CrowdStrike To Make GT3 Debut, Continue GT4 Racing Tradition

CrowdStrike To Make GT3 Debut, Continue GT4 Racing Tradition

– CrowdStrike, along with SINET, will continue to host “CXO Summits,” a series of peer networking events for cybersecurity guests as part of its status as the Official Internet and Cloud Security Provider of the SRO America Championships

– Kurtz, Braun move up to the GT3 class; will campaign the DXDT Racing-prepared No. 04 CrowdStrike/AWS/DXDT Mercedes AMG-GT3

– New to the series, but not new to racing: CJ Moses will race the GMG-prepared No. 04 CrowdStrike/AWS/GMG Racing Audi R8 LMS GT4

Sunnyvale, Calif. — Following CrowdStrike’s major announcement of its enhanced sponsorship of SRO Motorsports America’s Blancpain GT World Challenge America series, the cybersecurity company and its CEO and co-founder, George Kurtz, will partner with DXDT Racing to campaign the No. 04 CrowdStrike/AWS/DXDT Mercedes AMG-GT3 for the 2019 season. Kurtz, the 2017 GTSA class champion of the series previously known as the Pirelli World Challenge, will step up from the GT4 class to race in the GT class, the top tier of this production-based sportscar championship, for the first time. He’ll again partner with the all-star driver Colin Braun for a series of seven races in North America.

Also new for the season will be the introduction of driver CJ Moses. He will race the No. 04 CrowdStrike/AWS/GMG Racing Audi R8 LMS GT4 prepared by Global Motorsports Group (GMG) at select races, continuing a valuable relationship with the successful team that Kurtz raced with for the past two seasons and which helped him clinch the 2017 GTSA championship. Moses has been an ever-present partner of the CrowdStrike Racing program for the past year, an esteemed speaker at the company’s cybersecurity summits, and a sportscar racer for 14 seasons and counting.

The announcement of CrowdStrike’s expanded team and driver lineup comes just after the cybersecurity company and SRO Motorsports Americas increased its series-level partnership, with the leader in cloud-delivered endpoint protection continuing its status as the Official Internet and Cloud Security Provider for the series for the second year running. CrowdStrike will again host its successful CXO Summits at key race events, bringing together luminaries in the cybersecurity industry to meet and discuss the most pressing issues faced by C-level executives.

GT3 Debut
Kurtz and Braun raced a CrowdStrike Racing Audi R8 in the GT4 class for a full season with GMG in 2018, where the duo earned four top-five finishes at premier racetracks across the United States and Canada. For the 2019 season, the pair will switch to the powerful DXDT Racing-prepared Mercedes-AMG GT3. Kurtz and Braun join DXDT’s David Askew and Ryan Dalziel, two experienced drivers who have already honed their racecraft with the Mercedes-AMG machine.

The move up to GT racing is a natural progression for the serial entrepreneur and business leader Kurtz. This year he’ll embark on his third full season with this series and his seventh consecutive year of sportscar competition, which includes two class victories at the 25 Hours of Thunderhill endurance event, a GTSA class championship, and racing experience with McLaren, Aston Martin, Audi, and now, Mercedes — the marque that won the Blancpain GT Series and Blancpain GT Endurance Cup title last season.

“Racing is something I love, and by its very nature, it is a place where pushing yourself to the next level is part of the landscape,” said Kurtz. “Moving up to the GT class with Mercedes is a logical progression, and DXDT Racing is well-prepared to support our 2019 campaign. Having Colin as my co-driver, plus Ryan and David as our teammates, is really exciting. Our existing relationship with GMG and Audi will continue, of course, with CJ’s commitment to their very talented team. I look forward to expanding the CrowdStrike brand within these two teams and again at the series level. Many thanks to sponsors Amazon Web Services, Security Innovation Network, Accel and Ceramic Pro for their partnership.”

Braun, who was recently named the IMSA Prototype Driver of the Year in Sportscar365’s Double Stint podcast, will continue to dedicate part of his successful sportscar career to the CrowdStrike racing effort in addition to running a full season in IMSA’s DPi category. His skillful maneuvers on track while partnered with Kurtz last year attracted plenty of positive attention from fans and competitors alike.

“I am really looking forward to the season with George, CrowdStrike and DXDT Racing,” said Braun, “and I’m excited to be part of George’s continual move up the racing ladder. Getting to co-drive alongside him in all the races and continuing to help him grow will be a lot of fun. Last year, entertaining the CrowdStrike guests let me see the fascination of racing through their eyes, which was really special. I’m sure 2019 will be no different. Having Ryan as a teammate will be great. We’ve driven together in the past and have been friends for a long time. I got to see what the DXDT Racing operation was like being in the same paddock in 2018, and both George and I were impressed. They are a really professional operation that I can’t wait to be a part of — bring on COTA!”

The team preparing the Kurtz/Braun Mercedes-AMG GT3 machine is DXDT Racing, a rapidly-growing race group out of Utah. DXDT Racing made its endurance debut of the Mercedes-AMG GT3 in last season’s California 8 Hours race, taking second place in the Pro-Am class, and also counts a Lamborghini Super Trofeo series championship among its successes.

David Askew, DXDT Racing team owner and driver, is eager to support Kurtz’ foray into GT-level racing in 2019.

“My first priority is to field the best possible car for George and Colin,” Askew said. “I always want them to feel that DXDT Racing put them in the best possible position to win. To that end, DXDT has its work cut out for us, but I know we are up to the challenge. I feel like this is the year for DXDT to showcase what it is capable of. We have great people, some who have been at DXDT for almost four years. It’s time to get it done!

“It has been my dream to become both a driver and a team owner,” Askew said. “I’ve had multi-car teams in the past but have not driven much due to the demands of managing the team. The past year was spent deepening the management bench so I can return to a full-time driver role. I really just want to be told what to do! My goal has also been to become a competent AM endurance driver, meaning I can hold my own for the team. I’m so excited to drive with Ryan and work with George Kurtz and Colin Braun. My hope, and my feeling, is the two teams will complement each other.”

Scottish driver Dalziel has established a track record of success for himself in North American sportscar racing, having won the 2018 Pro/Am Sprint X Championship while balancing multiple top-tier racing series commitments. There’s no doubt he’ll continue to impress with DXDT Racing.

“It was great to see CrowdStrike as a series sponsor and even better to now have them as part of our DXDT Racing family as well,” Dalziel said. “We successfully ran as a one-car team with a second-place finish in the California 8 Hours, so stepping up to a two-car team will be a great benefit, particularly with George and Colin. We should be able to develop our Mercedes-AMG GT3s even quicker on race weekends. As a team, it’s also a cool moment to see DXDT becoming one of the premier teams for 2019.”

GT4 Tradition
CrowdStrike continues its involvement in GT4 with GMG, but with a new driver — and sponsor. Moses will compete in selected GT4 races in 2019. Moses brings both years of racing experience and a boost from Amazon Web Services (AWS), now the Official Cloud and Machine Learning Provider of the series and the title sponsor of the Pirelli GT4 Challenge at Long Beach, to the race paddock.

Since experiencing early success in the Sports Car Club of America (SCCA) in 2005, Moses has never stopped racing. He earned the SCCA National Championship as crew chief of a Touring 2 team in both 2010 and 2011. In 2012 and 2013, Moses earned the series’ Divisional Championships and Driver of the Year Awards. In 2019, he’ll compete in four key Pirelli GT4 America events: St. Petersburg, Long Beach, VIRginia International Raceway and Watkins Glen International.

“I’m honored to be joining George Kurtz driving for CrowdStrike Racing with GMG,” said Moses. “We have an exciting season of CXO Summits planned for our esteemed guests and I look forward to continuing the team’s winning ways as I take the step up to the Pirelli GT4 America series.”

In addition to being a highly regarded speaker at CrowdStrike’s cybersecurity summits, Moses was a team guest in the GMG paddock throughout 2018 when the renowned team swept an incredible three series championships. This further increased Moses’ excitement to carry the CrowdStrike and AWS banner with driver and team owner James Sofronas this season:

“We’re glad to see CJ step into the driver’s seat with us this year,” said Sofronas. “He’s been a positive part of our race paddock for a while now and we’ve all learned that his passion for racing runs deep, so we’re confident he’ll be a real asset to the team. The whole crew welcomes him to the CrowdStrike/AWS/GMG Racing Audi R8 effort.”

High-Performance Networking
CrowdStrike, the award-winning, Silicon Valley-based cybersecurity company is the Official Internet and Cloud Security Provider of the SRO America Championships. For the second year in a row, the leader in cloud-delivered endpoint protection is defending the series’ valuable financial, health and business data from hackers and identity theft. CrowdStrike will continue to host preeminent cybersecurity thought leaders at its CXO Summits, further establishing the fast-growing company as a security leader in the business of racing and beyond. This year, a partnership with the Security Innovation Network (SINET) will introduce more of the world’s foremost innovators in the cybersecurity space to these CXO Summits, advancing the collaborative influence that has become a hallmark of CrowdStrike’s events.

In addition to the brand’s red falcon being placed on every racecar and driver’s suit in the championship, CrowdStrike, along with AWS, will co-sponsor the new GT Paddock Club. This new hospitality and business networking venue in the paddock will foster networking and camaraderie for other series sponsors, invited guests, GT race drivers and team owners. Series partners Pirelli and Purple Monkey Garage will also support the GT Paddock Club for the duration of the race season.

Finally, the second race of the season will be branded as the Pirelli GT4 America St. Petersburg 2019 presented by CrowdStrike. The Florida race will feature both GT4 racing and IndyCar’s season opener on the streets of St. Petersburg.

The parallels between cybersecurity and racing continue to grow. Driven by high performance, relying on defensive and offensive strategies, and harnessing the power of data at high speeds — CrowdStrike has proven itself to be a champion, both on and off the track.

The first race of the GT season will be at the Circuit of The Americas in Austin, Texas, from March 1 to 3. The full schedule can be found at world-challenge.com.

More news and announcements are available at crowdstrikeracing.com and on CrowdStrike Racing’s social media accounts:

Twitter: twitter.com/CrowdStrikeRcng
Instagram: instagram.com/crowdstrikeracing
Facebook: fb.me/CrowdStrikeRacing
LinkedIn: linkedin.com/company/crowdstrike-racing


About CrowdStrike®
CrowdStrike, a cybersecurity technology company, is the leader in cloud-delivered endpoint protection. Leveraging artificial intelligence (AI), the CrowdStrike Falcon® platform offers instant visibility and protection across the enterprise and prevents attacks on endpoints on or off the network. CrowdStrike Falcon deploys in minutes to deliver actionable intelligence and real-time protection from Day One. It seamlessly unifies next-generation AV with best-in-class endpoint detection and response, backed by 24/7 managed hunting. Its cloud infrastructure and single-agent architecture take away complexity and add scalability, manageability, and speed.

There’s much more to the story of how Falcon has redefined endpoint protection but there’s only one thing to remember about CrowdStrike: We stop breaches.

Learn more: https://www.crowdstrike.com/
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© 2018 CrowdStrike, Inc. All rights reserved. CrowdStrike®, CrowdStrike Falcon®, are among the trademarks of CrowdStrike, Inc. Other brands may be third-party trademarks.

About DXDT Racing
DXDT Racing LLC is a high-performance sports car racing team founded by team principal David Askew in 2014 and located in Salt Lake City, UT. The Team’s primary focus is on GT3 and GT4 racing in North America. The team has fielded cars in various racing series such as SRO’s Blancpain GT World Challenge America, IMSA’s Michelin Pilot Challenge, and Lamborghini’s Super Trofeo series. Although the team is young, DXDT is comprised of a group of highly experienced professionals with championship winning backgrounds.

About GMG Racing
Founded in 2001, GMG has quickly established itself as North America’s premier performance tuning facility. What began as a small 1200 sq. ft. shop, maintaining two race cars, has grown into a 30,000 sq. ft. state of the art performance tuning, racing and service facility located in (Orange County) Santa Ana, California. The staff, attention to detail, and passion are what make GMG the choice of professionals and enthusiasts worldwide. Learn more at gmgracing.com.