Shift Up Now Athletes Hannah Grisham, Michele Abbate, Sally Mott, Sarah Montgomery and Ashley Freiberg, along with AE Victory Racing (AEVR) Shootout winner Brenna Schubert, brought home a pair of podiums for AEVR in the 2026 World Racing League (WRL) season opener at Barber Motorsports Park on February 26 - March 1, 2026.
The race weekend would mark AEVR’s first-ever competition as a two-car, all-female-lineup team. Both entries were Toyota Supra GT4s, with Montgomery, Freiberg and Schubert piloting the No. 119, and Grisham, Abbate Mott driving the No. 120.
For the first time ever at Barber, max track time was available on Thursday for WRL teams. However, intermittent rain throughout the day meant minimal laps run. The AEVR teams used the time to focus on driver-change practice and initial car evaluation.
On Friday, the first practice session ran under damp track conditions, but by the second session and qualifying later that day, it had dried out, allowing for a highly-competitive qualifying session.
Strategic tire management and traffic decisions made the difference for the AEVR teams. At the end of the qualifying session, the No. 119 was third with a lap time of 1:32.59, and the No. 120 was fifth, with a lap time of 1:33.05. However, post-session penalties for another car advanced each car one spot, to second and fourth on the starting grid.
The first eight-hour race of the season began on Saturday, with Freiberg behind the wheel of the No. 119 car on the outside of row one in class, and Grisham in the No. 120 car on the outside of row two.
Both cars had strong first stints, with Freiberg leading laps through the pit stop cycles, and Grisham keeping the No. 120 in the top five for her entire stint, running as high as third. On lap 80, a full-course caution flew, just two hours into the race. Both AEVR cars elected to do their next stop and driver changes. Freiberg handed the car over to Schubert in second place, and Grisham handed it over to Abbate in fourth.
Schubert and Abbate continued the clean, strong run before the final driver changes happened on lap 174. Montgomery and Mott got behind the wheels to drive the final stints full of fast- paced laps. During the last hour of the competition, Mott advanced the No. 120 team into fourth place, while Montgomery held position to give the No. 119 their first podium finish of the season.
On Sunday, the seven-hour competition took place under blue skies, and included a one-hour break for church services. Once again, Freiberg would start for the No. 119 team, with Grisham taking the green flag in the No. 120. Each drove a triple stint to take their teams into the top five before the enforced break.
At the restart, Mott was behind the wheel for a huge stint, putting in almost three hours as she drove to the front of the field in the No. 120, taking the lead before handing the car over to Abbate.
In the No. 119 Supra, Schubert continued to execute in her first-ever GT4 weekend. The two teams were on different pit strategies but Schubert moved herself into the final podium position before Montgomery took the wheel for the final time.
Abbate in the No. 120 dropped back to second place behind the BMW GT4 car and was hoping for a code 35 as she saved fuel, but ultimately had to stop for a splash to make it to the checkered flag. This promoted the No. 119 to second place, giving AEVR a second-third finish, with both cars on the podium, to end the weekend.
“What a first weekend for AE Victory Racing,” said Montgomery. “Very grateful for all the team’s preparation and hard work including all of the drivers. Thank you to TeamOne Logistics and Erin Vogel for making this possible!”
Freiberg commented, “For both cars to earn podium finishes on our first race weekend is an incredible accomplishment and a testament to the strength of this entire team. I’m so proud of how everyone executed, especially with the rain washing out our first day on track and adding an extra layer of challenge. Every single team member stepped up and the results truly reflect that effort.”
Schubert said, “I am so thankful to be a part of this team. I would say it’s hard to believe we scored three podiums on our debut weekend, but after seeing the top notch that Erin has put together in action, it’s not hard at all! Everyone worked so hard and put in effort needed to get us results. I am honored to be a part of it and I can’t wait to come back even stronger at Thunderhill, striving for the top step this time!”
Grisham added, “What a great first weekend with AE Victory Racing at Barber Motorsports Park! Both cars did well and it was an incredibly strong way to start the season. Huge credit to my teammates Sally and Michele who did an amazing job all weekend and made our P3 result possible. Proud of the teamwork and already looking forward to carrying this momentum into Thunderhill.”
Abbate said, “I am so incredibly proud of our entire team as a whole. We had a killer first event and every aspect of it was such an honor. I can’t wait to see what the rest of the season has in store!”
Mott commented, “This was such an amazing way to start the season. I couldn’t be happier with a double podium. Driving the AE Victory Racing Supra to P1 was seriously so much fun and I’m really proud of how quickly everything came together. The synergy with the team felt natural from the start. Everyone was locked in and working toward the same goal. There’s always more to find, but I think this weekend gave the team a lot of confidence heading into the rest of the season. I’d absolutely love to come back and do it again with this group.”
Next up, the AEVR teams head to Thunderhill Raceway Park for the second event of the 2026 season, taking place on April 3-5, 2026.
