Here’s A Half-Dozen Part-Timers Worth Watching Under 30
By John Oreovicz
DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. – We looked at 10 young drivers who more or less traded their open-wheel paths for sports car careers earlier this week. Here’s Part 1 and Part 2 of that.
After those 10, we are also highlighting a half dozen under-30 drivers who will be competing in a partial IMSA season, most if not all IMSA Michelin Endurance Cup rounds.
These six drivers are under 30 and some have been IMSA full-timers in the past, but due to changed programs and/or additional opportunities, will be racing a partial IMSA schedule in 2026. Nonetheless, they’ll be ones to watch in the races they do run:
Matt Campbell, 30, No. 6 Porsche Penske Motorsport Porsche 963 (Grand Touring Prototype, GTP)
Just two months away from his 31st birthday, Campbell is the oldest driver profiled here, but as the reigning champion of IMSA’s top GTP class, also the most accomplished to date. He raced Formula Ford cars for four years before transitioning into GT3 Porsches in his native Australia. A victory in the 2016 Carrera Cup Australia landed Campbell on the Porsche driver development ladder, and he advanced through Junior and Young Professional stages to emerge as a Porsche works driver.
Campbell made his IMSA debut in 2019, running three races in a GTD class Porsche and scoring a win at Road America. He was part of the GT Le Mans (GTLM) class-winning Porsche factory team at the 2020 Motul Petit Le Mans, then scored another major win at Sebring in 2021 with WeatherTech Racing – the first time he was teamed with Mathieu Jaminet.
Campbell and Jaminet were full-time teammates at Pfaff Motorsports in 2022, and they won the first IMSA Grand Touring Daytona Pro (GTD PRO) championship in a runaway. Both young drivers (Jaminet is 31) graduated to Porsche Penske Motorsport’s GTP program, where they won their second IMSA championship together in 2025. But Campbell’s 2026 program will look different; Jaminet has announced plans to join Genesis Magma Racing, and Campbell’s new assignment within the factory Porsche 963 program was confirmed November 29 during Porsche’s annual Night of Champions celebration. He’ll support Kevin Estre and Laurens Vanthoor in IMSA’s three longest endurance races.
Jonny Edgar, 21, No. 99 AO Racing ORECA LMP2 07 (Le Mans Prototype 2, LMP2)
The young Englishman ran through Formula 4 and 3 ranks before shifting into sports cars in 2024, starting with the European Le Mans Series. He made his IMSA debut the same year with Sean Creech Motorsport in its Ligier JS P217, but it was in 2025 where he starred in his sporadic LMP2 and GTD appearances. He won his first IMSA race aboard AO’s “Rexy” Porsche at Long Beach in a one-off GTD drive with Laurens Vanthoor. Teammate Dane Cameron, who shares the No. 99 AO Racing ORECA nicknamed “Spike,” spoke highly of Edgar’s potential at the IMSA-sanctioned November test.
“We had Jonny all year and he’s a big talent,” Cameron said. “I think he’s going to have a really strong future in this sport. It’s a bit funny for me to be the older guy now, but I want to share what I can for them while also still performing. Jonny is somebody I wasn’t super familiar with from Europe, but he’s also really impressed me, did absolutely nothing wrong for us this year, so I’m excited to have him back again as our third guy. We always felt like Jonny was option A to us, and I really felt like we owed that to him for what a good job he did for us in 2025. So, very pleased to have him back and glad that all worked out.”
Laurin Heinrich, 24, No. 7 Porsche Penske Motorsport Porsche 963 (GTP)
Like many aspiring racers, Heinrich shifted from karts to Formula 4 cars. “That was actually a special year, because my father bought a second-hand car and put it on a trailer,” he reflected. “That’s not how other guys raced, like you see in the big teams. We didn’t have an engineer or anything, it was just a father and son team. Very memorable.”
Short on funding, Heinrich took a one-year hiatus. “Sometimes I thought I would never race again, but through many coincidences, the stars aligned, and I was able to get some laps in a Porsche Cup car,” he said. “Then I started my pathway into the Porsche single-make series.”
Success came quickly, and Heinrich is now established as a Porsche factory driver after compiling experience racing GT3-specification 911s around the world. Part of his expansive program the last two years has been running GTD PRO in AO Racing’s No. 77 “Rexy” Porsche, a collaboration that has resulted in five race wins and the 2024 GTD PRO championship.
“Sports car racing is booming as much as it has ever done before, and I am just at the start of my sports car career,” Heinrich said. “For sure I still have many things I want to accomplish in my career, and I think the sport is in a relatively healthy state. Hopefully I have a bright future ahead of me. I’m having the full spectrum of GT racing, you could say, and I’m really happy where I am.
“We shouldn’t forget that, but I’d be lying if I said I didn’t set my sights on a factory 963 program. That’s definitely my goal to be in this program as a full-on Porsche factory driver.”
His wish was granted on November 29 at Porsche’s annual night of champions, and he’ll slot into a Porsche prototype in 2026.
Sebastian Priaulx, 24, No. 65 Ford Multimatic Motorsports Ford Mustang GT3 (GTD PRO)
Seb’s father Andy followed the open-wheel ladder up to Formula 3 before making a very successful switch to TCR-style competition that netted three consecutive World Touring Car championships from 2005-07. Seb started in the single-make Ginetta series before making a one-year detour into Formula 4.
He recommitted to sports cars the following year, 2019, driving for Multimatic Motorsports in the British GT4 championship. At the end of that season, Multimatic fielded a GT4 Ford Mustang in the final round of the IMSA Michelin Pilot Challenge at Michelin Raceway Road Atlanta. Teamed with NASCAR star Austin Cindric, they won.
Priaulx won the Pro class of the 2021 Porsche Carrera Cup North America and co-drove AO Racing’s entry to a pair of GTD PRO class wins in 2024. Reunited with Ford and Multimatic in 2025, Priaulx again claimed a pair of wins and finished third in the GTD PRO standings. Now in an endurance role in 2026, Priaulx could have an expanded Ford role in the manufacturer’s future.
Nico Varrone, 25, No. 4 Corvette Racing by Pratt Miller Motorsports Corvette Z06 GT3.R (GTD PRO)
Starting first with Formula Renault in his native Argentina, then advancing into Formula 3, Varrone started dabbling in sports cars five years ago across various LMP3 and GT opportunities.
He made his mark in his first few IMSA starts with the AWA organization in 2023 and was part of the team’s LMP3 winning lineup on debut at the Rolex 24 At Daytona.
The same year, he was part of Corvette Racing’s World Endurance Championship program and won the 24 Hours of Le Mans in class.
The team added him to its IMSA endurance lineup in 2025, and he’ll be back for an encore in 2026.
Frederik Vesti, 23, No. 31 Cadillac Whelen Cadillac V-Series.R (GTP)
Vesti twice finished fourth in the FIA Formula 3 championship, then second in Formula 2 in 2023. Since then, the Dane’s open-wheel activity has been restricted to a handful of Free Practice outings for the Mercedes-Benz Formula 1 team.
He mixed in a LMP2 class European Le Mans Series campaign in 2024 and made his IMSA debut at the season-ending Petit Le Mans.
Vesti continued his F1 simulator work for Mercedes F1 in ’25 and joined Whelen Cadillac as its IMSA Michelin Endurance Cup driver. He closed the season co-driving to wins at Indianapolis and Motul Petit Le Mans, boosting Jack Aitken to second place in the GTP standings. Vesti continues as Whelen’s endurance driver in 2026 and figures highly in Cadillac Racing’s expanding future plans.