Bronze cup battles beckon down the stretch
Five different IMSA-sanctioned Bronze-specific championships are coming down to the wire as the season heads toward its final two race weekends at and . These Bronze-rated drivers play a crucial role across the IMSA SportsCar Championship, IMSA Michelin Pilot Challenge, and IMSA VP Racing SportsCar Challenge.
In the WeatherTech Championship Jim Trueman Award, points mirror Le Mans Prototype 2 (LMP2) finishing results, with the winner securing an invitation to the following year's 24 Hours of Le Mans. The top four Bronze-rated drivers in LMP2 have a realistic shot at the honor in 2026 alongside an outright LMP2 title. leads the standings with 1,701 points in his No. 04 CrowdStrike Racing by APR ORECA LMP2 07, sitting 36 clear of in the No. 43 Inter Europol Competition ORECA. Kurtz has claimed both Rolex 24 At and 24 Hours of Le Mans class wins this year, alongside three straight runner-up IMSA finishes, but Clarke is charging hard with back-to-back wins at Canadian Tire Motorsport Park and . Last year's champion PJ Hyett sits third in the No. 99 AO Racing ORECA, 119 points behind, while Daniel Goldburg holds fourth in the No. 22 United Autosports USA ORECA, 184 back. With up to 150 points available per race weekend plus qualifying among 11 full-season cars, a strong Indianapolis for Hyett or Goldburg could flip the battle entirely.
Meanwhile, the GTD Bob Akin Award—which also grants a Le Mans invite—has boiled down to a duel between past winners. in the No. 70 Inception Racing Ferrari 296 GT3 EVO has edged ahead of two-time defending winner , who is chasing a three-peat in the No. 13 13 Autosport Corvette Z06 GT3.R. Iribe holds a razor-thin 20-point lead through eight races. Fidani has dominated the endurance rounds with 1,300 Bronze points compared to Iribe's 1,100, while Iribe has turned the tables in the sprint rounds by scoring 1,400 points as the top finishing Bronze driver in all four, leaving Fidani with 1,180. The Inception crew won GTD at Indianapolis last year but lost the Akin Award at Michelin Raceway Road after a first-lap incident.