Global Time Attack and Super Lap Battle Set Sights on 2026 With Renewed Momentum and Expansion
Time attack in North America is gearing up for its next chapter. During Race Industry Week, Jason Dienhart, President & CEO of Global Time Attack (GTA) and Super Lap Battle (SLB), shared an in-depth look at the state of the sport, its global context, the realities of running niche motorsport events in today’s economy, and GTA’s focused 2026 plans across the West Coast.
Despite economic headwinds, 2025 closed on a high note for the organization with a strong Super Lap Battle at Buttonwillow Raceway Park, highlighted by the largest time attack entry list in recent years and intensifying pressure on one of North America’s most iconic lap records.
“Overall, it’s been a pretty good year—and it ended strongly,” said Dienhart. “We had more competitors back at Buttonwillow, and while nobody knocked off the record this time, that’s part of what makes time attack special. Sometimes you’re chasing a lap for five, six, seven, even ten years.”
From Super Street to Super Lap Battle: A Tradition That Still Anchors the Scene
Dienhart traced time attack’s modern U.S. roots back to Super Street Magazine’s original Super Lap Battle at Buttonwillow in 2004, a time when print media still drove the narrative.
Originally conceived as an invite-only editorial event held on the Wednesday after SEMA, Super Lap Battle was designed to capture the wildest SEMA builds and prove them on track. The concept stuck.
After leaving the magazine world in 2007, Dienhart returned as a promoter with Global Time Attack in 2010–2011, ultimately folding Super Lap Battle into GTA’s national format and preserving Buttonwillow’s legendary role as the season finale.
“I really do feel like we’re carrying on a tradition,” Dienhart explained. “Clockwise 13 at Buttonwillow has become a benchmark for time attack. It’s where the year ends, and it’s where some of the most serious builds come to prove themselves.”
The current overall record at Buttonwillow CW13, held by Will Au-Young in a Honda Civic since 2018, remained intact in 2025—despite several close calls.
Time Attack’s Global Context: Learning from Japan and Australia
While time attack continues to grow in North America, Dienhart acknowledged that the discipline is even more deeply embedded in the motorsport culture of Japan and Australia, where it borders on mainstream.
Events such as World Time Attack Challenge at Sydney Motorsport Park and the long-standing time attack culture around Tsukuba Circuit continue to set the bar for commitment and execution.
“In countries like Japan and especially Australia, time attack is huge,” said Dienhart. “You’ll see pro drivers from major series jumping into dedicated time attack cars. People build full-tilt machines for one event a year—and everything they do at their local tracks is really just testing for that.”
One observation he’s carried home from Australia: priorities.
“Over there, the money goes into the car,” he noted with a smile. “You’ll see a quarter-million-dollar build show up on an open trailer—with a beat-up tow rig. In the States, we sometimes see the reverse: beautiful truck, beautiful enclosed trailer, and then ‘we couldn’t afford the sequential gearbox.’”
Builds, Aero and the Economics of Going Fast
Dienhart sees clear technical trends across the GTA paddock, even as budgets tighten.
On the build side, more competitors are committing fully to time attack–specific cars, especially in Limited and Unlimited classes:
- Extensive lightweighting and chassis stiffening
- Increasing adoption of sequential transmissions where class rules permit
- Aggressive, often boutique or custom aero packages that push far beyond traditional “street track” builds
At the same time, the macroeconomic reality is impossible to ignore.
“The last couple of years haven’t been easy for a lot of people,” he admitted. “For many teams, a serious time attack weekend—especially if they’re traveling—can mean $5,000 or more per event. That makes it harder to commit to multiple big national-level events in a year.”
Despite that, the creativity keeps flowing, with a mix of late-model platforms and signature outliers:
- Asian imports remain strong: Subaru, late-model Honda Civic Type R, and other JDM platforms
- Toyota GR Supra has become the car to beat in Street Class, thanks to its performance out of the box
- BMWs, both older and newer turbocharged models, are increasingly popular foundations for serious builds
- Corvettes and late-model Mustangs have surged as domestic platforms of choice
- And then there are the wildcards—like a ’56 Chevy Bel Air and a fully unlimited mid-80s Chevy S10 with flat floor and big aero, both regulars on the GTA grid
The Creator Era: Untapped Potential
With the explosion of automotive content on YouTube, Instagram and TikTok, Dienhart sees huge opportunity—but also understands why time attack hasn’t yet become the default playground for big creators.
“It’s a long game,” he said. “There’s nowhere to hide in time attack. You’re either fast or you’re not—your lap time tells the whole story. Building a car that’s truly competitive at a national level is hard and expensive. That can be intimidating if your brand is on the line every time you post an in-car lap.”
That said, GTA is actively looking to collaborate with creators who want to enter the space.
“If a serious creator wants to build a proper time attack car and jump in, we’d absolutely help connect them with the right shops and partners. We’d love to see that crossover happen.”
2026 Calendar: Strategic West Coast Focus and Key Collaborations
One of the biggest structural changes for 2026 is the pause of Super Lap Battle at Circuit of The Americas (COTA).
Despite record participation and strong content in recent years, the economics of renting and activating the world-class venue in Austin simply became unsustainable in the current climate.
“We took a big swing at COTA for six straight years,” Dienhart said. “Every year we got closer in terms of attendance and car count—but the costs kept going up even faster. To make sure GTA survives and can keep serving the community, we had to make the tough call to step back, regroup, and live to fight another day.”
With that reset in place, Global Time Attack will concentrate its 2026 efforts on a tightly focused, three-event West Coast calendar, each paired with complementary partners:
Thunderhill Raceway Park – May 30–31, 2026
- Venue: Thunderhill Raceway Park, Willows, CA – East 3-Mile Bypass Course
- Format: GTA Time Attack on the East Course
- Partners:
- SCCA Time Trials on the West Course
- Lone Star Drift drifting program
- A major, yet-to-be-announced car show partner known for focusing on a specific decade
This will be GTA’s first-ever event at Thunderhill, tapping into Northern California’s deep grassroots track community.
The Ridge Motorsports Park – August 22–23, 2026
- Venue: The Ridge Motorsports Park, Shelton, WA
- Format: Annual GTA round, now an established fixture in the Pacific Northwest
- Partners:
- SCCA Time Trials
- Lone Star Drift with full-course drift sessions, pre- and post-lunch, plus a dedicated ride-along drift layout in the paddock
The Ridge event has steadily grown, attracting approximately 4,000 spectators over two days in 2025, and serves as GTA’s anchor in the Pacific Northwest.
Super Lap Battle Finals – Buttonwillow Raceway Park – November 14–15, 2026
- Venue: Buttonwillow Raceway Park, Buttonwillow, CA – Clockwise 13
- Format: Season-ending GTA Finals / Super Lap Battle, continuing the tradition of chasing the benchmark CW13 lap
- Partners: SCCA Time Trials joining the weekend for the first time
Across all three events, SCCA Time Trials will play a key role as a parallel program—reinforcing the ladder and licensing path while helping bring more drivers into the time attack ecosystem.
GTA will also reintroduce a formal points chase in 2026, giving competitors added incentive to run the full West Coast calendar and rewarding consistency across the year.
Sponsorship: Supporting the Community That Keeps GTA Alive
Dienhart emphasized that GTA’s continued existence depends on a three-way partnership between drivers, fans, and sponsors.
He announced several key sponsorship updates for 2026:
- MMR – Modular Motorsports Racing joins as a new official sponsor, with a focus on late-model Ford platforms (Coyote-based Mustangs, high-performance modular engines, etc.)
- MMR will support podium awards via product vouchers
- Activate on-site displays and tech support
- Collaborate with GTA and selected drivers on content and “competition within the competition” concepts such as “Fastest Ford Mustang presented by MMR”
- Link ECU will return as a supporting partner after a one-year break
- Rays Wheels (RAYS) continues its long-running association with GTA, bringing deep Japanese motorsport heritage to the paddock
- 812 Wheels, an American-made wheel company based in Texas, remains part of the program as well
“It takes drivers, it takes sponsors, and it takes a lot of volunteer hours on our side to keep this thing moving,” Dienhart said. “When companies like MMR, Link ECU, Rays, and 812 Wheels step up, they’re not just supporting us—they’re supporting the entire time attack community.”
Looking Ahead: Community First, Records Second
For all the talk of lap records, aero, and sequential gearboxes, Dienhart repeatedly came back to one theme: community.
“Time Attack is unique,” he concluded. “You’re competing against yourself, against the course, and against each other—but there’s a real respect for how hard it is. People cheer each other on even when it means they now have more work to do. If we can keep that energy alive, keep the doors open, and keep giving people a place to chase that ‘perfect lap,’ I’ll consider it a success.”
Global Time Attack and Super Lap Battle will open registration and release further details on the 2026 season in the coming months.
