CrowdStrike Racing is back in action this weekend in SRO Motorsports America competition with two championship-contending entries set to race at NOLA Motorsports Park, just outside of New Orleans, La.
George Kurtz, Colin Braun and Kevin Boehm are set for doubleheader duty in the second race weekend for both Fanatec GT World Challenge America Powered by AWS and TC America Powered by Skip Barber Racing School. All three racers enter the weekend at or near the top of their respective championship points standings.
Kurtz – co-founder and CEO of CrowdStrike – and Braun will team for a pair of 90-minute, two-driver races in GT World Challenge America. The duo are set to drive the No. 04 CrowdStrike/AWS Mercedes-AMG GT3 for CrowdStrike Racing by Riley Motorsports.
The race at NOLA replaces the previously scheduled event at Ozarks International Raceway.
"I'm looking forward to the trip to NOLA Motorsports Park. It's a new track to a lot of us and should provide a good challenge,” Kurtz said. “The most important thing about going to a new track for the first time is figuring out car setup and how the tires will react to the racing surface. Track position will be an important part of success at NOLA with some tight spaces for passing. With clean racing and smart team strategy, I think it will be a great weekend for everyone at CrowdStrike Racing by Riley Motorsports."
The combination of Kurtz, Braun, Mercedes-AMG and Riley Technologies was a successful one during the season’s opening event at Sonoma Raceway in April. There, the No. 04 CrowdStrike/AWS Mercedes took runner-up and third-place finishes and secured second in GT World Challenge championship points.
More wins and podium finishes are the goal for CrowdStrike Racing throughout the rest of the year.
“I am excited to get to NOLA for Round Two of GT World Challenge America competition,” Braun said. “The CrowdStrike team had a very successful opening weekend in Sonoma and we have a lot to build on. I haven’t raced at NOLA but I have been there for a PR event and to do a bit of coaching, so I’m familiar with the track. It’s going to be fun and challenging to race at a ‘new-to-me’ and ‘new-to-SRO’ track. As a team there will be a bit of a learning curve as we learn the track, where we’re able to pass, and what the No. 04 Mercedes-AMG will need from a setup standpoint to be fast. George is driving really well and the Riley Motorsports team has been doing an excellent job. I have no doubt we’ll be efficient and get right down to work.”
In TC America, Boehm is off to a stellar start in his No. 9 CrowdStrike/AWS Honda Performance Development Civic Type R TC. Already with a TCA title under his belt from the 2020 season and a runner-up TC points finish in 2021, Boehm began this year by winning both races at Sonoma and claimed one pole position during the weekend to serve notice that he will be the Touring Car category’s top contender during the season.
“This should be another good weekend,” Boehm said. “We learned in 2020 that the schedule can change at any minute, so we’re used to being flexible. In the end, we're switching from one track that I've never been to before to… another track that I've never been to before. So I am going to approach NOLA exactly the same way. Obviously we were very happy with the results from Sonoma, but it won’t be that easy every weekend. There are too many good drivers and good cars in this series. But I’m confident that with the support of everyone at CrowdStrike and Operation Motorsport, we can contend and challenge for more wins at NOLA.”
In addition to being a competitor, CrowdStrike also will be present in the Big Easy as the Official Internet and Cloud Security Partner of SRO and GT World Challenge. It is another new venue and market for CrowdStrike – a leader in cloud-delivered protection of endpoints, cloud workloads, identity and data. That puts CrowdStrike on the front line of protecting data and preventing security breaches, while also being on the starting line in many of SRO America’s racing categories – including the premier GT World Challenge America.
The company’s powerful Falcon also is the dominant feature on all CrowdStrike Racing entries in SRO America competition, another point of leverage that racing provides to tell the CrowdStrike story.
CrowdStrike and Operation Motorsport
Another important part of the CrowdStrike Racing program weaving through the weekend will be the involvement of Operation Motorsport. A not-for-profit, OpMo provides a chance for medically retiring service members and disabled veterans to use their skill sets in a variety of areas including paddock operations, car and tire prep, marketing, social media and other key areas that are part of a racing program.
The NOLA weekend continues a proud tradition of CrowdStrike supporting veterans and the Operation Motorsport program. Three OpMo beneficiaries will continue to be part of the CrowdStrike family at NOLA: Craig Neri, Retired – U.S. Air Force, and Air Force Technical Sgt. Michael Neri work on Boehm’s TC program as a crew member; and U.S. Army Sgt. Troy Bailey will serve as a tire specialist for CrowdStrike Racing with Riley Motorsports. All three carried on the OpMo mantra of “Recovery Through Motorsports #OneAtATime.”
CrowdStrike also is a proud part of American Corporate Partners (ACP), which provides CrowdStrike mentors for service members looking to transition to the private sector, and a partner with HireMilitary, to provide meaningful internship experiences to service members exiting the military via the DoD SkillBridge program.
CrowdStrike and CrowdStrike Racing by Riley Motorsports compete at NOLA Motorsports Park in Fanatec GT World Challenge Powered by AWS and TC America Powered by Skip Barber Racing School from May 20-22.Watch livestreams of the NOLA races at youtube.com/GTWorld.
For more information, visit CrowdStrikeRacing.com. Follow #CrowdStrikeRacing on Twitter, Instagram, Facebook and LinkedIn for updates.
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