CHAMPIONS – that says it all. Blake McDonald, Porsche Sprint Challenge West Pro-Am 2024 Champion, Kevin Woods, Porsche Sprint Challenge West Masters 2024 Champion, and BRracing Motorsports, 2024 Porsche Sprint Challenge Team Champion.
There is so much that can be said about the 2024 Porsche Sprint Challenge Series, and the pursuit by our customers for the coveted title. Large fields, diverse tracks, stiff competition…yet, the endless pursuit of the goal of the championship was achieved by both Blake and Kevin. Focused, steadfast, consistent, and endless hours of testing and practice achieved amazing results.
There were 6 events in the 2024 season, 12 races. Tracks in the 2024 series were: Spring Mountain (Las Vegas), Utah Motorsports Complex, Circuit of the Americas (COTA, Austin TX), Laguna Seca, Road America, and Sonoma Raceway. Of those 6 events, 3 of them were “cross over” events where the Porsche Sprint Challenge East series would join (Cicuit of the Americas (COTA), Road America, and the season finale at Sonoma Raceway). In addition, the series would add a new championship to the program, an “Enduro” set of events, which would carry it’s own championship.
Points are awarded for each event that a contestant enters, for their finishing position, and an additional point is awarded for qualifying on “pole” for the event (only one pole per event, while there are two races per event). Points are weighted towards participation more than results…meaning, that if all contestants entered every event, the points would be very tight all thru the season, the points gap separating the contestants very small. However, if a contestant didn’t enter an event, they would get no points…a heavy price to pay. The most points that can we won in an event is 60 for the race win, and 1 point for winning “pole”. Therefore, a sweep of the weekend could earn a contestant 121 points (1 (pole) + 60 (race 1 win) + 60 (race 2 win)). There were four championships for the contestants (992 Cup Pro-Am, 992 Cup Masters (for those aged 50 and over), Cayman Clubsport Pro-Am, and Cayman Clubsport Masters.
In addition to the individual championships, there was also a team championship. This also favored teams that had entries in all the series categories (992 Cup Pro-Am, 992 Cup Masters, Cayman Clubsport Pro-Am, Cayman Clubsport Masters).
Blake McDonald – BRracing Motorsports – 2024 Porsche Sprint Challenge West 992 Cup Pro-Am Champion
Blake made a meteoric rise in 2024. Running in the series for the first time in 2023, Blake thru the first half of the 2023 season was averaging about a mid-field result. Blake joined BRracing Motorsport in the middle of the 2023 season, and his results steadily improved, and by the end of the 2023 season, Blake recorded his first podium in the Porsche Sprint Challenge Series. Blake carried this momentum into the 2023-2024 winter period, and set out to work, work hard on his driving and his consistency. His performance improved every month (started testing in October 2023 and all the way thru to just before the start of the 2024 season (first event, Spring Mountain, in March 2024)). Blake had one goal in mind, the championship, and was determined to achieve that goal. He was always immediately one of the fastest at every track, never spun all season, never put a foot wrong, improved all season long, took guidance and implemented it, and had ice in his veins as he drove. His race craft, his cunning, his planning, his setup…all were moving him towards his goal. The epic pass he made at Road America to take the lead is one we will never forget. He planned that move for 3 laps, and it took 5 turns to pull it off, but he made the move, made the pass, made it stick, and motored off to the win.
Blake immediately put his improved performance to the test, and the results were amazing:
Spring Mountain – Race #1 (winner), Race #2 (winner)
Utah – Race #1 (winner), Race #2 (winner), and pole
Circuit of the Americas (COTA) – Race #1 (2nd place), Race #2 (2nd place)
Laguna Seca – Race #1 (3rd place), Race #2 (winner), and pole
Road America – Race #1 (winner), Race #2 (2nd place)
Sonoma – Race #1 (8th place), Race #2 (winner), and pole
Championship – winner w 106 points over 2nd place!!!
Kevin Woods – BRracing Motorsports – 2024 Porsche Sprint Challenge West 992 Cup Masters Champion
Kevin is no stranger to winning championships, but this was his first attempt in the 992 Cup category. The competition was very stiff, but Kevin, when he sets his sights on a goal, is tunnel vision focused on nothing else. He will pour himself into the work, the practice, the testing, the data, the analytics, the workouts, the physical training, with a singular purpose in mind. You can see his approach every event. He gets out there in the first practice, doesn’t seem to be setting the track on fire, actually seems a little conservative, but them, defines the objective for each subsequent session, and chips away at the lap time. Every session is faster, every session he moves himself forward in the grid. By the time qualifying comes around, you can bet that Kevin will be contending for pole (and pole for his category, “Masters”)…while he might have been able to challenge for overall pole, that didn’t matter, that wasn’t the goal, the goal was pole for the Masters class. Never missing a beat, never putting a foot wrong. The 2024 season results demonstrate that focus on his goal.
Kevin previously won in the Porsche series, back in 2016, the first year for the new Porsche GT4 Clubsport, w BRracing Motorsport, and then went off to win multiple championships in Shifter Karts. He used all that experience to parlay his skill into the 2024 Championship.
Spring Mountain – Race #1 (6th place), Race #2 (winner)
Utah – Race #1 (winner), Race #2 (2nd place)
Circuit of the Americas (COTA) – Race #1 (winner), Race #2 (winner)
Laguna Seca – Race #1 (winner), Race #2 (winner), and pole
Road America – Race #1 (winner), Race #2 (winner)
Sonoma – Race #1 (winner), Race #2 (winner), and pole
Championship – winner w 135 points over 2nd place!!!
Team Champion – BRracing Motorsports
The team championship awards points in each category to the highest finishing car for that team. If a team had a car in 992 Cup Pro-Am, 992 Cup Masters, Cayman Clubsports Pro-Am, and Cayman Clubsports Masters, they would have a chance to maximize points for the championship. BRracing had amazing results, with Blake winning the 992 Cup championship (and amazing race results), Kevin winning the 992 Cup Master championship (and amazing results as well), but no cars in 2024 in the Cayman Clubsports classes. Going into the final event of the year, BRracing Motorsports were in 2nd place in the Team Championship. However, with the pole, wins by Blake and Kevin, BRracing scored enough points to move into first place, and secure the 2024 Team Championship.
A team championship is just that…an award that recognizes the full results and contribution of the team. BRracing Motorsport had worked hard in developing one of the finest crews and team in the series. Every position contributed, and we had one of the best groups of individuals assembled, who all worked hard, committed to the goals, and went beyond to bring the best result. At this level, there are a lot of individuals that contribute to the team. This is no small undertaking, but the mountain to climb was tall as well.
BRracing Motorsports is the first team to win “back to back” championships, taking the crown in 2023, and now again in 2024. Thank you to all that contributed to this amazing success. Thanks to all our customers, none of this would be possible without you.
