How the 2025 IMSA championships can be won

Only ten more hours of racing remain in the 2025 IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship – and now we know which teams will fight it out for the full-season championships, the Michelin Endurance Cups, and the Trueman-Akin Awards at Michelin Raceway Road Atlanta.

Porsche Penske Motorsport is all but assured to win the GTP drivers' and teams' championships, even if the No. 6 Porsche 963 of Mathieu Jaminet and Matt Campbell couldn't clinch the titles at Indianapolis this weekend.

But with a 131-point lead over the No. 7 Penske Porsche driven by Felipe Nasr and Nick Tandy, and a 145-point lead over BMW M Team RLL's Philipp Eng and Dries Vanthoor, the 2022 GTD PRO title-winning duo affectionally known as "Cam-Jam" would be the odds-on favorites to bring Porsche Penske a second set of IMSA WeatherTech GTP titles.

If the same 12 GTP cars that raced at Indy end up being the same 12 GTP cars that turn up for Petit Le Mans, only a maximum of 176 points will be available to gain in the ten-hour finale: 160 points accounting for the difference between finishing first (350) and 12th (190), and 16 points accounting for the difference in qualifying points from first to 12th.

Put it another way: If Jaminet and Campbell finish seventh or better at Petit Le Mans, they clinch the GTP title even if Tandy and Nasr win it from pole position.

The GTP manufacturers' championship, meanwhile, will almost certainly be a winner-take-all showdown between Porsche and Acura, separated by only seven points (with Porsche barely ahead), less than the difference in just one finishing position. Whichever manufacturer has the highest-finishing car will take the title.

The GTP drivers' title might look like a foregone conclusion, but the teams' title is still open. Jake Glastad/IMSA photo

The LMP2 Championship, as well as the Jim Trueman Award which gives an automatic invitation to the Le Mans 24 Hours, is a two-team battle. PJ Hyett and Dane Cameron for AO Racing have an 85-point lead over Daniel Goldburg, driver of the No. 22 United Autosports USA car, the only driver to run every race in that car (Paul di Resta missed CTMP due to WEC commitments).

Without factoring in qualifying points, if Goldburg were to win Petit Le Mans with his crew, he'd need the No. 99 car of Hyett, Cameron, and company to finish fifth or lower to win the LMP2 drivers' Title and that coveted "Golden Ticket" to Le Mans –something that's practically guaranteed to Hyett and AO Racing no matter what, but not for Goldburg.

On the other hand, AO Racing will be looking to the LMP2 title after missing out on a chance to win back-to-back GTD PRO titles.

The closest championship fight is in GTD PRO, where the No. 3 Corvette Racing by Pratt Miller Motorsports car of Antonio García and Alexander Sims carries only a narrow 18-point lead over the No. 81 DragonSpeed Ferrari 296 GT3, led all season by Albert Costa.

It's something of a David vs. Goliath battle between the ultimate powerhouse of 21st century GT racing, and an upstart alliance between DragonSpeed and Risi Competizione, a crew that only did its first real-world test in recent weeks after using iRacing to prepare for each event.

If it's a battle for the win between the two, then whoever wins the race in GTD PRO wins the championship. Costa would need a bit more separation if the battle is for the lower positions – and of course, qualifying points will be a factor as well.

The GTD PRO manufacturers' championship race is now a four-make battle, covered by 80 points with up to 121 points available to gain. Chevrolet holds a 46-point advantage over Ferrari, with Ford (-62) and BMW (-80) also in the mix, but on the fringes.

It's not over 'til it's over, but Winward Racing, Russell Ward, and Philip Ellis each have a hand and four fingers on their second set of GTD drivers' and teams' championships.

The GTD fight is still open. Michael L. Levitt/IMSA photo

The gap from Ellis and Ward to Heart of Racing Team's Casper Stevenson in second is now 224 points after Indy. Assuming only Magnus Racing's No. 44 Aston Martin is added to the 18 GTD cars that raced at Indy, the maximum points swing at Road America would be 253 points (230 in the race from first to 19th, plus 23 in qualifying).

Which, is exactly the deficit that Kenton Koch has to Ward and Ellis. Koch started the season with Korthoff Competition Motors before the team suspended operations after Watkins Glen, and ended the year with Triarsi Competizione (which isn't in contention for the teams' championship). But only a pole-to-win for Koch and company, plus Winward Racing starting and finishing last in class would make it possible, so second place may be the most realistic goal after a whirlwind season.

The GTD manufacturers' championship is a bit closer, but Mercedes-AMG still has a massive 114-point lead over Ferrari with 132 points available to gain.

But if the lack of a solid overall title fight in GTD has you downbeat, good news: The race for the Bob Akin Award is now a winner-take-all showdown between AWA's Orey Fidani and Inception Racing's Brendon Iribe, who levelled the score at Indianapolis.

A "Golden Ticket" onto the LMGT3 grid at Le Mans is at stake: Fidani won it last year, Iribe the year before, and neither is particularly interested in coming back to Le Mans as a spectator.

"It all comes down to the last race, just how IMSA and the fans want it. Not exactly how we want it, but we'll take it, and it'll be exciting. Can't wait for Petit," Iribe said of the showdown ahead.

Over to the Michelin Endurance Cup standings, four teams are still in contention to win it in GTP, led by the No. 7 Porsche of Nasr/Tandy, which could take it at the first checkpoint. MEC points at Petit Le Mans are paid after four hours, eight hours, and the finish.

The No. 60 Meyer Shank Racing Acura of Tom Blomqvist/Colin Braun (-3) is second, while the No. 31 Cadillac Whelen V-Series.R of Jack Aitken/Earl Bamber/Frederik Vesti (-6) and the No. 6 Porsche of Jaminet/Campbell (-7) are also within reach.

Porsche leads the GTP manufacturers' Endurance Cup by three points over Acura, and five points over Cadillac, all of whom have a chance.

In LMP2, Inter Europol Competition's Tom Dillmann and Bijoy Garg are in firm control, carrying a five-point lead over two crews: TDS Racing's Steven Thomas/Mikkel Jensen/Hunter McElrea, and United Autosports' Goldburg/Di Resta/Rasmus Lindh in the No. 22 car. Crowdstrike by APR's George Kurtz/Malthe Jakobsen/Toby Sowery (-8) also has a chance.

Riley's Gar Robinson/Felipe Fraga/Josh Burdon (-9) can also win it on a tiebreaker over Dillmann and Garg, but only if they score maximum points.

Barring a catastrophe in which neither car makes it to Petit Le Mans, Paul Miller Racing is guaranteed that one of its two BMW M4 GT3 EVOs will win the GTD PRO Endurance Cup. The advantage currently sits with the No. 1 crew of Madison Snow, Neil Verhagen, and Connor De Phillippi, who lead the No. 48 of Dan Harper/Max Hesse by four points.

BMW has already mathematically clinched the GTD PRO manufacturers' Endurance Cup outright, now leading the standings by 16 points with a maximum 15-point score at Petit Le Mans.

That brings us to GTD, where Inception Racing's Brendon Iribe, Frederik Schandorff, and Ollie Milroy currently hold a three-point lead.

Two crews, Heart of Racing Team's Stevenson/Tom Gamble/Zacharie Robichon and AF Corse's Simon Mann/Alessandro Pier Guidi/Lilou Wadoux are tied for second (-3). Wright Motorsports' Adam Adelson/Elliott Skeer/Tom Sargent (-4) sit right behind them, and ahead of AWA's Fidani/Matthew Bell/Lars Kern (-6).

Kenton Koch (-7) is still within reach for the drivers' Endurance Cup, as are Vasser Sullivan's Parker Thompson/Jack Hawksworth/Frankie Montecalvo (-7), and on a potential tiebreaker, Ward/Ellis/Indy Dontje (-9) could still win the Endurance Cup.

Ferrari, meanwhile, has already secured the GTD manufacturers' Endurance Cup with a 15-point lead going into Road Atlanta.