Wastegate Racing completed an unlikely late-season turnaround at Indianapolis Motor Speedway on Saturday, with the #32 Ferrari 499P claiming the 2026 VSCA Sprint Cup GTP championship after rising from eighth in the standings just two races earlier.
Niclas Pedersen and Selena Ward entered the Battle at the Brickyard with the #32 still in contention but 100 points behind the championship lead. They started ninth, fought their way into the victory battle and ultimately inherited the race win following a 35-second post-race penalty for the #7. Combined with a difficult finale for championship leader #25 Tri-State Racing, it was enough to send Wastegate to the top of the standings with 2,120 points, 20 clear of the #25 BMW.
Long Beach Opens the Campaign with Fourth
The #32's Sprint Cup campaign began steadily rather than spectacularly at Long Beach. Pedersen and Ward started fourth and finished fourth, 29.419 seconds behind the GTP winner. The result left Wastegate fourth in the standings and 105 points from the lead after the opening round.
It would prove to be their best result for some time. Reigning Sprint Cup champion World Of SimRacing Team won at both Long Beach and Laguna Seca, while Wastegate's season was about to head in the opposite direction.
Laguna Seca and Homestead Drop Wastegate to Eighth
At Laguna Seca, Jason Birnie joined Pedersen in the #32. Starting 12th in class, the Ferrari finished 11th and six laps down after receiving a 180-second post-race penalty for an incident involving the #55 PAX Simsport Porsche 963 and #137 Gamma Sim Racing Ferrari 499P.
There was speed in the car despite the result: Wastegate recorded the fastest GTP lap of the race. But the damage to the championship was considerable. The #32 fell from fourth to seventh in the standings, 325 points behind the leader.
Homestead-Miami brought another difficult afternoon. Kyle Birnie qualified third, only for the race to unravel almost immediately when the pole-sitter #21 Delta Racing BMW with Enzo Alquini suddenly slowed at the green flag, triggering a major multi-car accident behind, including the #32 Wastegate Ferrari. Wastegate eventually reached the finish in tenth, five laps down.
The Ferrari again showed competitive pace with the second-fastest lap in class, but another low finish left the #32 eighth in the championship. With only two GTP Sprint Cup races remaining, Wastegate sat 295 points from the lead.
CTMP Victory Revives the Championship
The entire complexion of the season changed at Canadian Tire Motorsport Park.
Kyle Birnie and Pedersen started third and delivered Wastegate's first Sprint Cup victory of the season, with Pedersen also setting the fastest GTP lap. One result erased much of the championship damage accumulated at Laguna Seca and Homestead: the #32 jumped five positions from eighth to third and closed to within 100 points of the lead.
Instead of arriving at Indianapolis simply trying to salvage the best possible championship position, Wastegate suddenly had a genuine title opportunity. The team still needed the finale to fall its way, particularly with the #25 Tri-State Racing BMW entering Indianapolis at the top of the standings.
Indianapolis Turns Survival into a Race for the Win
The #32 hardly looked like the obvious favorite at the start of the finale. Ward qualified the #32 ninth around the 2.44-mile Indianapolis road course, and with many things needing to go right for them to have a shot at the Sprint Cup title, even within the Wastegate camp expectations were measured.
Pedersen said neither driver had felt particularly confident in the Ferrari going into the race. "The car was really a handful as well, so the strategy was just to keep it clean, survive and see what the race would bring us."
That approach carried the #32 much further than expected. Wastegate climbed into contention and was fighting for the GTP victory late in the race before the #7 made its move on Pedersen into Turn 7.
Pedersen felt the run from the preceding corner deserved as much attention as the pass itself, adding that he would have preferred more room on corner exit. "I had to come completely out of the throttle. Second would have been a good result for us, so to come away with the win after all is even better."
Kyle Birnie said Wastegate would initially have been satisfied simply leaving Indianapolis with second place. The team had struggled to find a setup that gave Pedersen and Ward the pace they wanted, making a top-five the realistic target and a podium something they hoped might come if circumstances worked in their favor.
Birnie was less enthusiastic about how the late pass was handled, saying he believes a driver making an overtake has a responsibility to leave enough racing room. The move itself did not ultimately decide the official result, however. The #7 later received a 35-second penalty for a separate incident, promoting Wastegate to victory.
"The #7 had a great race, but they were penalized for another incident and lost the win because of it," Birnie said. "We were in a spot to capitalize."
Back-to-Back Wins Complete the Sprint Cup Turnaround
With Tri-State Racing encountering its own problems in the finale, Wastegate's second consecutive victory completed a remarkable championship swing. The #32 moved from third to first in the standings and ended the Sprint Cup with 2,120 points, just 20 ahead of the #25 BMW. The #51 World Of SimRacing Team Cadillac finished third, 100 points behind Wastegate.
The title is the first for Wastegate Racing's GTP program in its second season and makes the team the successor to World Of SimRacing Team, whose title defense included victories in the opening two Sprint Cup races but also three finishes outside the top five.
For Wastegate, it also capped what Birnie described as a season of extremes. "We've had a roller coaster of a year with a lot of highs and lows, and a lot of wrecks to bounce back from. I didn't think we'd be in contention here. We were really trying to get the best result possible for the SportsCar Championship going into Petit, so to walk away with the Sprint Cup is great."
The celebration extends beyond the GTP side of the garage. Wastegate's sister #33 also claimed the Sprint Cup title in GT AM, giving the organization championships in both classes. Birnie called the double "an amazing accomplishment for all the drivers on the team."
Pedersen, meanwhile, leaves Indianapolis with his ninth career GTP victory, moving him within one of Álvaro Martínez's VSCA record of ten. He kept the focus on the collective achievement. "I just try to do the best I can for the team. We win and lose together. Of course it's nice to be successful and bring home wins for the team. Let's see if we can maybe add one more at Road Atlanta."
The Numbers Behind Wastegate's Sprint Cup Title
Because GTP did not compete at VIR, the class contested five of the six Sprint Cup rounds on the 2026 calendar. Wastegate's finishing record across those five races was fourth at Long Beach, 11th at Laguna Seca, tenth at Homestead-Miami, first at CTMP and first at Indianapolis.
The #32 started those races fourth, 12th, third, third and ninth respectively, producing an average starting position of 6.2 and an average finishing position of 5.4. The campaign included two victories, two podiums, three top-five finishes and four top-ten finishes. Wastegate recorded no DNFs and no disqualifications, reaching the finish as a running car in all five rounds.
The Ferrari also set the fastest GTP lap at Laguna Seca and CTMP, ranked second in fastest-lap pace at Homestead, fourth at Long Beach and seventh at Indianapolis.
Pedersen competed in all five GTP Sprint Cup races, with Ward joining him at Long Beach and Indianapolis, Jason Birnie at Laguna Seca and Kyle Birnie at Homestead-Miami and CTMP. Together, the four drivers turned a campaign that had fallen as low as eighth in the standings into Wastegate Racing's first GTP Sprint Cup championship.
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