The RACER Mailbag, March 25

Q: Does IMSA have a Porsche BOP problem?  I know everyone in the paddock is banned from mentioning it, but I am not in the paddock so I will ask.

Ryan in West Michigan 

P.S. If we have to watch Porsche dominate I propose a required number change for one of the cars so I don’t have to keep hearing my teenager say “6 7”

MP: I’m a data guy. Since 2024, which was the first championship season for Porsche Penske Motorsport with the Porsche 963, it has won three straight Rolex 24s At Daytona. That’s IMSA’s version of three consecutive Indy 500 wins. It has also won two straight Mobil 1 Twelve Hours of Sebrings, which is like a second annual running of the Indy 500 for IMSA.

It won four of nine races in 2024, which equates to 44 percent of all GTP races held, including the aforementioned Rolex 24 and Sahlen’s Six Hours At The Glen enduros. In 2025, it won 44 percent again, including the Rolex 24 and Sebring 12.

In 2026, it has won two of two races, which equates to 100 percent of all GTP races held, including the Rolex 24 and Sebring 12. All of this in a class that utilizes balance of performance (BOP) to equalize the different models with different sizes and types of engines and unique aerodynamics.

So that’s on IMSA, and IMSA alone, for allowing this kind of runaway success by any model in a BOP-regulated class.

It’s worth noting that after getting badly beaten in the FIA WEC in 2023 and 2024, the FIA and WEC allowed Porsche to make updates to the 963 for 2025 in an effort to improve its competitiveness in a series dominated by Ferrari’s 499 Hypercar.

With the WEC and IMSA abiding by the same LMDh (GTP) rules, the 963 that couldn’t get out of its own way in WEC, but handily won the title in IMSA in 2024, was given a global performance upgrade that made it better in WEC, which it needed, and in IMSA, which it didn’t need, but certainly used to score a second consecutive title.

And with new efforts to rebalance the class with every LMDh (GTP) car receiving significant new aerodynamic bodywork and downforce-generating devices for 2026, the total domination by Porsche – and not just the 100 percent win rate, which isn’t the data to grab onto, but rather, the brutal disparity in on track performance – at Daytona and Sebring says the separation between the factory 963s and the factory Acuras, BMWs, and Cadillacs has worsened. In the BOP era.

Once again, that’s on IMSA, and nobody other than IMSA. The factory 963s cleared post-race technical inspection at both races, so according to the series, the cars were completely true and legal on the way to victory lanes at Daytona and Sebring.

But I’m also stunned at how Porsche and Penske have gone full DGAF about making use of the everybody-can-see-it advantage they currently hold in GTP. Normally, a manufacturer with an advantage in the BOP era goes to great length to hide it as much as possible to avoid drawing attention to that advantage. Don’t stop yourself from winning, but play your cards close to the proverbial chest.

I’m reminded of the scene from Goodfellas where, after the big heist, Robert De Niro’s character Jimmy Conways tells everyone in their crew to keep their heads down and avoid making any big purchases to keep from drawing unwanted attention from the police. At the next party, one person shows up with an expensive new car and the next arrives with his wife who’s wearing a costly fur coat. Conway loses it, shouts at them for doing things that would tip off the law to their heist, and so on.

That’s what came to mind after Sebring with the factory 963s.  

Despite what this photo seems to suggest, the Penske Porsches do not have a hyperspace button. But they're still more than fast enough to be in a class of their own among the GTP field at the moment. Michael Levitt/Getty Images

At Daytona, I watched as the Penske Porsches streaked off into the distance in the daytime, but waited until night fell, conditions changed, and other GTP brands inevitably rose to the top, which is what usually happens. But not this time.

Kings of sun, kings of darkness, and kings once again when the sun came up; the factory 963s were the class of the field for the entire race. In fact, the Penske Porsches led 74 percent of all laps… which is not supposed to be possible in a BOP class, and especially in the marquee class that gets most of the attention.

Fast-forward to Saturday at Sebring and it actually got worse as the two Penske Porsches combined to lead 80 percent of the race. So, yes, IMSA has a Porsche BOP problem.

The Penske cars are magic on starts and restarts; their 963s appear to do a better job of generating heat than the rest and tend to build immediate leads, which all but eliminates the ability for lead changes and explains the ridiculous laps-led figures they’ve generated. In the BOP era.

But the most brazen thing that was flagged throughout the NBC broadcast was on display from their in-car cameras as the 963s coasted for what felt like forever into braking zone after brazing zone, saving immense fuel in doing so, while setting laps that were either identical or better than their pursuers who were driving with desperation to keep up.

The advantage was so large, there was an actual and ongoing argument about team orders and who got to lead and who had to follow on the way to finishing an unassailable first and second. In the BOP era.

This was rubbing IMSA’s nose in the BOP disparity, which takes balls.

From a BOP standpoint, the 963s have held the winning hand for more than two seasons, and after leading almost 80 percent of all laps run in 2026, you’d think someone within the factory program would realize they were embarrassing IMSA, and their rivals, which isn’t supposed to be possible.

This was showing up to the party with new cars and fur coats with no concerns for the law, and would definitely put the 963s in IMSA’s regulatory crosshairs.

The Penske Porsches won the first four races of 2025 and afterwards, IMSA intervened through BOP and the 963 didn’t win again. But by that point, the championship points haul was so big it didn’t manner that both factory cars failed to reach victory lane over the last five events. The four-in-a-row through Laguna Seca in May effectively sealed the title in the factory’s favor; all Porsche had to do was manage its vast lead to hold onto the championship, which it did with ease.

And now, using recent history as a guide, the brash manner of the Daytona and Sebring wins will likely come with a swift response from the series. We’re a week or two away from getting the BOP tables for Long Beach, but I won’t be surprised if the factory 963s have won their last race of the season.

There comes a point where any runaway manufacturer in a BOP-controlled class is bad for business. It places the series at risk of losing the other brands if one is allowed to dominate. With two straight championships, two straight Sebrings, and three straight Daytonas on the factory’s victory scroll, one can imagine the factory Acuras, BMWs and Cadillacs are asking IMSA some uncomfortably hard questions about how GTP class balance became so unbalanced.

I can’t fault Porsche or Penske for having the advantages they’ve used to such great effect. They worked hard to improve a car that underperformed on debut and has gotten better through effort and every available avenue through the rules to update the 963.   

But if the BOP hammer falls on the 963 after Sebring and another brand ends up winning the championship, they’ll only have themselves to blame for being so flashy and loud about how they raced at Daytona and Sebring.