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GT Celebration Announces Experienced Key Officials for 2021 Sports Car Road Racing Series to Begin at Sebring

GT Celebration Announces Experienced Key Officials for 2021 Sports Car Road Racing Series to Begin at Sebring

Tom Blattler, GT Celebration
24 February 2021

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• 75+ years combined motorsports experience bring GT Celebration leadership to life
• Competitors can expect top track time, passionate support staff and premier tracks
• First event of 2021 is at Sebring SportsCar Week March 11-13, 2021

2020 GT Celebration action at Laguna 2020 GT Celebration action at Sears 2020 GT Celebration paddock layout 2020 GT Celebration Trophies Kelly Collins Nick Lester Todd Snyder

(Feb 24, 2021) – The GT Celebration Race Series brings a superb lineup of racing officials to its 2021 sports car campaign as the season-opening doubleheader 40-minute races approach at the historic Sebring International Raceway on March 11-13.

Led by CEO and Founder Rob Morgan, the GT Celebration Race Series has assembled an outstanding group of experienced administrators with decades of racing knowledge and qualifications to lead the FIA bronze-rated drivers in the four-class competition with GT3, GT4, PC and TCC sports cars. Morgan has announced the primary officials for the 2021 GT Celebration Race Series will be veteran racer and official Todd Snyder as Director of Competition, longtime motorsports engineer Nick Lester as Technical Director and multi-time race winner and series driving champion Kelly Collins as Sporting Director and Driver Advisor. The trio have accumulated some 75 years of on-track and behind-thescenes racing experience to lead and assist the competitors in the racing trail designed for enthusiasts by enthusiasts.

“We believe our officials staff, led by Todd, Nick and Kelly, brings a great level of professionalism and racing knowledge to the GT Celebration Race Series,” said Morgan. “All three have spent many decades in the sport. They can assist our competitors each weekend as they enjoy on-track and offtrack events.”

Snyder, an Alaska native, drove in a variety of racing machines including Indy Lights, IMSA sports cars, Barber Dodge Pro series open-wheel cars and later focused on racing administration. Todd has been a race director for the Ferrari Challenge, Porsche GT3 Series, Lamborghini Super Trofeo series and IMSA Prototype Challenge. In addition, Snyder is a driving instructor with experience at the Jim Russel Racing School, Skip Barber Racing School, Mid-Ohio School, Ferrari Corso Pilota, Porsche Track Experience and Lucas Oil School of Racing.

Lester, the England native, comes to the GT Celebration Race Series after a stellar engineering career which includes stints with Roush Racing in the United Kingdom, Honda Performance Development (HPD) in California, Cosworth in Indiana and, most recently, Porsche Motorsport North America where he served as Technical Director and Customer Support Manager. Nick has worked with the Panoz LeMans team, David Price Racing, DAMS motorsports team, Team Green and Walker Racing in the CART series, GM/Cosworth Indy partnerships and numerous Porsche operations including the 2013 LeMans 24 Hours victory in GT3 Pro-Am class.

Collins, the Lake Havasu, AZ resident, brings a sensational racing resume to the GT Celebration Race Series including eleven years as a factory driver for General Motors as well as with runs with Panoz, Pontiac, Porsche, Nissan, Honda, and BMW. Kelly captured the 2008 Grand Am GT championship as well as the 1999 24 Hours of Daytona and 12 Hours of Sebring. He spent 15 as a Skip Barber lead instructor and test driver for the race series. In the past 32 years, Collins has been a SAG stunt driver for commercials and movies including “Ford vs. Ferrari.”

While the inaugural series in 2020 held five weekend events despite working around the COVID-19 restrictions, the GT Celebration Race Series has expanded to seven weekend events (14 races) for 2021 with the season opener scheduled at the legendary 3.74-mile, 17-turn road course at Sebring, Fla. “We battled in our first season with the COVID-19 constraints,” said Morgan. “But our staff was thrilled with the level of racing as well as the outstanding teams and the fun atmosphere for the drivers and crews. Now, with our superb race staff to lead the way, we are excited to continue the momentum at many of North America’s greatest road race circuits. We’ve built a laid-back, professional series for enthusiasts to enjoy every thrill a race car brings.”

In addition to the season opener at Sebring weekend, the GT Celebration Race Series schedule will include Thunderhill Raceway Park in California on April 8-11, Michelin Raceway Road Atlanta on May 6-8, Circuit of the Americas (COTA) on July 30-Aug. 1, Road America on Aug. 13-15, Utah Motorsports Campus on Sept. 17-19 and Sonoma Raceway on Oct. 15-17.

The first season of the GT Celebration tour was highlighted by top professional teams such as Flying Lizard Motorsports, TruSpeed Autosport, Vail Motorsports, Harward Media/Zelus Motorsports, GMG Racing, Compass Racing, Cameron Racing, Rearden Racing, Derhaag Racing, Daskalos Racing and NOLAsport.

ABOUT GT CELEBRATION

Decades of combined motorsports experience unite to bring you the ultimate community of sports car racing. We take retired race cars and bring them together to compete at premier race tracks across North America. The GT Celebration paddock is a buzzing community of talented enthusiasts seeking the energy that only motorsports can provide.

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media@gtcelebration.com
www.gtcelebration.com