Shift Up Now Athletes Hannah Greenemeier and Hannah Grisham earned a seventh-place finish in the GS class driving for Heart of Racing in the IMSA Michelin Pilot Challenge (IMPC) series at Weathertech Raceway Laguna Seca on May 1-3, 2026.
Competing in the third race of their first season with the series, The Hannahs piloted the Heart of Racing No. 26 Aston Martin Vantage AMR GT4 Evo. While Grisham had previously raced on the 2.238-mile, 11-turn permanent road course several years ago in Spec Miata, this was Greenemeier’s first competition on the Monterey, CA track.
Two practice sessions took place on Friday. The No. 26 team ran in the top 20 for the first, and bested their time for the second, running 11th. When it came time to qualify on Saturday, they put the car in 17th on the starting grid among the field of 45 cars, with 30 in their GS class and the remaining 15 in the TCR class.
Sunday’s two-hour race began under overcast skies at 12:40pm PST. Greenemeier was behind the wheel for the start, which ran cleanly for the first two laps.
At the start of the third lap, a massive incident ended with a car upside down in the gravel on the outside of turn two, bringing out an early full-course caution. This gave Greenemeier and her competitors the opportunity to start saving fuel to try and make it a one-stop race.
When the green flag flew again, it was short-lived. After only 10 minutes, another full-course caution flew, followed by another significant cleanup.
One hour and 25 minutes remained once the race resumed. Greenemeier kept the car clean under green-flag conditions, quietly moving the Heart of Racing Aston Martin up through the field and into the top ten.
When a third full-course caution flew for debris on the track, there was just over one hour on the competition clock, creating a potentially-awkward pit strategy for teams all the way down pit lane. Commentators noted that any drivers that pitted under this caution would very likely still have to stop again for a splash to reach the end.
When pit lane opened—and despite the awkward timing—most teams chose to pit and swap drivers. The No. 26 duo was no exception, and Grisham took the wheel, running in the top 15 with 55 minutes to go, after giving the Aston Martin a fuel tank of fuel.
During the last 30 minutes of the race, the various pit-stop strategies began to play out, and Grisham moved into the top ten. She and the other nine cars had all pitted mid-race, with the hopes of having enough fuel to make it to the end.
With 5 minutes to go, one of the cars right behind Hannah, and one ahead of her in the top ten both had to pit for splashes of fuel to get them to the end of the race, but Hannah and the Heart of Racing team got their strategy just right, and she was able to make to the checkered flag without a splash, putting them P7 - their best result in IMPC so far.
“Overall an excellent race from the entire team,” said Greenemeier. “We had a few technical issues in practice, but the guys did a great job getting that resolved before qualifying, and the strategy in the race was on point. Hannah [Grisham] did an amazing job saving fuel in her stint so we didn’t have to stop for a splash before the end, bringing us home the result. It was a true team effort this weekend, and we’re looking forward to our next race in Mid Ohio in a month’s time.”
Next up, The Hannahs head to Lexington, Ohio for the fourth event of the IMSA Michelin Pilot Challenge (IMPC) series, the O’Reilly Auto Parts 4 Hours of Mid-Ohio at the Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course on June 5-7, 2026.
