Entry-Level IMSA Series Gets Its Own Endurance Cup

IMSA’s VP Racing SportsCar Challenge (must they, with the CamelCase?) has a lot of exciting updates in 2026 that, for me, bring it up to par as a racing product with the other two multi-class IMSA championships. It’s getting the new LMP3 generation, the new single-make BMW M2 Racing class is joining its four two-hour endurance rounds at Sebring, COTA, VIR, and Road America — which are also new —  and now those endurance rounds have been entitled the IMSA Airbnb Endurance Challenge and will be their own championship-within-a-championship like the Michelin Endurance Cup in the big leagues.

When I first saw this news, I was worried the whole championship had been renamed, and I hated that. Nothing worse than an automotive sponsor being replaced by something irrelevant. But now that I understand that it’s actually creating a new sub-competition endurance-focused teams can target — a dynamic I find works really well in the WeatherTech championship — I have come around completely. It adorably connotes the idea of traveling to these four rounds and renting a place to stay, which is something I heartily encourage people to do.