Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course is one of the highlights to the racing season. Nestled in the quiet town of Lexington, OH among the corn and soybean fields, Mid-Ohio has a reputation as a fast and challenging circuit. Current Mission Foods GT3 Cup Champion, G. MICHAEL MERRITT #899 returned to IGT competition after a months-long recovery from a shoulder injury.
Merritt has a shortened weekend due to family obligations, so you won’t see him in the race report as he only participated in sprint race 1. However Merritt Motorsports hosted an excellent social event on Friday night. The food was amazing and a huge crowd of IGT competitors, crew and family enjoyed a wonderful evening complete with a DJ. We all extend our heartfelt thanks to Michael, but Michael admits the event could not have been so fantastic without the hard work of his assistant, Maria!
LIAM GRAY #991, Matrix Motorsports came to Mid-Ohio with one goal in mind – moving up the leader board in the Mission Foods GT3 Cup points championship. With a stellar performance at the historic Midwest circuit, he did just that. Gray successfully won all three sprint races overall. In a stacked field of many past winners, several IGT champions and cars in faster classes, Gray took his GT4.0 Porsche to the top of the podium.
In the 4-liter class and giving chase to Gray were 2025 Mission Foods GT3 Cup Champion TOMMY BALLESTER#189, Quirt Racing who took second in sprint races 1 and 2 and a third in sprint race 3. THAD BERGER #60 returned to International GT competition with TLM USA. Thad who hails from Washington state has been with IGT at Road Atlanta and Sonoma and now joined us for Mid-Ohio where he stood on the podium in all three sprint races. Hopefully we will see the west coaster more often.
While Gray garnered some valuable points toward the 2026 championship, it was MATT COHN #210, Off-Leash Motorsports – often referred to in the paddock as the “Substance” car – holds a strong lead in the Mission Foods GT3 Cup championship racing in a GT4R. Cohn took the GT4R class win in sprint race 3 and a pair of seconds in sprint race 2 and the enduro.
The enduro overall win went to LUKAS PANK #40, Ultra Performance. Pank had extra incentive to win as a tribute to one of his fans – see the video in this email for details. Lukas was consistent all weekend with the first in the enduro, a second in sprint race 3 and a third in sprint race 1.
Also standing on the podium in GT4R was TOM PANK #42 who won the category in sprint race 1 but was unable to continue racing over the weekend. However, Tom stayed on to watch his son Lukas have an outstanding race weekend. Returning to IGT competition as he does annually at his home track of Mid-Ohio, TODD SLOAN #25 brought his beautiful Mobil 1 liveried race car to the event and scored the class win in sprint race 2. Sloan also stood on the podium to take a second in sprint race 1.
International GT welcomed father and son team MILTON #15 and CAREY GRANT to the series. Milton (dad) raced in the GT4R category and had a great debut in IGT posting a trio of third place finishes in a very competitive class. The Grants have a long history of racing in SVRA and Trans Am and we are very happy to welcome them to IGT competition as we did Milton’s brother RICHARD GRANT last season.
Mixing up things at the front of the pack, the GT992 category was again our largest class. DAVID TUATY #68, TLM USA dominated most of the weekend winning sprint races 1 and 2 and the enduro in the GT992 category. Tuaty brought along several TLM USA customers to Mid-Ohio including the return of JIM HAMMAN #274. Jim swapped his Cup car for a new Cayman 3.8 in the Stuttgart Cup category.
CLIFF CAYER #08 from Matrix Motorsports also had a strong weekend winning sprint race 3 and a third in Sunday’s enduro. Cayer’s teammate BILL OLIVER #058 Matrix Motorsports, finished third in sprint race 1 and just off the podium in race 2.
There was a variety of people on the GT992 podium as the competition was fierce all weekend. We welcomed back a competitor we have not seen in a while JODY MILLER #23 who was at Mid-Ohio with TLM USA but also has support from MGM Racing out of Florida. Jody was Mr. Consistency in the GT992 category standing on the podium in all four races. He took second in two of the sprint races and the enduro and a third in sprint race 3. MARK SANDRIDGE #58, Team Salad from Medina, Ohio and calls Mid-Ohio his home track, grabbed a third in sprint race 2 and a step higher in second position in sprint race 3.
Mark’s son JORDAN SANDRIDGE #49, came to Mid-Ohio with a new Porsche 992 car and joined the ever-growing GT992 category. Jordan is still learning the car but in the super competitive class, he finished just off the podium with a pair of fourth place finishes. Look for him to advance up the podium going forward. Speaking of new 992’s BRIAN HICKS #22, another Ohioan in the field is working out the kinks in his new 992 and will come back stronger at Watkins Glen next month.
Before moving on, we have to give a shout out to MUSTAFA BAKIR #06 who has raced in all five IGT events so far in 2026!! We love commitment and it’s paying off moving him up to fourth in a very tight championship points race.
IGT regular and longtime competitor BOB WISEN #27, Ultra Performance brought his GT3.8 Porsche to Mid-Ohio. Based just outside Cleveland, Ohio, Bob has been racing his 4 liter but went back to his 3.8 for Mid O – it’s good to have choices! Bob had a terrific weekend winning two of the sprint races and the enduro!
Bob had his hands full with pressure from CAREY GRANT #6, Grant Racing, finished consistently in second place all four races on the weekend! One of our favorite Ohioans who we see annually at Mid-Ohio is BRANT GIERE #56, Maple Farms Racing. As his team name indicates, Brant runs an entire farm so his racing dates are few but as the winner of sprint race 2 and the recipient of a set of tires compliments of PIRELLI, we’re hoping we can convince Brant to show up to maybe one more IGT race this season. Baby steps!
Not to be outdone, the battles on track for the Stuttgart Cup categories was exceptional at Mid-Ohio! The points leader ZACH BRADFORD had to miss Mid-Ohio and those chasing him in the 2026 Stuttgart Cup Championship took full advantage and raced hard all weekend.
In the CAY4.0 class, JEFF AFFLERBACH #10, ZOTZ Racing won sprint race 1 and 2 and the enduro but by the smallest margins as the 4 liter Caymans finished nose-to-tail in all four races, with some outstanding racing throughout. BOB GEE #819 followed Jeff over the finish in second for sprint races 1 and 2. Bob lent his spare Cayman #527 to friend MIKE ORIGER for the enduro. Bob and Mike were racing Corvettes all weekend in SVRA and decided to continue the friendly rivalry in IGT. Mike paired up with TOMMY BYRNES to take second in the enduro. It’s good to have generous friends!
It was a regular International GT competitor, KURT KROPP #641, Extreme Velocity Motorsports, who made up the trio who dominated the CAY4.0 class. Kurt stepped up to win sprint race 3 in his new and unmistakable livery.
One of our favorite competitors and past Stuttgart Cup Champion, MARIA MEJIA #11, Quirt Racing returned to Mid-Ohio for the second time. Maria did not have a great experience in her first trip to technical circuit a couple years ago but that all changed last weekend! Maria swept the class winning all four races on the weekend. She brought along family from her home country of Columbia who made the podium celebrations great fun. As Maria would say… WOOHOO!!
We take a very short break and go onto Round 6 next week at Road America.