SHERIDAN, WYOMING — June 17, 2026 — JMF Motorsports secured its first overall race victory of the season Sunday at Michelin Raceway Road Atlanta, fielding the No. 27 Mercedes-AMG GT3 with co-drivers Jason Daskalos and Philip Ellis. The win, built on a pre-race decision to start the wet three-hour race on slick tires, made JMF and Mercedes-AMG the first team-and-manufacturer combination to score overall GT World Challenge America victories with two different cars in the series' new three-hour race format. Daskalos led the opening hour before Ellis, a late call-up replacing regular co-driver Lorcan Hanafin, closed out the race by passing teammate Mikael Grenier's sister entry with under 20 minutes remaining. The result keeps Mercedes-AMG's customer racing program at the front of both the Pro-Am and Pro class standings heading into the series' summer break.
A Wet-Weather Tire Call Sets Up the Win Before the Green Flag
Rain fell just before the scheduled start at the 2.258-mile Road Atlanta circuit, and most competitors chose rain tires for the opening laps. The No. 27 team went the other way. Daskalos started on slicks, a riskier call given the conditions, and worked into the lead as the track dried and rivals pitted to switch. That single decision held up for the rest of the afternoon. JMF maintained the track position it gained in those opening minutes through to the checkered flag, never relinquishing the advantage the tire gamble created.
Late Call-Up Ellis Joins Daskalos to Close Out the Pass for the Lead
Ellis received word he would drive only shortly before the weekend began, stepping in for Hanafin, who was racing at Le Mans. He took over the No. 27 car in the closing stages and moved into contention through the final hour. With under 20 minutes on the clock, he passed Grenier's No. 34 Mercedes-AMG GT3 for the overall lead. From there, fuel management mattered as much as pace. Ellis built a gap and held it to the finish, crossing 2.525 seconds ahead of the field.
"Having my family here was great, and we are leaving for Europe this week and going to Greece for a month. Having Philip was incredible, it's exciting, he is such a pleasure, and we are glad to have him. We are looking forward to more victories in this championship. I just can't say enough about this JMF Motorsports team. It was challenging starting the race in the wet on slick tires, but I was fortunate that we did some testing and we had some wet conditions. They asked me before the start, and I said 'slicks' right away. It was challenging the first few laps but worked out well." Jason Daskalos, Driver - No. 27 JMF Motorsports Mercedes-AMG GT3
A Second-Season Driver Earns His First Win With a New Team
The victory marked Daskalos's first overall and Pro-Am win in his second GT World Challenge America season, and his first since joining JMF Motorsports this year. A third-place Pro-Am podium with Hanafin at Sebring last month had already pointed toward a breakthrough. Family played a visible role in the celebration. Daskalos hosted seven relatives at the track, including his 91-year-old father, who joined the victory lane photo. Ellis, meanwhile, had attended his own engagement party in St. Louis on Friday before flying back to Atlanta for race day, an arrangement he described as worth the effort for the result it produced.
Sister Car Survives a Late Scare to Protect the Pro Class Points Lead
Grenier and co-driver Michai Stephens led much of the race in the No. 34 Mercedes-AMG GT3 before a late power-loss issue dropped them to sixth overall. The car still finished second in Pro class, enough to extend rather than lose the team's championship advantage. JMF's No. 34 entry now unofficially leads the Pro class standings with 78 points, eight ahead of the nearest challenger. That cushion, paired with the No. 27 team's overall win, gives JMF a points and results lead across both Mercedes-AMG GT3 entries heading into the break.
Other Mercedes-AMG Teams Post Mixed Results Across Three Race Classes
TR3 Racing's No. 9 Mercedes-AMG GT3, driven by Brayton Williams and Daniel Morad, ran near the front before a driver-time compliance issue forced extra pit stops, ending a podium bid in a seventh-place Pro-Am finish. CJ Moses returned to Mercedes-AMG GT3 competition in the No. 58 Random Vandals Racing entry, finishing ninth in class in both GT America races. In the Pirelli GT4 America doubleheader, Dome Motorsport's No. 39 Mercedes-AMG GT4 took a Saturday class win, while Road Atlanta-based Off Leash Motorsports showed strong pace in only its second weekend in the series despite a penalty and contact that limited its finishing position.
Series Moves Into Summer Break Before Three-Race Championship Push
GT World Challenge America now enters its traditional two-month summer break before resuming at Road America in Elkhart Lake, Wisconsin, August 28 through 30. That race opens the final three-event stretch of the 2026 season, with JMF Motorsports carrying both an overall race win and a Pro class points lead into the run-in. For Mercedes-AMG's customer racing program, the Road Atlanta result adds a second different chassis number to its list of three-hour-era overall winners, following the No. 34 car's season-opening victory at Sonoma Raceway in March.
Buyers and teams interested in the GT3 and GT4 platforms behind these results can find program details at Customer Racing Programme.