The Tire Rack One Lap of America is one of those storied automotive events that many enthusiast drivers want to do at least once. Others make it an annual event on their calendar in the hope of doing better than the year before or defending a win. Phil and Carrie Wurz fell into the first-time category in the 2026 event, and experienced both the highs and lows that are all a part of the love-hate relationship that One Lappers have with the event.
One Lap of America evolved from the famous Cannonball Run cross-country high-speed runs that Brock Yates started in the Seventies, with the first official One Lap taking place in 1985. The route changes a bit every year, but it essentially involves driving from track to track to compete in timed events at various race circuits around the country. In 2026, One Lap started at the Tire Rack headquarters in Indiana and visited tracks from Nashville to Colorado and back to Wisconsin and Illinois. The element that makes it especially grueling is that participants must drive from event to event in the car they’re competing in, which totals up to over 3000 miles of driving in eight days.
Phil and Carrie Wurz, who both work for BimmerWorld, have wanted to do One Lap for a while, especially after seeing BimmerWorld owner James Clay and Evan Levine do the event in the F82 M4 “GTMore” and getting a Luxury Class win. “We had watched James and Evan do it in 2023 and thought that was super cool,” said Carrie. “We have a teenage daughter and prior to this year we didn’t really have the ability to do it, but she’s graduating this year and is independent enough now that we could leave. We saw it as a challenge that we wanted to tackle.”
Phil and Carrie entered One Lap under the “Wurz Case Scenario” team name with a heavily modified G87 M2. “It’s our current project car and is a good platform for a tuner car,” said Phil. “It’s modern and fast, and we felt it would be competitive and near the pointy end of the field. The G80 M3 and G82 M4 have sticker prices that start around $15,000 higher, and when you go to the track there are a lot of M2s out, so this is a good showcase for that car and what we can do with one.”
Getting the engine ready.
The extensive BimmerWorld upgrades to the M2 are highlighted by engine modifications that brought the car up to 651hp and 577 lb.-ft. of torque, along with an MCS suspension setup, updated Alcon brakes and more downforce-producing aero highlighted by an aggressive front splitter and rear wing. Tires were Continental ExtremeContact Sport 02. Another major challenge with One Lap is that you must do the entire event with one set of tires, with only one spare allowed, so there’s always a balancing act. “That was on our minds the entire event, that you don’t want to flat-spot a tire or burn them up,” said Carrie.
Tackling the first event at Tire Rack HQ in Indiana.
For the Wurzes, the challenges began 10 days before the event started, when the M2 blew an engine while testing at VIR. It was likely caused by an errant boost spike while shifting. Another M2 motor was sourced in South Carolina, and the work was done just in time before leaving. “We changed the turbos because we thought the stock ones were spinning too high,” said Phil. “We didn’t want to make more power; we just wanted the turbos to spin less to make the same power. We’d only driven the car for around 25 miles on the road since we replaced the engine, so we were hoping for the best for this 3000+ mile adventure.”
Once the event got underway, everything went great with the car. Phil and Carrie proved to be competitive in the Luxury Class against cars like a G82 M4, a Cadillac CT5-V Blackwing, and an Audi RS5. Phil was second in class at both Nashville Superspeedway and the Hallett Motor Racing Circuit in Oklahoma behind the 2023 M4 run by Daniel and Laurie McCelvey. Phil was then first in class at High Plains Raceway in Colorado. “It was a really big challenge,” he said. “You only get three timed laps, one of them from a standing start, and that’s all you get, so you have to figure these things out on the fly. I don’t have a sim rig, so I didn’t practice any of the tracks.” The M4 also had all-wheel drive, which gave it an advantage on the standing starts.
Besides competing on new tracks, the other big challenge is the long slogs between events. “Over the course of the week, we got really good at unpacking and packing,” said Carrie. “You need a routine, because as soon as you’re done you want to get packed up and get out of there. Everybody was on a staggered schedule, but we would run into other small groups of people on the road that were doing One Lap. There’s a lot of camaraderie. Everybody was just super nice and there’s a real family vibe.” After finishing first in class at High Plains Raceway, Phil placed second in class at Motorsports Park Hastings in Nebraska, once again behind the M4.
Phil in action at Hallett Motor Racing Circuit.
Aside from a loose exhaust tip on the way to Nashville, the M2 proved reliable and fast, as well as comfortable to travel in, but everything took a turn for the worse on the drive from Nebraska to Wisconsin for the event at Road America. “We were working pretty hard to take care of the splitter, with dodging potholes, keeping in the smoother lanes and just keeping an eye out for things,” said Carrie. “That one night, it was dark and we were in the right lane, which was super bumpy, so Phil moved over into the left lane. As soon as he decided to move, there was a dead deer right in the middle of the road. It launched the car and ripped the splitter right off.”
Checking things out at Motorsports Park Hastings.
Hitting the deer carcass not only ripped off the front splitter but also took out the mounting points for it as well as the diffuser. After a long night, Phil and Carrie made it to Road America where Phil decided to remove the rear wing to balance out the aero on the car, since the front splitter was missing. The challenges of the event were all starting to add up. “We were at day six at that point, so we were fatigued in general,” said Phil. “We were already tired and then get even less sleep because of hitting the deer, then had to get up early and patch up some things on the car. We were neck and neck with the car that was leading our class at that point, so we had to push.”
One Lap ended early for the Wurzes and the M2 when Phil went into the tire wall at Road America. “It happened on turn 13 after Canada Corner, which is a left hander up a hill,” said Phil. “What I think happened is that I upset the car on the curbs a little bit, and then the car started coming around. I was super quick to put wheel into it to try and catch it, but the car didn’t respond. It spun around with the nose almost backwards to the track left, then hit with the right front first and then the right side into the tire wall.” Phil was OK and the M2 looked like it could still be drivable, but all the airbags deployed. The fact that the balance of the M2 was different than it had been up until that point, with the loss of the aero, certainly could have been a factor in the wreck.
“On the road again, just can’t wait to get on the road again. . . “
Despite the bad ending, Phil and Carrie may do it again at some point. “I think we’d both be very open to doing it again,” said Carrie. “It was a ton of fun up until we had our issues. We’re both competitive people, so we like a challenge and the people at the event were super fun to be around. Even with how hectic it was, it was still a lot of fun. It’s a little soon to be thinking about it now but having done it once we would be better prepared for it the next time.”
The On the Ledge Racing duo of Daniel and Laurie McCelvey, who the Wurzes had been competing for the class lead since the start, went on to win the Luxury Class in their 2023 M4. Tire Rack will sponsor a One Lap of America West event in October this year that, among other venues, will visit Thunderhill, Buttonwillow, Willow Springs and Laguna Seca in California. You can watch a video chronicle of the Wurzes’ experience on the BimmerWorld YouTube page.
—David Haueter
[Photos courtesy Carrie Wurz]
