Paul Miller Racing goes “full push” for elusive IMSA GTD Pro title

Neil Verhagen is two races away from helping Paul Miller Racing secure the one major IMSA title still missing from its record.

Heading into this weekend’s Battle on the Bricks at Indianapolis Motor Speedway, the penultimate round of the 2026 season in the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship, the 25-year-old Connecticut native and co-driver Connor De Phillippi holds a 23-point lead in the GTD Pro championship over Corvette Racing by Pratt Miller Motorsports’ Nicky Catsburg and Tommy Milner (2,432-2,409). 

Despite eighth-place class finishes at Indy in 2024 and 2025, Verhagen remains focused on execution as the event shifts back to a two-hour, 40-minute sprint race.

“It’s definitely close on the championship side now,” said Verhagen, driver of the #1 BMW M4 GT3 EVO. “From our side, I think it’s been super close the entire year. That’s what makes the GTD Pro class so exciting. And I guess it’s where, as we’ve been saying all year, just execute the best that we can week in and week out. 

“Obviously, the results previously at Indianapolis haven’t been that great. I think there’s obviously been some other circumstances which have contributed to that. The sister car last year had a good result. They had a podium in Indianapolis last year. Obviously, this event now shifting from an endurance to a sprint changes everything as well. So, we’re just going to be taking from what we learned last year and trying to capitalize for this year.”

Paul Miller Racing has built an elite resume in IMSA competition, capturing GTD class championships in 2018 and 2023, the 2020 GTD Endurance Cup title, and back-to-back Endurance Cup titles in GTD Pro (2024-25). However, an overall GTD Pro class championship continues to elude the single-car squad.

When asked what claiming the GTD Pro title would mean for the team, Verhagen highlighted their progress across the calendar.

“It means everything for us,” Verhagen said. “That’s obviously been the goal since the team stepped up from GTD to GTD Pro. Previously, obviously very successful in GTD. You know, obviously in 2024 and 2025, we were very successful in the endurance rounds, taking both the Michelin Endurance Cup championships in both of those years with the #1 car in the first year, and then the #48 car last year with the #1 car finishing second in that championship. 

“Endurance races have been our strong suit. Where we need to improve and where we’ve been focusing on our improvement, especially for this year, has been the sprint rounds. Obviously, winning this championship is the full goal and the full push, and right now, so far, we’ve been doing everything that we can to put ourselves in the best position for that. Leading with two races to go, obviously, the goal will be to hold that.”

#1 Paul Miller Racing: Neil Verhagen, Connor De Phillippi

Photo by: Jake Galstad / Lumen via Getty Images

With question marks surrounding what the team’s landscape might look like beyond this year, securing the championship could carry added weight for everyone involved.

“Yeah, for sure,” Verhagen said. “Not only just for the program, but for every single person that’s putting everything into it this year, all the guys, all the mechanics, engineers, management, everybody involved has been putting all the efforts. Everything that they’ve got into this, you can really see it on the weekends, especially when things are not going in the right direction, everybody just corrals together and works even harder to make sure that we can get it in the right direction.

“Yeah, hopefully, a championship will help move the needle and make things easier for next year. But I’m not involved in any of those conversations, so I don’t have an answer for that really.”

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