For IMSA, long-term planning is bringing long-term success

The now-annual March release of IMSA’s next WeatherTech and Pilot Challenge calendars is a sign of the times. Grids are full, manufacturers are engaged, and the stands are packed with fans everywhere North America’s premier sportscar championships visit. For that reason, planning events far in advance has shifted from a luxury to a tradition.

For 2027, while there were no bombshell announcements to report, the continuity and stability that IMSA CEO Ed Bennett and President John Doonan can tout should not be overlooked.

“This is now the third year in a row that we've been so fortunate to be able to announce the next season's schedule here at Sebring. We were just chatting up front here, how it used to be that the schedule wasn't announced until Motul Petit Le Mans. And then it was moved up, I think, to the State of the Sport, at Road America in August,” Doonan told reporters this afternoon.

“And now, thanks to the promoter partners that are here and more that are on the screen, we have a long-term range of overlaps such that, with their support, with the support of NBC, and with the support of some of the other stakeholders, we're in a place to announce the calendar. It gives people a longer runway for planning, for corporate partnership development, for budgets, that type of thing.

“So, for me, it's one of the major stabilizing factors that is happening in the sport right now. We give people a longer runway. They can plan further out. They can plan their activations. And the most important is the fans can plan their trips back.

“For the promoters to be able to have the checkered flag fall at this race on Saturday night, and Matt [Muha] and his team [at Sebring] go immediately into renewals… It’s the same for Rick [Humphrey, at Road Atlanta], last year, after a sellout crowd at Motul Petit Le Mans. He can already tell those folks the 2027 date.”

There was a big headline generated by the Pilot Challenge schedule that deserves attention, but before we get there, it’s a good time to delve into the WeatherTech calendar. It features the same set of venues and formats as 2026, with the only real tweak being the date of the Rolex 24 Hours at Daytona, which will take place a week later than recent editions.

Next season, though, is set to be hugely significant, with major anniversaries to celebrate across the campaign. It’ll be the 65th Rolex 24 at Daytona, the 75th Sebring 12 Hours, the 70th anniversary of Laguna Seca and the 30th running of Petit Le Mans. Crowd numbers are, unsurprisingly, expected to be record-breaking (again) at every turn.

“To get ready for the 75th at Sebring, there's going to be a lot of special traditions. We brought back, or we will bring back a lot of the cars and the people that grow so much of the history books,” Doonan teased. “I’ve been going to Michelin Raceway Road Atlanta since I was nine years old. And to celebrate 30 years of Petit... I honestly can't believe it's been 30 years of Petit Le Mans. It just seems like yesterday when Dr. Panoz established that event.”

Following the announcement of the 2027 calendars, cars took to the track for the first sessions of the 74th Twelve Hours of Sebring. Photo Credit: Brandon Badraoui/IMSA

Before we get there, this year’s Petit Le Mans looks set to be special too. Following up on last year’s sold-out running won’t be easy, but Road Atlanta President Rick Humphrey and his team are hard at work pushing the event forward.

“One of the things we are doing is we are adding more than a thousand parking spots to the west side of our property behind Turns 10A and 10B,” he revealed. “That’ll be ready in time for Petit this fall. Also, that parking lot is going to allow us another access road to allow fans in and out. So those are some of the things that are moving forward for the ‘26 edition. In the process of renovating bathrooms, we had additional ADA modifications to take care of our guests in that area.”

With the calendar becoming so fixed in recent years, bar the odd format change (such as Road America being handed Endurance Cup status) and date equity building, it’s becoming ever-tougher to justify major alterations to the venues that the WeatherTech Championship, in particular, visits.

The cost of racing, too, is a constant hot-button topic amongst the teams in the paddock, making any expansion to the schedule a difficult proposition.

“It would be tough [to add races],” Doonan explained. “There are 226 transporters over there, and I bet you, if you walked along each one of them and you talked about adding a race weekend, I would probably not make it out of here alive, because every time you add a weekend, the budgets go up.

“So, I think if you added something, you'd have to try to take something away, 'cause you just can't do that to the teams and the manufacturers and everybody that, uh, is, is really not the money. So, if you added one, we'd probably have to take something away to be candid.”

There is, though, an immediate expansion planned for IMSA’s Sanctioned Test schedule, which will now include opportunities for teams to turn laps before each of the five Endurance Cup rounds.

“We already do a December test at Daytona,” Doonan pointed out. “Then, in 2027, for the WeatherTech Championship, we’ll test prior to the 12 Hours of Sebring. We will come visit Matt [Muha] and his team a little early and do an official IMSA-sanctioned test here [at Sebring]. We're the same at Michelin Raceway Road Atlanta, as well as Watkins Glen International, and I had a phone call yesterday with Mike Kertscher to drop that news for Road America as well. I think it brings all the teams together. Everyone can be there together, hopefully share costs and save teams some testing budget as well.”

Whether or not these additional Sanctioned Tests will prompt further restrictions to private testing for the GTP teams remains to be seen. “There are a couple of details to be sorted,” Doonan said, before reaffirming that any decision on that will have to be coordinated with the FIA and ACO.

“By bringing everyone together, I think we can save everybody some costs,” he continued. “I think there is additional data that we can gather closer to the events, call it within a 90-day window of the event, a 60-day window. And so that's really the driver. I think, ultimately, we’ve got some planning work to do yet, but it's something that's developed based on feedback from the teams.

“Michelin Pilot teams, candidly, they can test what they want, anytime they want. And also, we've looked at, and we'll come out with an Official Bulletin here soon about how many test days can be used, post those IMSA-sanctioned days.”

That leads us nicely onto the Pilot Challenge calendar, which includes Lime Rock Park for the first time since 2023. The Connecticut circuit is hugely popular with fans locally and across the country, and while we won’t see a reprisal of the old American Le Mans Series days, with top-class prototypes doing battle against slower machinery in the ‘bull ring’, any return is welcome.

“We wanted to make sure we have the chance to bring IMSA things back to these rabid fans and yeah, to the Northeast,” Dicky Riegel, the circuit President, said. “That IMSA tradition does go back to 1972, and I tell you, when we had to unfortunately say, ‘Hey, this is not going to be a part of the last couple of years’ schedules,’ we wanted to eventually change that.

“We’re coming back to little Lime Rock Park in the northwest corner of Connecticut. We have exceptional fans, exceptional ownership, and exceptional participants in our club. Every group is beyond thrilled to welcome IMSA back. I'm so excited to have IMSA back in Connecticut. And September 23rd, 24th and 25th. It's a three-day race weekend, with Michelin Pilot Challenge headlining, and VP [plus a single-make championship] should be there as well.

“I am just beyond thankful, and I've been looking forward to this March 19th announcement for weeks, weeks, months.”