STUART, Fla. (Aug. 6, 2014) – Madison Snow continues to expand his racing résumé this weekend in the Extreme Speed Motorsports (ESM) IMSA Lites racing machine. The 18-year-old Snow will race the No. 29 Extreme Speed Motorsports Elan DP-02 for rounds 9 and 10 of the Cooper Tires Prototype Lites Powered by Mazda race at Road America in Elkhart Lake, Wisconsin.
Snow, a native of Lehi, Utah, earned a spot to pilot the black and lime green Prototype Lites machine by impressing ESM owner Scott Sharp. Snow first competed in the ESM Prototype Lites entry during rounds 5 and 6 held at Watkins Glen International in June. He finished 24th in his first race and vastly improved with a seventh-place finish in the second race.
For rounds 7 and 8 at Canadian Tire Motorsport Park, Snow started a streak of top-10 finishes and earned ninth- and fourth-place finishes, respectively.
He’s looking to continue that streak and work his way onto the podium at Road America. Snow will take to the 4.048-mile, 14-turn permanent road course for two practices, one qualifying session and two races this weekend – Saturday’s 30-minute race and Sunday’s 45-minute race.
Snow and the No. 29 Extreme Speed Motorsports Prototype Lites car is paddocked alongside ESM’s No. 1 and No. 2 Tequila Patrón-sponsored Honda Performance Development ARX-03b prototypes from the TUDOR United SportsCar Championship series. ESM is competing in the Continental Tire Road Race Showcase at 1:15 p.m. ET on Sunday.
Snow began his racing career at age 5 in go-karts. In 2010, still an avid go-kart racer, Snow transitioned into Mazda Miata race cars and at age 14 finished second overall in the Miller Park Racing Association (MPRA) series at Miller Motorsports Park. The following year, Snow graduated to Porsche race cars.
In his 2011 season, Snow became the youngest driver to win a Porsche Cup race. He finished first in the 2011 IMSA GT3 Cup Challenge by Yokohama Gold Cup Championship, then second in the 2012 IMSA GT3 Cup Challenge by Yokohama Platinum Cup Championship.
At the age of 17, Snow made history by winning the 2013 IMSA GT3 Cup Challenge by Yokohama Platinum Cup Championship – the youngest champion since the series inception in 2005. In his championship year, Snow dominated the field with 12 podium finishes in 14 races, which included six wins, 10 pole positions and three track records.
While chasing the IMSA GT3 championship in 2013, Snow competed in four GRAND-AM Rolex Sports Car Series races and two American Le Mans Series race. At the season finale at the Petit Le Mans at Road Atlanta, Snow was part of the pole- and race-winning Flying Lizard Motorsports Porsche 997 GT3 Cup team.
Following the ALMS and GRAND-AM merger, now the TUDOR United SportsCar Championship, Snow has split his time between the ESM Prototype Lites car and the family-owned Snow Racing Porsche 911 GT America GTD car. His best finish of this season was a third place at the season-opening Rolex 24 At Daytona.