The path to the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship Le Mans Prototype 2 (LMP2) title was anything but straightforward for George Kurtz, Alex Quinn, Toby Sowery, and the #04 ORECA LMP2 07 for CrowdStrike Racing by APR team.
In a grueling 10-hour trial in Saturday night’s wild Motul Petit Le Mans at Michelin Raceway Road Atlanta, the trio weathered penalties, contact, and sudden downpours to capture both the race victory and the season championship.
Adversity struck early for the #04 entry when an incident responsibility penalty handed the team a drive-through, dropping them a full lap down from the class leaders. After battling back and finding the class lead, the team’s troubles compounded following contact with their closest championship rival, Tom Dillmann, in the #43 Inter Europol Competition entry (shared with Jeremy Clarke and Bijoy Garg). The collision, which took place with 1h47m remaining, forced the CrowdStrike crew into a rapid rear-clip change in the pits.
Reflecting on the early chaotic moments, Quinn highlighted the pit crew’s rapid response.
“The whole race, not just that incident, was pretty chaotic,” Quinn said. “… In the beginning it didn’t seem like things were going our way. Of course, yeah, we got back in it. That incident with Tommy, that was tricky. We had damage on the car. I guess it’s a chance to thank the team because they repaired it insanely quickly, kept us actually on the lead lap, and in some ways it maybe helped us because a fuel advantage, the next yellow came, we cycled back to the front. Tom got a penalty for it. That switched the positions.
“Yeah, I was frustrated at the time, but that’s actually when I did a lot of my best laps during the race. I guess everything happens for a reason. In the end it all worked out.”
Sowery’s slicks in the rain
#04: Crowdstrike Racing by APR, ORECA LMP2 07, LMP2: George Kurtz, Alex Quinn, Toby Sowery during the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship Motul Petit Le Mans on October 3, 2026 at Road Atlanta in Braselton, Georgia
Photo by: Photo by Jake Galstad / Lumen via Getty Images
The turning point of the race came courtesy of Endurance Cup addition Sowery. As rain began falling over the 2.54-mile, 12-turn natural terrain road course, the team opted to keep Sowery on slick tires while rival entries pitted for wet weather rubber. Sowery delivered a masterful run in keeping the car on track and making passes on wet-shod competitors to single-handedly erase the team’s early deficit.
Asked about his mindset during the treacherous stint on slick tires, Sowery kept it simple:
“Oh, shit, don’t crash,” Sowery said.
“The teams have a lot of good guys that sit on the pit wall. If they say the call is slicks, I trust them. Obviously they trust the input that I give back,” Sowery explained. “It was about a 50/50 call. Could have gone one way or the other. I think we gave the brave choice, the option today, and that paid off for us. Whether or not it would have dictated any positions in the race, I don’t really know. To be able to go out there and kind of show that we’re still as quick as the other P2s on wet tires was quite fun.”
“First few laps were pretty sketchy. To know you have two or three drivers on wets trying to get past you in turn one isn’t easy, but it’s part of racing. We’re not here to make friends, we’re here to fight for positions,” he added. “I had a good time. Didn’t make any mistakes, thankfully, and brought the car back. Being English, we’re used to that sketchy weather.”
Kurtz praised his teammate’s stint, emphasizing how critical it was to their ultimate victory.
“I think ‘Herculean’ understates what this guy did in the rain. I mean, it was crazy,” Kurtz said. “To be able to put it all on the line in a one-race shootout that had so many ups and downs, to actually have it all fall into place to get the win and the championship after so much hard work that we put in, the team put in, it’s a lifelong dream.”
A thrilling finish and historic milestones
#04: Crowdstrike Racing by APR, ORECA LMP2 07, LMP2: George Kurtz, Alex Quinn, Toby Sowery celebrate their championship in victory lane during the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship Motul Petit Le Mans on October 3, 2026 at Road Atlanta in Braselton, Georgia
Photo by: Photo by Michael L. Levitt / Lumen via Getty Images
Following the final round of pit stops, Quinn vaulted to the lead and then was left holding off a hard-charging Dillmann by a narrow 0.666s margin at the checkered flag to seal the win after 10 full hours of racing.
The dramatic finish secured a sweep for the team, as they also clinched the Endurance Cup LMP2 title over AO Racing, who entered the finale with a slim one-point lead.
The victory marks the fourth LMP2 class win for Kurtz (fifth total) and the second for both Quinn and Sowery. It is the first IMSA championship title for all three drivers. Additionally, Kurtz made history by becoming the first repeat winner of the IMSA Jim Trueman Award, having also won it in 2023. The honor awards the top-ranked Bronze-rated LMP2 driver an invitation to the following year’s 24 Hours of Le Mans – a race where Kurtz, Quinn, and Colin Braun previously took the LMP2 Pro/Am class victory earlier this year.
Speaking on the weight of achieving his first IMSA title, Kurtz reflected on the fierce competition in the class.
“Well, it’s been elusive,” Kurtz said. “I think it’s just sort of a crowning achievement. We talked about the level of the drivers in IMSA just in general. When you look up and down the P2 lineup, it’s stacked. You have great drivers, some of the best literally in the world.
You have arguably a spec car and you have incredible professional drivers… I’ve won other championships in other series, but to win an IMSA championship is a crowning achievement for me, and the rest of the team as well.”
Quinn echoed the sentiment, praising the team’s resilience and engineering prowess when responding to early setbacks:
“Yeah, 100 percent,” he said. “I said it before and I say it again, we’re so lucky to have this team behind us. We’ve got some fantastic engineers. Without a doubt the engineering in this team is spectacular. The calmness they have, the strategic brains that they have, is very impressive.
“In times like that, we also had a similar case in Road America where we fell back quite late in the race, but they got us back in the race quite quickly. In some ways it makes our life easy. It’s just very nice to have them behind us.”
Quinn was also quick to highlight Sowery’s crucial contribution to the season-ending victory:
“Toby really deserves a huge amount of credit,” Quinn said. “Not necessarily because he didn’t do the full season, he doesn’t get the full credit, and that’s not fair in my opinion. He’s an amazing driver and deserves to be, like me and George, crowned the champion.”
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