IMPC: Hannah Grisham and Hannah Greenemeier just miss out on top-10 finish at Mid-Ohio
- RACERS
- 2 hours ago
- 5 min read
Despite spending much of the four-hour contest inside the top ten, and even running in the top five in the closing hour, the Heart of Racing all-female duo of Hannah Greenemeier and Hannah Grisham ultimately came home 12th after a hard-fought fourth round at Mid-Ohio that nevertheless showcased their competitiveness.
Hannah Grisham and Hannah Greenemeier endured a frustrating end to what had been one of their strongest weekends of the 2026 IMSA Michelin Pilot Challenge season, as a late-race caution and restart shuffled the all-female Heart of Racing Team pairing outside the top ten at Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course.
Despite spending much of the four-hour contest firmly inside the top ten, and even running as high as second overall during the pit cycle sequence, the duo ultimately came home 12th in the GS class after a hard-fought performance that nevertheless showcased their competitiveness.
The Mid-Ohio event marked the fourth round of the IMSA Michelin Pilot Challenge season and the second four-hour endurance race of the year following the Daytona opener.
Sharing the #26 Aston Martin Vantage GT4, Grisham and Greenemeier had already demonstrated significant promise in the opening rounds of the championship. At Daytona, they ran among the GS frontrunners for much of the race before narrowly missing out on a top-ten finish with 11th place, while a technical issue at Sebring prevented them from converting another strong showing into a result. Their breakthrough finally came at Laguna Seca, where the duo secured their first top-ten finish in the series with an impressive recovery drive from 17th on the grid to seventh in class, executing a flawless fuel strategy.
Arriving at Mid-Ohio looking to continue that momentum, the Heart of Racing pair immediately showed encouraging pace despite mixed weather conditions throughout the first days of the weekend.
In the opening practice session, Grisham set the car’s best lap with a 1:27.314, while intermittent rain during FP2 disrupted running for much of the field. Nevertheless, the team continued to make progress and ended the session tenth fastest.
For qualifying, it was Hannah Greenemeier who took the wheel of the #26 Aston Martin. The young American delivered another strong performance, posting a 1:26.7 lap on her first representative run to secure 15th on the GS grid, just 1.5 seconds away from overall pole position in an exceptionally competitive field.
Greenemeier took the start of the four-hour race from 15th in class. Within moments of the green flag, a major GS-class accident unfolded at the crest of the hill when Chris Miller was spun, leaving approaching drivers unsighted as multiple cars became involved in the incident. The #4 Aston Martin sustained heavy damage and lost a wheel, forcing race control to deploy an immediate caution.
When the race resumed after ten minutes under yellow, Greenemeier had already gained several positions and was running 12th in class.
Showing excellent pace in the opening stages, she remained just outside the top ten, running within two seconds of the #92 Random Vandals BMW ahead. Greenemeier continued to apply pressure and eventually moved into tenth place.
As the first round of pit stops approached at the one-hour mark, Greenemeier brought the Aston Martin to pit lane on lap 35 from tenth position. Remaining in the car, she benefited from a strong pit sequence and emerged ninth in class.
She continued to make steady progress during the second stint, gradually closing on Patten’s van der Steur Aston Martin before eventually gaining another position to move into eighth.
As teams began to diverge on strategy approaching the halfway mark, Greenemeier and the Heart of Racing squad elected to stay out longer than several rivals, as she climbed the order reaching sixth place and then surging as high as second overall during the pit cycle sequence.
Her run continued until lap 73, when Greenemeier finally made her scheduled stop from third overall and handed the car over to Hannah Grisham.
After the driver change, Grisham rejoined in eighth position following an outstanding opening half of the race for the all-female pairing.
The race then began to swing in their favor. While running inside the top three, the #57 Winward Mercedes of Dan Arrow encountered problems and disappeared behind the wall with approximately 1 hour and 40 minutes remaining, gaining Grisham another position.
Shortly afterward came the race’s first caution since the opening lap incident. Burkhard suffered a heavy crash in the #2 CSM Porsche after attempting to pass a Mustang on the main straight, being forced onto the wet grass before impacting the wall. The resulting damage brought out a Full Course Yellow with 1 hour and 36 minutes remaining.
At the time of the caution, Grisham was running eighth. When the race resumed with 1 hour and 22 minutes left, Grisham stayed on track while several competitors opted to pit, vaulting the Heart of Racing Aston Martin into third place.
Although some of the cars eventually filtered back through, Grisham remained in contention and settled into sixth place. Continuing to run strongly, she gained another position and moved into the top five with approximately one hour remaining, putting the team on course for what would have been comfortably their best result of the season.
Grisham completed her final scheduled stop on lap 123. Following the last round of pit stops, she cycled back into sixth position, tucked in behind Bell and with a comfortable three-second cushion to the cars behind. A top-five finish appeared within reach.
However, that changed when the #14 Circle H Racing Aston Martin became stranded on circuit, triggering another Full Course Yellow. The caution ultimately erased the strategic advantage that the Heart of Racing crew had built, bringing the field back together and placing everyone on similar strategies heading into the final sprint.
The race restarted with 30 minutes remaining. Attempting to attack for fifth place immediately after the restart, Grisham found herself caught in a frantic battle pack and in the process she lost positions to both Bill Auberlen and Kenny Murillo and was shuffled back to tenth.
The closing laps proved increasingly difficult as the tightly packed field battled aggressively for position. Grisham fought hard to keep the Aston Martin inside the top ten, but with just minutes remaining, she slipped to 12th after Liefhooge also found a way through.
Despite the challenging conclusion, the final classification did not fully reflect the pace shown by Grisham and Greenemeier throughout the race. After spending significant portions of the event inside the top ten, running as high as second overall during the pit sequence and breaking into the top five in the final hour, the pair ultimately crossed the finish line 12th.
The weekend nevertheless represented another step forward for the all-female Heart of Racing lineup, which continues to establish itself as a regular contender near the front of the GS field.
Following four rounds, Grisham and Greenemeier sit eighth in the championship standings with 770 points.
The IMSA Michelin Pilot Challenge season now heads to Watkins Glen for the next round on June 25–28, where the duo will look to convert their increasingly impressive pace into another top-ten finish and potentially even more.
