The 2021 SRO America season begins this week at Sonoma Raceway with a series of double headers for the GT World Challenge America, GT America, and TC America, and DXDT Racing has a full squad of sports cars ready to hit the ground running. The team’s fleet of five cars will proudly sport the branding of longtime partner CrowdStrike Racing under their new mantra “Win as One.”
The customer racing team’s efforts will be led by the three-car Mercedes AMG GT3 lineup in the Fanatec GT World Challenge America powered by AWS. The race weekend will consist of two double headers, each 90 minutes long. The series format requires two drivers per car to share the driving duties of the race weekend. David Askew and Ryan Dalziel will return to the No. 63 Mercedes, as well as George Kurtz and Colin Braun to the No. 04 Mercedes. Erin Vogel and Michael Cooper are the newest pair to the team, racing the No. 19 Mercedes. All three parings will race in the Pro/Am class, along with the returning Pro/Pro and Am classes.
As previously announced, CJ Moses and the No. 58 Mercedes AMG GT3 will run in the new GT America series, a new opportunity for bronze rated drivers with GT2, GT3, and GT4 machinery. George Kurtz will also take part in the new series this weekend in the No. 04 Mercedes AMG GT3, taking advantage of the additional track time. The pair of forty-minute races only require one driver, with the various of class competitions varied by the type of machinery.
All eyes in TC America will be on Kevin Boehm, the TCA class winner in the 2020 championship standings. He had a highly successful season, securing not only the Drivers championship title, but also Rookie of the Year. Following his strong debut, this weekend he will advance to the TC class in his No. 9 Honda Performance Development Civic Type R. The TC America format will also be comprised of a pair of 40-minute races, with one driver per car.
As a new race season begins for the Fanatec GT World Challenge America powered by AWS, DXDT Racing and Crowdstrike Racing have again partnered with Operation Motorsport, a veteran-led not-for-profit based in based in Brighton, Ontario. Operation Motorsport works with teams across professional auto racing to engage ill and injured service members and veterans affected by military service in an effort to aid in their recovery and rehabilitation.
The program primarily aids veterans unable to get the chance to complete their service, placing them within organizations such as DXDT and Crowdstrike Racing. The supportive team environment creates a community for them to grow and have purpose with application of their skill sets, joining the race programs to assist with paddock operations and standard race weekend preparations. The service members are completely embedded in their assigned team, working the entire race weekends as one of the crew.
For the 2021 race season, Staff Sgt. William Babineau (Ret.) and Staff Sgt. Katrina Williams will work in the GT World Challenge America series on the No. 04 CrowdStrike/AWS/DXDT Racing Mercedes-AMG GT3, as crew on the car driven by George Kurtz and Colin Braun.
Sgt Cody Reinecker (Ret.) and Chief Master Sergeant (Ret.) Craig Neri will join the crew of Kevin Boehm’s No. 9 CrowdStrike/AWS/DXDT Honda Performance Development Civic Type R TC for the TC America Powered by Skip Barber Racing School championship.
CrowdStrike, the Official Internet and Cloud Security provider for GT World Challenge, has helped organize the placement of veterans in its racing programs during the last four years. Operation Motorsport is one of many veteran programs that CrowdStrike supports corporately. It is active in many avenues of placing veterans in employment opportunities with the aim of helping service members integrate into private workplaces. The continued partnership between DXDT Racing, CrowdStrike, and Operation Motorsport will plant the seeds for a better a better future for veterans, long after the 2021 race season.
The customer racing program DXDT Racing has assembled reflects the team’s continued growth after a fruitful 2020 season, followed by the transition to a new 20,000 square-foot race shop in Statesville, North Carolina, and a strengthened partnership with CrowdStrike Racing. Under General Manager Erin Gahagan’s steady leadership, the team has added Gary Penission as the crew chief, and Stephan Pfeiffer as race engineer, and Carlo Vermeulen returns as race engineer. With pre-season testing concluded, each of the team’s entries look to be early championship contenders. All qualifying and race sessions for the season opener at Sonoma Raceway will air live at YouTube.com/GTWorld. For full event information, visit sro-america.com.