Sheena Monk shows strong pace in Indianapolis, fights for GTD podium
Sheena Monk and Myers Riley Motorsports came very close to converting a hugely competitive Indianapolis performance into a GTD overall podium, with Monk delivering one of her strongest drives of the IMSA season before a late fuel stop dropped the #16 Ford Mustang to ninth at the chequered flag.
Sheena Monk and Myers Riley Motorsports came very close to converting a hugely competitive Indianapolis performance into a GTD overall podium, with Monk delivering one of her strongest drives of the 2026 IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship season before a late fuel stop dropped the #16 Ford Mustang GT3 to ninth at the chequered flag.
After taking the start as the Bronze-rated driver, Monk produced a consistently fast and measured opening stint, taking the lead of the Bronze classification on the road and climbing as high as sixth overall in GTD before handing the car to Felipe Fraga. The Brazilian continued the charge into the closing stages, even reaching second overall and leading the Bronze class, but a late splash of fuel with just two minutes remaining ultimately left the duo second among the Bronze entries and ninth overall, still securing valuable points toward the Bob Akin Award.
The Indianapolis weekend had already offered encouraging signs that Monk could put the difficulties of the preceding rounds behind her. The Myers Riley Motorsports driver had been one of the leading Bronze-rated competitors throughout the season, showing particularly strong form at Long Beach, Laguna Seca and Canadian Tire Motorsport Park, but her progress had been repeatedly interrupted by misfortune.
A heavy accident at Road America was followed by an alternator problem at Virginia International Raceway that left Monk and teammate Fraga 22 laps behind the leaders, although their persistence in returning the #16 Mustang to the track still earned valuable Bob Akin Award points. Indianapolis therefore represented an important opportunity to demonstrate the pace that had been evident throughout the season, and Monk immediately did exactly that in practice.
The #16 Mustang was sixth fastest among the GTD runners in the opening practice session, with Fraga posting a 1:24.205 and finishing only around half a second away from the class benchmark.
Monk was to drive the Mustang in the GTD qualifying session as one of the three Bronze-rated drivers. However, deteriorating weather meant the GTD qualifying session was ultimately cancelled, with the starting positions instead determined by championship points. As a result, Monk was set to start 12th in GTD.
Monk nevertheless made the most of the opportunity when the 2-hour-40-minute race finally got underway on Sunday afternoon, although the GTD field barely had an opportunity to complete the start before the first caution period was triggered. A collision involving the #7 Porsche GTP, which spun and was subsequently collected by several LMP2 cars, immediately brought out the full-course yellow, leaving Monk 11th in GTD under caution.
The first genuine green-flag running finally arrived around 15 minutes into the race, and Monk immediately began moving forward. She gained another position to run 10th overall in GTD after Mason Filippi brought the #36 DXDT Corvette into the pits, settling into a strong rhythm that soon saw her lapping in the 1:26s. Monk quickly began attacking the Bronze-class runners ahead of her.
On lap 14, she made her move on Orey Fidani, passing the Ferrari to take second among the Bronze entries while also returning to 10th overall in GTD. From there, Monk's pace became increasingly impressive. She pulled away from Fidani and began closing in on Brandan Iribe in the #70 Inception Racing Ferrari, which was leading the Bronze classification. Monk was consistently recording low-1:26s laps and steadily taking tenths out of Iribe, while also benefiting from the pit cycle as the field began making its first scheduled stops around the 40-minute mark.
When the Gradient Racing Ford Mustang came into the pits, Monk moved to ninth overall in GTD, but more importantly, she was now less than half a second behind Iribe. The pressure continued to build as Monk remained remarkably consistent, but Iribe eventually reached his minimum driving time and brought the Inception Ferrari into the pits, handing over to Frederick Schandorff. That handed Monk the lead of the Bronze classification on the road.
Myers Riley Motorsports elected to extend Monk's stint rather than immediately bringing her in with the first wave of pit stops, and the strategy briefly elevated the #16 to sixth overall in GTD. It also gave Monk the opportunity to continue demonstrating the strength of her drive, with the Bronze-rated driver maintaining an extremely consistent pace deep into her stint before finally bringing the Mustang into the pits on lap 28.
It proved to be one of Monk's best stints of the season. Fraga took over the #16 Mustang for the remaining 1 hour and 50 minutes of the race, rejoining in 10th overall and second among the Bronze entries after the pit cycle. Schandorff had regained the Bronze lead in the #70 Ferrari, with a margin of around nine seconds, but Fraga immediately showed that the Myers Riley Motorsports Mustang had the pace to challenge.
Fraga quickly settled into the 1:25s, initially recording a 1:25.8 before continuing to lower the gap to Schandorff. He eventually set a 1:25.101 and continued producing laps in the same range, reducing the deficit to 4.5 seconds by lap 50 before cutting it further to around three seconds. With the Mustang in contention, the team appeared to have a genuine chance of fighting for the Bronze victory and potentially an overall GTD podium.
The race changed with one hour remaining when debris brought out another full-course yellow in the middle of the second round of pit stops. Several cars had already begun making their second scheduled stops, while Fraga had stayed out and consequently moved as high as sixth overall in GTD. Once the pit lane reopened, Myers Riley Motorsports brought the Mustang in, executing another highly effective stop that saw Fraga emerge in third overall in GTD and, crucially, at the head of the Bronze classification.
The restart came with 48 minutes remaining, and Fraga immediately went on the attack. He moved into second place and continued the #16's outstanding pace, setting the car's fastest lap of the race at 1:25.047. He was less than a second behind GTD leader Robby Foley and appeared to have the pace to challenge for the overall class victory, while three cars now separated him from Schandorff, who had dropped to second among the Bronze entries.
Foley was eventually able to establish a small margin at the front, but Fraga remained in overall podium contention until Philip Ellis brought the #57 Winward Racing Mercedes-AMG GT3 into the fight and managed to pass the Mustang. Giacomo Altoè's DragonSpeed Chevrolet subsequently moved ahead as well, dropping Fraga to fourth overall before Matthew Bell's Chevrolet also passed and took the Bronze lead.
With around 20 minutes remaining, Fraga therefore found himself fifth overall and second among the Bronze drivers. A brief sequence of three slower laps appeared to interrupt his momentum, but he quickly returned to the 1:25s and began trying to recover the Bronze lead. His charge was briefly complicated when he had to take evasive action to avoid a spinning GTD car, but he kept the Mustang out of trouble and continued the pursuit of Bell.
Bell, however, managed to edge away over the following laps, while Fraga also came under pressure from Dudu Barrichello's Heart of Racing Aston Martin. More importantly, the #16 was now running short on fuel.
With only two minutes remaining, Myers Riley Motorsports was in fact forced to bring Fraga into the pits for a final splash of fuel on lap 102. The late stop cost the Mustang several positions, dropping Fraga to ninth overall in GTD before he returned to the circuit and took the chequered flag, still second among the Bronze entries and securing another valuable result toward the Bob Akin Award.
While the final result inevitably left the team frustrated after having been in contention for the overall podium and so close to a Bronze-class victory, Indianapolis nevertheless represented a major step forward for Monk and Myers Riley Motorsports. Monk was particularly impressive during her opening stint, combining strong outright pace with exceptional consistency and establishing herself as the fastest and most consistent Bronze-rated driver on the day.
The IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship will now conclude with the Motul Petit Le Mans at Michelin Raceway Road Atlanta, where the season will come to an end with the traditional 10-hour endurance race on October 3.
