Big Plans for CrowdStrike in 2022 SRO Motorsports America

Big Plans for CrowdStrike in 2022 SRO Motorsports America
  • CrowdStrike continues as Official Internet and Cloud Security Provider
  • CXO Summits to continue as cornerstone of VIP guest experience
  • Kurtz, Braun, Moses, Boehm set for action in CrowdStrike Racing entries

AUSTIN, Texas (Feb. 11, 2022) – CrowdStrike – a leader in cloud-delivered protection of endpoints, cloud workloads, identity and data – is preparing for its fifth consecutive year of activation and competition in SRO Motorsports America.

A long-time sponsor of SRO America, CrowdStrike will continue in its role as Official Internet and Cloud Security Partner for 2022, which includes securing SRO global entities with the industry leading  CrowdStrike Falcon platform and hosting exclusive events for enterprise security leaders at upcoming races. Additionally, CrowdStrike will expand its SRO sponsorship to Europe this year.

Experiencing CrowdStrike

Activation and experiential programs are at the core of what CrowdStrike brings to each SRO event. At-track hospitality, team meet-and-greets and opportunities to take part in official pre and post-race ceremonies are included as part of the CrowdStrike VIP experience. The Sonoma race in April will be presented by CrowdStrike, and will feature friends and family events for CrowdStrike Racing fans.

Additionally, CrowdStrike and Amazon Web Services (AWS) have partnered to offer unique weekend CXO Summits - private, C-level cybersecurity discussions hosted by CrowdStrike and AWS executives on security issues facing organizations across a variety of industries. The meetings include security thought leaders across all industries, allowing for deep discussions on best practices, forecasts and solutions to the high-pressure challenges faced by Chief Information Security Officers (CISOs) in their roles. CXO Summits will take place at the high-profile Nashville Music City Grand Prix in August and the Indianapolis Eight Hour in October. 

The 2022 season will see CrowdStrike expand its guest and VIP hospitality programs into select European venues including CXO Summits in new markets. CrowdStrike and AWS will hold the first European CXO Summit for industry leaders from around Europe at a race to be revealed in due course.  

CrowdStrike Falcon

Through its participation in SRO, CrowdStrike showcases its achievements on the track, as well as its capabilities in combating online threats and stopping breaches, to a global audience through its participation in racing and its protection of SRO worldwide entities with the Falcon platform.

Powered by the CrowdStrike Security Cloud, the Falcon Platform provides unprecedented levels of security to automatically stop data breaches and attacks like ransomware by protecting the most critical areas of risk: endpoints, cloud workloads, identity and data.  Like its racing teams, CrowdStrike’s Falcon platform delivers superior performance at speeds that are unrivaled. The SRO America competition provides us another point of leverage to tell the CrowdStrike story.

CrowdStrike Competition

It’s an exciting time for CrowdStrike as the program is elevating its presence in three premier SRO classes: Fanatec GT World Challenge America Powered by AWS, GT America Powered by AWS and TC America Powered by Skip Barber Racing School.

GT World Challenge America features Pro, Pro-Am and Am categories with two-driver entries from some of the world’s leading manufacturers. For the fourth consecutive year, CrowdStrike Racing aligns with Mercedes-AMG for a full-season program featuring CrowdStrike co-founder and chief executive officer George Kurtz and his teammate Colin Braun. The pair will race the No. 04 CrowdStrike/AWS Mercedes-AMG GT3 under the CrowdStrike Racing by Riley Motorsports banner in the 13-round championship that visits seven tracks throughout the United States. The season begins at Sonoma Raceway on April 15-17.

Kurtz and Braun have won five times together since 2020, including twice last season. Each victory has come in the Mercedes-AMG. The car is a known quantity to Riley Motorsports, which has multiple race wins and championships to its credit with the front-engine GT3 car. Additionally, Kurtz and Braun will once again team up for the Total 24 Hours of Spa this year to compete against Europe’s finest teams and drivers

GT World Challenge America races are 90 minutes with a mandatory pit stop and driver change per contest. In contrast, GT America Powered by AWS is a 40-minute, single-driver competition with races on many of the same weekends as GT World Challenge.

Kurtz also will campaign a Mercedes-AMG fielded by CrowdStrike Racing by Riley Motorsports in GT America. Kurtz, who has the distinction of being the first driver to win a race in the series, which debuted in 2021, has won two GT America races and is hoping to add more plus a championship in 2022.

“I’m very excited for the 2022 season in SRO America and the continued activities being produced by our growing partnership. I am also looking forward to our new alliance with Riley Motorsports and making great things happen on the track,” Kurtz said. “We have worked diligently to put all the pieces in place for championship runs in GT World Challenge and GT America. Our team is talented and we are ready to execute and win.”

Returning team member Braun is also excited to get the season started. “I’m looking forward to joining George and the CrowdStrike Racing team once again for the 2022 GT World Challenge America season,” he said. “As a team we’ve made big strides over the years and I think our new alliance with Riley Motorsports is one more step in the right direction. I have no doubt we’ll have the Mercedes-AMG GT3 dialed in for the start of the season and feel like we have all the pieces in place to go win a championship this year!”

Kurtz isn’t the only CrowdStrike Racing driver to return to GT America competition. CJ Moses is set for a partial season run in the series with an Audi Sport R8 LMS GT2, the most powerful Audi customer racing car produced by the German manufacturer.

In five races during the inaugural GT America season, Moses posted a pair of top-five finishes with his best finish of fourth at Virginia International Raceway. He will race with GMG Racing, a team with which he raced in 2019 in an Audi Sport R8 GT4 entry.

“This is going to be a fantastic year in GT America,” Moses said. “I was really impressed with the level of talent and number of entries in the first season a year ago. The competition will make us all better drivers. I can’t wait to get started and be back with GMG for 2022.”

Kurtz and Moses begin the GT America Powered by AWS season at the St. Petersburg (Fla.) Grand Prix street circuit event Feb. 24-26.

In TC America, 2020 TCA Driver Champion Kevin Boehm is back with CrowdStrike Racing for another year in the TC category. Boehm won three times last year - including the season-finale at Indianapolis - and placed second in TC points. It came a year after Boehm won six races during his TCA debut season and also claimed the class Rookie of the Year award, Team of the Year in TC, and won the Driver Championship in TCA.

For 2022, he will be back driving a CrowdStrike-liveried Honda Civic Type R TC in a soon-to-be-announced program.

“This is going to be an exciting year,” Boehm said. “Last year’s TC season was a huge learning experience in adjusting to a new car and new competitors. Second place in the championship with CrowdStrike was a big deal. I’m eager to take that one step higher and get us back into the championship position for 2022.”