Motorsports

Turner finalizes 2026 IMSA roster

Published

1 hour ago

December 9, 2025

BMW M Motorsport’s longest-serving privateer team, Turner Motorsport, has announced its drivers for the 2026 IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship season.

The duo of Patrick Gallagher and BMW factory driver Robby Foley will be back to run the full season in the No. 96 BMW M4 GT3 EVO, while fellow BMW works driver Jens Klingmann will be back with the team for the Rolex 24 At Daytona in January. Foley and Gallagher finished fifth in the GTD standings last year with top-10 finishes in every race, despite never reaching the podium.

New to Turner’s IMSA WeatherTech program this year is Francis Selldorff, the 24-year-old whose father Frank was a teammate of team founder Will Turner in the Speed(vision) World Challenge Touring Car series. The younger Selldorff won the 2023 IMSA VP Racing SportsCar Challenge GSX (GT4) title for Turner and has spent the last two seasons in Michelin Pilot Challenge’s GS class. Most recently, Selldorff won the upstart Apex One Endurance series’ inaugural 10-hour race at Sebring in a Turner Motorsport BMW M4 GT3.

“I’m very excited and honored to be back with Turner Motorsport full-time in GTD,” said Foley, who is also coming off back to back GT World Challenge America Pro-Am Championships with Turner Motorsport.

“We had an up-and-down season last year (in IMSA) but built some great momentum towards the end, which I think will bode well to start our 2026 campaign off strong. The team has really become like a family to me and I’m excited to get going with Patrick, Francis and Jens at Daytona.”

“Stepping into the GTD endurance role is a massive dream come true for me,” said Selldorff. “This is a full circle moment for me, having watched Turner Motorsport compete since I was a little kid. Having known the team for a few years now in GS and VP, I’m so excited to be a part of the great program in GTD. I also can’t express how excited I am to drive with Robby and Patrick. They have both helped me so much with my racing development and have been extraordinary mentors and friends to me. I can’t wait to support them and try to help get the whole Turner team the results they deserve.”

Recently, Turner Motorsport was honored at the BMW M Night of Trophies at Munich, as SRO America driver Justin Rothberg won the BMW M Sports Trophy as the marque’s top private driver, while Turner itself finished as BMW’s third-best private team in 2026, on the strength of its combined IMSA and SRO America efforts.

“It was a great season for Turner Motorsport and it’s always an honor to take home a BMW M Sports Trophy at the end of the year,” said Will Turner. “I am so proud of my team, my drivers, and thankful for BMW Motorsport for making this all possible. I’m not sure we can top starting 83 races this year, but that’s what I said last year, so I’m excited to see what we can do in 2026.”

“And another season begins. I’m really excited for this one bringing back Patrick and Robby for their fourth season together. We’re also promoting Francis into the endurance seat after he showed us he has what it takes. We’re bolstering that with Jens at Daytona, and I think together the four of them will make a great team to fight for that elusive watch at the end of January.”

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Motorsports

Tower Motorsports sets 2026 IMSA line-up

Published

12 minutes ago

December 9, 2025

Your Sports Nation

Looking to avenge its disqualification from the 2025 Rolex 24 At Daytona, Tower Motorsports has confirmed its full line-up for the 2026 race and the upcoming IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship.

With Tower Motorsports owner/driver John Farano already set to return to drive the No. 8 ORECA 07-Gibson, so does the duo of 2014 Daytona overall winner Sébastien Bourdais and young Mexican driver Sebastian Alvarez. At Daytona, Tower Motorsports will welcome back NTT IndyCar Series driver Kyffin Simpson to the team, for the first time since 2023 when he ran the Michelin Endurance Cup and won the Twelve Hours of Sebring.

Farano, Bourdais, and Alvarez were part of the team that took the checkered flag first at Daytona, but the No. 8 car was stripped of its victory after a plank wear violation discovered in post-race scrutineering. They would rebound the following round by finishing second at Sebring, which would go down as Tower’s best finish of 2025 – finishing no better than seventh in the remaining five races.

It’ll be the 17th Rolex 24 appearance for Bourdais, the four-time Champ Car champion and current Cadillac Racing factory driver, who is set to begin his second FIA WEC season with Cadillac Hertz Team JOTA.

Simpson last raced in IMSA in 2024 before embarking on his new role as a Chip Ganassi Racing IndyCar driver, in which the former European Le Mans Series LMP2 champion made significant improvements in his 2025 sophomore campaign. He’ll reunite with Alvarez, who, like Simpson, makes his fourth Rolex 24 appearance.

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Motorsports

CFR Partners With SBM for 2026Performance Racing Industry

Published

28 minutes ago

December 9, 2025

Your Sports Nation

Cope Family Racing (CFR) has joined forces with Stanton Barrett Motorsports (SBM) to form SBM With CFR for the 2026 NASCAR O’Reilly Auto Parts Series season.

The team will transition to the No. 30 car (formerly CFR’s No. 70) and will remain with Chevrolet. Drivers and sponsors will be announced at a later date.

Stanton Barrett, owner and driver of SBM, has a long history in NASCAR’s top series and has been operating a driver development program, including WRL, Trans Am and HSR. SBM runs out of a Denver, North Carolina, location but Barrett has purchased a race shop in Mooresville for NASCAR operations.

“I am excited to have the opportunity to partner with CFR and continue the long history of SBM,” Barrett said. “Derrike has been a staple in the racing industry and someone that I have great respect for. We collectively bring over 70 years as owners and drivers at the highest levels of NASCAR.”

“Kevin Cope and I are excited about forming this alliance with SBM,” Derrike Cope said. “We have made great strides in acquiring the necessary race cars to be ready for Daytona and the first part of the year, including being reunited with veteran crew chief George Church.”

Cope Family Racing is a group of seasoned professionals with over 40 years at the highest levels of NASCAR. The ownership team, as of 2026, is comprised of Derrike and Elyshia Cope, and new partner Kevin Cope.

For more information, visit stantonbarrettmotorsports.com.

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Motorsports

Registration Now Open for 2026 Rolex Monterey Motorsports Reunion

Published

44 minutes ago

December 9, 2025

Your Sports Nation

WeatherTech Raceway Laguna Seca has announced that registration is now open for the 2026 Rolex Monterey Motorsports Reunion, taking place Aug. 12-15, 2026. Registration is also open for the Monterey Pre-Reunion and the Corkscrew Hillclimb, scheduled for Aug. 8-9, marking what promises to be one of the most celebratory years in the event’s storied history, event officials stated in a press release.

Owners of historic, authentic, period-correct cars are being invited to apply for participant consideration at the 2026 Rolex Monterey Motorsports Reunion Application Request. The application period closes March 13, 2026.

A Celebration of Japanese Motorsports & Landmark Anniversaries

This year’s celebration honors the legacy of Japanese motorsports with the featured theme, “Salute to Japanese Motorsports: A Tradition of Precision & Heritage,” highlighting the innovation, craftsmanship and racing spirit that Japanese automakers and motorsport icons have brought to the world stage, while also honoring broader motorsport heritage and legendary race cars and motorcycles from around the globe, noted the release.

Rolex Monterey Motorsports Reunion 2

The Rolex Monterey Motorsports Reunion will also spotlight several landmark anniversaries and legendary racing categories. Leading the way is the 60th anniversary of Can-Am, celebrated through the Bruce McLaren Trophy, which brings together the iconic 1963-74 Can-Am and USRRC V8 machines. For 2026, there will be a dedicated run group exclusively showcasing these high-performance legends, honoring one of the most influential eras in North American motorsport.

The 2026 Reunion will also commemorate the 45th anniversary of the iconic IMSA Grand Touring Prototype (GTP) class with a special run group: The Hurley Haywood GTP/Group C. This group will highlight the groundbreaking prototypes that defined endurance racing for more than a decade, officials said.

The Historic Trans Am category will also once again take its place among the weekend’s marquee attractions. Celebrating its own 60th anniversary in 2026, Trans Am brings its unmistakable sound, fierce racing and timeless American spirit to the celebration.

“The 2026 Rolex Monterey Motorsports Reunion is shaping up to be one of our most historic celebrations yet,” said April Henderson, director of the Rolex Monterey Motorsports Reunion. “From honoring Japanese motorsports to celebrating milestone anniversaries like Can-Am’s 60th and GTP’s 45th, we’re bringing together the cars, the stories and the people who shaped racing history. It’s a tribute to global motorsport heritage, and we can’t wait to share it with fans and participants alike.”

The 2026 Groups

Ken Miles Trophy 1955-67 SCCA Large Displacement Production Cars
John Morton Trophy 1955-70 SCCA Small Displacement Production Cars
Parnelli Jones Trans-Am Trophy 1966-72 Historic Trans Am
Peter Gregg Trophy 1973-81 IMSA GT, GTX, AAGT, GTU, FIA
Hurley Haywood Trophy 1981-91 IMSA GTP, FIA Group C
Tommy Kendall Trophy 1981-91 GTO, GTU, SCCA Trans Am
Scott Pruett Legends of Endurance Cup 1991-2011 IMSA, ALMS, Grand Am, FIA
Bruce McLaren Trophy 1963-74 Can-Am and USRRC V8
Unser Family Cup 1973-2006 IROC Series
Bob Sharp Cup 1966-79 Historic B & C Sedan
Del Monte Trophy 1950-56 Pebble Beach Road Race Cars
Peter Revson Trophy 1958-63 Formula Junior
Pedro Rodriguez Trophy 1961-75 FIA Manufacturers Championship.

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Motorsports

NASCAR commissioner testifies to frustrating negotiations in Michael Jordan’s antitrust trial

Published

60 minutes ago

December 9, 2025

Your Sports Nation

NASCAR’s commissioner has testified in Michael Jordan’s federal antitrust trial against the racing series. The trial focuses on a new revenue-sharing model that…

CHARLOTTE, N.C.(AP) — The commissioner of NASCAR testified Tuesday in Michael Jordan’s federal antitrust trial against the racing series to the frustrating two-plus years of negotiations on a new revenue sharing model with teams, noting that Jordan’s financial advisor would not compromise on key issues.

Steve Phelps, who was president of NASCAR during the negotiations, said Jordan right-hand man Curtis Polk was the lead representative for the teams and held firm in their demand for increased revenue, permanent charters, a voice in governance and 1/3 of any new revenue streams.

The deal finally presented to the teams in September 2024 did not include permanent charters or a voice in governance, but NASCAR gave the teams a firm deadline to accept its final offer or forfeit their charters. 23XI Racing, owned by Jordan, Polk and three-time Daytona 500 winner Denny Hamlin, and Front Row Motorsports, owned by Bob Jenkins, were the only two teams out of 15 organizations to refuse to sign and have instead sued.

The charter system was established in 2016 and is equivalent to the franchise model used in other sports. In NASCAR a charter guarantees cars a spot in the 40-car field each week, as well as specified financial terms.

Phelps, promoted to become NASCAR’s first commissioner earlier this year, testified on the seventh day of the trial that he worked very hard to get the teams the best deal possible. But he said the teams’ initial request for $720 million in revenue a year guaranteed to them would have put NASCAR out of business, and communications between NASCAR executives showed that the France family, which founded and owns the series, would not budge on permanent charters.

At the same time, Polk would not budge, either.

“It was one of the most challenging and longest negotiations I’ve ever been part of,” said Phelps, who admitted he didn’t particularly enjoy negotiating with Polk, who was at the time the representative for the “Team Negotiating Council.”

“The TNC never wavered off their four pillars. It was just the same thing, the same thing, and that was very frustrating.”

Phelps testified at one point NASCAR believed it had landed on a new charter agreement that satisfied the teams but it was contingent on NASCAR finalizing its new media rights deal.

“I thought we’d just plug in the numbers,” said Phelps, who testified NASCAR was hoping to land a media deal worth $1.2 billion. When it became clear the media rights deal wouldn’t net that much money, Phelps said the teams asked to set a floor in negotiations.

NASCAR ultimately got a media deal worth $1.05 billion — still an increase of $33 million a year from the previous deal — and Phelps said “every dollar” went to the race teams when it began this year.

However, the ultimate revenue payout to teams is $431 million annually, the charters are not permanent and the teams did not get a voice in rules and regulations.

Even so, Phelps testified he believed the charter agreement was “a fair deal.”

But, internal NASCAR communications again showed the Florida-based France family was a “brick wall” on the issue of permanent charters and executives found chairman Jim France’s stubbornness to be frustrating during negotiations.

Messages were shown in court in which Phelps and current NASCAR President Steve O’Donnell repeatedly lashed out at the lack of internal progress as they fought to get the teams the best deal possible.

Pace in the trial has picked up on the order of U.S. District Judge Kenneth Bell, who has grown weary that its taken the plaintiffs seven days of testimony and counting. The teams still plan to call Hall of Fame team owner Richard Childress and France before resting its case.

On Monday, an economist testified NASCAR owes the two teams $364.7 million in damages based on a complex formula he used.

Edward Snyder, a professor of economics who worked in the antitrust division of the Department of Justice and has testified in more than 30 cases, including “Deflategate” involving the NFL’s New England Patriots, continued testimony to open Tuesday and the defense got him to admit he’s being paid somewhere close to $2 million for his work on the case.

Based on Snyder’s calculations, he determined NASCAR shorted 36 chartered teams $1.06 billion from 2021-24.

NASCAR contends Snyder’s estimations are wrong and its own two experts “take serious issue” with the findings. Defense attorney Lawrence Buterman asked Snyder his opinion on NASCAR’s upcoming expert witnesses and Snyder said they were two of the best economists in the world.

AP auto racing: https://apnews.com/hub/auto-racing

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Motorsports

Kevin Contardo Named ABM Director of Business OpsPerformance Racing Industry

Published

2 hours ago

December 9, 2025

Your Sports Nation

NHRA team owner and driver Antron Brown has appointed veteran partnership specialist Kevin Contardo to lead sponsor relations for his AB Motorsports (ABM) team for the 2026 NHRA Mission Foods Drag Racing Series season.

As director of business operations, Contardo will oversee ABM’s existing partnership programs while pursuing new relationships with both endemic and non-endemic brands. He will also collaborate closely with ABM’s hospitality, merchandising and machine-shop departments as he builds upon the strong foundation Brown has successfully established through his first four years of NHRA team ownership.

Contardo brings more than a decade of sponsorship development experience to AB Motorsports. His previous roles include serving as director of strategic partnerships for John Force Racing and JCM Racing.

He also held the position of director of global partnerships at Oak View Group, a global sports and live entertainment venue management company, and served as director of strategic partnerships for the Nashville Zoo. His in-depth partnership management experience, paired with his extensive motorsports background, makes him uniquely positioned him to support ABM’s continued growth.

For more information, visit antronbrown.com.

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Motorsports

Marko to leave Red Bull at end of year

Published

2 hours ago

December 9, 2025

Your Sports Nation

Red Bull motorsport advisor Dr Helmut Marko has decided to leave the team, bringing to an end over two decades of influence as part of the multiple championship-winning set-up.

Marko helped develop young talents through his own team and then in partnership with Red Bull in the early 2000s, prior to Red Bull entering F1 in 2005. From that point onwards he was an advisor across both Red Bull and its sister team – now called Racing Bulls – often identifying and signing young drivers to become future options for the Red Bull F1 program.

The 82-year-old Austrian was a close friend of Red Bull owner Dietrich Mateschitz, who died in 2022, and Marko’s position was under threat during 2024 after a power struggle with then-team principal Christian Horner. Despite ultimately outlasting Horner this year, Marko as now confirmed he will leave his position at the end of the year.

“I have been involved in motorsport for six decades now, and the past 20-plus years at Red Bull have been an extraordinary and extremely successful journey,” Marko said. “It has been a wonderful time that I have been able to help shape and share with so many talented people. Everything we have built and achieved together fills me with pride.

“Narrowly missing out on the world championship this season has moved me deeply and made it clear to me that now is the right moment for me personally to end this very long, intense, and successful chapter. I wish the entire team continued success and am convinced that they will be fighting for both world championship titles again next year.”

Having been seen as a key ally to Red Bull’s four-time world champion Max Verstappen, Marko will depart as the team is now led by Laurent Mekies, who took over from Horner as team principal in July.

Known for both his impressive ability to uncover talents that can reach F1 and his often ruthless approach to underperforming drivers, Marko has never been far from controversy. He had to apologize for comments made relating to Sergio Perez’s ethnicity in 2023, and drew criticism in some quarters for branding Isack Hadjar’s tearful reaction to his pre-race crash on his F1 debut in Australia as “embarrassing”.

Red Bull also had to put out a statement saying it sincerely regretted the online abuse aimed at Kimi Antonelli following the Qatar Grand Prix just over a week ago, when Marko repeatedly said the Mercedes rookie had intentionally let Lando Norris through late in the race. The team stated that the claims from Marko were “clearly incorrect”.

Marko has also seen his influence on the young driver program impacted by changes to the structure in recent seasons – with Guillaume Rocquelin taking on a prominent role three years ago – but Red Bull’s CEO of corporate projects and investments Oliver Mintzlaff says the departure was one he didn’t want to accept.

“Helmut approached me with the wish to end his role as motorsport advisor at the end of the year,” Mintzlaff said. “I deeply regret his decision, as he has been an influential figure for more than two decades, and his departure marks the end of an extraordinary era.

“Over more than 20 years, Helmut has earned incomparable merits for our team and the entire Red Bull motorsport family. He played a decisive role in all key strategic decisions that made Red Bull Racing what it is today: a multiple world champion, an engine of innovation, and a cornerstone of international motorsport.

“His instinct for exceptional talent not only shaped our junior program but also left a lasting impact on Formula 1 as a whole. Names like Sebastian Vettel and Max Verstappen stand for the many drivers who were discovered, supported, and guided to the very top under his leadership. His passion, his courage to make clear decisions, and his ability to spot potential will remain unforgettable.

“After a long and intensive conversation, I knew I had to respect his wishes, as I gained the impression that the timing felt right for him to take this step. Even though his departure will leave a significant gap, our respect for his decision and our gratitude for everything he has done for Red Bull Racing outweigh it.

“Helmut Marko will be deeply missed, both personally and professionally. We wish him all the very best for the future and hope that he will remain closely and warmly connected to the team.”

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