Veterans embedded with IMSA teams through our Motorsport Immersion program were at WeatherTech Raceway Laguna Seca the weekend of May 1-3 competing with our partner teams.

Team, Identity & Purpose  

Meyer Shank Racing | Pratt Miller Motorsports | KohR Motorsports | Random Vandals Racing | CSM

Canadian 2026 Racing Season begins

The Canadian 2026 Racing Season gets underway this weekend with the tradition Victoria Day Weekend at Canadian Tire Motorsports Park in Bowmanville Ontario, 15 -17 May. Meet the new class of 2026, with some new Beneficiaries and some returning faces. Beneficiaries are being activated with teams and series, in NASCAR Canada and FEL Radical Cup Canada.

Operation eMotorsport League Season 12 rolled through Virginia International Raceway and Canadian Tire Motorsports Park for Rounds 5 and 6, and the championship picture is now almost fully locked in heading into the final round of the season.

One of the biggest developments over both events was the continued absence of the Dallara P217 field, with several regular prototype drivers shifting into the growing Porsche 992.2 class. The result was some of the most competitive racing of the season and a championship battle that will now go right down to the wire.

n GT3, Chance Sheffield (#66) continued to dominate at VIR, earning his fifth straight win before finally seeing his streak snapped at CTMP by program newcomer Mitchell Opatik (#60), who delivered a flawless debut performance in the Mercedes-AMG GT3 with pole, fastest lap, and the win. Despite the loss, Sheffield’s consistency throughout Season 12 secured the GT3 Championship with one round still remaining. His season has been one of the standout performances across the league, and he now advances to the PRO BEN class for Season 13.

The Porsche 992.2 category remains the tightest fight in the league. Tyler Guillemette (#5) claimed victory at VIR, while Matt Smothermon (#84) stormed from seventh on the grid to win on debut at CTMP. Elias Roman (#99), Zachary Baish (#27), Martin Wallace (#666), and Chris Glandon (#012) have all remained firmly in the mix, but with Wallace absent from CTMP, the points gap narrowed dramatically. Heading into the final round, Wallace leads Glandon by just four points, setting up a winner-take-all finale.

GT4 also saw the balance of power shift over the last two rounds. At VIR, Zach Merrill (#16) finally broke Tyler Manning’s early-season stranglehold on the class, before Kyle Shelton (#12) earned his first win of the season at CTMP. Manning, however, did what champions do best — minimizing damage and banking points consistently enough to officially secure the GT4 Championship before the finale.

The Dallara P217 title is still mathematically alive despite the class not appearing on track in the last two rounds. Matt Smothermon holds a 20-point advantage over Justin Bessette (#442), but with maximum points still available, the championship remains open heading into the season finale.

One other trend carried across both events: clean-race bonus points were almost nonexistent. VIR saw no GT3 driver collect the bonus, and CTMP followed suit with another rough night across the field, highlighting just how intense the racing has become as Season 12 approaches its conclusion.

Congratulations to Chance Sheffield and Tyler Manning on clinching their Season 12 championships, and good luck to the drivers still fighting for titles in Porsche 992.2 and Dallara P217 as the league heads toward its final round of the season.

•  U.S./Canadian military veterans will attend SimRacing Expo to promote Operation eMotorsport League
• SimRacing Expo first of its kind to be held in the U.S.
• Operation eMotorsport League is a diversionary therapy program that allows veterans affected by service to connect with others who face same struggles
• Get 10% off the ticket price with the code SRE_operationmotorsport at https://ticket.simracingexpo.com/

Raleigh, N.C., 11 May 2026 – For U.S. Army and Navy veteran Richard Davenport, virtual simulation racing has been one way to find a community again after the leaving the military.“It’s a way to stay connected with other veterans virtually any time and to have a blast racing and developing skills alongside them,” said Davenport, who joined Operation Motorsport® as a participant in 2024.

Davenport is proud to tell his story at the SimRacing Expo May 22-24, 2026 at the Charlotte Convention Center. It’s the first sim Expo to be held in the U.S. A delegation of U.S. and Canadian veterans from Operation Motorsport will attend on behalf of the Operation eMotorsport League, a virtual iRacing series for veterans with a U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs/Veterans Affairs of Canada rating, currently serving military and those who support them. Representatives will be introduced on stage at 11 a.m. EST on the Friday of the event.

Like many competitors, Davenport’s at-home racing set-up started small, with a Logitech G923 wheel and pedals from a connection on Twitch. Then he bought a set of Heusinkveld Sprint pedals from another Operation Motorsport participant. “I saw a meme that said, someone will tell you not to spend $1,000 on sim racing gear,” Davenport said. “That $3,000 will be the best $10,000 dollars you’ve ever spent. That’s pretty accurate.”

The Operation eMotorsport League has grown exponentially since its inception six years ago. When racing was cancelled worldwide as a result of the worldwide COVID-19 pandemic, Operation Motorsport staff were determined not to let it stop their life-changing work with veterans. But for an organization whose model depended on embedding veterans with professional racing teams at tracks, it would mean completely changing their scope.

In spite of the difficulties, Operation Motorsport made the leap and the Operation eMotorsport League was born. Now, competition between the core of regular racers who show up nearly every event and casual drop-ins mean a dependable 35-48 entrants for each race, with the total number registered at 76 leaving plenty of room for new racers to join the community. “It’s really become this supportive community of veterans,” said Tiffany Lodder, executive director, Operation Motorsport. “We’ve seen real change in our veterans who participate. It’s designed to bring veterans out of themselves, out of their worries, give them something else to focus on and an avenue to build themselves up again. Many of our veterans are struggling to connect with others when they come to us and going to a race track feels out of reach. For a multitude of reasons they’ve had a hard time with the transition back to civilian life and while they might not be ready to be around others in person, meeting new people online in this setting is just what they need in that moment of their journey. We are there to help them build the confidence and direction that comes from being given a Team, Identity and Purpose again.” 

Supporters of Operation Motorsport can get 10% off the ticket price with the code SRE_operationmotorsport at https://ticket.simracingexpo.com/

Proud to see companies like Five Lights Coffee stepping up for the motorsport and veteran communities in a real way.

Five Lights Coffee was built around two things that matter deeply to us at Operation Motorsport, a passion for racing and a commitment to giving back. They aren’t just selling coffee, they’re investing directly into the people and community behind the sport.

Through their partnership with Operation Motorsport:

☕ 10% of all profits support our programs for medically retiring and retired service members

☕ 100% of profits from the Operation Motorsport “Hero Blend” go directly back into veteran recovery programming

That means every bag purchased helps us continue creating opportunities that restore Team. Identity. Purpose. for veterans affected by military service.

If you’re looking for a great coffee and an easy way to support our mission, this is worth checking out.

Please support the businesses that support our veterans and our motorsport community.

BUY NOW IN THE U.S.:

https://fivelights.coffeestore.app/…/lOQoqhOV-FYkllGVFoaWX

Beneficiary Spotlight – Taner Masters

From 19 years old I’ve been serving. I joined the Air Force and spent 9 years as a firefighter, then 5 more as a civilian — building a life alongside @monicamasters, the greatest woman God has placed on this earth, and raising 4 beautiful kids together. Along the way I earned my paramedic license too.

Three years ago I had a life changing experience with @operationmotorsport. I started in IMSA on @crowdstrikeracing’s LMP2 team — scrapping tires and grabbing any task I could get my hands on. I was hooked, to put it lightly.

I took a year away to pursue my paramedic license and when I finished, OpMo embedded me with @sro_motorsports as a Pit Medic. This year I’ve taken an official role with SRO — but I’m not done.



I’m chasing my SCCA Competition License with one goal in mind: the Veterans Race of Remembrance at VIR in November — competing on the other side of the wall that I’ve been standing next to for two years.

This all started because of Operation Motorsport and it continues because of them and the friends I made along the way. They gave me something I didn’t know I’d lost: Team, Identity, and Purpose. Now I’m paying it forward.

This story is for every veteran still in the dark, whose hope feels unreachable — and for those standing beside them every day, keeping them in the fight.

There is a tomorrow. Follow along and I’ll show you.



#OperationMotorsport #VeteransRaceOfRemembrance #VIR #USAFFirefighter #TheresATomorrow