Wright Motorsports Takes Pro-Am Championship Lead with Road America Podium

Wright Motorsports delivered a strong showing in the fifth round of the 2026 GT World Challenge America championship at Road America, navigating a chaotic three-hour contest to secure a Pro-Am podium and the championship lead with the No. 31 Porsche 911 GT3 R of Dave Musial Jr. and Ryan Yardley. The Ohio-based team also brought the No. 242 Porsche 911 GT3 R of Therese and Thomas Merrill home with a hard-fought fourth-place Pro-Am result, gaining fifteen positions overall throughout the race. 

The race was defined by an unusually turbulent opening half-hour, with three full-course yellows interrupting the field in the opening 30 minutes. The third caution was particularly lengthy following cleanup efforts to clear an incident, prompting both Wright Motorsports entries to complete pit stops.

For the No. 31 Porsche, Musial Jr. and Yardley employed a strategy that paid dividends as the race progressed. Following their pit stop and driver change, the Porsche found itself running second in Pro-Am at the halfway mark, putting Yardley in position to fight for a class podium as the race entered its final stages.

Another full-course yellow just before the final hour bunched the field back together. As the race returned to green, Yardley was in the thick of a hard-fought three-way battle for a podium result, ultimately crossing the finish line in third, and more importantly the Pro-Am championship lead. The result moves Musial Jr. and Yardley into first place in the class standings with just two rounds remaining in the 2026 championship.

“ I feel really good, I'm super happy,” said Dave Musial Jr. “From where we started, it was about surviving all the chaos and moving forward from there. I’m really, really happy with the result. It was an awesome race.” 

“Massive credit to Dave for starting us off so well,” added RyanYardley. “Major credit to Wright Motorsports for giving us another awesome strategy. I’m thrilled we’ve earned another podium this season and now bring on Barber!”

The No. 242 Porsche faced an initial setback but went on to complete an exceptional recovery drive in the three-hour contest. Therese Lahlouh narrowly avoided a significant incident in the Kink that involved several cars ahead of her. Successfully navigating the aftermath, she emerged from the incident with debris on the Porsche, necessitating a trip through pit lane.

The Wright Motorsports crew executed the resulting pit stop efficiently, minimizing the time lost and allowing the No. 242 to rejoin the field while the caution period was still in effect. The quick response kept them within striking distance as Thomas Merrill took over following the driver change.

With just under half of the race remaining, the No. 242 Porsche had climbed to sixth in Pro-Am. A restart in the final third of the race provided another opportunity, and Merrill capitalized, moving into the top five.

With just over 30 minutes remaining, another competitor's pit stop promoted Merrill to fourth in class. From there, the Wright Motorsports driver came under significant pressure from two class competitors behind him, particularly in the closing laps. Merrill held his position through the final exchanges to secure a hard-earned fourth-place finish for the No. 242 entry.

“ That was definitely a wild race,” expressed Therese Lahlouh. “I just tried to avoid the chaos. I had to make some heads-up decisions and I decided to protect the car. I always want to fight my way through the pack, and it’s not great to see a bunch of cars involved in an incident. Glad I was able to keep the car pretty clean overall to benefit from Wright’s incredible strategy. Unfortunately, I damaged the front end just a little bit before handing it off to Thomas, and I felt so bad about giving him some really hard work. It was so cool to watch him hold off Phillip Ellis to the line by just a couple of hundredths at the end, I’m really proud of him and the team.” 

“The Wight Motorsports crew gave us a really good race car,” echoed Thomas Merrill. “We were really able to fight with it. It was really cool, I had a lot of fun out there, and the team’s strategy was phenomenal. I think that was the biggest thing for us today. They put us in the right position and all I had to do was execute. I'm happy for a solid finish and a good Hard Charger Award for us. It’s our second one this year, so that's pretty great.” 

With the fifth round of the GT World Challenge America championship now complete, Wright Motorsports heads into the final stretch of the season with championship momentum on its side. The team will head to Barber Motorsports Park next in Alabama, September 25-27, for the penultimate event of the 2026 SRO America season.