How Krainz and McAleer Won IMSA’s GS Title Without a Race Win
Austin Krainz and Stevan McAleer’s 2026 IMSA Michelin Pilot Challenge GS championship came without a race victory. In an October 19 season review, IMSA explains how AutoTechnic Racing’s No. 27 BMW M4 GT4 EVO emerged from a title fight that repeatedly changed hands.
Archive photo: Austin Krainz and Stevan McAleer’s No. 27 AutoTechnic BMW M4 GT4 at Watkins Glen on June 20, 2025—not the October 2026 finale or championship celebration. Photo: SmackJam / Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0. Resized for display.
This is a look back at the completed season, not a championship decided on October 19. The title was secured at the October 2 Fox Factory 120 at Michelin Raceway Road Atlanta.
Two podiums were enough in a crowded season
IMSA records seven top-six finishes and two podiums for the pairing in 2026. Their 2025 campaign had the same counts, yet ended third in the standings. Their points rose only from 2,470 to 2,490, showing how a similar finishing profile can produce a different championship outcome when rivals’ results change.
The review counts five changes of championship lead and 15 different cars on the GS podium during the ten-race season. Michael Cooper and Moisey Uretsky won three times in their McLaren, but four finishes of 18th or worse helped leave them fifth. The contrast is between season-long points accumulation and individual victories, not a claim that winning stopped mattering.
The official points show a 50-point margin
| Final GS driver rank | Driver or tied pairing | Points each |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Austin Krainz / Stevan McAleer | 2,490 |
| 2 | Dillon Machavern / Luca Mars | 2,440 |
| 3 | Robert Noaker | 2,330 |
| 4 | Hannah Greenemeier / Hannah Grisham | 2,130 |
| 5 | Michael Cooper / Moisey Uretsky | 2,110 |
These are the official driver standings after Round 10, issued October 9. Each named driver in a tied pairing has the displayed total; the number is not a combined score for two people. Subtracting the runners-up’s total from the champions’ gives a 50-point margin.
Third in the finale, first over the year
IMSA’s October 2 race report separates the race winners from the champions. Martin Sarukhanyan and Thomas Merrill won in Circle H Racing’s No. 14 Aston Martin Vantage AMR GT4 Evo after starting 25th. Krainz started the No. 27 BMW 11th; McAleer later moved ahead of key championship rivals, and the car finished third.
The championship was Krainz’s first in IMSA and McAleer’s second, following his 2015 Street Tuner title. An 11-year gap tied Matt Plumb’s Michelin Pilot Challenge record. That history belongs to McAleer’s driver record, not to a claim that AutoTechnic had won this championship before.
For a separate top-class endurance title story, read our Cadillac and Jack Aitken IMSA GTP season review. GS and GTP are different categories and do not share this points table.