west desert 2026

Images by Kris Eshenour

Views from the ‘office’ don’t get much better than this. Utah once again provided incredible views, spectacular weather and even better racing. Formerly Utah Motorsports Campus, the new ownership have doubled (tripled?) down on providing a world-class facility on the outskirts of Salt Lake City, Utah under a new and fitting name - West Desert Raceway. There’s not much that holds a candle to a desert sunset and with weather fitting Webster’s definition of “perfect” it was all smiles Thursday evening as teams prepared for the Mid/West Champioinship finale.

West Desert presents a unique (but not new challenge) to World Racing League competitors - as a National series there is a component of “home track advantage” that cannot be ignored - especially at tracks that are newer to the series. In commanding fashion, the Mid/West teams familiar with the track came out of the gates swinging but as we continue to see, the “new” drivers took to the facility quickly and the laptimes tumbled as Friday’s practice sessions proceeded.

As I tried (and ultimately failed) to fabricate words that adequately describe how close GTO qualifying was, I decided to see how the time translated to distance. GTO pole was secured by just 0.005 seconds (or 9 inches) with the entirety top 5 separated by only 0.048 seconds (or 7.74 feet) in the official qualifying results - that’s the top 5 within a half car length, representing the closes qualifying result in GTO history. Even more incredible? P1 and P2 provisional qualifiers were both street-vin, shop built cars - a foreign concept in modern GTO history and a testament to the drivers of those cars and WRL’s proprietary APV-based BOP strategy. While the provisional polesitter would ultimately miss the mark on the dyno by the slimmest of margins (less than .5%), this was a landmark event for the series as we continue our push towards parity and inclusion with a data-driven ruleset.

The GP classes were not to be ignored, and while the hometown heroes certainly showed their pace in qualifying, the “away” teams were not to be ignored. GP1 P2 - P4 were separated by just 0.248 seconds and GP2 pole was decided by just 0.650 seconds. The 15 hours of racing that lay ahead promised ample opportunity for drivers to learn the track and close the pace gap and it was clearly anyone’s to win.

Qualifying results

GTO offical pole was secured by Salt Lake City, UT based Vesko Kozarov of the #33 Rearden Racing 2012 Nissan 370z with a 2:03.382, with just 0.005 seconds, or 9 inches(!) separating them the #54 888 Racing 991.2 Cup entry.

GP1 official pole was secured by Park City, UT based Lincoln Larson in the #118 Blaze Racing E36 with a 2:11.201 lap 0.955 seconds ahead of #46 Ginger Racing Porsche Cayman entry driven by Lance Boicelli.

GP2 official pole was secured by Olivier Raunier in the #369 Exiled Motorwerks E46 BMW with a 2:14.084 just 0.650 seconds head of the #83 Palomar Racing E36 entry driven by Nik Romano.

SECTOR1 Race analysis

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Friday’s qualifying results left everyone excited for what the weekend might offer with local teams feeling confident and out-of-region teams doing their homework and making last minute tweaks to close the gaps. West Desert really is an incredible racetrack with so much on offer and has proven itself to work with the WRL formula to produce incredible racing. The paddock was buzzing with activity as the receeding sun closed the curtain on an incredible day of practice and qualifying with the real show yet to begin.

Race 1

Race 1 saw the green flag fly over the #33 Rearden Racing 2012 370z piloted by Vesko Kozarov leading from the overall pole but it wasn’t long before the #9 Almonte Motorsports 991.2 Cup entry found it’s way into the lead by lap two following an incident that caused an unscheduled pit for the #33 of Rearden Racing. The first hour would see continuous lead swaps between the #9 of Almonte Motorsports, the #54 of 888 Racing and the #123 of NFC Motorsports proving that the tight qualifying results would carry into the race.

Lincoln Larson of the #118 Blaze Racing entry set the GP1 pace early laying down the fastest lap of the race on lap 2 but Vann Duke of the #46 Ginger Racing team would claw their way into the GP1 lead by lap 15. A flurry of pit stops would cycle the #180 of Sampson Racing and #48 of El Diablo into the lead before Matt Million took control of the class on Lap 52 behind the wheel of the #38 of Palomar Racing.

Nik Romano grabbed an early GP2 lead in the #83 of Palomar Racing but Kyle Koh - starting from the back due to post-qualifying tech complications - answered back immediately on lap 2 in the #58 MRG Motorsports machine grabbing the lead back and registering the fastest lap of the day in GP2 in the process with a 2:13.645. The opening 60 laps would be a dogfight with the lead swapping back and forth between these two teams.

As the race settled in the #678 Ligier JS2R of STAK by Racer’s Edge was making moves in GTO with Kevin Madsen vaulting the Ligier into the lead on lap 108 with the #123 of NFC Motorsports close behind - a move that would have massive Championship implications. Matt Million and Colin Garrett controlled GP1 with 65 consecutive laps lead through the middle portion of the race until mechanical struggles halted their progress on lap 117 promoting the #46 of Ginger Racing into the lead. The #83 of Palomar Racing reclaimed the GP2 lead on lap 80 and gradually created space to the #58 of MRG Motorsports as both teams led an incredible GP2 charge through the field (more on that later)

The closing stages of Race 1 kept everyone on their toes with the #123 NFC Motorsports entry driven by Jay Pellegrini and the #678 STAK by Racer’s Edge piloted by Kevin Madsen putting on an excellent show, trading the lead 3 times in the last 50 laps of the race with Madsen sealing the deal on lap 209 for the win. Garrett whitson anchored the closing stint for the #46 of Ginger Racing nursing transmission issues but with a comfortable lead over the #48 of El Diablo who also suffered mechanical trouble earlier in th race. Matt Guiver in the #58 of MRG Motorsports and Nik Romano in the #83 of Palomar Racing led an incredible charge in GP2 pushing themselves ahead of ALL GP1 competitors to a 7th and 8th place overall with the #83 of Palomar Racing taking home the top spot in GP2.

Race 2

Race two saw the #37 ENVE Motorsports Aston Martin GT4 entry driven by Sabre Cook take the green flag from pole on their WRL debut weekend after a solid P5 on Saturday. ENVE Motorsports would lead the opening 33 laps under pressure from the #9 Almonte Motorsports and #123 NFC Motorsports entries with NFC grabbing the lead on lap 34.

Lincoln Larson once again grabbed an early lead in the #118 Blaze Racing E36 logging the fastest GP1 lap of the event on Lap 2 with a 2:11.360 and commanding the opening hour of the race. Marcelo Vine would briefly take the lead in the #180 Sampson Racing Communications E46 during the first pit stop cycle with Larson regaining the lead for the #118 by lap 39.

GP2 kicked things off with a three-way scrap between Matt Guiver in the #58 of MRG Motorsports, Kelly Hatcher in the #369 of Exiled Motorworks and Nik Romano of #83 Palomar Racing. Hatcher would keep Guiver within 15 seconds across the first 40 laps as Romano worked his way from a P5 start into P3 in the opening stages setting the tone for the rest of the race.

As we approached the mid-point of the race the 2024 WRL GTO champions NFC Motorsports #123 pulled a multi-lap lead on the #9 and #37 thanks to clean, consistent pace and excellent pit stops. Zac Lebwohl jumped in the #118 Blaze Racing E36 in the lead of GP1 and would pick up an entire lap on the field at their home track. The battle for 2nd place in GP1 was just heating up as gaps narrowed between the #46 of Ginger Racing, #62 of Open Throttle Racing and the #180 of Sampson Racing Communications — giving us a glimpse of what was to come. Matt Million would grab the GP2 lead for the #83 of Palomar Racing on lap 90 and steadily pulled away from the #369 and #58 as pit windows cycled through the midpoint of the race.

As the race, the weekend and the 2026 Mid/West Championship drew to a close the #123 NFC Motorsports entry piloted by Lanny Toups would hold off Bryson Lew in the #9 and Alex Kim in the #37 securing overall victory after 194 laps. The 2025 GP1 National Championship winning #118 E36 of Blaze Racing took a commanding victory in class. A few laps behind the battle for P2 in GP1 was coming to a head with Florin Sabau in the #62 of Open Throttle Racing steadily chasing down and eventually passing the #46 of Ginger Racing for P2 on lap 172. Garrett Whitson in the #46 Ginger Racing E46 answered right back however, repassing the #62 of Open Throttle Racing on lap 177 and fending off the #62 to clinch 2nd place in GP1 in a replay-worthy nailbiter (see broadcast links below). Connor Ackelbein took the checkered flag and piloted the #83 of Palomar Racing to victory and a GP2 sweep with the GP2 leader finishing P8 overall (or 2nd in GP1) proving just how far consistency, reliability and strategy can take you.

Word On The Grid:

STAK Racing by Racer’s Edge clinches GTO Mid/West Championship: While more will follow in a dedicated post - STAK Racing arrived in Utah with a 17 point defecit to AE Victory Racing facing an absolutely stacked GTO roster and an uphill battle. Their win on Saturday made a championship much more possible, but they still had to perform - and perform they did. A P5 finish on Sunday cemented the 2026 Mid/West Championship victory for the #678 Stak by Racer’s Edge Ligier JS2R
Ginger Racing clinches GP1 Mid/West Championship with epic management of transmission and oil-burn issues across the weekend and a win in GP1 on Saturday to seal the proverbial deal for this Texas based team.
Palomar Racing clinches GP2 Mid/West Championship after a commanding performance across 2026, the 2025 GP2 National Champions take home a Mid/West regional championship in 2026.
Closest Qualifying in GTO History: 0.004% — that’s all that separated the P2 888 Racing 991.2 GT3 Cup from the Rearden Racing 2012 Nissan 370z in qualifying. The top 5 were separated by only 0.048 seconds with 4 different makes represented.
VIN-dication: Two street-VIN cars grabbed provisional P1 and P2 in qualifying with a 2006 997 Porsche Carrerra S and 2012 Nissan 370z gaining top honors and putting GT4 cars on notice for the balance of the season. WRL’s proprietary GTO performance balancing continues to tighten the gap as the APV table develops.
4 New Teams took to the WRL grid this weekend. A huge welcome to ENVE Motorsports, One Toyota Speed SF, Strassenfahrt and Rearden Racing!
One Toyota Speed SF shows immense promise in GP2 on their debut as the only non-BMW in the GP2 field with a new-to-them #688 Toyota GR Cup finishing P3 on Saturday and P4 on Sunday!
Blaze Racing takes their first pole position! Across their entire 2025 GP1 Championship winning effort Blaze Racing never grabbed a pole position in GP1 - that all changed this weekend as Lincoln Larson grabs their first pole position at their home track in Utah.
GP2 Masterclass: Palomar Racing and MRG Motorsports proved that horsepower isn’t everything. With impressive lap pace and even more impressive finishing positions these two teams would have finished P2 and P3 respectively in GP1 both days.
3D Racing proves you can do a lot with a small team. 3D racing ran the weekend with just two drivers and a single crew member! Huge shout out to this small team who has been doing big things in WRL for many years.
Exiled Motorworks completed a legendary engine swap between Race 1 and Race 2 resulting in a GP2 P3 podium finish for the team on Sunday - trophies make those knuckles hurt just a little less.
Complete event results on RedMist Timing: West Desert ‘26 Results on Redmist.racing
Have a story you’d like to share during or after the race? Shoot it to race@racewrl.com and we’ll get your story added to this recap!

Behind the Scenes:

Driver ID Progress: Progress continues with driver ID though constant updates can cause issues and anomolies as we work towards 100% reliability. Thank you to Flagtronics, Redmist and everyone helping us to pioneer this low-cost driver ID solution.
APV Table Values: WRL continues to develop the APV table to create an environment where the widest range of vehicles can compete for a win. The results at West Desert show that we’re getting close with single-lap pace, but more work must be done and we’re dillegently analyzing data as we continue marching towards a predictable, stable table of values. Expect further development of the table, more column-based-detail on items like ABS and additional resolution being added as we close 2026.
2027 WRL Schedule is quickly coming together and should be announced in the coming days. WRL has dropped some big announcements across it’s history, but this one is going to take the cake.
COTA US Endurance Championship is nearly sold out with a MASSIVE 85 car field and counting. Grab your spot today before they’re gone. We’re anticipating a late-entry rush based on 2026 registration patterns along with lower-than-usual cancellations.
Have questions, suggestions, ideas or feedback? We want to hear from you! Email race@racewrl.com with any inquiries.

championship chess:

National Overall Championship - Just 12 points separate the top 3 and all 3 teams are representing a different class!
GP1 East Championship - Just 14 points separate the #62 of Open Throttle Racing and #555 of Cajun Canuck Racing meaning the championship will be decided on the bumps of Sebring.
GP1 National Championship - Just 3 points separate the #46 of Ginger Racing, the #62 of Open Throttle Racing and the #48 of El Diablo!
WRL Points for all championships can be found here: WRL Championship Standings

broadcast Links:

Friday Qualifying Broadcast: WRL West Desert 2026 Qualifying Broadcast
Saturday Race 1 Broadcast: WRL West Desert 2026 Saturday Broadcast
Sunday Race 2 Broadcast: WRL West Desert 2026 Sunday Broadcast