IMPC: Riley Pegram secures season-best seventh, as Maddie Aust adds another top ten in strategic Road America race
- RACERS
- 5 days ago
- 5 min read
Riley and Larry Pegram claimed their strongest result of the 2026 IMSA Michelin Pilot Challenge season to date with a seventh-place finish in the TCR class at Road America, while Maddie Aust and Mark Wilkins added another top-ten finish for Bryan Herta Autosport.
Riley and Larry Pegram claimed their strongest result of the 2026 IMSA Michelin Pilot Challenge season to date with a seventh-place finish in the TCR class at Road America, making the most of a well-timed strategy in a race shaped by changing weather and multiple caution periods.
Meanwhile, Maddie Aust and Mark Wilkins added another top-ten finish for Bryan Herta Autosport, although an unlucky strategy ultimately prevented the duo from capitalizing on the pace they had shown throughout the season, leaving them tenth at the checkered flag.
Maddie Aust arrived at Road America as one of the frontrunners in the IMSA Michelin Pilot Challenge TCR class during the 2026 season, continuing her impressive progression in her second year with Bryan Herta Autosport. Partnering veteran Mark Wilkins in the #98 Hyundai Elantra N TCR, Aust has consistently combined consistency and racecraft to run among the category's leading contenders.
The duo narrowly missed the podium with fourth-place finishes at both Daytona and Sebring before securing their maiden podium of the season at Mid-Ohio and adding another top-six finish at Watkins Glen. Although a fuel strategy gamble ended their remarkable streak of top-six finishes at Canadian Tire Motorsport Park, Aust arrived in Wisconsin sitting among the championship frontrunners and aiming to return to podium contention.
Riley Pegram, meanwhile, continued her sophomore campaign alongside father Larry Pegram in the family-run Pegram Racing Honda Civic TCR. Their season had featured flashes of strong pace, most notably at Daytona where they battled for victory during the opening stages before misfortune intervened. Twelfth at Sebring was followed by several difficult weekends affected by technical issues and setbacks, but an encouraging 11th-place finish at Canadian Tire Motorsport Park had matched their best result of the year, providing renewed confidence heading into Road America.
The iconic four-mile Road America circuit hosted the seventh round of the IMSA Michelin Pilot Challenge season, with changing weather adding another challenge to one of North America's most demanding road courses.
Both female drivers enjoyed encouraging practice sessions as the teams steadily improved throughout Friday. By the second practice session, Aust had climbed to eighth fastest and Pegram ninth, suggesting both entries had realistic ambitions of fighting inside the top ten.
Aust once again handled qualifying duties aboard the #98 Hyundai Elantra N TCR. Her opening representative lap of 2:23.038 immediately placed her sixth fastest, before she found almost three seconds on her next run with an excellent 2:20.372 to move into fifth as the session intensified.
Although the field continued to improve during the closing minutes, Aust secured another strong qualifying performance by finishing tenth in class.
Pegram also enjoyed a productive qualifying session in the #72 Honda Civic TCR.
Her first flying lap of 2:26.700 placed her 11th before she steadily built confidence and significantly improved to 2:21.800 during the second half of the session. The improvement secured 12th on the TCR grid.
Saturday's two-hour race began under dramatically different conditions after heavy rain soaked the circuit before the start, leaving competitors to tackle a wet and slippery Road America.
Starting tenth in TCR, Aust made a composed getaway and safely negotiated the opening corners, maintaining her position while immediately settling into a competitive rhythm.
Pegram likewise enjoyed a clean opening lap, briefly dropping to 13th as the field sorted itself out.
As confidence grew on the damp surface, Aust began demonstrating the pace that made the Hyundai one of the strongest cars in the wet.
She overtook Tally to move into ninth before emerging as one of the quickest drivers in the category. By lap five she was running the third-fastest lap times in TCR and soon capitalized again by passing Baker's #56 Baker Racing Audi to climb into eighth place.
Although changing grip levels and intense midfield battles later shuffled her briefly back to ninth, Aust remained in the leading pack as the rain gradually eased and lap times continued to fall.
Pegram settled into a steady rhythm after the opening laps, running 14th before focusing on preserving the Honda and waiting for opportunities as the race developed.
The first major turning point came on lap 13 when the Circle H Aston Martin of Hampton became stranded in the gravel at the Carousel, prompting a full-course caution.
At the time of the neutralization, Aust was running tenth in TCR while Pegram occupied 13th.
The TCR class pit lane opened just after the GS field and Bryan Herta Autosport executed another excellent stop, handing the Hyundai over to Mark Wilkins and gaining valuable track position as the Canadian emerged seventh in class.
Pegram Racing opted for a different approach. Riley remained on track for an additional lap before bringing the Honda into pit lane on lap 17, where Larry Pegram took over for the remainder of the race in an attempt to regain valuable track position through strategy.
Following the restart with just over an hour remaining, Wilkins immediately began making progress.
Displaying good pace in the mixed conditions, he climbed into sixth while remaining in the battle at the front of the TCR field.
Larry Pegram settled into 13th before beginning his own recovery drive.
At the front of the class, an extraordinary slipstream battle developed, with the top six cars separated by only a few tenths as positions changed almost every corner.
Another strategic opportunity emerged when overall race leader Liefooghe went off on lap 26, prompting much of the GS field to pit in anticipation of another caution.
In TCR, however, only Harry Gottsacker had stopped before the full-course yellow.
Wilkins stayed out and briefly climbed to fifth before eventually making his stop once the TCR pit lane officially opened. While Wilkins had enjoyed strong track position, the strategy shuffled the #98 Hyundai back down the order once the pit cycle was completed.
Meanwhile, the Pegram Racing Honda benefitted significantly from its own strategy.
Following the second round of pit stops, Larry Pegram found himself running seventh in class, placing the family team firmly inside the top ten.
Green-flag racing resumed with 37 minutes remaining as light rain once again began falling over the circuit. A further caution for the stranded CarBahn BMW again compressed the field before the final restart with 22 minutes remaining.
Pegram held seventh in class, with the top 11 TCR cars separated by only a few seconds in one of the closest battles of the afternoon. Wilkins resumed tenth but remained only seven seconds behind the class leader, highlighting how tightly packed the field remained. While the leading four gradually began pulling away, both teams remained in contention for valuable championship points.
Any opportunity for further progress disappeared with nine minutes remaining when Sterling suffered a heavy accident at the Kink in the #4 Medusa Motorsport Aston Martin.
The resulting full-course caution remained in effect until the checkered flag, freezing the order and bringing the race to an early conclusion.
For Riley and Larry Pegram, seventh place marked their first top-ten finish of the season and comfortably their strongest result of 2026. A well-executed strategy combined with clean, mistake-free driving allowed the family-run operation to capitalize on the chaotic conditions and secure an important confidence-boosting finish after several difficult weekends.
For Aust and Wilkins, tenth place represented a respectable points finish, though one that did not fully reflect the speed they had shown throughout the event. The repeated caution periods and interrupted closing stages further limited any opportunity to recover lost positions.
Following seven rounds, Maddie Aust remains sixth in the TCR championship standings with 1,790 points, while Riley Pegram moves up to 12th with 1,360 points after recording her best finish of the season. Both drivers will now turn their attention to the next round of the IMSA Michelin Pilot Challenge at VIRginia International Raceway on 20-23 August.
