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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.

GMG Racing and team drivers Kyle Washington and Patrick Mulcahy scored a four-pack of podium finishes in a successful weekend of USAC Porsche Sprint Challenge North America and USA West by Yokohama series competition Saturday and Sunday at Road America. Washington backed up a pair of Masters-class runner-up showings in the weekend’s Porsche Sprint Challenge USA West doubleheader in the No. 232 GMG Racing Porsche 911 GT3 Cup with a third-place finish Saturday in a last-minute Sprint Challenge North America effort in the No. 234 GMG Racing Porsche 911 GT3 Cup.

Meanwhile, Mulcahy put the crowning touch on his best USA West race weekend to date in his first year of top-level motorsports competition with a third-place Pro-Am finish Sunday in his No. 254 GMG Racing Porsche 911 GT3 Cup.

“This was the middle event of a three-weekend stretch at Road America and the results were a great follow up to our first race over a week ago,” said GMG Racing President and Founder James Sofronas. “Kyle continues to be the ‘Iron Man’ that he is and Patrick getting his first podium after a competitive performance all weekend is just fantastic. I was fortunate enough to win a Carrera Cup Pro-Am sprint in the previous weekend of competition at Road America, and now we are looking for even more hardware and podiums this weekend in the SRO America event.”

The second of three national Porsche Sprint events on this year’s calendar, Road America included doubleheaders for both the North America and USA West championships in addition to the second race in the inaugural season of the Porsche Endurance Challenge North America, which ran a one-hour race to conclude the weekend late Sunday afternoon.

Washington is a USA West regular in the No. 232 GMG Racing Porsche 911 GT3 Cup but he added both the North America doubleheader and the Endurance Challenge race to his packed schedule of five races on Saturday and Sunday. He drove his 992 Type Carrera Cup car that GMG shifted to Sprint Challenge specs and series markings to compete in the North America series races as the No. 234 GMG Racing Porsche 911 GT3 Cup.

“The P3 in Porsche GT3 North America felt amazing and was even a little more satisfying than the pair of second-place finishes in USA West,” Washington said. “In the first race in the West series, where I was on pole, it was kind of mine to lose, and I made a mistake, but that’s a big field in the North America championship with more than 20 cars alone in the Masters class. I love that bigger field, we will be together again at Sonoma, and I even heard some chatter this weekend that there might be more joint events in the future.”

Mulcahy came to Road America primed for a breakout performance and delivered. He matched his Sprint Challenge-best fourth-place finish in Saturday’s first USA West race after battling in the top five with the best drivers in the series. Building on that success, Mulcahy stepped it up even more in Sunday’s final USA West sprint for his first career podium finish in third place in Pro-Am.

“Finally reaching a podium in my first season feels absolutely amazing,” Mulcahy said. “Coming back from my bad crash at Utah, missing COTA as a result, and Laguna Seca not going our way, last weekend’s result is what the team and I expect to produce with all the work and preparation we have put into my first season in a top-tier racing series. GMG Racing hands down crushed it in every aspect of the weekend and everything leading up to it. They provided me a car that was in an amazing performance window all week and it was up to me to drive and execute the weekend to the fullest potential. I believe we accomplished that this weekend and showed what we are capable of doing as a team.”

Mulcahy’s top weekend came in his Road America debut.

“Road America has always been a legendary track with several high-speed and high-risk areas to make moves,” Mulcahy said. “Very big track with lots of long straights with extended heavy brake zones, so you have to get every corner right or you pay dearly on lap times and risking position. It was my first time here so places like the kink, the carousel, even turn 1 were all a great learning experience as a driver. 100% I’m leaving as a better driver, but I couldn’t have done so without the support of my team.”

Washington made his Endurance Challenge debut in the No. 232 with his coach and co-driver Tom Sargent. Despite a time-draining accident deeper in the field at the start, Washington still managed to put in a few solid laps in the top five when the race finally went green before handing off to Sargent. Although their Silver/Bronze driver lineup required a significantly longer pit stop than some competitors, Sargent still charged through the field in the final half of the race to climb back to sixth at the checkered flag.

“It was great to race with Tom in the Enduro,” Washington said. “Obviously, we are racing in some other series together, and we are partners for the year in GT World Challenge America, but the Silver and Bronze driver pairing in Porsche Endurance really makes it a challenge. The pit stop time delay difference with our kind of driver combination really makes us not in it to win it. It really doesn’t work for a Silver and Bronze pairing, but it was great racing. I was happy with my performance, and Tom drove his ass off, and made some amazing passes. It was really enjoyable to watch the end of the race.”

Next up for GMG Racing is the team’s third-straight Road America weekend, August 16 – 18, competing in the SRO America Fanatec GT World Challenge America powered by AWS and the GT America powered by AWS single-driver sprint-race series. Washington and Sargent co-drove to their first GT World Challenge victory one race ago at VIRginia International Raceway (VIR) in the No. 32 GMG Racing Porsche 911 GT3 R and look for two more wins in this weekend’s twin 90-minute races.

Washington is also entered in GT America in a similar 992 No. 32 GMG Racing Porsche 911 GT3 R and competes alongside Sofronas in his No. 14 GMG Racing Audi R8 LMS GT3 EVO2.

GMG Racing’s three-straight weeks of competition at Road America takes on a triple-threat twist of its own this weekend with team driver Kyle Washington campaigning a pair of GMG Racing Porsche 911 GT3 Cup entries in each of the three USAC Porsche Challenge series races taking place on the four-mile road course this Saturday and Sunday. Washington’s across-the-board Porsche Challenge campaign is joined by first-year team driver Patrick Mulcahy who continues his inaugural season of Porsche Sprint Challenge USA West by Yokohama competition with his Road America debut in the No. 254 GMG Racing Porsche 911 GT3 Cup.

The second of three national events on this year’s calendar, the Road America weekend includes doubleheaders for the Sprint Challenge West series and its counterpart Porsche Sprint Challenge North America by Yokohama championship, which races primarily on the East Coast. The packed Road America schedule also features the second round of the first-year Porsche Endurance Challenge North America, which runs a one-hour race to conclude the weekend Sunday afternoon.

Washington primarily runs a No. 232 GMG Racing Porsche 911 GT3 Cup in Sprint Challenge West, but GMG’s three-week stand at Road America has provided the chance to add a foray into the North America championship as well. The similar Type 992 Porsche Washington drove to a top-five finish in last weekend’s IMSA Carrera Cup races at Road America has been prepared by the team for Washington to race as the No. 234 GMG Racing Porsche 911 GT3 Cup in the North America series races. Washington competes in each series in the Masters Class.

“Kyle wants to race as much as possible and even thrives on a full-slate of races on any given weekend,” said GMG Racing President and Founder James Sofronas. “After last weekend’s Carrera Cup event, we evaluated the option of changing Kyle’s car over to Sprint Challenge specifications just this weekend and jumped at the chance. Including the entry in the all Pro-Am 992 field in Porsche Endurance Challenge, Kyle will be running in a total of five races this weekend. Patrick Mulcahy competes alongside Kyle in the Pro-Am class in the Sprint Challenge West series doubleheader, and Kyle’s extra track time will provide additional data and feedback that will benefit both drivers and their respective teams. We look forward to helping both Kyle and Patrick achieve all they can this weekend at Road America.”

Mulcahy secured a season-best fourth in Pro-Am and a top-five finish overall in the second race of the season-opening weekend at Spring Mountain Motorsports Ranch last March. Improving one position or more for Pro-Am podium results this weekend is the goal for Mulcahy.

Meanwhile, Washington concludes his powerhouse weekend sharing the No. 232 with professional coach and co-driver Tom Sargent in the debut race for the drivers and GMG in the new Porsche Endurance series. The first-year duo scored its first victory together last month at VIRginia International Raceway with a fast and flawless run in the debut of a new No. 32 GMG Racing Porsche 911 GT3 R in Fanatec GT World Challenge competition at VIRginia International Raceway (VIR).

Following three days of unofficial testing and opening practice that concluded Friday, the Road America schedule kicks into high gear on Saturday.

Qualifying for both the North America and West series takes place Saturday morning in preparation for the opening sprints in both championships that afternoon. The West competitors race first at 2:55 p.m. CDT with the North America race wrapping up the day with a 4:50 p.m. CDT green flag. Sunday’s second and final rounds for both championships go off at 11:30 a.m. CDT for the West and 1:10 p.m. CDT for the North America finale. All Sprint Challenge races are 35 minutes + 1 lap in length.

The weekend concludes Sunday at 4:35 p.m. CDT with the one-hour Porsche Endurance Challenge race.

Visit www.porschesprint.com for results from every session and live timing and livestreaming of all of the races from Road America.