The entry list for the Acura Grand Prix of Long Beach has confirmed Laurin Heinrich in the Porsche 963 No. 5 of JDC-Miller Motorsports for the sprint rounds of the 2026 IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship. Heinrich, co-leader of the GTP standings with 755 points alongside Felipe Nasr and Julien Andlauer, will have a second program with the 963 outside the Porsche Penske Motorsport environment and will share the car with Tijmen van der Helm starting from the April 18th round on the California street circuit.

The first two races of the season, the 24 Hours of Daytona and the 12 Hours of Sebring, were endurance rounds with three drivers per car. Long Beach kicks off the sprint phase of the calendar, with a 100-minute format and a maximum of two drivers per entry. This forced the No. 7 Penske car to reduce its lineup, and Heinrich was the name left out of the factory car for the short races. Nasr and Andlauer will continue with the Porsche that has led more than 75 percent of the laps in GTP this season, and Heinrich will have to chase his points from a privateer operation that sits eighth in the teams' championship with 518 units.

Photo By IMSA

Heinrich will take the place that Nico Pino occupied in the short rounds, as Pino will concentrate his schedule on the endurance events. Van der Helm remains the full-time driver of the No. 5 in both formats. Heinrich confirmed on his Instagram account that Long Beach will be his first race at that circuit and that he will not be at Watkins Glen, an absence explained by a calendar conflict with the 24 Hours of Spa, where he has commitments with Porsche's GT program, as both races fall on the same Sunday, June 28th. For the Petit Le Mans, Heinrich will return to the No. 7 Penske car alongside Nasr and Andlauer.

The GTP tie gets tested in the sprint rounds

The 755 points shared by Heinrich, Nasr, and Andlauer come from victories at Daytona and Sebring in the No. 7, where all three shared the cockpit. The win in Florida included an internal battle between the two Penske 963s in the final hour and a half, when Nasr regained the lead that the team had asked him to cede to Kévin Estre and managed it to the flag. Now that the season enters its sprint phase, that tie will be tested under unequal conditions because Nasr and Andlauer retain the car that has won everything in 2026, while Heinrich depends on a team with fewer resources and more modest results to avoid losing ground.

Photo By IMSA

The gap between the No. 7 and the No. 5 in the teams' championship is 237 points, and although the sprint rounds award fewer points than the endurance races, one or two poor races with JDC-Miller could open a gap that becomes difficult to close when all three drivers share the cockpit again in the long races. On Instagram, Heinrich described the opportunity as a way to gain experience with the 963, without referencing any expectations of results.

The Long Beach race, scheduled for Saturday, April 18th, will be the first round in which Heinrich has to defend his position in the standings from a car different from the one driven by his two co-leaders.