Herta Hyundai Returns to the Top of TCR
Car Blanche is a new name and entrant to IMSA competition this summer, who has delivered an intriguing start to its tenure since YRB Racing acquired the former van der Steur Racing. But make no mistake, Car Blanche has quickly made an impression.
Its most forceful statement to date came Saturday at the Road America 120 as the new team scored its first overall and Grand Sport (GS) class victory in IMSA Michelin Pilot Challenge in only its third start.
Allen Patten and Trenton Estep started ninth on the 4.048-mile, 14-corner Road America circuit in the No. 66 Aston Martin Vantage AMR GT4 EVO and utilized perfect strategy in changing conditions to prevail in a race that ended under caution.
Estep secured the first triumph for Car Blanche with an authoritative pass on Matt Plumb in the No. 46 Team TGM Ford Mustang GT4 with 18 minutes remaining. The two cars banged doors on the run to Turn 3, with the contact knocking the left-side mirror off Estep’s machine. Plumb then hip checked the right-rear corner of the Aston Martin as it turned into the apex, but Estep maintained control and had pulled out to a 4.66-second lead before an incident with 10 minutes to go caused the race to end under a full-course caution.
Plumb and Paul Holton took second place for their best result of the year, while the final podium spot went to Caio Chaves and Guilherme Salas in the No. 54 PanAm Motorsport Toyota GR Supra GT4 EVO2.
Most of the race was run in light rain or drizzle, but conditions were dry enough for all competitors to change from rain to slick tires with pit stops a little over 40 minutes into the race that were perfectly timed for driver changes. By then, Patten had gained three spots to sixth place on the opening lap, and he had moved up to fourth when he handed the car to Estep.
The next key moment came when the third of four full-course cautions flew with 50 minutes left in the race. The top three runners missed the window to enter the pits before they closed, and after making a second stop, Estep and the No. 66 found themselves running fifth, the leading runner who would definitely not need to make another stop for fuel. Plumb and Team TGM, meanwhile, were gambling on additional cautions that would allow them to make the finish on a single stop.
“We had really good pace in traffic and the team made a perfect call to get us in before the yellow,” Estep said. “We only took left sides, which helped us jump one spot in the pits. I maximized it and moved on.”
Plumb fought valiantly but was ultimately unable to resist Estep’s charge. Car Blanche has now improved its result in each of its three races to date, from fifth place at Watkins Glen International to fourth at Canadian Tire Motorsport Park, to winning at Road America.
“We finally gave Trenton a car he could work with at the end,” said Car Blanche team principal Chris Deely. “P5 and P4 was good…but we even said on the stand in the last hour of the race, if we didn’t come away with a win, we wouldn’t have been happy.
“I have the utmost trust in both drivers, especially at the end,” he added. “I wouldn’t have picked any other driver to be in our car.”
It was the second Michelin Pilot Challenge race in a row to feature a first-time winning team and driver lineup, following Kiko Porto and Varun Choksey’s victory at CTMP.
“Man, it means everything,” said Patten. “I’ve been driving for three years and only racing for two. It’s been a pretty crazy journey, I’ve met amazing people in the team here at Car Blanche and I’m super thankful to them.
“I’m learning a tremendous amount from Trenton – he’s absolutely first class – and we’re going to try hard to stay on top.”
In an unusual day where each of the top five in the GS championship finished seventh or worse, Robert Noaker and Nate Cicero in the No. 13 McCumbee McAleer Racing Ford Mustang GT4 still extended their championship lead.
Unofficially, their 11th place result builds their lead to 100 points over both Austin Krainz and Stevan McAleer (No. 27 AutoTechnic Racing BMW M4 GT4 EVO) and Dillon Machavern and Luca Mars (No. 95 Turner Motorsport BMW M4 GT4 EVO). The No. 44 Ibiza Farm Motorsport McLaren Artura GT4 of Michael Cooper and Moisey Uretsky was assessed a postrace time penalty applied at the checkered flag for incident responsibility.
Cicero was running second, one of the three leaders who missed making it into the open pits before the decisive caution.
“I was struggling with the radio back there in Canada Corner – that’s just how the track is – and we just missed the call,” said Noaker. “Just ended up being unfortunate. I think we might have ultimately been able to make it like the other Mustangs, but our other competitors in the points had some misfortune after ours and I think that saved us a little bit.
“It’s going to make it interesting.”
TCR: Dupont Uses Traffic to Advantage to Pass Neto for Win
Being called “a machine on restarts” is high praise, and Preston Brown’s description of co-driver Denis Dupont in his No. 76 Bryan Herta Autosport with Curb Agajanian Hyundai Elantra N TCR couldn’t have been more fitting in Round 7 of the Touring Car (TCR) season.
Dupont ran second behind Celso Neto, in a one-off drive aboard the No. 55 Gou Racing w/Stallion Audi RS3 LMS TCR, in what was shaping up to be the final green flag run to the finish. Neto inherited the lead on an off-sequence pit strategy, eschewing a second stop to gain track position, and then run ahead of a six-pack of TCR contenders.
After a restart with 23 minutes to go, Neto appeared poised to deliver Audi its first win of the season and complete the set of 18 participating OEMs in IMSA winning at least one IMSA-sanctioned race in 2026.
Dupont had other ideas. The Montreal-based Belgian used GS traffic to his advantage to get past with just under 15 minutes to go, going inside exiting The Kink as Neto failed to gain enough time to get past the GS car. With a stronger acceleration out of Canada Corner, Turn 12, Dupont was able to pull away under the remaining green flag running before a final full-course caution flew with nine minutes remaining.
“I saw him having some GS traffic and I managed to pass the GS right away (thereafter),” Dupont explained. “(Neto) was super-fast, so was then good to keep him behind.”
Brown hailed his co-driver: “It’s a little heart in mouth! But he’s a machine on restarts. We’ve had some great place jumps on restarts.”
It’s Dupont and Brown’s second win of the year, and first since the season-opening four-hour BMW M Endurance Challenge At Daytona. The win is also the 33rd for the Herta team, which puts them one away from Turner Motorsport’s all-time record of 34 series wins.
The No. 76 car, which started fifth, got up to third early and stayed there once Brown handed to Dupont. Brown was pleased with his own wet weather running, noting previous experience earlier in his career aided him in the tricky wet-to-drying conditions that made up his first 40-plus minutes in the car.
Neto, who shared the No. 55 Gou Audi with Eddie Gou, scored his first podium since Indianapolis last year, when he also finished second, also in an Audi. His best finish in 2026 in the No. 77 Stallion Motorsports w/GOU Cupra Leon VZ TCR was fifth at the O’Reilly Auto Parts 4 Hours of Mid-Ohio at the Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course. Gou and father Eduardo Gou finished third at Watkins Glen International in the LP Building Solutions 120 two races ago.
Brown and Dupont gained 50 points on championship leading teammates Mason Filippi and Bryson Morris, who scored their sixth podium in seven races aboard the No. 33 Bryan Herta Autosport with Curb Agajanian Hyundai Elantra N TCR. Unofficially, the No. 33 car leads the No. 76 car by 150 points with three races remaining.
Honda’s fourth straight pole failed to produce a result of note, as the manufacturer failed to record a podium finish for the first time in Sebring in March. The No. 93 MMG Honda Civic FL5 TCR rallied through reported brake issues to finish fourth, with the third of four Herta Hyundais (the No. 18 car) completing the top five.
Michelin Pilot Challenge competitors head next to VIRginia International Raceway on Saturday, Aug. 22, for Round 8 of the season. The Virginia Is For Racing Lovers Grand Prix will cap off a run of five races across three months from June through August.
