Shift Up Now Athletes Loni Unser and Ashley Freiberg earned a pair of fifth-place finishes in the Silver class (and top 15 overall) in rounds 10 and 11 of the 2026 Pirelli GT4 America Championship at Barber Motorsports Park on September 25-27, 2026.
Fellow Shift Up Now Athlete Laura Hayes also competed on the 2.38-mile, 17-turn natural-terrain road course in the No. 37 Junaid entry for Dome Motorsport with teammate Ed Killeen.
Driving the No. 24 “Be Your Own Hero” Porsche Cayman GT4 RS for Kellymoss in the penultimate event of the season, Freiberg and Unser are both supported by PenFed Credit Union, Acumatica, Mobil1, Speedway Motors, Radius, and Pagid.
The race weekend began with two test sessions and the first official practice on Thursday. Unser and Freiberg rolled off the truck looking racy and running in the top 15 overall on the time sheets for each session. Meanwhile, Hayes and Killeen hovered just outside the top 20 for the three sessions.
After one final official practice on Friday morning, the Shift Up Now Athletes were ready for qualifying. Unser and Hayes were behind the wheel of their respective cars to start the session.
Hayes put together her best lap of the weekend, slotting the Dome Motorsport entry into the 12th spot for the start of race one. Unser came within a couple of tenths of her personal best time of the weekend, and qualified in 23rd for the first race.
Next up, Freiberg took the wheel in the Kellymoss car for the second qualifying session to set the grid for race two. She repeated her strong form from the practice sessions, putting the No. 24 car in the 13th spot for the start of the second race.
On Friday afternoon, the first one-hour race began at 3:30pm CDT. After two pace laps, the field lined up side-by-side with Hayes on the outside of row six and Unser on the inside of row 12.
The start was clean, despite a late green flag and a slightly slow pace that bunched up the field. Hayes advanced to ninth in the first corners, taking her place in the class lead. Meanwhile, Unser, who had been on the inside for the first corner, got trapped on the outside through turns two and three, being forced to concede a position she had just gained.
A long green-flag run followed, and continued until the first pit stop window opened. Hayes held fast to her class lead (ninth overall) while Unser advanced to just outside the top 20.
The No. 24 car was one of the first to dive into pit lane when the window opened, while Hayes in the No. 37 car stayed out on the opposite strategy, and cycled to the overall lead. The excitement was short-lived though, when she was punted into a spin by a competitor on the entry into turn five.
Despite being able to get back into the race, the damage was done. Hayes and Killeen would later go on to cross the finish line just outside the top 20, and sixth in class.
In the meantime, Freiberg had taken over for Unser in the No. 24 car, and began making moves to advance into the top 20. When the checkered flag flew, the duo had earned a fourteenth-place overall finish, and seventh place in class.
Race two began on Saturday at 1:35pm CDT. Just like the first race, the one-hour competition began after two pace laps, this time with Freiberg starting in the No. 24 and Killeen in the No, 37.
After a clean start, the field held their two-by-two formation throughout the pack and into the first several turns. Freiberg got boxed in at turn five, leaving her vulnerable to an outside move from her competitor and going three-wide into turn seven. Then down through the corkscrew and into Museum Turn, she was side-by-side with another car before being forced to concede the position at the high-speed esses.
Once again, green-flag racing continued through the first pit stop window. Freiberg stayed inside the top 15, and stayed out when the window opened, aiming to work her way into the top 10.
And once again on the opposing strategy, the No. 37 Dome Motorsport entry was one of the first cars in pit lane. Hayes took over with the team running just outside the top 20. Unser was now behind the wheel of the No. 24 car, running in 13th place.
With 20 minutes remaining in the race, a full-course caution flew for a damaged car. After a short, five-minute cleanup, the field packed up for the restart. Side-by-side racing took place throughout the field. Unser held her position in the chaos and Hayes began making passes to move up in the order.
At the checkered flag, Unser crossed the finish line in 11th overall and fifth in class. Hayes was able to climb to 19th overall, just one place off the podium in class.
“I’m really happy with our performance as a team this weekend at Barber,” said Freiberg. “We have been showing improvement each weekend and so I’m excited to see where this takes us for the next event in Indy. I know that everyone has been working really hard and we are hungry to continue pushing forward. I’m so grateful to be a part of this crew at Kellymoss!”
Unser added, ”I am proud of the progress we made and grateful to Kellymoss, our partners, and everyone at Shift Up Now for their continued support. Now we’re focused on carrying this momentum into the season finale at Indianapolis."
Next up, Unser, Freiberg, and Hayes head to Indianapolis for the season finale (rounds 12 and 13) of the Pirelli GT4 America championship, at the historic Indianapolis Motor Speedway on October 8-11, 2026.
