 EVO come to the Fox Factory 120 with a lead of exactly 30 points.

Krainz and McAleer haven’t won but have been the model of consistency for two years straight.

They can only clinch outright with a win; otherwise, they’ll need to finish ahead of their rivals. This year, they’ve finished between second and 11th in eight of nine races, and only have a worst result of 17th.

They’re the fifth different GS entry to lead the championship this year, following the No. 71 Rebel Rock Racing Aston Martin Vantage GT4 Evo, No. 57 Winward Racing Mercedes-AMG GT GT4, No. 95 Turner Motorsport BMW M4 GT4 EVO and No. 13 McCumbee McAleer Racing Ford Mustang GT4.

Emblematic of the topsy-turvy nature of 2026, Krainz and McAleer’s pre-Michelin Raceway point total of 2,190 points is the lowest entering the final round by any GS leader since the current points system was introduced.

They’re ahead of the aforementioned No. 95 Turner BMW featuring past GS champions Dillon Machavern (2017) and Luca Mars (2025) by 30 points and Robert Noaker in the No. 13 MMR Ford by 40. Both Turner and MMR have second entries this race, including MMR’s debuting No. 61 Ford Mustang GT4 of Jenson Altzman and Erik Evans.

Fourth-placed Michael Cooper and Moisey Uretsky (120 back, No. 44 Ibiza Farm Motorsport McLaren Artura GT4) and fifth-placed Bryce Ward (130 back, No. 57 Winward Mercedes-AMG) are in with a mathematical shot.

Cooper and Uretsky won both at Indianapolis last race and Michelin Raceway last year. Wild point swings can occur with up to a maximum 340-point swing between first (350 points) and 30th (10).

The only GS second-place entry to leap to first at the finale in the last five years occurred in 2021.

Jan Heylen and Ryan Hardwick won the finale aboard Wright Motorsports’ No. 16 Porsche 718 Cayman GT4 Clubsport RS, which propelled Heylen from 30 points down entering the finale to the championship by 190 points over Turner Motorsport’s Machavern and Bill Auberlen and Machavern, who had a fraught finale en route to 18th in their No. 95 BMW M4 GT4.

Subsequent leaders have held leads of 160, 60, 110 and 100 points in GS the last four years and have brought it home.

TCR should have no such challenges this year. Mason Filippi and Bryson Morris entered Indianapolis with a 260-point lead in their No. 33 Bryan Herta Autosport Hyundai Elantra N TCR and left it with a 200-point margin over teammates Denis Dupont and Preston Brown in the similar No. 76 Herta Hyundai.

That puts them well in line with past champions who entered the finale with 230, 100, 20 and 100-point gaps and then brought it home.

Only last year did TCR see a last-race points change.

MMG’s No. 93 Honda Civic FL5 TCR of LP Montour and Karl Wittmer had a race fraught with mechanical maladies, opening the door for Harry Gottsacker to overcome a 10-point – or one position – points deficit and claim his second TCR title (2023).

Provided Filippi and Morris start the season finale, they’ll score at least last-place points and have enough in hand to wrap the title, which would extend Herta and Hyundai’s run of title form where both team and manufacturer have won six TCR titles in the last seven years.

Hyundai has won the last six manufacturer titles (2020 through 2025) and all driver titles since 2019, except 2024. It’d be a first for both drivers, though.

As for the race itself, four different TCR brands have won at Road Atlanta in the last five years. All of Alfa Romeo, Honda, Hyundai and Cupra have won since 2021.

There are 45 cars entered for the finale, split 31 GS and 14 TCR.

Pilot Challenge teams practice Wednesday, September 30 and Thursday, October 1 with qualifying Thursday evening at 6:25 p.m. ET. The FOX Factory 120 streams live on Friday, October 2, at 11:35 a.m. ET on Peacock and live, flag-to-flag, ad-free courtesy of Michelin on the IMSA Official YouTube channel.