Earl Bamber has the #31 Whelen Cadillac comfortably out front at the halfway point of the Sahlen’s Six Hours of The Glen.
It has been a messy run with five cautions through the opening three hours, but the Whelen Cadillac, which started on pole with Jack Aitken, has held control of the top spot for the majority of the duration.
At the halfway mark, Bamber leads Kaku Ohta, in Acura Meyer Shank Racing’s #93 Acura ARX-06, by 6s around Watkins Glen International’s 3.4-mile, 11-turn natural terrain road course.
AO Racing’s Johnny Edgar is out front in LMP2. Ben Barnicoat, in the #14 Lexus RC F GT3 for Vasser Sullivan Racing with Dreyer & Reinbold that started on pole with Jack Hawksworth, leading GTD Pro. Heart of Racing’s Dudu Barrichello held the top spot in GTD.
From the Start…
Green Flag, Let’s Gooooo!
2026 Sahlen’s Six Hours of The Glen! | @WGI
🟢: Sunday, June 28 | 12:10PM ET
📺: Peacock
🌍: IMSA YouTube Live, IMSA .tv
📻: IMSA Radio pic.twitter.com/usWc82f58L— IMSA (@IMSA) June 28, 2026
Before the race even began, Sheena Monk (Myers Riley Motorsports) spun her #16 Ford Mustang GT3 in Turn 6 on the formation lap, but managed to gather it back up undamaged.
Jack Aitken led the field to the green flag, with no drama as the field filled in behind. While Aitken caught the rear of the GTD field just eight minutes into the race, Race Control handed out a drive-through penalty to the #21 Ferrari 296 GT3 Evo of Antonio Fuoco (AF Corse USA) for a false start by lining up in the wrong column at the start.
The first caution of the race came out roughly 14 minutes in after the #37 Intersport Racing LMP2 entry of Jon Field suffered damage after contact that led to a spin in the Bus Stop chicane. Unrelated the #45 Lamborghini Huracan GT3 EVO2 of Graham Doyle (Wayne Taylor Racing) suffered a left rear wheel hub issue and was forced to stop prior to the caution; he was able to return, albeit a lap down in class.
The race resumed after roughly an eight-minute caution, with Aitken once again jumping out to a comfortable lead over front-row mate Tom Blomqvist (Acura Meyer Shank Racing).
After an extended review, Race Control handed a penalty to the #18 Era Motorsport entry of Naveen Rao for the earlier contact that spun Doyle.
Another caution came out 33 minutes into the race after the Louis Deletraz (Wayne Taylor Racing) went off in Turn 6 and clobbered the off-track signage, which led to a debris caution.
The halt in on-track action opened up the window for first pit stops, with Aitken pitted and swapping out for Frederik Vesti. Meanwhile, Felipe Nasr opted to not pit and took over the race lead in the #7 Porsche 963 for Porsche Penske Motorsport.
Through strategy, the #023 Ferrari 296 GT3 EVO of Triarsi Competizione, with Robert Megennis, taking over the GTD class lead. GTD Pro class pole-sitter Jack Hawksworth (Vasser Sullivan Racing with Dreyer & Reinbold) led the early portion, but fell to third in class on the first pit stop, with Neil Verhagen (Paul Miller Racing) taking over the top spot, with James Calado (Triarsi Competizione) in second.
However, there was a massive crash under the caution in Turn 4 as the #60 Acura Meyer Shank Racing Acura ARX-06 of Colin Braun came out of the pits, followed by the #23 Aston Martin Valkyrie of Roman De Angelis (Aston Martin THOR Team). With GT cars also around as the two were attempting to catch the back of the GTP field, Braun suddenly braked, which led to De Angelis locking up and spinning into the back of Braun. Henrik Hedman (DragonSpeed) was a casualty of the contact, with his #81 Chevrolet Corvette Z06 GT3.R behind hit from De Angelis before hitting the inside wall and coming to a stop against the guardrail, facing the opposite direction.
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Lost in the carnage, Nasr relinquished the lead and dove to pit lane for energy replenishment, opting to stay in the car. As a result, Vesti cycled up to the lead, with Laurens Vanthoor up to second in the #6 Porsche 963 for Porsche Penske Motorsport. Additionally, Megennis pitted, which handed the lead to Orey Fidani (13 Autosport), who pitted moments before the caution and cycled to the GTD class lead as a result.
The restart came with 4h54m to go, with Vesti maintaining control. The GTD class lead did change hands shortly after, with Zacharie Robichon (Heart of Racing) taking back the top spot he started the race at.
The caution returned once more 15 minutes later after the #37 of Field spun in Turn 7, causing significant damage to the left-rear and trying to limp back to pit lane, leaving behind a trail of debris before ending up stranded in the gravel trap.
Hard hit for the No. 911 Manthey Porsche!
Sahlen’s Six Hours of The Glen
🟢: Sunday, June 28 | 12:10PM ET
📺: Peacock
🌍: IMSA YouTube Live, IMSA .tv
📻: IMSA Radio pic.twitter.com/XJKUHAFpSB— IMSA (@IMSA) June 28, 2026
Vesti led the field to the green flag with 4h31m to go. The race found a rhythm for the next 30-plus minutes before another full course caution came out after Manthey Racing’s “Grello” with IMSA debutant Loek Hartog in the car, was forced off in Turn 8 and found the wall, which led to him stopped on track shortly after the contact.
Pit stops followed, with Vesti coming in and hopping out, with Bamber taking over the #31 Cadillac V-Series.R. The #93 Acura Meyer Shank Racing entry, running second, also came down pit road as Renger van der Zande handed off to Kaku Ohta.
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Bamber led Ohta to the restart with 3h42m to go, with Jordan Taylor, in the #40 Wayne Taylor Racing entry previously occupied by Deletraz, filed in third.
It didn’t take long for another full course yellow, with this one happening after Kaylen Frederick, in the #5 JDC-Miller MotorSport Porsche 963 lost his left-rear tire as the carcass ended up in Turn 9. Frederick was able to limp back to pit lane, fortunately.
Manuel Espirito Santo, in the #73 Pratt Miller Motorsports entry, led the LMP2 class, with Connor De Phillippi, in for Verhagen, held the GTD Pro top spot over Vasser Sullivan’s Ben Barnicoat, in for Hawksworth. Barrichello had the Heart of Racing #27 out front in GTD
The restart came moments later, with Bamber once more keeping Whelen Cadillac in control. However, it was a tense moment in the GTD class as De Phillippi had a moment in the Bus Stop chicane and dropped down to third, handing the lead to Barnicoat.
Bamber widened the lead to over 3.6s nearing the halfway mark. Espirito Santo held a 1.2s lead in LMP. The closest battle on track was between Barnicoat and Frederic Vervisch (Ford Racing), with the pair separated by 0.9s for the GTD Pro lead. Barrichello continued to hold the advantage in GTD, roughly 1.5s ahead of Vasser Sullivan’s Benjamin Pedersen.
Espirito Santo pitted just prior to the halfway point, with AO Racing’s Edgar taking over the lead in class.
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