CrowdStrike Races to Top-Five GT Finishes in Wisconsin
- Fourth, fifth for Kurtz/Braun pairing in CrowdStrike/AWS/DXDT Mercedes-AMG
- Quick pitwork on display, helped gain track position
- CXO Summit, GT Paddock Club, pre-race parade among highlights at Road America
ELKHART LAKE, Wisc. – CrowdStrike Racing enjoyed a highly successful weekend at Road America in the Blancpain GT World Challenge America. The “National Park of Speed” was very good to CrowdStrike – the Official Internet and Cloud Security Provider for SRO America.
George Kurtz and Colin Braun collected two more top-five finishes on the weekend – making 10 on the season – in the No. 04 CrowdStrike/AWS/DXDT Racing Mercedes-AMG GT3. It came in front of a large group of CrowdStrike supporters and staff who enjoyed trackside hospitality and the surroundings of SRO’s America GT Paddock Club, of which CrowdStrike is a leading sponsor.
That came a day after the latest CrowdStrike CXO Summit – the group’s unique, exclusive program that brings together CrowdStrike guests and VIPs to discuss emerging trends in Internet and cloud cybersecurity. At Road America, guest speakers included CrowdStrike/AWS racing driver CJ Moses as well as Shawn Henry, President of CrowdStrike Services.
Weather and track conditions were pleasant for Saturday’s 90-minute race. Kurtz threw down a strong lap in qualifying earlier in the day to start fourth, and he remained fifth in class until the mandatory pit stop and driver change just past the 40-minute mark. That’s where Braun emerged from the pitlane and set out on a hard charge over the final 50 minutes.
The young American turned up the proverbial wick in the CrowdStrike Mercedes-AMG in the final 15 minutes and made up nearly 20 seconds on fourth place before a full-course caution late in the race. The restart proved fruitful as Braun nabbed the position shortly after the restart.
Sunday’s Race Two, which aired live on CBS Sports Network, saw Braun start sixth on a rainy day that soaked Road America early, but halted by the time the green flag waved for GT World Challenge. The CrowdStrike Mercedes briefly ran in the top-five before the pit window opened at the 40-minute mark.
The DXDT Racing team brought in Braun right at the halfway point, the crew responded with its fastest pit stop of the weekend to send Kurtz out in pursuit of another top-five finish. Every second counts, indeed…
Kurtz set off with the track still dry and running seventh. He gained a spot back once the pit window closed steadily clicked off laps that brought fifth-place closer and closer. The moment came with 17 minutes left as the CrowdStrike Mercedes-AMG rejoined the top-five. That’s where Kurtz ended the race as the rain held off to the end.
“We had a good overall weekend for us,” Braun said. “Our goal for the start of this year with George being new to GT3 racing and stepping up to this car was to do all the laps in all of these races that we can and gain experience. We’ve knocked off a few podiums, but our big focus has been learning this whole year and making all the laps. George has done a great job of doing that.”
The Blancpain GT World Challenge America closes its season Oct. 18-20 from Las Vegas Motor Speedway with live television coverage of the weekend’s final race on CBS Sports Network. For more information, visit CrowdStrikeRacing.com
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.
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, Utah. 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.
Photos: Sideline Sports Photography, LLC, Darkside Of The Moon
FOLLOW CROWDSTRIKE RACING:
