Join JDC-Miller MotorSports in Supporting St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital® DONATE NOW!
SAVAGE, Minn. (June 28, 2026). The JDC-Miller MotorSports No. 5 Mustang Sampling Racing Porsche 963 GTP finished on the third step of the podium at the Sahlen’s Six Hours of the Glen at the iconic Watkins Glen International Speedway. This is the team’s second podium in the past three races, which started with their win at Laguna Seca. It marks the fourth podium of the season for Laurin Heinrich, the first podium for Kaylen Frederick in only his third race in IMSA, and the 2nd podium of the season for Tijmen van der Helm.
The weekend started strong for the JDC-Miller MotorSports team, with times at or near the top of the timesheets in both practice sessions. They qualified in the 5th position after a long delay and changing track conditions. The No. 5 Porsche 963 stayed near the front of the field for nearly three hours until a tire went down after light contact, forcing an unscheduled pit stop and dropping them a lap down. Within 20 laps, a caution came out, and they were able to get back on the lead lap. Heinrich got in the car and charged through the field, securing a podium position in 3rd.
The Mustang Sampling Racing No. 5 Porsche 963 GTP completed 182 laps of the 3.4-mile Watkins Glen International road course, averaging 129.157 MPH, over the 6 hours of intense competition. The No. 5 drivers completed 360 overtakes in the mixed-class competition. The crew did 8 flawless pit stops.
Laurin Heinrich retains his second position in the IMSA WeatherTech Championship GTP driver’s championship.
Quotes:
John Church, Managing Partner, No. 5 JDC-Miller MotorSports Porsche 963
“It’s a very enjoyable weekend when you unload a fast race car and then put it into the capable hands of the drivers and crew that we have at JDC-Miller MotorSports. When you start the weekend in a good place, it changes everything. We knew we were in the hunt for a podium position all weekend. The pieces were in place to make it happen and we only needed to execute. Everyone did their part and we finished on the podium.
The drivers did a great job in the race, running our strategy, and letting the race unfold as we hoped. There is usually a lot of cautions at this event due to running 54 cars with varying speeds on a track that is only 3.4 miles around. We had a bit of adversity and dealt with it as a great team does.
I’m really proud of this group. It’s very rewarding to see them have some success after all the hard work that has gone into this program since we started the GTP era.
It was fun to have Ken and Brenda Thompson from Mustang Sampling with us again, along with their guests. This is one of their favorite races, which makes giving them a good result even more rewarding.”
Tijmen van der Helm, Driver, No. 5 JDC-Miller MotorSports Porsche 963
“The team has made great strides this year to be more competitive at each race weekend. We worked hard to come here and be competitive right out of the box. My teammates and I complement each other well, and all this work leads to success. It was a messy race with many cautions, but that often creates opportunities we can take advantage of.
We are very happy with our second podium this year.”
Kaylen Frederick, Driver, No. 5 JDC-Miller MotorSports Porsche 963
“This is just my third endurance race. The mixed-class format of IMSA is especially challenging, with heavy traffic and cars at different speeds. Being on the podium is really special. My thanks to my teammates and the team for helping me learn so much about this type of racing. Happy to get a good result and to see what we’ve been able to achieve this weekend.
I’m very much looking forward to what we can do at Road America.”
Laurin Heinrich, Driver, No. 5 JDC-Miller MotorSports Porsche 963
“Yesterday was my first time qualifying, which meant it was my very first time starting in GTP. It was a new experience for me. We qualified 5th, and I knew it was going to be a long race, so I just tried to get settled and completed my stint in 3rd. Then we hit some trouble. We had to take emergency service to refit a tire. It looked like it was going to be difficult, but what I really liked was that the team didn’t give up. We recovered the lap when a caution came at the right time. But the team was always aware of what was happening, and we knew that this caution would give us the lap back, so it was great.
From there, we never gave up; we kept our heads cool. We knew we had a good car underneath us, which, over the long run, takes good care of the tires. It was key today to make some good moves at the end of the race.
I have to say a big thank you to Porsche and to JDC-Miller and my teammates because it was a really good day, and we made a good turnaround.”
SAVAGE, Minn. (June 11, 2026). JDC-Miller MotorSports is pleased to announce that Laurin Heinrich will drive the No. 5 Porsche 963 at the Sahlen’s Six Hours of the Glen alongside Tijmen van der Helm and Kaylen Frederick. As previously announced, he will continue to drive the No. 5 at Road America and Indianapolis, then rejoin the Porsche Penske No. 7 team for the season finale at Petit Le Mans.
After winning at Daytona, Sebring, and Laguna Seca, Heinrich is currently 2nd in the Driver’s Championship of the 2026 IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship. Porsche is 2nd in the manufacturer’s championship, just 25 points out of the top position. Heinrich is the reigning IMSA GTD-Pro class champion.
The Sahlen’s Six Hours of the Glen for the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship will be held on June 28th on the 3.4-mile, 11-turn road course at Watkins Glen International Raceway. TV coverage will be on Peacock, starting at 12:00 PM EDT.
Quotes:
John Church, Managing Partner, No. 5 JDC-Miller MotorSports Porsche 963
“We are very pleased to have Laurin join us for Watkins Glen. A huge thank you to Porsche Motorsport for this opportunity. Laurin has really “clicked” with our team. He brings more than just amazing driving talent. He has a “can-do” attitude in and out of the car, which makes the whole team stronger.
The remainder of the season is on tracks where we have had success in the past, and having Laurin onboard gives us that much more confidence for the rest of the 2026 season.”
Laurin Heinrich, Driver, No. 5 JDC-Miller MotorSports Porsche 963
“I’m very happy to be racing at Watkins Glen with JDC-Miller MotorSports. It is a great opportunity for me to continue my championship fight in IMSA. I want to say a big thank you to Porsche Motorsport and my GT team in Spa, Schumacher CLRT, for working with me to make this last-minute change. I’m looking forward to my first endurance race with JDC-Miller MotorSports in the No. 5 Mustang Sampling Porsche 963.”
SAVAGE, Minn. (May 31st, 2026). The JDC-Miller MotorSports team had a disappointing weekend at the Detroit Grand Prix. Tijmen van der Helm and Laurin Heinrich brought the No. 5 Porsche 963 home in 11th place after a race marked by contact and penalties.
After qualifying 11th, the team was optimistic that the historically contact-filled race on the tight 11-turn, 1.645-mile Detroit street circuit would provide opportunities to move up as the race progressed. The team started the race with a strategy of staying out of trouble early and pushing toward the end as opportunities arose. Tijmen van der Helm executed the team’s strategy well, staying clean and moving up as high as 8th. Unfortunately, in their haste to make a quick stop, the JDC-Miller MotorSports crew went over the wall before the car came to a complete stop, incurring a drive-through penalty. The penalty following the driver change put Laurin Heinrich at the back of the pack, amid slower traffic. As he pushed to move forward, he made contact with another car and received a penalty for the contact. That put the 5 a lap down and out of contention for a strong finish.
The 11th-place finish dropped Laurin Heinrich from the lead in the Driver’s Championship to second place.
Next race for the team is the Sahlen’s Six Hours of the Glen for the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship, contested on June 28th at Watkins Glen.
Quotes:
John Church, Managing Partner, No. 5 JDC-Miller MotorSports Porsche 963
“Tough race for us, for sure. We certainly beat ourselves on multiple levels today. The good news is the car was fast and capable; we just didn’t execute to our potential. Looking forward to a rebound at Watkins Glen in a few weeks!”
Tijmen van der Helm, Driver, No. 5 JDC-Miller MotorSports Porsche 963
“Kind of a crazy race for us, which is typical for Detroit. We had a good plan that unraveled after a pit stop penalty, which set us back. I had a good first stint, staying out of trouble, which isn’t always easy here, and picked up some spots.
I’m excited to get to Watkins Glen, which is a track that suits us very well, and I’m looking forward to a good result.”
Laurin Heinrich, Driver, No. 5 JDC-Miller MotorSports Porsche 963
“Unfortunately, the race in Detroit was not what we had hoped for after our win at Laguna Seca. First, we picked up a penalty for a pit stop infringement, and on top of that, I was involved in an on-track incident, which was my mistake, and we received another penalty for that. After falling a couple of laps down, there was little more we could do than finish the race.
I’m quite proud of the work the team put in. We improved the car every session and had a good strategy for a strong finish.”
SAVAGE, Minn. (May 3rd, 2026). Led by great team strategy and execution, Laurin Heinrich put in a thrilling late race drive of his Porsche 963 for the overall win of the Monterey SportsCar Championship at WeatherTech Laguna Seca Raceway. Heinrich made the pass for the lead on the final lap of the 119-lap event.
Tijmen van der Helm started the car in 11th place, and he and Heinrich steadily improved their positions throughout the race. The team made a couple of crucial tire and fuel strategy calls that allowed Heinrich to close on the leader in the final laps. He then delivered a stellar drive, making an exciting last-lap pass for the win. This is JDC-Miller MotorSports’ first GTP win and the first win for a customer team since the inception of the GTP program, which began in 2023.This is Tijmen van der Helm’s first IMSA win in his 31st start. It was Heinrich’s 8th victory in 24 IMSA starts. It is his third victory in 2026 in the first four races, including wins at Daytona and Sebring in the number 7 Porsche 963. He has competed at Laguna Seca three times and won all three times. The win gives Heinrich the lead in the IMSA driver’s championship after his wins at Daytona and Sebring in the number 7 Porsche 963 and his 6th at Long Beach.
Next race for the team is the Detroit Grand Prix contested on May 30th.
Quotes:
John Church, Managing Partner, No. 5 JDC-Miller MotorSports Porsche 963
“What this means to our team hasn’t quite sunk in yet. It may take a few days. Putting Laurin Heinrich in the car has been just what it took to bring everything we have worked so hard on together. Not only is there incredible talent behind the wheel, but Laurin also brings a slightly different perspective. A new set of eyes that has made us better.”
The response in the paddock to our win was extremely gratifying. There was a steady stream of people from other teams, journalists, officials, and all kinds of fans coming to congratulate us. It seemed there were a lot of people rooting for Laurin to make that pass for the win. It made me feel good to see a whole bunch of the Porsche Penske team come over to congratulate our guys. We work closely together on all kinds of things, so our win is a bit of a win for them.
It was great fun to celebrate with the Miller family, as well as Ken Thompson from Mustang Sampling and the Lind family and their guests from Cram-A-Lot . It is very gratifying to deliver for your loyal sponsors.
It’s hard to believe it’s already been four years since we first ran the Porsche 963 here in 2023. This GTP program has been an incredible journey, and it feels great to get the first win. I’m confident there are more to come.”
Tijmen van der Helm, Driver, No. 5 JDC-Miller MotorSports Porsche 963
“Just amazing. I’m so happy to get my first IMSA GTP win. We were close to the time we wanted yesterday in qualifying, but in the super-competitive GTP class, we started the race in 11th. During the race, our fuel and tire strategy helped us work our way up through the field. We had a competitive car, so it was easy to manage the race plan. Toward the end of the race, I was getting excited about the possibility of being on the podium. Then the team and Laurin closed it perfectly for the win. We started this program here four years ago with our first GTP race, and now it’s our first win. I couldn’t be happier.”
Laurin Heinrich, Driver, No. 5 JDC-Miller MotorSports Porsche 963
“It’s an amazing day, not only for Tijmen and me personally but also for the whole team. They have done an amazing job and deserve this so much. JDC-Miller MotorSports’ first win in GTP, the first win ever for a customer team in the GTP era, is simply an amazing achievement. I’m incredibly happy to bring this result to the team because I saw how hard everyone works in Long Beach. I knew then that the potential was on the table, and I’m so happy I could deliver my part. I had a tough fight with Earl Bamber in the 31 at the end. It was a hard, fair fight. I could see he was struggling in a few spots, knew we had a shot at the win, and went for it. Going wheel-to-wheel with a driver like Earl was not only a pleasure but also an honor. I enjoyed this fight so much, and I just want to say thank you again to Porsche Motorsport and to JDC-Miller MotorSports for the opportunity.”
May 3, 2026
Heinrich Wins for Third Straight Year in Monterey, van der Helm Takes First IMSA Victory
By John Oreovicz for IMSA.com
MONTEREY, Calif. – For most of Sunday’s IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship sprint race, it appeared Cadillac would complete its domination of the StubHub Monterey SportsCar Championship weekend.
But never count out Porsche – on this day, the privately-run No. 5 JDC-Miller MotorSports Porsche 963 that Tijmen van der Helm and Laurin Heinrich drove to a giant-killing victory at WeatherTech Raceway Laguna Seca.
Heinrich, who at age 24 is one of international sports car racing’s most prominent rising stars, stirred memories of the late Alex Zanardi’s performances at Laguna Seca as he forcefully moved from third to first as time counted down on the two-hour, 40-minute race clock.
He first made an authoritative pass on the No. 25 BMW M Team WRT BMW M Hybrid V8 of Philipp Eng and Marco Wittmann into Turn 10 for second place with 14 minutes remaining. Then on the final lap, he moved to the outside of Earl Bamber in the No. 31 Cadillac Whelen Cadillac V-Series.R through the right-hand Turns 3 and 4 before pulling ahead to the inside on the run to the Turn 5 lefthander and up the hill toward the Corkscrew.
Heinrich crossed the finish line 0.758 seconds ahead of Bamber, who shared the No. 31 Cadillac with Jack Aitken. Wittmann and co-driver Eng finished 3.343 seconds back in third place, just ahead of the No. 60 Acura Meyer Shank Racing w/Curb Agajanian Acura ARX-06 after a nice comeback drive from Tom Blomqvist and Colin Braun.
But the talking point after the race was Heinrich, who remarkably has never lost a race at WeatherTech Raceway. The last two years, he claimed Grand Touring Daytona (GTD) PRO class victories in AO Racing’s dinosaur-themed Porsche 911s. He started this year as the IMSA Michelin Endurance Cup co-driver in the factory No. 7 Porsche Penske Motorsport Porsche 963, taking overall and Grand Touring Prototype (GTP) class victories at the Rolex 24 At Daytona and the Mobil 1 Twelve Hours of Sebring.
As a result of his latest win at Laguna Seca, Heinrich now leads the GTP driver championship standings by 21 points over Aitken and 146 points over his No. 7 Porsche teammates Felipe Nasr and Julien Andlauer, who finished seventh on Sunday.
It was the fifth WeatherTech Championship race win for JDC-Miller MotorSports, and the first in the modern GTP prototype era. The team’s last victory came in the Daytona Prototype international (DPi) class and overall at Sebring in 2021.
“It hasn’t sunk in 100 percent yet, but certainly this is one of the biggest wins,” said team principal John Church. “We started here four years ago and didn’t have any idea what we were doing with this car and have slowly been building and picking up the pace. We’ve been fighting an uphill battle the last couple years, so this is really special.
“It’s been great to have Laurin come along and give us some direction and some pace as well,” he added. “What a day – incredible! I couldn’t be happier.”
The JDC-Miller Porsche has shown speed before and notched the occasional podium finish. But the addition of the highly regarded Heinrich, a Porsche factory driver, has supplied an extra boost.
“This place seems to work for me and I love it, to be honest,” Heinrich said. “Every time I come here in the morning and see this track, I feel something special. The team has given Tijmen and me an extremely strong car, extremely well balanced. I think our strength was tires, which we could really make use of in the last four or five laps. The strategy also worked great. To have all this work pay off is incredible.
“We were pushing flat out and that was all we had,” he concluded. “To have something like that happen on the last lap makes it a magic day.”
Added van der Helm: “It’s great. I wasn’t expecting it at all 30 minutes before the finish. Laurin did some great stuff at the end of the race, and this is an incredible day for the entire team.”
Heinrich also gave credit to sports car ace Richard Westbrook, who has driven the Porsche 963 for JDC-Miler Motorsports in the recent past and serves as an advisor for the team.
“He knows exactly what it feels like in this car and I’m amazed how when he sees the live data, he knows exactly what’s going on in the car,” Heinrich said of the three-time Laguna Seca race winner. “Two days ago, he told me something about the last corner that helped me today to set up the last move. Honestly, it’s a big help for the team.”
Bamber was philosophical after Heinrich got the best of him on the final lap. The No. 31 Cadillac has finished on the podium in all four WeatherTech Championship races in 2026, including three second-place finishes, after closing out the ‘25 season with a pair of wins.
“With about 10 laps to go, the (No.) 5 just appeared out of nowhere and when I heard it was coming at half of a second a lap, I knew it was going to be tough to hold him off,” Bamber said. “I got a couple of good runs through traffic on the last second-to-last lap, but then he just had much more grip than us at the end of the race.
“I raced him hard and fair, but he just got through. It is what it is – another great podium and it was great to race with Laurin. I’ve seen him come up through the ranks with Porsche, and to see him get this win with the No. 5 team is something special.”
The next round of the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship is the May 29-30 Chevrolet Detroit Sports Car Classic, a 100-minute street course sprint race featuring the GTP and Grand Touring Daytona Pro (GTD PRO) classes.
SAVAGE, Minn. (April 19, 2026). The JDC-Miller MotorSports No. 5 Porsche GTP team took the checkered flag in 6th place at the Grand Prix of Long Beach, culminating a very strong weekend.
It was the first race with JDC-Miller MotorSports for Laurin Heinrich, who is on loan to the team from Porsche Motorsport. Heinrich is undefeated this year in IMSA, with victories in his two previous starts, including the 24 Hours of Daytona and the 12 Hours of Sebring. He will be with the team for all the sprint races on the schedule.
The team unloaded a very strong Porsche 963 and put the IMSA WeatherTech Championship paddock on notice that they would be contenders this weekend when Laurin Heinrich set the fastest time in Practice 1. They were also strong in Practice 2, however, Tijmen van der Helm experienced tire pressure issues in qualifying, which led to a 10th-place starting position.
At the start of the race, an early caution prompted a quick strategy call, pitting the car on lap 5 to complete its mandatory driver change and get an energy fill. The team’s confidence in the car’s pace paid off as Heinrich quickly worked through traffic on the notoriously difficult-to-pass Long Beach circuit. By lap 13, he had worked his way through the field and was back in 10th. By lap 29, he moved into 6th and held it for the remainder of the race. In his charge forward, Heinrich set the fastest lap of the race on lap 7, a 1:12.918, the only driver with a lap in the 1:12s.
The team leaves Long Beach full of confidence for the second stop on the West Coast swing, Laguna Seca, in two weeks.
Quotes:
John Church, Managing Partner, No. 5 JDC-Miller MotorSports Porsche 963
“We had a really good weekend here in Long Beach. When you unload a really fast race car, everything builds on that. We were fastest in Practice 1, which gave the entire team confidence for the rest of the weekend. We missed the tire pressure in qualifying by a few tenths, and in the ultra-competitive IMSA GTP class, that put us back to 10th to start the race. A strategy call on lap 5 to get ahead of the driver change and fuel window set us up for a strong finish. Laurin ran many very fast laps, and we were in the hunt for a podium for the entire second half of the race.
I really want to thank everyone at Porsche Motorsports for all their support. Lending us a driver like Laurin is very beneficial for our program. He is a great fit, and I think this will move us to another level.”
Tijmen van der Helm, Driver, No. 5 JDC-Miller MotorSports Porsche 963
“Long Beach was a quick weekend for us, just two days. We were strong all weekend and finished P6, which we are quite happy with. We had a bit more pace, but we were a bit unlucky in qualifying and started P10, which is a disadvantage on a street circuit. We managed to gain four positions, so we are quite happy with the result.
Good start with Laurin in this first race with JDC-Miller MotorSports, and we are eager to build on these results at Laguna Seca.”
Laurin Heinrich, Driver, No. 5 JDC-Miller MotorSports Porsche 963
The Grand Prix of Long Beach is complete, and what a race it was. The team gave me a great car, and I set the fastest race lap, so I’m quite happy with how things went.
The JDC-Miller MotorSports team executed a great strategy, trying to make something work from the back after a disappointing qualifying. This worked quite well, and we crossed the line in a solid P6, which is a result we are quite happy with.
I think it was a good first start to my new program with JDC-Miller MotorSports, so I am really looking forward to our next race at Laguna Seca.”
SAVAGE, Minn. (March 23, 2026). The JDC-Miller Motorsports No. 5 Porsche GTP team started the 74th 12 Hours of Sebring with a strong 7th place qualifying position, just .569 seconds behind the pole winner, and were very confident heading into the twelve-hour race. The car was quite strong and the drivers did an outstanding job executing the race plan. They stayed on the lead lap and remained in contention for a podium position throughout the day. As evening fell, due to the cumulative effects of all the bumps and bruises the car had endured during the long day’s work, the No. 5 Porsche was unable to improve its pace against its rivals and finished in 8th position.
The team wraps up the 36 hours of Florida and is looking forward to the sprint-heavy portion of the season and heading west to Long Beach and Laguna Seca.
Quotes:
John Church, Managing Partner, No. 5 JDC-Miller MotorSports Porsche 963
“There were many positives this weekend. We had quite a scramble in the shop to implement the livery changes, which resulted in some long hours, but the fan reaction to this livery has made it all worthwhile. This driver lineup has come together nicely, making the weekend more enjoyable for everyone. We got off to a good start when Kaylen qualified strongly. The team had a solid plan for qualifying, executed it perfectly, and achieved the result.
In the race, we started strong, got a little banged up along the way, and ultimately didn’t have what was needed at the end. A pretty typical Sebring, I would say. The JDC-Miller MotorSports crew performed 14 flawless pit stops, the engineering team made great calls before and during the race, and overall, everyone executed extremely well. There’s a lot to be proud of here.”
Kaylen Frederick, Driver, No. 5 JDC-Miller MotorSports Porsche 963
“Overall, there are definitely some positives to take from the weekend. The team gave me a great car in qualifying, and it was a pleasure to get a good result. We made a lot of progress with the car throughout the weekend, but so did everyone else. We probably could have made some different choices with the setup that might have been better for the later part of the race. At the beginning, we looked fairly strong with good pace. We were running with the leaders. In the heat of the day, we were performing quite well, but as it cooled off, we lost that pace and couldn’t get it back. The car took a bit of a beating through no fault of our own—some pretty hard hits that likely affected the handling later in the race. There are many positives to take away, but looking forward for the improvements I’m confident the guys will have for the next one.”
Tijmen Van der Helm, Driver, No. 5 JDC-Miller MotorSports Porsche 963
“We had a positive qualifying, so shout-out to my teammate Kaylen for giving us a good starting position. We made contact with rivals several times during the race, which is common at this event. We were a bit unlucky a few times with our tire strategy, and in the end, didn’t have enough pace to push hard. The car performed well during the race, the crew did a great job, and our driver lineup is really solid. On to Long Beach to see what we can accomplish.”
Nico Pino, Driver, No. 5 JDC-Miller MotorSports Porsche 963
“It was a tough race for us at the end; we had a good start and kept a strong pace all day. The car got quite beat up during the race, which definitely slowed us down toward the finish. The team did an excellent job. Every pit stop was perfect, and we always gained positions in the pits. I would have preferred a better result, but overall, I’m pretty happy. Now, we need to focus on fine-tuning all the small details that make a difference in a series as fiercely competitive as IMSA GTP.”
By RJ O’Connell from Racer.com – Mar 20, 2026, 7:50 AM ET
JDC-Miller MotorSports began 2026 in a very interesting position within the world of prototype sports car racing’s top category, as the last true privateer left standing in IMSA GTP.
Entering its famous yellow “Banana Boat” No. 85 Porsche 963 with the young driver trio of Tijmen van der Helm, Nico Pino and Kaylen Frederick, JDC-Miller MotorSports finished seventh in the Rolex 24 At Daytona in January, only one place lower than its previous efforts with the 963 in 2024 and 2025.
Besides JDC’s managing partner John Church, driving advisor Richard Westbrook is an integral member of the team’s management who boasts over two decades of experience racing at the highest levels. And the Englishman believes that Daytona could have gone even better, with some better fortune at crucial times.
“Honestly, the Roar (Before The 24) week was awesome. And then the practice sessions leading up to qualifying, the guys were super happy with the car,” Westbrook tells RACER. “We had a really strong first half of the race – we led for a good period of time. But we did lose some performance due to damage on the floor of the car, which created some additional drag.
“Daytona is always the toughest race for us,” he laments. “It really is hard on the equipment. It happened to us in the last couple of years. Going into the last hour, we didn’t quite have the package for the win, but honestly, I think a P4 or P5 would have been a fairer reflection of where our pace was, where we should have finished.”
While it may not have the latest joker updates, JDC-Miller’s Porsche punched above its weight at Daytona, defying the doom-and-gloomers. Brandon Badraoui/Lumen via Getty Images
And this was without the 2026 package of Evo “joker” updates to the Porsche 963, which include changes to the diffuser, engine cover and splitter tuned towards aerodynamic efficiency. It also came with a driver line-up with an average age of 22, none of whom are works or factory-contracted drivers, or had previous factory racing experience.
Even as the last true privateer left standing in IMSA’s top class, though, Westbrook makes clear JDC-Miller MotorSports needs no one’s pity. Together with IMSA and Porsche, the team worked out a solution that would allow JDC-Miller to keep racing on this year with the 2025-spec 963 that it finished last season with, instead of purchasing the 2026 Evo package.
One would figure that this new provision in IMSA’s sporting regulations – allowing previous homologations on the current year’s grid – would be met warmly, keeping a tenured team on the grid instead of turning it away. Yet Westbrook was unpleasantly surprised when the general reaction to this news was bleak pessimism about the team’s future, and the future of top-class racing in IMSA and, by extension, the FIA World Endurance Championship.
“It’s ridiculous,” Westbrook says flatly. “It’s been well documented about the price of upgrading and stuff like that. But honestly, from my perspective, we really struggled last year. There was a major update (at the) beginning of ’25 and we couldn’t find the sweet spot of the car. By the end of the year, we got the car in a window which we felt was really strong. We ended the year in a good place.
“There was a question mark on the ’26 update, and whether that was right for us. Obviously GTP is… you know, everyone talks about it being the golden era of motorsport but we are down to one privateer worldwide now,” Westbrook notes, following Proton’s WEC departure, the closure of boutique Hypercar constructors like Glickenhaus and Isotta Fraschini, and the Asian Le Mans Series’ Hypercar class being a year away from arrival.
No jokers? No problem. Brandon Badraoui/Lumen via Getty Images
While concerns about the cost to participate in high-level sports car racing are well founded, Westbrook’s view is more measured and less sensationalized.
“We’re not sitting here with our begging bowl asking for everyone to help us, but it is very different for a private team. We are at a disadvantage – and we need to play to our strengths,” he says.
“You could argue, you would only do an update if it’s going to go quicker. But we feel really confident with our package right now. We showed it in Daytona – all the drivers were all very comfortable with the car, the balance of the car. We’ve really got a hold on our package right now, and we need to continue developing that.
“So it’s a bit disappointing when you read all those negative comments, like, ‘This is the end of the formula,’ but it’s not. It’ll be the end of the formula if you lose cars on the grid. I’m not saying privateers are the be-all and end-all of this golden era but you do need them. They do serve a purpose and it is a worry that we’re the only ones in the world that are a private team – but we’re going to make the most of it.”
JDC-Miller got a boost in the form of a returning primary sponsor, Mustang Sampling. This brought with it its signature black and gold livery, and its customary No. 5 plate, to the team for the remainder of the 2026 season. It begins at the Mobil 1 Twelve Hours of Sebring, a race that JDC-Miller, during its days as a Cadillac DPi customer team, won five years ago.
JDC-Miller has a long-term plan in place through 2027, which the team hopes to reveal in due course, and the long-rumored second JDC-Miller 963 entry is still in play if the right opportunity arises.
“The team has two cars, (we) have the capability of absolutely running those two cars on a race weekend. Right now, it’s not the focus,” Westbrook says of GTP expansion plans. “But if there was an opportunity to bring the second car out for, maybe, some long-distance races, we would definitely look at it. It’s definitely not something that we’ve closed the book on.
“I’d love to get that car out, because, as I know from 2023 (with Chip Ganassi Racing in WEC) when we were just the sole Cadillac, it’s always better having two cars than one, because you’ve got double the data, and data is everything.”
Moving forward with what JDC-Miller MotorSports has right now, however – which is its one black and gold No. 5 Porsche 963, in 2025-spec with the youngest driver line-up in IMSA GTP – Westbrook has lofty ambitions despite the low points that the team went through for a lot of last season.
“I think consistent top-five finishes and to be sneaking in for a podium, that’s realistic,” Westbrook reckons. “With IMSA racing, if you’re in the right spot at the right time, you can turn those podiums, top fives, into wins. And that’s where we need to be. The drivers are all hungry. None of them are like, ‘We’re in a private car, so we’ve got no chance of winning.’ There’s none of that attitude and I wouldn’t allow that in our team.
“We may be a privateer, but we’re punching above our weight. The goal, and what we are going to do, is take the fight to the factory teams. It’s as simple as that. Because if we’re not going to do that, there’s no point of being there – and trust me, coming in P9 and P10 for the first half of last year was absolutely painful, I would say even more painful than when I was driving myself. None of us want to be there.
“We’re looking forward now: We’ve shown we had pace in the daytime; unfortunately, we were not able to do it for 24 hours. But we’ve got three young, hungry drivers that work their socks off, that want to fight at the front. And we’re going to give them that.”
