INDIANAPOLIS, Indiana (September 21, 2026) – Paul Miller Racing’s afternoon at Indianapolis Motor Speedway began from the front of the GTD PRO field and, for much of Sunday’s TireRack.com Battle On The Bricks, looked set to keep the No. 1 BMW M4 GT3 EVO firmly at the top of the championship.
Instead, a race that had started with strong pace and the No. 1 fighting at the front changed through a series of incidents in the second half. Neil Verhagen and Connor De Phillippi ultimately finished sixth in GTD PRO after 105 laps, sending the championship fight to Petit Le Mans with one race remaining.
Verhagen started from P1 after Saturday’s GTD PRO qualifying session was cancelled due to weather and the grid was set by championship position.
The opening lap immediately brought a Full Course Yellow following an incident in the prototype field, but once racing resumed, Verhagen settled into the front group and kept the No. 1 BMW in contention through the first half of the 2-hour, 40-minute race.
The No. 4 Corvette remained close behind for much of Verhagen’s stint before making its first full-service stop shortly before the halfway point.
Paul Miller Racing followed two minutes later, changing drivers to De Phillippi while completing fuel and tire service. The BMW returned to the track ahead of the Corvette, although the No. 4 had the advantage of already having its tires up to temperature.
Soon afterwards, contact between the two cars damaged the rear bodywork of the No. 1 BMW. IMSA issued a mechanical black flag, requiring De Phillippi to return to pit lane so the remaining loose bodywork could be removed. The incident between the No. 1 and No. 4 was reviewed by race control with no further action taken.
A Full Course Yellow followed at almost the same time, allowing Paul Miller Racing to stay in the fight. When the race returned to green with just under 50 minutes remaining, De Phillippi was back in second in GTD PRO behind the No. 59 McLaren.
The final stretch remained crowded and physical. De Phillippi lost a position while working through prototype traffic but continued in the podium fight until another incident with approximately 18 minutes remaining.
Contact from the No. 65 Ford sent the BMW off course and dropped the No. 1 down the order. Race control subsequently assessed the Ford a drive-through penalty for incident responsibility.
De Phillippi recovered to sixth by the checkered flag, while the No. 4 Corvette finished second. The result moved Nicky Catsburg and Tommy Milner to the top of the GTD PRO standings with 2,729 points, 47 ahead of Verhagen and De Phillippi on 2,682. Andrea Caldarelli and Sandy Mitchell sit another six points behind the Paul Miller Racing pairing in third.
After spending much of the season leading the standings, Paul Miller Racing now heads to the finale as the chasing team for the first time in months.
The task at Road Atlanta is clear, but so is the opportunity. Petit Le Mans brings ten hours of racing, a format where the order can change repeatedly before the final points are settled.
Indianapolis also provided a reminder that the weekend was about more than the result on Sunday. Paul Miller Racing welcomed Chanel M. and her family to the track as part of IMSA’s Resilient Racers program, with Chanel’s name carried on the No. 1 BMW throughout the weekend.
Her visit, including time with the drivers and team, became one of the highlights of the event and made the Indianapolis weekend particularly special for everyone at Paul Miller Racing.
The IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship concludes with the 10-hour Motul Petit Le Mans at Michelin Raceway Road Atlanta on Saturday, October 3.
The weekend will also decide the Michelin Endurance Cup, where Paul Miller Racing enters the finale leading GTD PRO with 38 points, six ahead of the No. 4 Corvette. The race gets underway at 12:10 p.m. ET and runs through 10:10 p.m. ET.
Neil Verhagen
“Race started well. Avoided the turn 1 carnage and managed to stay in front for the first half of the race. Afterwards we just became everyone’s punching bag. We were hit multiple times before eventually being fully taken out. Not at all the day we wanted. We now have a big task ahead of us in Atlanta but we are ready for the fight.”
Connor De Phillippi
“Not the race we were hoping for after starting from pole position. We unfortunately were hit by multiple competitors that caused damage and then eventually were spun out from a podium position. Going into the final round now we will push all of our chips in and have only the win on our mind.”
