Road atlanta 2026
Image: Scottie Elkins
WRL took to the famed Michelin Raceway Road Atlanta for the 6th round of the 2026 championship season - as one of this year’s FLEX events this race weekend scored points in all championships making this a a pivotal event in the 2026 championship. Road Atlanta also marked WRL’s first supported event with Radical Cup North America sharing Friday and Saturday with WRL with Thursday testing with Max Track Time. Road Atlanta was WRL’s second spectator event of the season with over 1,500 fans braving uncertain conditions to catch the incredible show our competitors put on each year. As teams prepared for the weekend a tumultous weather forecast kept everyone knew it was going to rain - the question was when?
Friday morning answered everyone’s questions with lightning delays that scrubbed a few practice sessions and even Radical qualifying, but as they say the show must go on - and on the show went. Thanks to the hard work of Road Atlanta safety crews we were back up and operational with a rapidly drying track in time for qualifying and in WRL fashion it was about as close as close gets.
GTO pole was secured by the #18 Kingpin Racing 991.2 with a best lap of 1:31.4 with the top-10 GTO teams separated by just over 2 seconds ensuring another incredibly close weekend of GTO racing. The sole GTU qualifier Forty48 Competition managed an impressive P4 overall qualifying effort just 1.7s off the GTO pole.
GP1 pole was secured by the #29 Screaming Goat Racing LSx swapped E46 330i with a 1:37.8 just 0.36 seconds ahead of #5 All Star Racing in a deep field of competitive GP1 teams that would foreshadow some extrememly competitive racing through the weekend.
GP2 pole was secured by the #214 Garage 66 Scion FR-S with a 1:40.234 with a decisive 1s gap to the car behind. P2-P4 were separated by just .431 seconds with some big names and former GP2 champions returning to the class at Road Atlanta.
Image: Kris Eshenour
A pair of incredibly competitive endurance races would follow with competition heating up as the thermometer climbed to what we in the South would call “reasonable” July temperatures in the Mid-to-high 80s. Endurance racing is just what it ‘says on the tin’ - a test of endurance, and like all WRL endurance races winning at Road Atlanta wasn’t an easy task. With 45 of the most competitive endurance teams in the country it was anyone’s weekend to win. When comprehensive performance balancing meets fierce competition, strategy and ingenuity you get the type of racing you won’t find anywhere else in the world, and that’s just what Road Atlanta provided in July 2026.
Behind the Scenes:
Driver ID testing was in full swing at Road Atlanta and this test represented the most promising effort to date. Roughly 75% of all drivers successfully with real-time, on-site software development courtesy of Flagtronics improving efficacy stint-by-stint. We appreciate everyones patience with this process and are excited to say that we’re closing in rapidly on a polished solution.
Broadcast Improvements continue to show you and your team in the way you deserve to be seen with professional aerial and pit lane coverage that gets better every event. Did you catch the Crew Cam? Check out the replay for some pretty incredible POV video from crews getting down during pit stops.
Radical Cup North America was an excellent support partner and World Racing League would like to extend a huge thanks to them for adding to the spectacle and helping us grow this ever popular event even more. While we wished we could have provided them with better weather they put on an excellent show and we look forward to working with them again in the coming years.
word on the grid:
North Loop Motorsports, out of Minneapolis, MI, lead by Team Captain, Chris Davis secured a sweep of P1 for both races this weekend in the GP2 class. Not only was their first time at Road Atlanta, but Northloop Motorsports secured the weekend sweep without a single call on car 21 for contact or pit lane infractions. Clean, hard racing is what WRL is about.
Screaming Goat Racing, GP1- Car 29 prematurely pulled out of race 1 due to a broken seat mount. Kingpin Racing with three GTO efforts stepped up with the hardware needed, enabling the 29 to get back on track and securing P1 on Sunday's Race. Team work makes the dream work.
SJS by ACI and Zanella Racing join WRL for their first event with the series, both showing extreme promise and pace especially in the opening stints of both races and SJS scoring a P3 finish on their debut weekend! Kingpin Racing debuted their #18 991.2 securing pole on their first WRL outing.
Wheelhouse Racing had their strongest performances to date - narrowly missing the podium Sunday by just 2.2 seconds with a great battle to the finish. Great pace and increased reliability from these Ford GT4 entries show great promise for the future.
TCB #246 grabs their first win in GTO competition after 8 hours of fierce competition in Race 1.
100% of the GP2 field finishes Race 1 and 7 of 8 cars finished Race 2 - an astonishingly high finishing rate in tough conditions a testament to the quality of the class!
Have a fun story you’d like to share during or after the race? Shoot it to race@racewrl.com and so we can share your ‘word on the grid’.
championship chess:
OVERALL POINTS battle is heating up with 5 cars representing 4 different classes at the top of the National Overall championship!
GP1 & GP2 National Championship battles are both down to just a 7-point gap — with 3 races, bonus points and drops all in play these championships are still up for grabs!
GTO West Championship has just a 9-point spread across 1st-3rd place making Utah Motorsports Campus a pivotal event in both the West and National championships in GTO!
GTO National Championship P2-P5 are separated by only 7 points as #120 AE Victory takes a commanding lead.
SPIN? With 3 rounds left to go a LOT can happen - too many championship battles up and down the charts to list them all here, for more information and to see how the competition is stacking up, follow the link below!
WRL Points for all championships can be found here: WRL Championship Standings
