The Hanley Motorsports Incorporated team (HMI) will bring together elements from three different racing teams in a multi-car BMW IMSA racing program starting in 2027. Personnel from the Paul Miller Racing team, DXDT Racing, and Hanley Motorsports will enter M4 GT3 EVOs in both the GTD Pro and GTD classes of the IMSA WeatherTech Sportscar Championship next year, as well as at least one M4 GT4 EVO (possibly two) in the IMSA Michelin Pilot Challenge series.
The HMI team has purchased the assets of the Paul Miller Racing team, including two M4 GT3 EVO cars, and will work out of the former Paul Miller Racing shop in Buford, Georgia next year. Mitchell Simmons was the team principal of Paul Miller Racing and will now take over the same role at HMI. Bryan Sellers was the Team Manager at DXDT Racing for the last couple of years as they competed with Corvette in both IMSA and SRO and will be the competition director at HMI. Before taking a management position, Sellers had a highly successful career as a driver with Paul Miller Racing, winning championships in 2018 (with Lamborghini) and 2023 (with BMW).
HMI will be headed by Robert Hanley and David Askew, who was the team principal at DXDT Racing. HMI has previously campaigned a Toyota Supra in SRO GT4 America competition and also partnered with Bryan Herta Autosport with PR1/Mathiasen in an IMSA LMP2 program. The start of HMI also means the end of Paul Miller Racing, which has been one of the most successful teams in the IMSA paddock, most recently winning this year’s GTD Pro championship with Neil Verhagen and Connor De Phillippi.
Mitchell Simmons is looking forward to bringing elements of three teams together in 2027. “This started really, many years ago when Bryan and I discussed what we’d do when our current program ended or when he stopped driving,” he said. “We’ve worked together closely for many years. It’s a natural progression. To be able to lead a team with him is a dream come true, and for Rob to give us the confidence to do this at this level is incredible. We’ve had successes and we’ll stay together.”
Sellers won his last driver’s championship at the wheel of a BMW M4 GT3 with Madison Snow at Paul Miller Racing and is looking forward to partnering with the brand at HMI. “BMW is a marquee manufacturer, and I think we’re all aware of that when you talk about the heavy hitters in motorsports,” he said. “I can’t wait until we get our BMWs on the track and go wheel to wheel with the best of the best in IMSA.“
Having BMW entries in both the WeatherTech and Michelin Pilot Challenge series will give HMI drivers and team personnel an opportunity to move up the motorsports ladder as they progress. “I have a responsibility to provide opportunity as well,” said Hanley. “It’s important we develop a ladder system throughout the company, not just for drivers, not just for engineers, but for all the administrative requirements of moving this thing around America. The GT4 program is a large part of that. Our ultimate goal is people ending up on the pro car, whether it’s drivers that get a BMW contract, to mechanics, engineers, PR, administrative and more.”
Drivers for the HMI program have yet to be announced, but a BMW factory driver presence is certainly expected in the GTD Pro and possibly the GTD programs. BMW factory drivers Neil Verhagen and Connor De Phillippi drove all season for Paul Miller Racing in 2026, with Dan Harper joining for the longer endurance races. Parker Thompson, who has been driving very effectively in a Team WRT BMW in multiple championships this year, including FIA WEC, Italian GT and the Asian Le Mans Series, also has previous experience with Hanley Motorsports in their Michelin Pilot Challenge program. We’ll let you know as soon as there are any announcements about drivers.
—David Haueter
[Image courtesy HMI]
