Shift Up Now Athletes Hannah Greenemeier and Hannah Grisham earned their third consecutive pole position—two in a row for personally for Grisham—in the Motul Sports Car Endurance Grand Prix at Road America on July 30-August 2, 2026.
Competing in the eighth event of the 2026 IMSA Michelin Pilot Challenge (IMPC) season, “The Hannahs” piloted the Heart of Racing No. 26 Aston Martin Vantage AMR GT4 Evo on the 4.048-mile, 14-turn permanent road course.
The first practice took place on Thursday afternoon. The track was dry and Greenemeier’s time put the duo just outside the top ten. The following morning, cool temperatures and overcast skies provided ideal track conditions, and The Hannahs laid down significantly-faster lap times. Of the pair, Grisham was quickest, with the six-fastest lap time of the session.
Later that day, qualifying took place under overcast skies. Grisham was behind the wheel of the Heart of Racing entry, continuing to alternate qualifying duties with Greenemeier. Grisham set the fastest time of the session, claiming pole by less than one tenth of a second - marking the third pole in a row for the talented duo.
The two-hour competition began on Saturday afternoon. Rain and gloomy weather caused wet track conditions that had commentators speculating on the teams’ various strategies.
After two pace laps, Grisham led the field to green in a two-by-two formation. She had a strong start and went unchallenged into the first turn, then developed a one car-length lead by the run down into turn five. Just a couple laps into the race, she was running 1.5 seconds ahead of the second-place car.
The rain ceased and the track began to dry about 10 minutes into the race. Grisham’s lead to the second placed car decreased, however the two cars in front already had a full five-second lead over third place.
On the run down to turn five, the second-place car used a tow to pop out on the inside into the brake zone. Simultaneously, Grisham’s right side wheels caught the white line under braking, putting her GT4 car into a lurid slide as they approached the corner. She regrouped with minimal time lost, and got to work chasing the new leader.
Grisham ran cleanly for the remainder of her stint, building a 10 second gap to the third place competitor, and prepared to pit approximately 40 minutes into the race. Just before the pit window opened, a full-course caution flew for a beached car in the gravel, which eliminated the advantage Grisham and the leader had built over the rest of the field.
When the pit window opened, the entire GT4 field dove in for driver changes and dry-weather tires. A slightly-slower pit stop put The Hannahs in fourth as Greenemeier left pit lane.
The race restarted with a single-file line and just over one hour on the competition clock. Greenemeier had a strong start, and was looking to pass for third in Canada Corner. Slight contact cost as the pair then ran side by side up over Billy Mitchell corner, cost her momentum and several spots, dropping her back to sixth.
Undeterred, Greenemeier focused on making the pass for fifth. As she attempted the pass, the car ahead defended into turn one, so she moved to the outside. The two made contact at the corner apex. Once again, the loss of momentum cost her a couple places in the tightly-packed field.
A second full-course caution flew with 49 minutes remaining in the race, and most of the lead pack pitted for their final stop. This time, having taken more fuel relative to several competitors at the prior stop, the Heart of Racing Aston was able to take a little less, saving time and advancing several positions in the pits to emerge in sixth place, net third place of those who had pitted for fuel.
Another single-file restart took place with 38 minutes on the clock, and rain beginning to fall again. Greenemeier had another strong start and gained a position t0 5th. She and the car behind then began a side-by-side battle in the slick conditions. When the seventh-place car attempted to go three-wide with them, more contact ensued and pushed Greenemeier off on the outside as they came over the crest in turn six, costing her several positions.
The third full-course caution then emerged, and the additional yellow laps started to play into pit stop strategy, as cars who had elected not to stop earlier might be able to make it without the additional stop.
The final green flag flew with just over 20 minutes remaining. Greenemeier was running in ninth and had another solid start, challenging the car ahead in turn one, then settling back in line.
At the end of the first green lap, she was back up to seventh place. The battle that followed over the next few laps would see her drop back to eighth, advance to seventh again, then drop to ninth in the tightly packed field. When a massive incident in the Kink brought out another full-course caution with nine minutes to go, the race would go on to finish under yellow.
"It was definitely a challenging race with the wet conditions at the start," said Grisham. "My focus was on staying clean, making smart decisions and handing the car over to Hannah Greenemeier in one piece. I was very happy with the pace we had, and felt like we made the most of the conditions. It's tough that Hannah got caught in some contact in the second half of the race as I think we had the potential for an even stronger result. Overall there are a lot of positives to take away from this weekend, and I want to thank the Heart of Racing for once again giving us a great car."
Next up, “the Hannahs” head to Virginia International Raceway for the ninth event of the IMSA Michelin Pilot Challenge series, the Michelin GT Challenge at VIR, on August 21-23, 2026.
