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Just under a year after Historic Sportscar Racing (HSR) and North American food industry giant Mission Foods established a long-term partnership that includes Mission’s sponsorship of The HSR Classic Endurance Championship presented by Mission Foods, officials from both companies announced an expansion of the agreement with the introduction of the Mission GT Challenge.
The new HSR Mission GT Challenge series aligns HSR’s existing Group 9, Group 10 and Group 11 categories – to be known going forward as Mission GT Challenge – that generally cover contemporary production-based and GT Modern (GTM) race cars retired from current competition. Everything from small-bore touring cars up to top-level GT machines just past their competition primes are welcome in the Mission GT Challenge.
Expanded track time is part of the new Mission GT Challenge format, and every HSR championship weekend features two sprint races and a one-hour enduro, open to all eligible classes and cars in the series. Season-long points will be tabulated, including separate rankings for the enduro races, and Mission GT Challenge Champions will be crowned at the year-end awards celebration commencing in 2026.
The Mission GT Challenge concept showcasing GTM cars aligns perfectly with the HSR Prototype Challenge presented by Michelin series that provides a similar arena and mix of sprint and endurance races for modern-day Prototypes cars of all categories retired from contemporary competition.
Preliminary plans also include regular Thursday night social events at events starting in 2026 featuring Mission Foods products, which will be open to all HSR competitors.
The Mission GT Challenge announcement was one of several made Friday at HSR’s inaugural State of the Sport presentation at Michelin Raceway Road Atlanta. This weekend, September 26 – 28, MRRA hosts the annual HSR Fall Historics as well as the premiere edition of the new HSR Road Atlanta Classic 10 Hour presented by Mission Foods, the third round of the first-year HSR Classic Endurance Championship presented by Mission Foods.
The HSR Fall Historics and HSR Classic Road Atlanta 10 Hour presented by Mission Foods weekend continues through Sunday. Tickets are available at www.michelinracewayroadatlanta.com.
Juan Gonzalez, Mission Foods Chief Executive Officer: “We’re proud to extend our partnership with the HSR Classic Endurance Championship and introduce the Mission GT Challenge. This expansion will not only deliver more unforgettable experiences for racers and fans alike, but it is a strong testament to our continued commitment to motorsports.”
John Doonan, HSR President: “This is the perfect expansion with the perfect partner, and we can’t thank Juan Gonzalez and Mission Foods enough for further believing in and supporting HSR’s mission of quality competition on the track and family-first camaraderie when the racing is done. Mission’s incredible support has allowed us to align our respective modern Prototype and GT Modern (GTM) championships in two different series with a mega amount of track time. The HSR and Mission Foods relationship is just beginning to grow, and we look forward to many years of a strong and successful partnership with Mission and our other valued sponsors as well.”
