Winning Weekend at Home for Kelly-Moss Road and Race

Madison, Wisc. (6 August 2017) – Kelly-Moss Road and Race (KMR) was back in race-winning form at the team’s home track this weekend as the Madison, Wisconsin-based squad took to Road America for IMSA Porsche GT3 Cup Challenge USA by Yokohama competition. 

The Road America event featured three races as IMSA staged a make up race for the  Watkins Glen round that had been cancelled in June.

A multi-car KMR lineup of Porsche GT3 Cup machines included the championship-leading No. 24 Kelly-Moss Road and Race Porsche of Jake Eidson, and the Gold class entries of Kurt Fazekas in the No. 52 Kelly-Moss Road and Race Porsche and Greg Palmer in the No. 44 Copps Industries Porsche.

Friday’s make up race was run in highly challenging conditions, with the track surface varying from lap to lap with the unseasonably cold and rainy conditions. But Eidson was more than up for the task, leading through the 17 lap race to score his fifth win of the season.

Saturday brought improved weather and another race victory as Kurt Fazekas broke through for his first Gold class win to add to his podium count so far this season. Eidson drove a smart race to score second in the overall standings while Palmer brought home sixth at the finish.

Sunday’s race featured a huge dual for the win between Eidson and Corey Fergus. Eidson made an outstanding move to take the lead and start to grow his advantage but IMSA ruled that he had to give the position back after concluding that he had violated track limits.

Frustrated but focused on the big picture, Eidson looked to find a way by once again but ran out of laps to complete the task as he came home in second position.

“It was great to be back on top in the Watkins Glen make up race, especially because it was such a challenging race with the conditions being the way that they were,” said Eidson. “But I am disappointed about this last race because I don’t think the calls about track limits have been consistent this year, so it is frustrating. The team did an awesome job again this weekend and it was a good points weekend but we really had the car to beat today so it was a frustrating race for me.”

Palmer matched his best finish of sixth, and was pleased to be racing in the drier conditions as the weekend progressed.

“Driving in the rain is not my favorite, and I had to be cautious in those conditions,” said Palmer. “But it was a great weekend, this is a great track. I think my highlight of the weekend was the the start of the race on Saturday, being able to make up some positions and be in the fight. My results still don’t show the progress I am making, but I’m just trying to take it all in and continue to make progress. I am doing more and more things right, just working on doing fewer things wrong! It was a big step up to race at this level but I love it — this is a lot of fun!”

Fazekas’ drive for a second victory was thwarted when he was hit off track by a competitor midway through the race, but he was able to recover to finish fourth. 

“Sometimes old guys like me will take it any way we can get it!” said Fazekas with a smile after his victory. “It’s a fantastic track and I love driving here. We are just really fortunate because we didn’t have anything for the 78 car, he was just in a race all to himself.”

“Just like Jake (Eidson), I’m frustrated with the penalty but it is what it is and we’ve got to just focus on coming back and kicking ass at VIR,” said KMR team owner Jeff Stone. “It was a good weekend for the points for Jake but our goal is to win, every race. So to not get another win here at our home track, that’s a tough one.”

The event marked the final North American event for President and CEO Porsche Motorsport North America Jens Walther, who has steered the California-based organization for years and will move on to his next assignment for Porsche as he returns to Germany this fall.

“I also just want to say hats off to Jens (Walther), he’s contributed so much not only to Porsche and their success here, but really to the sport. We will miss him, but we’ve already got plans to get over there to catch up with him this fall at a Carrera Cup event!”