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James Sofronas took the Pro-Am class lead on the first lap of the 40-minute IMSA Carrera Cup North America sprint at Road America and went on to score his third race win of the season in the No. 14 GMG Racing Porsche 911 GT3 Cup Sunday on the 4-mile Wisconsin road course.

Sofronas passed Pro-Am polesitter Pedro Torres with a convincing outside move in Turn 5 and led every lap for the victory, which is his fifth series win in just 10 career Carrera Cup race starts. Sofronas, a multiple sports car racing series champion, swept the Pro-Am class wins in his Carrera Cup debut in 2023’s season-ending race at Circuit of The Americas (COTA). In addition to Sunday’s win, Sofronas started the 2024 season with a victory at Sebring International Raceway and also won at the Canadian Grand Prix in Montreal in June. The three 2024 victories lead the Carrera Cup Pro-Am class even with Sofronas not scheduled to compete in the full season and not participating in last month’s doubleheader at Watkins Glen International.

“This was a total team effort, and I knew right away we had a great car,” said Sofronas, who is the Founder and Principal of GMG Racing. “Our car wasn’t quite there in Saturday’s race but all credit to the guys for getting it right today. We put our heads together and this win is a result of the efforts of everybody on the team.”

Sunday’s win also came in the first race for Sofronas at Road America since he was sidelined for four months after sustaining an injury in a testing incident at the track last August.

“The COTA sweep made for a successful and somewhat emotional return to racing last year,” Sofronas said. “That race proved to me that I could still do this, that I can still run at the same competitive level I have for the last three decades. But coming back to Road America after last year was another important step in reaffirming my race craft. I began my professional driving career right here at Road America back in 1994, so it is fantastic to be able to mark that 30-year anniversary, especially after last year’s incident, with a win today.”

Sofronas finished second in Pro-Am in Saturday’s opening Carrera Cup race while veteran GMG Racing competitor Kyle Washington secured a weekend-best fifth-place Masters Class finish in the No. 32 GMG Racing Porsche 911 GT3 Cup in the same race.

Also in Saturday’s race, debuting team driver Yves Baltas charged from the back of the field for a top-10 Pro Class finish in the No. 15 GMG Racing Porsche 911 GT3 Cup. Baltas, who was sent to the rear of the grid for a non-performance related sensor issue, passed a race-high 22 cars in his charge to the front.

GMG Racing fields for the first time an entry in every class competing in this weekend’s IMSA Porsche Carrera Cup North America race at Road America that features twin 40-minute sprints on the 4-mile “America’s National Park of Speed” on Saturday and Sunday.

Masters class contender Kyle Washington and two-time 2024 Pro-Am division winner James Sofronas welcome debuting team driver Yves Baltas, who competes in the No. 15 GMG Racing Porsche 911 GT3 Cup in the Pro class at Road America. Joining Sofronas as a Carrera Cup race winner last month at the Canadian Grand Prix in Montreal, the arrival of Baltas adds a Pro-class front-runner to GMG Racing’s competitive stable of Carrera Cup entries.

“It’s certainly exciting to have Yves onboard,” said GMG Racing Founder and Principal Sofronas. “He’s a young and up-and-coming star and we are looking forward to showcasing his talent with ours with a Pro entry in Carrera Cup. We both won our classes in a rainy first race in Montreal, and Kyle did great too with a Masters podium in the wet, so maybe this is destiny bringing us together! It’s great for GMG Racing to have a car in all three classes. Of course, it would be real nice to sweep the weekend in all three classes, but the main mission as always is giving Kyle and Yves the best cars possible while I am just coming along for the ride, enjoying a fun season in Carrera Cup.”

Washington secured his second season-best third-place Masters finish of the year in Montreal to join Baltas and Sofronas on the podium and looks to build on that momentum this weekend at Road America in the No. 32 GMG Racing Porsche 911 GT3 Cup.

“I’m looking forward to another weekend at an amazing yet challenging race circuit,” Washington said. “I really need to work on the Kink and get my speed up on that turn, as everyone knows it eats cars if you get it wrong. If I can sort that one out, I love the rest of the track. Being Canadian, I love the braking zone in the Canada Corner. Getting those two spots right will give me a great chance.”

Baltas shifts to GMG Racing just two races after his first Carrera Cup win at Montreal that he followed up with a second-place overall and Pro-class finish the next day in the Canadian Grand Prix weekend’s final race.

“I’m thrilled to join GMG Racing and can’t wait to hit the track with them this weekend,” Baltas said. “This is an exciting new chapter, and I’m eager to work with the team to push for the best results. The passion and energy at GMG Racing are inspiring, and I’m ready to give it my all on race day!”

Sofronas scored a Pro-Am victory in Montreal for the second time this season after winning the opening race of the championship last March at Sebring in his No. 14 GMG Racing Porsche 911 GT3 Cup. He also swept both races in his Carrera Cup debut in 2023’s season-ending race weekend at Circuit of The Americas (COTA) to give him a stout record of four wins in the span of his last seven Carrera Cup races coming into Road America.

This weekend also marks the return of Sofronas to Road America after he was sidelined for four months following an August 2023 practice accident there. The COTA Carrera Cup doubleheader last October were the first races for Sofronas since last summer’s incident, and he courageously made it a winning return.

“It’s always good to get back to Road America, and I have had more than a month off since Montreal, so I am kind of anxious to jump back into a race car for the first time since then,” Sofronas said. “And what better place to get back in action than the best track in North America. My first professional race at Road America was in 1994, but my biggest race incident also came there last year. At this point I am just looking to get back there and tackling all of that four-mile circuit after a bit of a summer break. I am anxious to get back behind the wheel.”

On track for four full days, Carrera Cup practice sessions are scheduled for 3 p.m. CDT on Thursday and 9:35 a.m. CDT on Friday. Qualifying takes place Friday afternoon at 5 p.m. CDT.

The weekend’s pair of 40 minute races are scheduled to start at 11:45 a.m. CDT Saturday and 11:35 a.m. CDT on Sunday.

Both races air live at PorscheCarreraCup.us, on NBC’s Peacock streaming app, on the IMSA YouTube channel at www.youtube.com/@imsaofficial and on IMSA.tv. The Porsche Motorsport North America YouTube channel also archives all races at https://www.youtube.com/c/PorscheMotorsportNorthAmerica.

GMG Racing co-drivers Kyle Washington and Tom Sargent broke through for their first Fanatec GT World Challenge America powered by AWS race win Saturday at VIRginia International Raceway (VIR) in the No. 32 GMG Racing Porsche 911 GT3 R. The hard-fought Pro-Am-class victory was a last-to-first triumph that marked a string of initial milestones for the team and drivers in Fanatec GT World Challenge competition.

Washington and Sargent scored their maiden wins together in their first full seasons of competition in Fanatec GT World Challenge. The victory also came in the debut of the team’s all-new Type 992 Porsche 911 GT3 R and was the first for longtime SRO America championship and race-winning team GMG Racing in the current era of GT World Challenge competition, which features twin 90-minute races each race weekend.

“For Tom and Kyle to finally see success on the top step of the podium in their first seasons in Pro-Am in GT World Challenge America is well deserved for sure,” said GMG Racing Founder and Team Principal James Sofronas. “As I have frequently said this year and last year, Kyle is putting in the work. The team executed a perfect pit stop, and I think we even waited five seconds before the release. We are running on all cylinders as you have to, in order to win in the competitive Pro-Am class, and it takes a good Am driver – even though Kyle is really more of Masters driver – and he is mastering his craft. He is really enjoying the moment and truly deserves it.”

Washington was forced to start the race last on GT World Challenge grid due to an electronic transponder issue in qualifying. Undeterred, he began picking off positions from the race start as several other competitors encountered mechanical issues and on-track incidents. Saturday’s race was run in dry conditions, but earlier and daily rain showers kept the VIR landscape soaked and treacherous for any competitor even slipping a wheel slightly off course.

“It’s amazing,” Washington said. “The difficultly level today was 11 out of 10 on that track. One wheel off in the wet grass and you saw every time what would happen. Just total carnage, but we steered clear of all of it and we are just so happy to be here in victory lane.”

Washington handed the No. 32 off to Sargent early when the pit window opened before the race’s halfway mark in a well-timed and perfectly executed pit stop by the GMG Racing team. Sargent rejoined the race and, after the competition cycled through their pit stops, was in second place and ready to challenge for the lead.

Sargent kept close and constant pressure on as the race entered the final 30 minutes and moved to first when the leader was assessed a pit drive-through penalty for an earlier incident. Sargent led his first career GT World Challenge race laps, and the first of the season for GMG Racing, but the penalized leader was quick to rebound and mount a final challenge. The race went down to the wire in a nose-to-tail battle with Sargent prevailing for the victory after a frantic fight to the finish in the final two laps.

“Ultimately, we did nothing wrong really, but I had to work for it on the last lap,” Sargent said. “I haven’t had to do that in a while, but it was good fun at the end. On the second to last lap, he got really close to me, and was actually pushing me down the backstraight. He was trying to do everything he could, I knew I was going to be close on the edge, I might have just dropped a wheel on the last lap, but I gave it everything I had to build a gap to keep me safe for the final half lap. It’s unbelievable, I truly can’t believe it, and it is just great for everybody on the team. It is important for everyone.”

Sofronas has driven to several World Challenge race wins in various classes over the years, but Saturday’s milestone is the first victory for GMG Racing in the current era of SRO America’s GT3-based top-tier racing series.

“I have to give a huge shout out to Tom,” Sofronas said. “That last lap in Turn 10 was a full 10/10ths, right on the edge, with second place just a car length off of him, and through that corner he gapped him by three car lengths. That was the difference, they couldn’t get close enough again to get a draft on the backstraight, and coming out of Oak Tree three lengths ahead was when I was like ‘Oh yeah, we are going to win this.'”

Sofronas, Washington and the GMG team watched the drama of the race’s final minutes unfold from the pits.

“We were all glued around the TV in our pit watching the last couple of laps when Tom had monster pressure from behind,” Washington said. “He was actually pushed going down the straight coming to the white flag, and on the last lap Tom was just out of this world. He went to the edge of every corner and got the gap that he needed and held it. That last lap was amazing, it was crazy and the kid has got it for sure.”

Sargent has similar praise for Washington.

“I take my hat off to Kyle,” Sargent said. “He never put a foot wrong, just quickly turned over laps, and then we had an absolutely perfect pit stop, the best we have done all year, and we have all been working really hard on those. We nailed that and from then on it was up to me to bring it home.”

The GT World Challenge race win highlighted a solid weekend for GMG Racing that included Washington scoring top-five finishes in both doubleheader rounds of the GT America powered by AWS sprint race series. And in another weekend milestone, Jenson Sofronas, the 13-year-old son of James Sofronas and his wife Nargis Sofronas, made his national racing series debut in the Toyota Gazoo Racing North America (TGRNA) GR Cup Series driving the No. 41 GMG Racing Toyota GR86 Cup in collaboration with Lucas Racing. The youngest driver in the series, Sofronas finished both weekend races and qualified just one second off the second fastest competitor for Sunday’s final race.

“We entered three cars this weekend, and I also watched our son race for the first time, so lots of emotions, and Kyle, Tom and Jenson all had great weekends,” James Sofronas said.

Ready to roll after SRO America’s two-month break from competition, GMG Racing and its three-car and three-driver entry of Fanatec GT World Challenge powered by AWS and GT America powered by AWS contenders returns to VIRginia International Raceway (VIR) for a full weekend of racing that kicks off the second half of the 2024 season at VIR, July 19 – 21.

First-year co-drivers Kyle Washington and Tom Sargent look to start the stretch-run of the year’s final-four race events with season-best Fanatec GT World Challenge America finishes this weekend in the No. 32 GMG Racing Porsche 911 GT3 R. Washington also drives solo in a second No. 32 GMG Racing Porsche 911 GT3 R alongside teammate CJ Moses in his No. 58 GMG Racing/CrowdStrike/AWS Audi R8 LMS GT2 in this weekend’s pair of GT America powered by AWS sprint races.

Washington and Sargent raced to a pair of season-best fourth-place Pro-Am-class finishes in early May at Sebring International Raceway, and reaching the podium in the doubleheader 90-minute GT World Challenge races is the main goal this weekend. In their corner will be a brand new Type 992 Porsche 911 GT3 R that will be the team’s primary GT World Challenge mount for the rest of the season.

The 992 Porsche 911 GT3 R Washington and Sargent shared in the year’s first three races now shifts to GT America where Washington will use it as his new primary car in that series. The 992’s GT America arrival is well timed as Washington still rides the lingering momentum of a season-best second-place finish in the final 40-minute GT America race in May at Circuit of The Americas (COTA), the last SRO America event weekend before SRO America’s traditional early-summer pause.

“We definitely had some momentum going with Kyle in not only SRO America competition but several others series as well throughout May,” said GMG Racing Founder and Team Principal James Sofronas. “Kyle and Tom had their best GT World Challenge America results in just their second race weekend together at Sebring. Then Kyle won a Porsche Sprint Challenge West Masters class race in Utah the week before his season-best GT America runner-up finish at COTA in the last race before SRO America’s annual break. Having a new car, like the 992 No. 32 Porsche 911 GT3 R, always brings some energy with it, and I have no doubts all of that momentum will come right back to Kyle, Tom and everybody on the team once we get back on track in Virginia.”

Moses makes his second race-weekend start of the season at VIR after making his 2024 debut last April in the GT America doubleheader at the Grand Prix of Long Beach. Moses earned a trip to Long Beach victory lane for the EBOOST Hard Charger Award for improving the most positions in Sunday’s race. He races uncontested in the GT2 class this weekend but will make the most of the VIR opportunity with some valuable seat time and on-track experience racing with both the top-tier GT3 competitors and the slower but still quick competitors in the GT4 class.

“My home track is VIR and it’s actually where I started my on track experience as a novice student with the Audi Club in 2000,” Moses said. “It is my favorite track for much the same reason as Paul Newman mentioned: it feels like heaven on earth! I enjoy it so much that my wife and I have contracted for one of the new Villas outside Turn 10. Having experience at the track and in the Audi GT2 allows me to focus on continuous improvement and enjoy the rolling countryside as fast as possible!”

Moses secured overall sixth and seventh place finishes in the GT2 Audi at VIR in 2022 after mixing it up with and even leading some GT3 competitors to the finish line in both races.

“It’s always a tough schedule for CJ to balance his busy work calendar with racing, but he had a good run at Long Beach in April and this is his third-straight year of being able to compete with us in the Audi R8 LMS GT2 at VIR,” Sofronas said. “That type of year-to-year continuity at a track is important for any driver, and we look forward to helping CJ continue to improve on what has been some steady progress over the years on his home track. Last year’s VIR race was a challenging weekend, but CJ was knocking on the door of an overall top-five two years ago and we will do all we can to help him mirror and even improve on that performance this weekend.”

The VIR race weekend also marks a milestone for GMG Racing, Sofronas, and his wife, Nargis Sofronas, as the family business is extending into the next generation with the national racing series debut of their son, Jenson Sofronas, in the Toyota Gazoo Racing North America (TGRNA) GR Cup Series. The younger Sofronas, under the watchful eye of his championship-winning father, tested the GMG Racing GR86 Cup Toyota last month at VIR and took the initial steps to earn a racing license in a USAC on-track testing and evaluation program at the Utah Motorsports Campus in May. Jenson Sofronas, 13, drives the No. 41 GMG Racing Toyota GR86 Cup in a GMG Racing collaboration with series race-winning team Lucas Racing.

All of the weekend’s racing action from VIR is livestreamed on SRO’s GT World channel on YouTube.com, beginning with the first 40-minute GT America race Saturday at 1 p.m. EDT straight through the second 90-minute Fanatec GT World Challenge race that closes out the weekend on Sunday with a 2:15 p.m. EDT green flag.

Beginning the second half of the Porsche Sprint Challenge USA West by Yokohama season the same way the championship-winning team started it, GMG Racing brings a four-strong entry of 992 Porsche 911 GT3 Cup teams and drivers to WeatherTech Raceway Laguna Seca this weekend for a Saturday and Sunday doubleheader on the 2.238-mile Monterey road course.

Kyle Washington continues his winning Sprint Challenge Masters Class campaign in the No. 232 GMG Racing Porsche 911 GT3 Cup and competes alongside a trio of teammates in the Pro-Am division.

Patrick Mulcahy in the No. 254 GMG Racing Porsche 911 GT3 Cup and Jay Barron in the No. 223 GMG Racing Porsche 911 GT3 Cup contest their second Sprint Challenge race weekends after encouraging debuts in the season-opening doubleheader at Spring Mountain Motorsports Ranch in Pahrump, Nevada in late March.

Mulcahy and Barron will be joined in the Pro-Am division by GMG Racing President and Founder James Sofronas, who makes his first start of the Porsche Sprint Challenge Season in his No. 214 GMG Racing Porsche 911 GT3 Cup.

“We ran four 992 Cup Porsches in the Sprint Challenge opener at Spring Mountain in March, and it is great to be back with the same amount of entries this weekend at WeatherTech Raceway Laguna Seca on IndyCar race weekend,” Sofronas said. “I have plenty of experience at Laguna, Kyle has a lot of laps there as well, and we look forward to helping Patrick and Jay, who are both in their first season in a top-level series as competitive as Porsche Sprint Challenge.”

Washington has been GMG’s Sprint Challenge “leader in the club house this season,” winning his first Porsche Sprint Challenge Masters Class race just last month at Utah Motorsports Campus. He charged from 10th on the starting grid to first in Masters in Turn 1 at the start of the weekend’s final sprint and held P1 to the finish. The victory was the third podium finish for Washington in the year’s first four Sprint Challenge West races. At the Spring Mountain opener, Washington secured an overall and Masters runner-up finish in the first race and a third-place Masters-class showing in the final sprint.

In his series debut in Nevada, Mulcahy was GMG Racing’s highest finisher in Sunday’s finale. He improved three class positions to finish fourth in the Pro-Am class and in the top-five overall and seeks his first Sprint Challenge podium finish this season.

Barron runs a select scheduled of Sprint Challenge races this year and suits up for just his second weekend in the series in Monterey after an encouraging debut at Spring Mountain. Finishing a solid 12th overall in both races, Barron’s top Pro-Am-class finish was sixth on Saturday in the Pahrump opener, and he gained a good amount of racing knowledge and an initial understanding of the 992 Porsche 911 GT3 Cup platform.

Sofronas makes his first Sprint Challenge start of the season after contesting the Utah and Sonoma Raceway rounds in the championship last year. An accomplished race winner and four-time World Challenge Champion, Sofronas already has two Pro-Am wins to his credit this season in Porsche Carrera Cup North America competition.

“The goal is to always finish first at GMG Racing, but my car in any series always comes last as far as preparation and planning back at our California races shops in Santa Ana, and later this summer, our all-new headquarters operation at The Thermal Club,” Sofronas said. “The GMG Racing team’s priority is always our clients first, but the stellar job they did in getting the three primary cars ready for Laguna Seca allowed me to compete as well.”

More podiums are the goal this weekend, but Sofronas competes with two different perspectives every time he takes the wheel alongside his teammates.

“We will all be racing to win and hit the podium, but first and foremost I am still a coach and mentor for all of our clients when we are on track together in any race,” Sofronas said. “It gives you an entirely different perspective that you can’t experience from pitlane or a data review, and I am really looking forward to getting an up-close view of Kyle, Patrick and Jay all weekend while also looking at our competition in the mirror!”

After qualifying Friday afternoon at 4:25 p.m. PDT, the weekend’s first race is scheduled to start Saturday afternoon at 4 p.m. PDT with the second and final 35-minute sprint going green Sunday at 9:40 a.m. PDT.

Both races and more from Porsche Sprint Challenge will be livestreamed on YouTube on the official Porsche Motorsport North America YouTube channel: @PorscheMotorsportNorthAmerica.

For the second time this season, GMG Racing’s Kyle Washington and James Sofronas combined for a Masters division podium and Pro-Am class victory in IMSA Carrera Cup North America by Yokohama competition in a wet and chaotic 40-minute race Saturday at the Canadian Grand Prix Formula 1 race in Montreal.

Replicating their collective performance in March’s season-opening doubleheader at Sebring International Raceway, Washington finished third in Masters in his No. 32 GMG Racing Porsche 911 GT3 Cup while Sofronas scored his second Pro-Am victory of the season in the No. 14 GMG Racing Porsche 911 GT3 Cup.

Decisive driving in the race’s only two green-flag laps proved to be key to the twin podium results for both Washington and Sofronas. The race was run in damp conditions throughout, started behind the safety car for one lap, and was green for just laps two and three before a full-course caution was shown for declining track conditions.

That was all the time Sofronas needed to pull off the winning Pro-Am pass just before the yellow flag waved. A red-flag period soon followed for a full-field switch to wet-weather Yokohamas, but after a 20-minute stoppage, attempts to return to green-flag racing conditions under more yellow flag laps were unsuccessful. The time-certain race ended the way it started: behind the safety car.

“I usually try to make a move right away in any sprint race, but it was absolutely necessary on Saturday,” said Sofronas, the Founder and Principal of GMG Racing. “When I saw the yellow right after taking the lead, I was really relieved, but I honestly would have loved to have been able to race in full and flat out green conditions. Montreal is a great race in front of some of the most enthusiastic race fans in the world and we all came a long way to put on a show for them.”

Washington’s green-flag time was spent defending his third-place starting and on-track position, which he capably did for his second career Carrera Cup podium on a Formula 1 race weekend. Washington also finished third in a Carrera Cup sprint supporting last year’s Grand Prix of Miami F1 race.

“I couldn’t see how Kyle was doing behind me, but just staying on track in those conditions, let alone defending your position or pulling off a pass, is so difficult,” Sofronas said. “He did a great job, and it is awesome to leave our only appearance in Canada with the podium and victory. The only bummer was not having our friend and teammate Ofir Levy on track with us. He was uninjured in a contact incident in opening practice on Friday, but his car was too damaged to continue on with the weekend. We know he will bounce back, however, and we are already looking ahead to his next race.”

Next up for GMG Racing in single-make Porsche series competition is the Porsche Sprint Challenge USA West event at WeatherTech Raceway Laguna Seca, June 21 – 23, where the team is planning to field four Type 992 Porsche 911 GT3 Cup entries.