2023 recap header

GMG Racing’s 2023 Highlights: From Podium Regulars to Stunning Comeback Wins

GMG Racing is firmly focused on the 2024 North American sports car racing season after a competitive 2023 campaign across multiple racing series delivered a solid run of podium results and a storybook finish with a pair of comeback race wins in the season-ending IMSA Porsche Deluxe Carrera Cup North America at Circuit of The Americas (COTA).

GMG once again fielded numerous drivers and a variety of modern sports car machinery, anchored primarily by Porsche 992 and 991 Cup and GT3 cars, in a select schedule of races spanning nearly the entirety of the 2023 calendar. Even in the recent and closing weeks of the year, GMG Racing has been hard at work with its “Winter Series” of track day and race events on their home circuit at the Thermal Club, where GMG Racing will open its expanded and soon-to-be-completed headquarters operation next year. Among the cars GMG is putting through its paces this December at Thermal is the new 992 Porsche 911 GT3 R Kyle Washington and co-driver Jeroen Bleekemolen debuted in Fanatec GT World Challenge competition in August at Road America.

“The 2023 racing season provided the perfect preparation for next year as it required a no-quit performance and 100% focus from each and every member of GMG Racing,” said James Sofronas, GMG Racing Founder and Principal. “The results were fantastic, particularly as we raced through the busy final months of the year with maximum momentum. There was nobody we couldn’t race with in several different series and the victories and podiums speak for themselves. It bodes well for even more success in 2024 and we can’t wait to get started.”

Longtime GMG driver Washington once again ran a packed schedule of races in multiple series, including Carrera Cup, USAC Porsche Sprint Challenge by Yokohama, IMSA Michelin Pilot Challenge, GT America powered by AWS and more. Washington delivered the first major podium finish of the season for GMG in his No. 32 GMG Racing Porsche 911 GT3 Cup in the opening Carrera Cup sprint at the Grand Prix of Miami Formula 1 race where he improved an incredible 20 race positions to finish third in Pro-Am and in the top-10 overall.

The Miami Grand Prix victory lane visit set the tone for GMG Racing driver podium showings and race wins on the biggest stages in North American motorsports all season. Washington added to his Pro-Am Carrera Cup haul with a pair of third-place showings in mid-September on the hallowed ground of Indianapolis Motor Speedway and continued to shine in major race events with another third in the opening Carrera Cup race at Rennsport Reunion 7 at WeatherTech Raceway Laguna Seca two weeks later.

The Carrera Cup Pro-Am success anchored a late-season surge in more than a month of nearly non-stop competition for Washington with a mix of Carrera Cup and multiple Porsche 992 and 991 races in Porsche Sprint Challenge starting in early September. The hectic schedule of 10 races on a pair of race weekends at both IMS and Laguna Seca produced an amazing run of nine podium showings – including second-place runs in the opening Sprint Challenge 992 race in early September at Laguna Seca and another runner-up result in the first Sprint Challenge 991 race at IMS in October – heading into the COTA Carrera Cup finale.

Washington closed out his competitive season with a pair of top-five Pro-Am finishes in the stacked Carrera Cup field that assembled to support the COTA Formula 1 race, but it was GMG team owner and driver Sofronas who made a triumphant return to professional competition in front of the massive Formula 1 crowd with a clean sweep in the Pro-Am class in the No. 14 GMG Racing Porsche 911 GT3 Cup.

In his IMSA Carrera Cup series debut, Sofronas turned in the perfect performance in his first major race since recovering from a back injury sustained this past summer in a race testing incident. He improved several positions in both COTA races, climbing from fourth on the starting grid on Saturday and second on Sunday for the pair of victories. The run to the top of the order in both races was even more impressive considering both sprints were slowed by time-draining caution periods. Sofronas wasted no time getting to the front in either race.

“For me personally and as the owner of GMG, it was very rewarding and incredibly emotional to finish the year like we did at COTA,” Sofronas said. “Just getting back in the car after my injury and realizing I could still perform at a highly competitive level as I have for my entire 30 year career was gratifying and, honestly, a relief. I had a couple of Sprint Challenge podiums earlier in the season but to return to the top step of the podium not once but twice in our last major race of the year – and my first in Carrera Cup – was incredible. The GMG team gave me a perfect Porsche 992 and it was great seeing Kyle finish fifth in Pro-am in both races too and wrap it all up with two GMG Racing Porsches in the top five in a pair of races. Kyle singlehandedly delivered our team’s best race results while I was recovering and his strong end to the season shows the incredible progress he has made. It is only going to get better next year.”

GMG Racing’s other podium player in 2023 was familiar team driver CJ Moses who was a frequent visitor to victory lane in the emerging GT2 division in the GT America powered by AWS series. Ending his season on a high note as well, Moses drove his unique No. 58 CrowdStrike/AWS Audi R8 LMS GT2 to a pair of podium showings at the Indy finale. After a third place finish in Friday’s race, Moses improved to a second-place finish on Sunday. 

“We have been proponents of the GT2 format in SRO Motorsports America since it was announced and CJ Moses has been right there with us,” Sofronas said. “He had a limited but competitive schedule this year but he continues each season to develop his race craft and improve overall as a driver. There was a small but diverse GT2 field at Indy and it is great to see the class starting to grow. We know it will only get bigger in the future and we plan to continue to be a part of it.”

Sofronas has endless praise for the GMG Racing crew that stayed the competitive course – even through some heartbreaking times – throughout the 2023 season and is already hard at work on preparations for 2024.

“The crew is just incredible,” Sofronas said. “They know how to deal with the long and tough days at the track like the professionals they are, but we all head into this holiday season thinking about our teammate Bryce Cords who we lost in a fatal crash right at the height of the busy stretch run to close out the year. Losing a race is one thing, but with Bryce we lost a teammate, a leader and a brother. Earlier in the year, another primary member of our team, Michael Shanes, was sidelined as he fights cancer. We think of them both everyday, we will probably never race again without Bryce in our thoughts, and we look forward to Michael returning to the track with us as soon as possible.”
As 2023 comes to a conclusion, Sofronas and GMG are finalizing multiple team and driver development programs across several different North American racing series. The first announcements will be made in early 2024.

James Sofronas Makes Triumphant Return to Competition with a Pro-Am Class Sweep in His IMSA Porsche Deluxe Carrera Cup Debut at Circuit of The Americas Finale

GMG Racing’s James Sofronas made a triumphant return to professional competition this weekend with a clean sweep in the Pro-Am class in the No. 14 GMG Racing Porsche 911 GT3 Cup in his IMSA Porsche Deluxe Carrera Cup series debut at the season-ending doubleheader at Circuit of The Americas (COTA). The weekend’s Saturday and Sunday 40-minute sprints were the main support events for COTA’s Formula 1 United States Grand Prix and provided an opportunity for Sofronas to get back behind the wheel after recovering from a back injury sustained this past summer in a race testing incident.

“I was really looking forward to this race, getting back behind the wheel and proving to myself that I could still compete at this level despite a pretty severe back injury,” said Sofronas, the Founder and Principal of GMG Racing. “Without being able to train or get in condition for competition because I was resting the entire second half of the summer into the fall, I just had to count on my experience. The GMG Racing crew gave me a great Porsche and I just had to execute.”

Sofronas improved several positions in both weekend races, climbing from fourth on the starting grid on Saturday and second on Sunday for the pair of victories. The run to the top of the order in both races was even more impressive considering both sprints were slowed by time-draining caution periods. Sofronas wasted no time getting to the front in either race.

“When I had opportunities to make passes, I took them,” Sofronas said. “I knew Sunday was going to be a rough and tumble race as the last one of the season, so I had to pull some of my 30 years of race craft out of the my pocket and prepare accordingly. When I saw high risk and low reward, I tempered my approach, but in the end I made two strong passes to get to the lead. The car was super strong under braking, and set-up change overnight gave me a lot of front grip to charge the corner entries.”

The No. 14 was one of a Carrera Cup season-high three 992-type Porsche 911 GT3 Cup entries the GMG Racing crew pristinely prepared for the team’s last professional race weekend of the year.

“The crew has just been amazing,” Sofronas said. “We are still mourning the loss of one of our main technicians, Bryce Cords, in a fatal car crash a month ago, and earlier this season a key member of the team, Michael Shanes, was sidelined as he fights cancer. We have faced a couple issues that have really taken a close-knit team back a bit, but these guys always rally, the GMG guys work hard and are definitely committed to winning and to each other. I was proud of them, even before this weekend, and when I came back from Saturday’s race they were applauding. I was like ‘no man, this is for you guys, you definitely deserve to see some strong results after all of the effort put in and hardships endured this year.’ They are the ones that really made this weekend happen.”

The winning weekend by Sofronas was backed up by multiple-series GMG Racing driver Kyle Washington who concluded his competitive season primarily in single-make Porsche racing series with a pair of Pro-Am top-five finishes.

Washington improved two positions in both races for the fifth-place showings in the No. 32 GMG Racing Porsche 911 GT3 Cup.

Sunday’s 16th place overall finish was just five spots behind Sofronas, who was the top finishing overall Pro-Am entry, trailing only the top-10 Pro-class finishers in 11th.

“Kyle got into some heavy traffic and had to deal with some high temperatures in the middle of Saturday’s race,” Sofronas said. “We had to manage that, but top-five finishes for Kyle are strong in this deep Pro-Am field that really drew some entries as the main support race for Formula 1. I am super proud of him, he liked his car Saturday, and we zeroed in on a little bit more of what helped him to another top-five finish on Sunday.”

The third GMG Racing entry at COTA saw driver Blake McDonald join Sofronas and Washington in closing the year on a high note in just his second weekend of Carrera Cup competition in the No. 11 GMG Racing Porsche 911 GT3 Cup. After a solid series debut with GMG Racing last month at Rennsport Reunion, McDonald posted his best result of both weekends in Sunday’s final race of the year at COTA with a 12th place finish in the top-tier Pro division.

Blake was pleased with his car,” Sofronas said. “We kept making changes in a positive direction and, like Kyle, he wanted just a little bit more of what worked. You have to alter driving style when you go from Yokohamas in Porsche Sprint Challenge to the Michelins in Carrera Cup, and Blake is getting familiar with it. He has shown a lot of pace throughout the year as we have supported him and watched him with another team in Sprint Challenge. It’s only a matter of time before Blake will be pushing toward the front.”

A perennial race winner and multiple champion in sports car racing with GMG for decades, many in the paddock were surprised this weekend marked the first Carrera Cup race starts for Sofronas.

“This is rewarding on multiple levels,” Sofronas said. “Being able to get the weekend win sweep in my first ever Carrera Cup race is very satisfying and a little different. I am usually behind the scenes, trying to elevate our team and push them. This weekend I had dual roles, downloading with the crew and drivers and making sure they got what they needed. Then I spent a few minutes making sure my car was set up and the guys did a great job.

“This weekend was as much about next year as it was ending 2023 strong. We wanted to show we could put a car on the grid, make it competitive with a 55-year-old driver and showcase what we are looking to do, which is to build our customer racing program for 2024. The on-track performance is there and we have elevated our paddock presence, we have invested in new and additional equipment and we have one of the best paddock presentations in the field. We look forward to taking the entire program into 2024.”

In addition to ongoing planning for 2024, the remainder of this year will see GMG Racing undertake a full schedule of track day and race events on their home circuit at the Thermal Club, where GMG Racing will open its expanded headquarters operation next year. The schedule and event dates for GMG Racing’s winter schedule at Thermal will be released in the near future.

GMG Racing Rolls Out IMSA Porsche Deluxe Carrera Cup Season-High Three Entries for Circuit of The Americas Finale

GMG Racing brings its biggest IMSA Porsche Deluxe Carrera Cup North America entry of the season to the 2023 series finale this weekend at Circuit of The Americas (COTA) where America’s premier single-make Porsche series will be a featured support race for the Formula 1 United States Grand Prix. The Saturday and Sunday 40-minute Carrera Cup sprint races on the 3.4-mile COTA Grand Prix circuit will see GMG field a trio of 992 Carrera Cup entries to close out the team’s 2023 professional racing season on a high note.

Longtime GMG driver Kyle Washington will be looking to continue a recent run of podium success in Porsche single-make series competition in the Pro-Am class in his No. 32 GMG Racing Porsche 911 GT3 Cup. Blake McDonald runs with GMG Racing for the second-straight Carrera Cup weekend after a strong series debut last month at Rennsport Reunion in the No. 11 GMG Racing Porsche 911 GT3 Cup.

In more than a month of nearly non-stop competition starting in early September, Washington and GMG Racing have run a packed mix of both IMSA Carrera Cup Pro-Am and multiple 992 and 991 races in the Porsche Sprint Challenge North America series. The hectic schedule of 10 races on a pair of race weekends at both Indianapolis Motor Speedway (IMS) and WeatherTech Raceway Laguna Seca produced an amazing run of nine podium showings and counting for Washington and GMG heading to COTA.

“Kyle runs flat out in a full schedule of racing all of the time and I have been very impressed with his recent pace and performance,” said GMG Racing Founder and Principal James Sofronas. “He is literally jumping from 992 Carrera Cup cars to 991 Porsches and then back to 992 Sprint Challenge cars and not missing a beat. In fact, if he wouldn’t been taken out by another competitor in the second Carrera Cup race at Rennsport Reunion, Kyle would be a perfect 10-for-10 in Porsche series podiums over the last month or so. He has never driven better and I only see it improving.”

Third-place showings have anchored Washington’s podium haul which has been highlighted by a second-place run in the opening Sprint Challenge 992 race in early September at Laguna Seca and another runner-up result in the first Sprint Challenge 991 race at IMS earlier this month.

Ironically, the only race weekend Washington has missed recently in his busy schedule was the Sprint Challenge weekend at COTA in late August.

“I had some family obligations I wasn’t going to miss last time around so I am really looking forward to getting back to COTA,” Washington said. “That track is sick. It’s just so flowy, with elevations. It’s nice and new. It’s got to be one of the best tracks in the world. It’s really amazing with the Carrera Cup coming there, with the fans for Formula 1, the energy is going to be electric.”

McDonald runs his second career Carrera Cup weekend with GMG after the strong debut at Rennsport Reunion at WRLS. Sofronas and the team have worked closely with McDonald since he purchased a Porsche 911 GT2 RS from GMG Racing over two years ago.

“We knew Blake would be ready for Carrera Cup at Laguna Seca and he proved it,” Sofronas said. “At his young age, he was classified in the Pro category and runs in that class again at COTA, but we knew from his very first laps he was up to the challenge of being thrown into the deep end of the pool straight out of the box. He learned a lot in his debut and we will certainly build on that this weekend in Austin.”

An accomplished race and championship-winning driver in his own right, Sofronas wheels GMG’s third Carrera Cup entry this weekend in the Pro-Am class in the No. 14 GMG Racing Porsche 911 GT3 Cup. Sofronas runs his first professional race weekend since sustaining a back injury in a test session incident this past summer. Always in ready-to-race shape and fit at 55 years-old, Sofronas has made an ahead-of-schedule recovery.

“I actually made my first start in the Flacht Cup race for fairly modern Porsche GT cars during Rennsport Reunion but that race was cut short but an early incident,” Sofronas said. “Luckily I made a move for third right at that start just before the yellow flag, and getting on the podium and racing a little was just enough to make me want more. Carrera Cup at COTA will be the last chance for a professional race this year, so we jumped at it, and adding another car is never an issue. We have run up to seven competitive entries on some race weekends in 2023, and COTA will be a springboard into 2024 for what will be another full year of Porsche-spec racing in multiple series with multiple cars. Our engineering partners from Germany with Super Cup experience will be in full force and we are rolling out our upgraded hospitality and customer experience space. We are ready for 2024 and in many ways treating this weekend at COTA as the first event of next year.”

On track Carrera Cup action is underway at COTA today with a morning practice session. Following qualifying Saturday morning at 8:35 a.m. CDT, the weekend’s first 40-minute race starts that afternoon at 2:10 p.m. CDT. Sunday’s concluding 40-minute sprint at 10:50 a.m. CDT is the final race before that afternoon’s featured Formula 1 U.S. Grand Prix.

Both Carrera Cup races can be viewed live at www.IMSA.com.

Six Podium Finishes At Indianapolis Motor Speedway During an Action Packed Race Week

GMG Racing drivers Kyle Washington and C.J. Moses brought home six podiums in eight races last week at Indianapolis Motor Speedway in GT America Powered by AWS and Porsche Sprint Challenge North America by Yokohama action. The successful weekend came on the heels of an intense run for the team, which saw a busy RennSport Reunion wrap up on Sunday at WeatherTech Raceway Laguna Seca with the team, drivers and cars all transported back across the country on Tuesday ready for load-in and the start of the Indianapolis race event.

Despite covering 2,300 miles in a short period of time, the GMG Racing team hit the ground running, with Porsche Sprint Challenge races on Thursday and Friday for Washington and GT America races for Washington and Moses on Friday and Sunday.

“I’m super proud of both Kyle and CJ, and with regard to Kyle’s performance, he’s been super focused,” James Sofronas, GMG Racing Founder and Principal, said. “When you have six races over a few days, you really need to. I love seeing the progress, that’s the number one thing i’m looking for out of his performance, is continuing to improve. He’s doing that based on the four trophies he’s bringing home and his pace to the overall top drivers. I know Kyle is really committed, he’s putting in the extra work, and he’s hungry and wants to do this as much as possible to continue to improve. That’s my job, and the team has done a fantastic job in their own right in giving him a car. All three cars ran flawless, no issues, never missed a beat so i’m super proud of them as well.”

Washington opened up the racing on Thursday morning with a strong run in the 991 class, taking the No. 132 GMG Racing Porsche 911 GT3 Cup to second in class and fifth overall. By Thursday afternoon it was full wet conditions when the 992-generation of Porsche 911 GT3 Cup cars took the green flag. Despite those changing conditions and a different car, Washington still stood on the podium – this time third in the 992 Am class.

Friday was even more challenging for Washington. Back in the 991 car on Friday morning, he marched to a third place finish. Fewer than three hours later, he had swapped to an entirely different machine – the No. 32 GMG Racing Porsche 911 GT3 R in GT America. Washington drove as high as third, making passes on both the defending series champion and current championship contender, before finishing sixth overall and in a class full of professional racing champions.

But there’s no rest for the weary, and Washington jumped out of the GT America car into a waiting golf cart, where he was whisked away to his 992 car for the final Porsche Sprint Challenge race of the weekend immediately after.

“We might be in a little bit of trouble with security for that one,” Washington said. “We went by them on a golf cart, I had my helmet halfway up and I had to chug two waters. Security was chasing us, so if we get a ticket then you’ll know why! It was tight to say the least.”

Running his second 40-minute race back-to-back, Washington again landed on the podium, his fourth of the weekend in Porsche Sprint Challenge competition. With Saturday off for the Indianapolis 8 Hour race, Washington returned on Sunday morning for the second GT America race, finishing eighth to cap a successful race weekend.

“Six races in a weekend is pretty epic at a place like Indy,” Washington said. “Look at these flags, look at the tower, the bricks. I had some amazing racing. Sitting around the likes Johnny O’Connell, Kurtz, Daskalos and those guys is a different league and I was really happy to be there. Friday was definitely full, with three races in three different cars. Each race was amazing, had great competition, and it might be the most fun weekend of racing that I can remember. There was so much action, and each race was a race. There was no down time, it was intense. It’s an amazing track, and the fields are huge.”

Moses was a podium finisher in both GT America races. Running the No. 58 CrowdStrike/AWS Audi R8 LMS GT2 in the GT2 class as a part-time driver, Moses was back with GMG Racing in a class that both he and the team have been instrumental in developing here in the States. A third place finish in Friday’s race became a second-place finish on Sunday to finish the week on a high note.

“It was a short season for me because of work commitments,” Moses said. “Life gets in the way, even though we’d like to think racing is the most important thing, not always is it. I was glad to be back in the paddock as much as I was. We had a good season. I was glad to see the GT2 class growing, having other competitors there. GMG is family, so I love coming to the track. It’s my place of solace, and the only time I get any mental clarity is when I’m behind the wheel of the GMG Audi. When people are coming at you for all kinds of things all the time, once you get in the car the only voice in your head is yours and your crew chief most of the time.”

GMG has been pushing the GT2 concept because it’s one that Sofronas believes has potential for customer drivers.

“Having been a part of the GT2 development from the beginning, I think it’s a great series for drivers who are looking for a lot of performance and not the entire expense that’s involved in GT3,” Sofronas said. “The cars are a blast to drive, a ton of power, and as soon as the grids get a little bit bigger I think you’ll see people following suit.”

The entire GMG racing team was at Indianapolis with a heavy heart, however, running in remembrance of crew member Bryce Cords.

“The nose of Kyle’s Porsche, we have a tribute to Bryce, who lost his life two weeks ago tragically in a car accident,” Sofronas said. “He was such a fighter and a warrior, and he was the guy who would be in the pits ready to jump on anything. He’s incredibly missed. We’re all sad, so we put the tribute mustache that he used to sport on Kyle’s car to keep him with us.”

GMG Racing continues to march forward, and its next appearance will come on the biggest stage in motorsports in front of hundreds of thousands of fans at the U.S. Grand Prix. Washington will run the finale of Porsche Carrera Cup North America at Circuit of the Americas in Austin, Texas, October 20-22 in the team’s next on-track appearance.

Ready to Represent On and Off the Track this Weekend at Rennsport Reunion 7 at WeatherTech Raceway Laguna Seca

This weekend’s Rennsport Reunion at WeatherTech Raceway Laguna Seca is the seventh edition of the largest gathering of Porsche enthusiasts in the world and GMG Racing will be an active part of the event on and off the track. A premier Porsche race shop and street high-performance center based in Southern California, GMG Racing fields a pair of Porsches in two different Rennsport Reunion 7 (RR7) on-track events in addition to running a pair of contemporary 992-generation Porsche 911 GT3 Cup cars in the weekend’s IMSA Porsche Deluxe Carrera Cup North America doubleheader.

GMG Racing will also be in full force in RR7’s Hagerty Marketplace in booth space No. 23 where fellow Porsche enthusiasts can learn all about the latest GMG Racing product information and talk racing and high-performance for the street with the GMG Racing team.

“We had one of our first major professional race wins at Laguna Seca back in 2009 and, along with another win that year at Long Beach (pictured at top), it really launched GMG Racing to the next level as a top Porsche team almost 15 years ago,” James Sofronas, GMG Racing Founder and Principal, said. “For me, it’s just sentimental and means a lot, and Rennsport Reunion is a special event. We’ll be running both IMSA Carrera Cup and our 2009 winner and another car in Rennsport events, and we consider WeatherTech Raceway Laguna Seca our home track. For me, I’m super excited.”

Kyle Washington leads GMG Racing’s IMSA Carrera Cup effort and arrives in Monterey with the momentum of back-to-back podium finishes two weeks ago in the most recent series doubleheader at Indianapolis Motor Speedway (IMS). Washington drove the No. 32 GMG Racing Porsche 911 GT3 Cup (pictured above) to third-place Pro-Am class finishes on both Saturday and Sunday and looks to step further up on the podium this weekend at WRLS.

The GMG Carrera Cup entry also includes the No. 11 GMG Racing Porsche 911 GT3 Cup for longtime GMG Racing teammate Blake McDonald who makes his series debut. Sofronas and the team have worked closely with McDonald since he purchased a Porsche 911 GT2 RS from GMG Racing over two years ago.

“Blake has really come a long way since we first started working with him and is ready for another step in his driver development,” Sofronas said. “As this is the first Rennsport Reunion in five years, and the first with Carrera Cup North America that debuted just a few years ago, Blake and GMG thought this would be the ideal venue for his series debut.”

An accomplished race and championship-winning driver in his own right, Sofronas will get behind the wheel this weekend of the same 997-generation No. 14 Porsche 911 GT3 Cup car he drove to the Laguna Seca and Long Beach Speed World Challenge GT victories in 2009. The car was sold to a customer in 2010 and remained in that ownership until Sofronas purchased the car back last year. The highly-competitive Flacht Cup race at RR7 – which features pristine and period-correct 993, 996 and 997 GT Cup RSR and RS cars from around the world – has been the target event for Sofronas ever since this important part of GMG’s history returned to the team in 2022.

“The guys worked hard to get that car back together since its been dormant for 12 years,” said Sofronas (pictured below). “Business first, client-work first and then we worked on this one on some late nights and on the weekends. That car was my first real pro effort for a championship and is an important part of our history at GMG Racing.

“Back then, the (Randy) Pobsts and (Michael) Galatis and (Andy) Pilgrims of the world were great competitors and forced me to step up my game when I was just up and coming,” Sofronas said. “Those were factory efforts and we were a small, customer team. Competing at that level meant a lot and really helped us launch our business. I’m nostalgic and it’s a little emotional. I’m 55 years old now, so to look back, those were some glory years.”

The Flacht Cup race Sunday at 2:25 p.m. PDT will be the first for Sofronas since sustaining a back injury in an incident at Road America in mid-August. Sofronas has made an ahead-of-schedule recovery but still doesn’t plan to race the 997 as hard as he did when he won in the car in World Challenge competition 15 years ago in Monterey.

“I’ve just got to take care of my back,” Sofronas said. “I’m going to take it easy in the race per doctor’s orders and remember all those amazing races we had 15 years ago. I’m happy to have the car back under our stable.”

In addition to the Flacht Cup, GMG Racing fields a more contemporary classic for Washington in RR7’s GT Exhibiton Lap sessions. Washington will wheel his No. 32 GMG Racing Porsche 991.2 GT3R in the exhibition sessions run throughout the four days off RR7 on-track activity.

Off the track, GMG Racing products and personnel can be found at the RR7 Hagerty Marketplace in booth space No. 23 where fellow Porsche enthusiasts can talk racing and high-performance for the street with GMG Racing team members and learn about the latest GMG Racing products for the street and the track.

GMG Racing Scores Two Carrera Cup Podiums, Strong IMSA Pilot Challenge Run at Indianapolis Motor Speedway

GMG Racing’s drivers and Porsche machinery completed all 193 laps possible in five hours and 20 minutes of racing over two days at Indianapolis Motor Speedway, with Kyle Washington taking home a pair of class podiums in Porsche Carrera Cup North America and teaming with Jeroen Bleekemolen for a lead lap finish in the dark in IMSA Michelin Pilot Challenge.

Washington opened the weekend by qualifying the No. 32 GMG Racing Porsche 911 GT3 Cup fifth in the Pro-Am class of Porsche Carrera Cup. In Saturday’s first race, he kept his cool during the opening lap to move to third place. Washington spent the caution-free sprint matching the lap times of his class competition, pulling to the finish line third.

His Sunday run nearly mirrored Saturday’s, with Washington avoiding a chaotic opening lap that ended the day for some. He settled into a rhythm after a long caution period and once again Washington held strong in third place to the checkered flag.

“What I’m most pleased about is Kyle’s race pace,” James Sofronas, GMG Racing Founder and Principal, said. “He’s been able to put in consistent, fast laps to stay up front and contend for podiums. In that regard, he’s making great progress and I take a lot of pride in seeing him evolve over the years and develop as a great driver. It’s fun to see his progress in the Cup car, which he really loves racing. It’s a pure race car that really commands driver skill and focus, and he’s stepped up to the task.”

From Saturday’s Carrera Cup podium celebration, Washington jumped almost immediately into the No. 32 GMG Racing Porsche 718 Cayman GT4 RS Clubsport for the four-hour Pilot Challenge race. Despite a light rain varying the grip level throughout his stint on slick tires, Washington held onto the lead lap throughout the run and passed the car to Bleekemolen for the final two hours, 20 minutes.

With various fuel strategies in play up and down the field, GMG Racing made their best calls during some late-race caution periods and the No. 32 team secured a lead-lap finish in 14th place.

“It was a good race,” Bleekemolen said. “We learned a lot, it was a good, fun weekend and hopefully we can build on this and get even better.”

The pair of podiums for Washington in Carrera Cup were his second and third of the year, and the first time that he’s earned back-to-back trophies.

“The weekend has been super fun,” Washington said. “It’s been a ton of driving, and I’m ready for a beer and some football.”

With bookend trophies in hand on Sunday morning, Washington earned some rest before his return to the track at Porsche Rennsport Reunion VII, September 28 to October 1 at WeatherTech Raceway Laguna Seca. The GMG Racing team will be racing a variety of cars at Porsche Rennsport Reunion, the weekend-long celebration of the racing heritage of Porsche. More details on the GMG Racing entries will be announced in the near future.