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GMG Racing and team drivers Kyle Washington and Patrick Mulcahy charged to the finish for a pair of USAC Porsche Sprint Challenge USA West second-place class podium finishes Saturday in the season-ending event weekend for the single-make Porsche racing series at Sonoma Raceway.

Washington charged from the back of the starting grid to the second-place Masters Class finish in the No. 232 GMG Racing Porsche 911 GT3 Cup after flying all night from a family milestone celebration in New York to California just in time to qualify for the weekend’s races.

Mulcahy in turn drove a backup No. 254 GMG Racing Porsche 911 GT3 Cup in Sonoma’s dual Porsche GT3 Cup races after his primary machine was sidelined in a testing incident early in the Sonoma weekend. Despite the late change to the replacement Porsche, the GMG Racing backup 911 GT3 was ready to go and Mulcahy didn’t miss a beat has he battled for the podium throughout the race and straight to the season-best P2 result.

Washington’s eBoost and adrenaline-fueled performance Saturday wasn’t just in Sprint Challenge West. Taking advantage of a dual Porsche Sprint Challenge event for the second straight race weekend, Washington started the weekend’s schedule of four races in his No. 234 GMG Racing Porsche 911 GT3 Cup competing in the Sprint Challenge North America race on Saturday.

Leaving nothing on the table, Washington climbed through the field from the back in that sprint for a top-five Masters Class finish. He started the race 12th in class and 23rd overall but – in addition to the class fifth-place result – he was 14th by the checkered flag. He won the eBoost Hard Charger Award for improving seven class positions, three more spots than any other competitor in the race.

“When you fly into the track for the first time the morning of the race, not many people could even show up on the grid, but Kyle can make that happen,” said GMG Racing Principal and Founder James Sofronas. “He chugged a few eBoost and was off and running. Considering the zero track time he had here, after everybody else had nearly three days, it was amazing he powered through for a P2 finish. He will never shy away from getting as much track time as possible, which is why he made it to Sonoma in time to race after celebrating his parent’s 60th Anniversary and a big 90th Birthday for his father in New York. You can’t miss something like that, but he got here as soon as he could, and the podium result makes that kind of trip all the more worthwhile. It was quite the celebration.”

Mulcahy, completing just his first year of professional level racing, continued improving right up until the final checkered flag of the season.

“I’m super impressed with Patrick’s racecraft,” Sofronas said. “He drove like someone who has been doing this for 10 years. When he had to defend, it was fair, and when he had to push and get a gap, he was able to. He hasn’t raced with that much pressure by top drivers for that long all year. So, to withstand that pressure and excel and get a P2, we were all very excited in the pits watching every lap until the end. But I think no one is happier about the P2 that he is. It is well deserved.”

Mulcahy’s top P2 finish came one race after a third place finish in August at Road America that was his previous season-best finish. He continued the fast fight through Sunday’s final USA West race of the year where he finished fourth in Pro-Am and overall after running as high as second and battling with the other leaders throughout the race.

“The team pulled a miracle and drove a car for me all the way up from Santa Ana,” Mulcahy said. “They arrived just in time for qualifying, which was huge as I would have had to start in the back. To have an incredible race after all of that was amazing. I am glad I was able to hang on there on Saturday. I was a little more cautious for Sunday’s green flag after some Saturday start penalties for other competitors. Then I had some issues with pickup on my tires during the yellow flag near the end. It’s just my inexperience with the track, but I also should have been down a gear. Lessons learned, but all in all happy with my performance and the GMG Racing team. We had some good results this year. I just kept getting better and better with each race, which has given me some momentum going into the off season. Plenty of lessons learned, I will work on a few things, and I have full confidence I will come into next season swinging.”

With the Porsche Sprint Challenge season in the books, GMG Racing now shifts focus to this weekend’s season-ending SRO America Indianapolis 8 Hour weekend, which began with opening practice Wednesday.

The highlight program is GMG Racing’s Pro-Am team in the Indianapolis 8 Hour with Fanatec GT World Challenge America contenders Washington and Tom Sargent in the No. 32 GMG Racing Porsche 911 GT3 R. The winning duo of Washington and Sargent will be joined by Platinum-rated Porsche Junior Driver Ayhancan Güven in the Pro-Am class in the Indianapolis 8 Hour.

GMG Racing also extends its full support to German Porsche team Herberth Motorsport this weekend in the Indianapolis 8 Hour through a full logistics and technical partnership for the team’s Pro-Am No. 4 Herberth Motorsport Porsche 911 GT3 R. The trio of Antares Au, Loek Hartog and Platinum factory Porsche pilot Patric Niederhauser co-drives the Herberth Porsche.

Three GMG entries also compete in the season-ending GT America powered by AWS doubleheader, which features single driver, 40-minute sprints Friday and Sunday. Washington drives a second No. 32 GMG Racing Porsche 911 GT3 R and looks for his first win of the GT America season after recording both second place and third place podium finishes so far. CJ Moses runs in the GT2 class in his No. 58 GMG Racing Audi R8 LMS GT2 while Sofronas is always a contender for a win in his No. 14 GMG Racing Audi R8 LMS GT3 EVO2. Sofronas picked up his first GT America win of the season the last time he ran the Audi last month at Road America.

A majority of the action this weekend from Indianapolis can be viewed live on the GT World YouTube Channel, including Saturday’s featured Indianapolis 8 Hour that starts at 12:15 p.m. EDT.

GMG Racing is all-in and more for a pair of season-ending event weekends Saturday and Sunday at Sonoma Raceway and next weekend in the Indianapolis 8 Hour SRO America and Intercontinental GT Challenge (IGTC) finale at Indianapolis Motor Speedway (IMS). The nearly two-week run of races will see GMG Racing hustle from the Porsche Sprint Challenge finale in Sonoma this Sunday night and head straight to the legendary Brickyard 2,250 miles away for opening practice on Wednesday.

The highlight of the nearly two-week stretch will be GMG Racing’s Pro-Am effort in the Indianapolis 8 Hour with Fanatec GT World Challenge America contenders Kyle Washington and Tom Sargent in the No. 32 GMG Racing Porsche 911 GT3 R. The winning duo of Washington and Sargent will be joined by Platinum-rated Porsche Junior Driver Ayhancan Güven in the Pro-Am class in the Indianapolis 8 Hour. Washington is a Canadian now living in California, Sargent hails from Australia and Güven is from Turkey.

Another international addition to GMG Racing for the Indianapolis 8 Hour is a logistics and technical partnership with German team Herberth Motorsport, which also fields a Pro-Am Porsche entry. The trio of Antares Au, Loek Hartog and Platinum factory Porsche pilot Patric Niederhauser co-drives the Pro-Am No. 4 Herberth Motorsport Porsche 911 GT3 R. Au is a native of Hong Kong, Hartog is a top IMSA Porsche Carrera Cup driver from Holland and Niederhauser is Swiss.

“GMG Racing is proud to be a technical and logistics partner for the Herberth Motorsport effort in the Indianapolis 8 Hour,” said GMG Racing Principal and Founder James Sofronas, who will also drive in competition during the Indianapolis 8 Hour weekend. “Antares Au has been a good friend for many, many years and is an excellent Bronze driver. We are providing everything from logistics and trackside and technical support from our extensive experience over the years on the Indianapolis road course, including the Indianapolis 8 Hour. We look forward to supporting Antares and his Porsche teammates as well as our season-long GT World Challenge America entry with Kyle Washington and Tom Sargent, who will be joined by talented Porsche Junior driver Ayhancan Güven. Fielding two Porsches in the 8 Hour is something we are very excited about, and we are ready to provide the infrastructure for Herberth and welcome Antares and the team and Ayhancan as they come to Indianapolis for the SRO grand finale event.”

Both Güven and Au arrive in Indianapolis leading their respective driver championships going into the IGTC finale. Güven leads the overall Drivers championship with 50 points while Au is atop the Independent Cup driver championship standings with 50 points.

“I’m happy to join GMG Racing at the Indianapolis 8 Hour for the final round of both the IGTC and GTWC America championships,” Güven said. “I’ve had a strong IGTC season so far, while GMG Racing has also had a successful GTWC America season up until now. Hopefully, together we will have a great weekend and achieve our goal of a class win. Definitely, last week’s IMSA round gave us a good feeling about this track with Porsche winning both GTD classes. I think the Porsche 911 GT3 R suits the Indianapolis road course well. I’ve been to the USA once in my life, and that was for testing at Indianapolis with an LMP2 car. So, I know the track and am really looking forward to racing at Indy!”

One of the support series competing at Indy is GT America powered by AWS that will have a trio of GMG entries competing in the weekend’s twin 40-minute sprints. Washington drives a second No. 32 GMG Racing Porsche 911 GT3 R and looks for his first win of the GT America season after recording both second place and third place podium finishes so far. CJ Moses runs in the GT2 class in his No. 58 GMG Racing Audi R8 LMS GT2 while Sofronas is always a contender for a win in his No. 14 GMG Racing Audi R8 LMS GT3 EVO2. Sofronas picked up his first GT America win of the season the last time he ran the Audi last month at Road America.

The first order of business for GMG Racing, however, is this weekend’s Porsche Sprint Challenge finale in Sonoma that brings the curtain down on both the overall North American championship and the USA West series. Washington takes advantage of the dual series format for the second straight race weekend and runs twin GMG Racing Porsche 911 GT3 R entries – No. 232 in USA West and No. 234 in North America – in the Masters class in both series races for a total of four Sprint Challenge sprints over the course of Saturday and Sunday.

Joining Washington at Sonoma is Pro-Am class Porsche Sprint Challenge USA West competitor Patrick Mulcahy. A first-year driver, Mulcahy has shown great progress with GMG Racing and had his best USA West race weekend to date with a third-place Pro-Am finish in the Sunday Road America race in his No. 254 GMG Racing Porsche 911 GT3 Cup.

Visit www.porschesprint.com for the Sonoma weekend event schedule, results from every session and live timing and livestreaming of all the races.

The action next weekend from Indianapolis can be viewed live on the GT World YouTube Channel, including Saturday’s featured Indianapolis 8 Hour that starts at 12:15 p.m. EDT.

GMG Racing secured a podium finish for the fourth straight SRO America race weekend Saturday at Barber Motorsports Park where team driver Kyle Washington drove the No. 32 GMG Racing Porsche 911 GT3 R to a third-place showing in the 40-minute GT America powered by AWS sprint race. The P3 run for Washington set the stage for another strong result later on Saturday when Washington and Tom Sargent co-drove to a top-five Pro-Am finish in the 90-minute Fanatec GT World Challenge America race in the team’s sister No. 32 GMG Racing Porsche 911 GT3 R. Sargent also set the fastest race lap in the closing stages of Saturday’s GT World Challenge race.

“We have just seen incredible improvement and progress from Kyle and Tom,” said GMG Racing Founder and Principal James Sofronas. “Kyle has made it to the podium every SRO America race weekend since Circuit of The Americas (COTA) back in May with Tom closing the deal for two of those finishes with fantastic final stints in GT World Challenge. Getting on the box again at Barber showed that the hard work is paying off because we were not able to test here, and our drivers have never been here before, but we had the fastest Porsche on the grid and Tom set the fastest race lap overall on Saturday. It’s a testament to the team and drivers hitting on all cylinders each and every race weekend.”

Washington was impressed by the unique nature and rolling terrain and turns of the pristine Barber Motorsports Park circuit and facility.

“This place is amazing,” Washington said. “It reminds me of a skate park! Everything is cambered, it’s up and down and super, super fun. The rain kept us from getting much practice early in the weekend, but when I finally got some laps around the track I felt like I knew it better. I had a good sprint race with a P3 podium, which I was super happy about, and we had a solid run in the GT World Challenge race on Saturday.”

Washington’s visit to victory lane at Barber followed a GT America season-best second place finish at COTA in May. One race weekend later, Washington and Sargent broke through for their first GT World Challenge America victory at VIRginia International Raceway (VIR). From there, the podium and race-winning momentum continued straight to Road America in August where Sofronas marked his professional racing debut on the 4-mile Wisconsin circuit 30 years earlier with a GT America Sunday race win in his No. 14 GMG Racing Audi R8 LMS GT3 EVO2. The milestone victory for Sofronas followed a second-straight GT World Challenge podium run for Washington and Sargent who scored a second-place GT World Challenge Pro-Am finish at Road America on Saturday.

“Kyle is really improving on his race craft,” Sofronas said. “He put a move on Johnny O’Connell on Saturday at Barber which was something Johnny would have put on most people back in the day. Overall, Kyle’s confidence is increasing and Tom is certainly showing his abilities despite having never been to most of the tracks. We don’t have a testing program in place due to Kyle’s heavy corporate schedule away from the track, so we really couldn’t be happier to keep reaching the podium and picking up some race wins too.”

The third-place showing at Barber was the fifth podium for GMG Racing in the current streak dating back to COTA, but the team has a total of 12 visits to victory lane this year. Sofronas (GT3) and Brent Holden (GT2) each scored a pair of GT America podium finishes in April’s Grand Prix of Long Beach GT America doubleheader. Holden also picked up a pair of GT2 podiums in the season-opening GT America race weekend at Sonoma Raceway where he was joined in victory lane on Sunday by Sofronas, who finished second in GT3 in the Audi.

Next up for GMG Racing is the final USAC Porsche Sprint Challenge race weekend of the season at Sonoma Raceway, September 26 – 29. One week later, GMG arrives in full force at Indianapolis Motor Speedway for the season-ending Indianapolis 8 Hour that includes the final rounds of both GT World Challenge America and GT America, October 3 – 6.

GMG Racing is focused exclusively on double Porsche power in SRO America competition this weekend at Barber Motorsports Park where the race-winning team campaigns two GMG Racing Porsche 911 GT3 R entries in a pair of Fanatec GT World Challenge races and two GT America sprints on Saturday and Sunday.

Longtime GMG Racing driver Kyle Washington competes in all four races, driving solo in the single-driver GT America races and sharing the No. 32 GMG Racing Porsche 911 GT3 R with Tom Sargent in the weekend’s featured 90-minute GT World Challenge America races. After scoring their first GT World Challenge win together two races ago at VIRginia International Raceway (VIR), and a second-place finish in the most recent event last month at Road America, Washington, Sargent and the No. 32 team have moved into the top-five in the World Challenge Pro-Am point standings.

Even better, the No. 32 team and drivers are just 18 points out third place in the championship with only this weekend’s series-standard 90-minute races and the season-ending Indianapolis 8 Hour remaining on the 2024 schedule.

“With Kyle gaining experience every race and getting faster, and all of us being aware of Tom’s talent and capabilities, we knew it wasn’t going to be long before they won in GT World Challenge,” said GMG Racing Founder and Principal James Sofronas. “Up to the VIR win, it had been since 2020 when Jeroen Bleekemolen and I won the last GT World Challenge Pro-Am race for GMG, but this is also our first full season in World Challenge in a few years. Everyone has stepped up and is running at a higher level, and I think that commitment spans across all of the series that we enter. We can expect that same unwavering execution and performance this weekend.”

The GT World Challenge victory at VIR was followed by a GT America win by Sofronas at Road America on the track where he began his professional driving career 30 years ago. In Sunday’s final race, Sofronas drove his No. 14 GMG Racing Audi R8 LMS GT3 EVO2 to an emotional flag-to-flag win from the pole. The victory was the final step of a successful comeback after Sofronas was sidelined for several months after a testing incident in the Audi at the SRO Road America event in 2023.

“It was a challenging year after the accident and missing so much time at the wheel but getting the win at Road America completed the comeback and I really wasn’t going to be denied,” Sofronas said. “We also won two weeks before that in Carrera Cup competition at Road America, and both wins were the perfect way to know I am back with the same level of competitive performance I had before and to take a moment and reflect on how far we have come with GMG Racing the last 30 years.

“Now, it’s time to help Kyle and Tom finish the season on a high note. With my comeback at Road America complete, I am not going to race the Audi this weekend but instead be at the track with both No. 32 teams and drivers solely in a team owner and coach role for the first time this year. I have yet to have the chance to do that but now is the time with just this weekend and Indy left on the schedule. We want to close out the year with some solid results and know we can.”

The GT America championship will come down to a battle between the current top three in points, but Washington has a realistic chance to step up and grab fourth place in the final standings with some good results to end the year. It starts at a Barber Motorsports Park track he has yet to race on, but he is looking forward to his racing debut and some of the local cuisine for which Alabama is well known.

“It’s always exciting to go to a new track that you haven’t driven before, especially one as legendary and reputable as Barber Motorsports Park,” Washington said. “At the same time I am just as excited to try the famous fried green tomatoes!”

A three day event weekend, the Barber scheduled begins Friday with a pair of practice sessions for both Fanatec GT World Challenge America and GT America. Qualifying for GT America at 8:05 a.m. CDT and GT World Challenge at 9:05 a.m. CDT sets the stage Saturday for the first of the weekend’s two races in both series. The first 40-minute GT America race starts at 1 p.m. CDT with the opening 90-minute GT World Challenge race set for a 3:10 p.m. CDT green flag.

Sunday’s final day of competition begins with the second GT America sprint at 8:40 a.m. CDT with the final GT World Challenge race bringing the curtain down on the weekend at 2:15 p.m. CDT.

All of the races and some additional on-track sessions from the Barber weekend can be viewed live on the GT World YouTube Channel.

NOTEWORTHY – On the Move:

In between its non-stop racing schedule, the countdown is on for GMG Racing’s move to its new 28,000 square-foot race shop at The Thermal Club in October. The shop is almost complete and is just seconds away from the entrance to pit lane at the most incredible country club motorsports facility in the U.S. if not the world. A recent sale began the liquidation process of GMG Racing’s longtime headquarters in Santa Ana – look for additional sales in the coming weeks – and the new Thermal Club facility will soon be open for service, performance upgrades and motorsports arrive-and-drive programs and track support. The Thermal shop will also continue to offer the same street performance product support and maintenance services as the Santa Ana shop, which is also open for both street and track support over the next few weeks before the permanent move to Thermal.

GMG Racing secured a Sunday GT America powered by AWS race win with team Founder and Principal James Sofronas and a P2 Pro-Am class podium in Saturday’s Fanatec GT World Challenge America powered by AWS race with co-drivers Kyle Washington and Tom Sargent in a competitive SRO America championships weekend at Road America.

Sofronas, who began his professional driving career 30 years ago at Road America, drove his No. 14 GMG Racing Audi R8 LMS GT3 EVO2 to an emotional flag-to-flag win from the pole Sunday. The victory was the final step of successful comeback after Sofronas was sidelined for several months after a testing incident in the Audi at the SRO Road America event in 2023.

“This is where I wanted to race from day one in World Challenge,” Sofronas said. “When an opportunity came up in 1994, I took my entire savings out – $1,800 bucks – and rented a factory-supported car from an Oldsmobile team, a touring car that was actually a pretty stout piece. I was hooked, Road America is the best track in North America by far, and for me it was just the beginning of a journey that I didn’t know would take me to where I am today. The team we have right now is firing on all cylinders. That’s what I am the most proud of.”

Washington and Sargent began the weekend’s solid results Saturday with their second podium appearance in the No. 32 GMG Racing Porsche 911 GT3 R in the last three GT World Challenge races after their first series victory last month at VIRginia International Raceway (VIR). The No. 32 team rebounded from a pit stop less than 10 minutes into the race for a swap to slicks from rain tires after a pre-race rain shower subsided. Washington kept the pressure on despite falling a lap down and handed off right at the race’s 50-minute mark to Sargent, who immediately went to work in his race-closing stint.

“Tom drove amazing,” Washington said. “His drive at the end was incredible, we had a yellow flag that was very timely, and he took advantage of that and drove like an absolute star in the fight to the finish. He put it in overdrive and just rocked it.”

A typically strong pit stop by the GMG Racing crew, and the well-timed yellow flag with 12 minutes to go, not only put Sargent in a position to get the No. 32 back on the lead lap, but to also to battle for the class win in the race’s closing minutes.

“The key to race was getting past the overall leader right as the safety car came out, and that gave me the ability to unlap ourselves,” Sargent said. “I caught up to the pack and was at the back of the train for the restart. We caught the field right as we were going green, and from then on it was just a dog fight to the finish. The car was amazing all race.”

Sargent was fourth in Pro-Am and eighth overall when race was restarted with just over five minutes to go. He defended the position through the race’s penultimate lap and quickly pounced when a Pro-Am class competitor up front slid off course in Turn 1. The field bunched up to avoid the off-course car, but Sargent maintained his momentum to move from fourth to second in the span of just a few corners. He took the white flag second in Pro-Am and fifth overall and held the positions to the finish.

“We were a little conservative on the tire choice at the beginning but we wanted to give Kyle a good car for the start and let him charge,” Sofronas said. “We pitted under green to change tires and Kye was consistent, kept pushing, and then we let Tom do what he does after the pit stops. Everything unfolded with just three minutes to go. Tom is coming into his own. He is showing he is a front runner in a Porsche and in this series.

Sunday’s convincing GT America victory was remarkably the sixth race win for Sofronas since his Road America incident last year. His five other victories have come in IMSA Carrera Cup competition, including his most recent win in that series two weeks ago at Road America. This weekend’s event completed Road America’s annual August stretch of races – IMSA, Porsche Sprint Challenge and SRO – and GMG Racing was one of the few teams to compete on all three race weekends.

Even more notable was that Sofronas was the only driver, of the more than 50 race winners across all series competing at Road America this month, to score multiple race wins at “America’s Park of Speed” on different race weekends.

The Sunday victory was the first for Sofronas in SRO America competition since winning at Road America in an Audi in 2021, the third of his three GT America wins that season.

Next up for GMG Racing in SRO America is the event weekend at Barber Motorsports Park in Alabama, September 6 – 8.