DXDT, Regulator Facing Uncertain Futures in SRO America

Photo: DXDT Racing

DXDT Racing and Regulator Racing could exit GT World Challenge America powered by AWS competition at the end of the year due to lack of interest from its customer on the new-for-2026 race format according to general manager Erin Gahagan.

The North Carolina-based organizations, both owned by David Askew, have been longtime entrants in the series, with DXDT having given the Chevrolet Corvette Z06 GT3.R its first victory in global competition last year at Circuit of The Americas, on a run to eight consecutive Pro class wins.

Regulator, an offshoot of DXDT, was formed last year for Bronze-rated driver Burton, who along with Mercedes-AMG factory driver Philip Ellis, have achieved significant success in the Pro-Am ranks, including two overall wins this season.

With DXDT’s customer Blake McDonald, who along with Matt Bell sit second in this year’s Pro-Am title race, set to race in Europe next year, it’s currently left the group with only Burton as a possibility according to Gahagan.

Announced in June, GTWC’s currently two 90-minute race format will shift to a single three-hour feature race for all events except the season-ending Indianapolis 8 Hour presented by AWS, which is understood to have been met with mixed reactions from some competitors.

Sportscar365 understands that DXDT organized a meeting at Barber Motorsports Park with fellow teams regarding the race format for next year, although it’s believed that Gagahan has been the most outspoken on SRO America’s announced switch, which came from competitor feedback dating back to the season opener at Sonoma Raceway.

A series spokesperson told Sportscar365 that the three-hour format is confirmed for the 2026 season as previously announced, with a number of new and existing teams already known to have submitted entries for next year.

“The format, for us next year, with Jeff Burton is not something he’s really showing an interest in doing,” Gahagan told Sportscar365.

“For the Bronze driver, those who like the current format, where they have a chance of winning, I think he feels that possibly is less because he would have more drive time.

“It’s not our favorite format for our customers that we have now.

“Currently the Mercedes is the only car we have in SRO next year. [Jeff] hasn’t given us an answer yet on whether or not he’s going to do it. But I think the hesitation is there because of the new format.”

Gahagan said she hasn’t yet secured other prospective customers to race next year in the series and admitted they could be looking to move its Corvette to IMSA VP Racing SportsCar Challenge instead.

The single-driver sprint race series, which added GT3-spec cars beginning this year, has most of its races on WeatherTech SportsCar Championship weekends, where DXDT is already present with its GTD class Corvette.

“I think what we’d like to do is see if we can find [a program] for VP Challenge,” said Gahagan. “The budget in SRO is so large, it’s really hard to find customers, where VP Challenge is a little bit more cost-effective for some of those Bronze and Silver drivers.

“It’s really good for whatever clients we have because they will have access to all of the information from the WeatherTech side. We do a lot of team sharing.

“I believe IMSA will now allow to have a pro driver in the first ten minutes of a session. Thats’s a huge help to get more people into VPRC.

“But also we will use it as a team. Any information sharing will share with that.”

Source: Sports Car 365