CORVETTE RACING AT ROAD AMERICA: Close to the Front

Strong showings for GTD PRO, GTD Corvettes at National Park of Speed

 
ELKHART LAKE, Wisc. (August 1, 2026) – Corvette Z06 GT3.Rs will start at the sharp end of both GT grids for the start of the six-hour Motul Endurance SportsCar Grand Prix at Road America following Saturday’s qualifying sessions.


Corvette Racing by Pratt Miller Motorsports’ Alexander Sims qualified third in GTD PRO with a 2:04.264 (117.272 mph) in the No. 3 Chevrolet Corvette Z06 GT3.R that he drives with Antoino Garcia. Sims, with two poles this season, was 0.222 seconds shy of pole position and less than a tenth to the front row.


He and Garcia were race-winners at Detroit and would like to take another at the end of IMSA’s first six-hour race at the famed 4.048-mile, 14-turn Road America circuit. Sunday’s race is the fourth of five IMSA Michelin Endurance Cup rounds with the last set for the season finale at the 10-hour Petit Le Mans.

 
Like always, the margin in GTD PRO was razor thin. The No. 4 Corvette of Tommy Milner was sixth in class but was closer to Sims’ time than the No. 3 was to pole position. Milner and Nicky Catsburg are second in the GTD PRO championship and will seek their first victory of the season.

 
The combined effort of the Pratt Miller-run Corvettes have put Chevrolet out front in the Manufacturers Championship, which it won in 2025.


In GTD, DragonSpeed’s Casper Stevenson will start fourth after the team’s best showing qualifying in its debut season with the Corvette. Driving with Giacomo Altoé and Alec Udell, Stevenson’s best lap was a 2:04.860 (116.712 mph) that was only 0.172 seconds off the class pole-winning time.

 
All three Corvette teams were pleased with their qualifying efforts. Mason Filippi was ninth in DXDT Racing’s No. 36 Corvette that he will share with Robert Wickens and Charlie Eastwood; Filippi ended just 0.581 seconds from pole position. 13 Autosport’s Orey Fidani will start on the eighth row and 15th in class in the team’s No. 13 Corvette that he’ll drive with Matt Bell and Lars Kern.

 
Sunday’s race is another chance for the Corvette GT3 program to add to its summer of success. Corvettes have won two 24-hour races in class (Le Mans and Spa), took the home victory at Detroit and claimed another class win in the FIA WEC at Brazil.

 
That combined with the Corvette program’s history at Road America should bode well for this weekend. The Corvette Racing factory team won eight times in class at Road America, and DXDT Racing scored GT World Challenge America victories at the track in 2024 and 2025 with Milner, Bell and Udell as part of those victories.
 

The Motul Endurance SportsCar Grand Prix is scheduled for 10:40 a.m. CT on Sunday, August 2. It will stream live in its entirety on Peacock in the U.S. starting at 10:30 a.m. CT and on IMSA’s YouTube channel internationally. IMSA Radio will have the audio call IMSA.com, XM 206 and SiriusXM Online 996.


CORVETTE Z06 GT3.R POST-QUALIFYING DRIVER QUOTES

ALEXANDER SIMS, NO. 3 CHEVROLET CORVETTE Z06 GT3.R: "It was pretty reasonable, to be honest. The GTD session was probably the toughest with the drizzle continuing throughout that session, but it pretty much stopped for ours, actually. So it was just a nice dry session. Our Corvette was working pretty well and pretty dialed in. Nice to run it on new tires and low fuel, and quality trim. I think we made a good call to do a warmup lap on the old tires, to get the car hot and get a nice peak out of the new tire with hot brakes and stuff. It seemed to work pretty well. I enjoyed it, and am looking forward to a good and long race tomorrow."


TOMMY MILNER, NO. 4 CHEVROLET CORVETTE Z06 GT3.R: “An OK qualy. The Corvette felt pretty good. My last time in the car was soaking wet and then the first practice Friday was on old tires and stuff like that, so quite a bit of a different feel. We made some changes from Friday practice, and I think we've put ourselves in a pretty good window for a good racecar. It was good for qualifying, too. No big complaints for me. It's pretty close like always... four-tenths to P1. Obviously unfortunate that we just slowly lose little bits of points here and there to the BMW. But obviously it's a long race tomorrow and I'm looking forward to another solid result.”


OREY FIDANI, NO. 13 CHEVROLET CORVETTE Z06 GT3.R: “The Corvette was fantastic today. The balance was there right from the start, and the team gave me a car that was really enjoyable to drive. I’m really happy with how the car feels heading into tomorrow. Road America is a long six-hour race, and having a strong, consistent race car is what matters most. I’m excited to get back behind the wheel and see what we can do.”


MASON FILIPPI, NO. 36 CHEVROLET CORVETTE Z06 GT3.R: "It was a good session. We didn't have any testing, no qualy sims or anything so we went in kind of blind. It's awesome competition in this class where a half-second puts us in P1. So I think that it's one of those things where you just keep chipping away and you keep learning. The car is really great here. You can feel how solid the Z06 GT3.R is and the platform that it has. We just have to focus on moving forward tomorrow. I think it'll be really important to set things up for Robbie and then Charlie at the end. Obviously we want to be as far forward as possible, so we'll keep pushing forward to try and make that happen."


CASPER STEVENSON, NO. 81 CHEVROLET CORVETTE Z06 GT3.R: "So close to the front row! I feel that the time was there somewhere, so it's a little frustrating how close. But the car was strong. And I think if it was wet, it would also be very good. But I'm happy. We're building momentum, you know? And that's clear. I know I could have probably gotten the poll, but could have also been slower. So yeah, overall I'm pleased. I think we'll be good in the race. The key is to stay out of trouble at the start and then give it over to Alec and Giacomo who also are quick, too. We're really in a good place and I just want to try and do my bit."


Ryan Smith