CrowdStrike Racing Earns Rolex 24 Podium with CORE autosport - Speedway Digest

CrowdStrike Racing and George Kurtz opened the 2022 IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship season with major results in both the competition and commercial arenas at the Rolex 24 At Daytona.

Concluding on Sunday, Kurtz and CORE autosport finished third in the Le Mans Prototype 3 (LMP3) class along with teammates Colin Braun, Jon Bennett and Nic Jonsson. The podium finish came two weeks after Kurtz recorded a runner-up finish in the Dubai 24 Hours to start a busy motorsports season for CrowdStrike Racing.

IMSA also announced Friday that CrowdStrike, a global cybersecurity leader, is now an Official Partner of the sanctioning organization. Among the elements of the partnership agreement are opportunities for CrowdStrike to host CXO Summits for C-level executives at IMSA Michelin Endurance Cup race venues, including the Rolex 24 At Daytona.

Competition

Kurtz’s third-place finish this weekend in LMP3 marked his highest career finish in the Rolex 24. The No. 54 CORE autosport CrowdStrike/Motul/Flexbox Ligier JS P320 completed 721 laps for 2,566.76 miles.

The CrowdStrike-liveried prototype led multiple times, and as late as the 20th hour. Contending for and making the podium was an accomplishment in itself, given the large field of 61 entries across five sports car classes, each with different speed and performance characteristics. It made staying out of trouble and being consistent on the racetrack doubly important.

“I feel good about the performance this weekend,” Kurtz said. “We tried to put ourselves in a position to win, though a few things didn’t go our way, which was a tough break. We had a win in sight potentially, but we were glad to be on the podium. I’m happy CORE gave us a great car and it was a tremendous race. When you consider the weather conditions and the impact on our equipment, I think our podium finish was a testament to the team and drivers.

The week prior to the Rolex 24, Kurtz and Bennett teamed for the first time in the IMSA Prototype Challenge, a three-hour, multi-driver race featuring prototypes similar to what the pairing drove in the Rolex 24. They drove the No. 4 CrowdStrike Racing with D-Motorsports Ligier JS P320 LMP3, which started in the eighth position.

Kurtz didn’t stay there for long and moved up to third place after 20 laps. He moved into the lead on Lap 39 and showed strong pace throughout his stint. He and Bennett went on to place 19th.

Kurtz returns to IMSA competition at the Mobil 1 Twelve Hours of Sebring on March 17-19.

The Daytona Experience

During the twice-around-the-clock race, guests and VIPs at CrowdStrike’s Daytona CXO Summit heard from CrowdStrike President of Services and Chief Security Officer Shawn Henry and Angelo Comazzetto, principal in AWS’ Office of the CISO about security challenges and issues facing organizations across a number of industries. CrowdStrike’s VIP guests also enjoyed the comfort of one of Daytona International Speedway’s hospitality suites as well as experience activities at the IMSA WeatherTech Paddock Club, the Fan Zone and additional attractions.

The weekend marked the second time at Daytona that CrowdStrike played host to a full complement of immersive experiential programs for its guests. The activities helped to highlight how CrowdStrike’s racing accomplishments go hand-in-hand with the company’s industry-leading cybersecurity capabilities and tools.

CrowdStrike – a leader in cloud-delivered protection of endpoints, cloud workloads, identity and data – has redefined security with the world’s most advanced cloud-native platform that protects and enables the people, processes and technologies that drive modern enterprise.

Powered by the CrowdStrike Security Cloud, the Falcon Platform provides unprecedented levels of security to automatically stop data breaches and attacks like ransomware by protecting the most critical areas of risk: endpoints, cloud workloads, identity and data. The Falcon also is the dominant feature in the CrowdStrike Racing livery that was present on Kurtz’s two entries at Daytona. Just like his racing prototypes, the Falcon platform delivers superior performance at speeds that are unrivaled.

CrowdStrike will sponsor the Endurance, Teamwork and Speed Award at the Michelin Endurance Cup races in 2022, recognizing a team in each IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship class that demonstrates the unique qualities needed to be successful in long and grueling IMSA endurance races.

The partnership will also include on-track signage at the Michelin Endurance Cup tracks (Daytona International Speedway, Sebring International Raceway, Watkins Glen International and Michelin Raceway Road Atlanta) and IMSA VIP experiences at other IMSA races throughout the season.

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Adam Sinclair

NHRA, IHRA, Motocross and other forms of motorsports Staff writer
About Me: Adam has been a race fan since the first time he went through the tunnel under the Daytona International Speedway almost 30 years ago. He has had the privilege of travelling to races all across the state of Florida (as well as one race in Ohio), watching nearly everything with a motor compete for fame and glory, as well as participating in various racing schools to get the feel of what racecar drivers go through every week. Adam has spent the last three years covering motorsports for Examiner.com., where he had the opportunity to see the racing world from behind the scenes as well as the grandstands. He invites everyone to follow him on Twitter, Facebook, and Google Plus, and looks forward to sharing his enthusiasm for all things racing with the readers of SpeedwayDigest.com.Be sure to tune in for his weekly sports talk program, Thursday Night Thunder, where he discusses the latest in motorsports news with drivers, crew members, and fans. The show takes place every Thursday at 8:00 pm EST on the Speedway Digest Radio Network.