Career-Best Trans Am TA2 Finish for Abbate in Special Tribute Livery at Road Atlanta

Shift Up Athlete Michele Abbate earned a podium TA2 Pro-Am finish - and top ten finish overall - in the Trans Am by Pirelli TA2 Mission Foods Road SpeedTour at Michelin Raceway Road Atlanta on Saturday, March 23, 2024.

Driving the No. 30 Ghost Energy car for Nitro Motorsports among a 30-car field, Abbate took to the 2.54-mile road course on a Cope chassis and Pirelli tires. The weekend schedule featured two test sessions on Thursday, followed by the official practice on Friday morning.

Abbate’s livery featured an extraordinary tribute to her brother, Michael, a Nevada State Police Sergeant. Last November, he was killed in the line of duty by a drunk driver, and this race marked Abbate’s first time back on track since his passing.

Her last outing was at Circuit of the Americas last fall, and the Las Vegas native has plans to run a partial season for 2024. So without being at the season opener in Sebring, and with limited seat time, she was happy with her car’s handling, performance and new brake package.

During the official practice Friday, Abbate set a P22 time, running within tenths of a second of her previous personal best. When the qualifying session was later rained out, the race grid was set by from the official practice times.

On Saturday, the 100-mile race - with no refueling or pit stops - began at 12:45p.m. ET. The track was dry but green after overnight rain had washed away the rubber.

When the green flag fell, Abbate took a conservative approach, protecting her Ghost Energy car to get through the first lap cleanly. Just a few laps into the race, a brief caution period took place. Once back to green, Abbate settled in and gained confidence, consistently decreasing her lap times and making passes with each opportunity.

The second full-course caution flew on lap 24 for an incident in turn 10. The field packed up behind the safety car during the four laps of yellow. Afterward, Abbate had a strong restart, passing several cars and advancing into the top 15 before another full-course caution. At this point, several of her competitors began to suffer tire failures due to their abuse of the Road Atlanta curbs early in the tires’ heat cycle at the start of the race.

Two laps remained when the green flag fell and Abbate was running P13. She made two more passes and had just half a lap to go when the final caution flag was thrown. She would then take the checkered flag in P11 overall, and P3 in the Pro-Am class. After the race, one of the cars ahead was penalized for avoidable contact, moving Abbate up one position.

The P10 marked her best finish so far on the Trans Am National Tour. It was also the first time she stood on the podium in Trans Am since 2020.

"I cannot express in words what today meant to me,” said Abbate. “I know my brother was sitting right next to me in my number 30 Ghost Energy Ford Mustang, and he guided me safely through the field and I am so proud of our finish.

“Post-race results putting us P10, with my first top-ten finish nationally and a second-place finish in Pro-Am is really a dream come true. It proves I belong here, and I'm excited to put in the work to keep progressing and honoring my brother throughout my racing career.”

Abbate’s next event will be the the Trans Am West Coast Sonoma SpeedTour at Sonoma Raceway on April 18-21, 2024.

Cook Earns Pair of Top-15 Finishes in Porsche Carrera Cup at Sebring

Shift Up Now Athlete Sabre Cook followed up a P14 finish on Thursday with a P13 one on Friday, driving for MDK Motorsports in the Porsche Carrera Cup at Sebring International Raceway on March 14-15, 2024.

The two Porsche Carrera Cup sprint races took place in the evening as the sun set, and were a prelude to the 2024 Mobil1 Twelve Hours of Sebring presented by Cadillac, which began on Saturday.

Driving the No. 37 Porsche 911 GT3 Cup (992) on Yokohama Tires with Mobil1, and proudly displaying support from continued partner privé products, Cook was in the top ten during official test sessions that had taken place the previous week.

Qualifying for the 40-car Porsche Carrera Cup took place on Thursday morning in warm, dry weather. Cook qualified P21 for race one with her fastest lap, and P17 for race two, with her second-fastest lap. She and the MDK Motorsports team worked hard on the setup as they looked to achieve more speed and extract the more from the Yokohama tires. After qualifying, the team made positive changes to her Cup Car to prepare for race one.

That evening, the first race started at 4:55 p.m. ET. Starting from P21, Cook made sure to prepare her tires on the warmup laps so when the green flag fell, she was ready. Although she was boxed in on the inside of the first turn, she didn’t let that affect her focus, and made several passes on the opening lap, taking any gap she could find.

A big incident on lap one in the exit of turn five required wall-damage repair and brought out a full-course yellow. It was opportune for Cook, allowing her tires to cool after pushing to make passes early in the race. On the restart, she overtook another car immediately as the field returned to full pace in turn one, then several more cars over the next few laps.

As the race continued, Cook entered into a lap-after-lap battle with the No. 8 car for the P13 spot. She described the battle as “great fun” as the two raced hard but respectfully, driving side-by-side into several corners. With the end of the race in sight, the No. 8 car took the position.

The entire field was feeling the impact of the Florida heat by the time the checkered flag fell. But Cook’s P14 finish meant she had advanced eight places in an extremely competitive field. In addition, she was the highest-finishing Porsche Female Development Driver, and earned a new set of Yokohama tires.

Race two began at 7:15 p.m. ET on Friday. In what Cook described as a “messy start,” she took a heavy, side-to-side hit before turn one as several cars broke the rule that prohibits passing in your column before the start/finish line. Chaos ensued, but Cook reacted quickly heading into turns 3-5, picking the right path for her car to narrowly miss the melee. By the time the field reached turn 11, the full-course caution was out to allow for clean-up of several crashes.

Since it was only Cook’s second time navigating the tricky sunset visibility, she felt lucky that the yellow fell during the worst part of the evening. She said driving during sunset requires racers to have solid reference points and to trust the speed the car can take, even when depth-perception feels different.

When the checkered flag fell, Cook bettered her finish from the day before, earning P13 and another set of Yokohama tires for being the top-finishing female. She was then awarded a third set for being the top-finishing female overall for the race weekend.

“It felt great being back for the first race of the season,” Cook said. “While there were challenging parts to the week, and qualifying didn’t go as expected, we made up for it in the races and showed a lot of potential going into the rest of the season. I had some really good battles and passes, so that always puts a smile on my face.

“I can’t thank MDK Motorsports enough, and their partner, Ease Logistics, for bringing me into the team and providing great support to start the season. My partners PenFed Credit Union, privé products, Hagerty, Shift Up Now, Bell Helmets, Sabelt America, Rude Image and MySim have all continued their support of me this season. I’m excited to also welcome Senergy Builders, McKenna & Associates, and Mobil1 to the team! I’m proud and thankful to have so much support behind me, and can’t wait to keep progressing throughout the season.”

Races three and four of the 2024 Porsche Carrera Cup season will take place at the Miami International Autodrome, alongside the Formula 1 Crypto.com Miami Grand Prix, on May 3-5, 2024.

Polaris Talent to Join Shift Up Now as a Corporate Member

Shift Up Now is proud to announce that Polaris Talent has come on board as a Corporate Member of The Inside Track by Shift Up Now. In addition, Polaris Talent has made a one-percent pledge to both Shift Up Now and the Shift Up Now Foundation for the 2024 season.

With a passion for motorsports, and as a majority women-owned company, the Polaris Talent founders felt aligned to the Shift Up Now mission. The Racine, WI-based company is passionate about ensuring that women are well-represented in their chosen field.

Further, Polaris Talent is a Wisconsin Benefit Corporation, operating as a for-profit organization with a non-profit mission. Its focus includes DEI (diversity, equity and inclusion) best practices, helping women get into leadership positions, and teaching companies how to build great organizations and cultures via strategic talent acquisition.

In support of their mission, Polaris Talent took the One Percent Pledge in 2021. For the upcoming race season, the company has committed to supporting Shift Up Now efforts to positively impact women in motorsport. One percent of all top-line Polaris Talent revenue is pledged to the Shift Up Now Foundation.

“We felt there was alignment between our mission and values, and that of Shift Up Now,” said Marie Watkins, Chief Vision Officer at Polaris Talent. “So Marshall Folger (Chief of Staff at Polaris Talent) reached out to Pippa Mann last fall to ask, ‘How can we help?’

“We’re looking forward to supporting Shift Up Now Athletes when they are at Road America this season, and hoping to do something formal with Michelle Abbate during the Trans Am weekend. We are also excited that Shift Up Now athlete Loni Unser is with Kellymoss Racing since they are also a Wisconsin-based, women-owned company, and we are helping them with STEM-education events for the Girl Scouts.”

In addition to supporting the Shift Up Now mission this racing season, Polaris Talent is launching several other motorsports-related initiatives. On March 20th, the company is co- hosting a monthly coffee chat with Arrow McLaren. The chat is open to anyone in the industry with HR responsibilities for a team, series or race track.

On March 18th, Polaris Talent will launch DriveHer Consulting, a place for women athletes to learn about entrepreneurship. Topics in the webinars, course and 1:1 coaching will include how to ideate, start, run and grow a business, plus mindset and soft-skills training for making the transition from athlete to entrepreneur.

Shift Up Now CEO Pippa Mann also expressed her excitement about the partnership, saying, “Shift Up Now is an organization that is founded on a strong belief of women supporting women. I’m thrilled to welcome another majority woman-owned business as one of our partner’s for 2024, and for the Shift Up Now Foundation to be the beneficiary of their One Percent pledge this year.

“Marie and her team have some exciting plans in the motorsport space, and we’re excited to both have their support and to be able to offer their DriveHer Consulting and educational content to our Athletes."

For more information about Polaris Talent, please visit www.PolarisTalent.com.

 

About Polaris Talent

Polaris Talent drives transformation by designing and delivering strategic recruitment and people programs that improve diversity and optimize employee capabilities for high-tech companies, motorsports organizations, and automotive companies that want to create a culture where everyone wins, together. We specialize in finding and engaging diverse degreed professionals in engineering and computer science, finance, legal, and business development.

We are not a recruitment agency or a headhunter. Instead we offer a recruiting-as-a-service model for companies that need to hire one or many. Please see https://www.polaristalent.com/ business-transformation for more details and a list of past clients and testimonials. Polaris Talent is led by Marie Watkins (Chief Vision Officer), Roma Watkins (Chief Operations Officer), and Marshall Folger (Chief of Staff).

Podium Finish for Hayes, Top-Ten Finish for AE Victory Racing at Barber

Five Shift Up Now athletes competed this weekend on Yokohama tires in variable weather conditions and produced a solid two days of successful racing with World Racing League (WRL) at Barber Motorsports Park.

Ready to defend their title, 2023 WRL GTO champions Laura Hayes and Thunder Bunny Racing hit the ground running at Barber, using the momentum from last season to immediately get to work in their Toyota Supra Evo on Yokohama tires.

With rainy weather throughout the day hampering Friday’s qualifying and causing a number of single-car incidents, Hayes and her co-drivers were among those affected and chose to move to a backup car.

Over in the AE Victory Racing camp, Erin Vogel and Team Shift Up Now came into their season opener with confidence for improvement in the car’s pace, following a pre-season test two weeks prior at Buttonwillow Raceway Park in California.

However, due to the rain and misfortune of neighboring teams, Friday’s plan to fine-tune the setup was stymied when the team decided not to risk the car by chasing track conditions that would bear no resemblance to Saturday’s forecast.

Fast Track Racing and Pippa Mann came to Barber Motorsports Park with two rookies competing in their first ever WRL races. With no prior WRL experience at the Alabama racetrack, the team tested two weeks prior in frigid temperatures and were confident of a good race car for the cold weather.

Despite the work done in testing, the start of Saturday’s race in the rain proved to be a struggle for the black and yellow BMW M4 GT4, affectionately named “Bumble-Bee”, but as the race track started to dry out the team began to turn competitive lap times.

As the race progressed, a refueling issue which was unable to be resolved during the weekend dropped them down the order. The No. 926 finished just outside the top 10 in GTO at the end of 8 hours on Saturday, with a clean race for all the drivers and no penalties - a successful debut for the two rookies running alongside Mann.

Meanwhile, the No. 225 Thunder Bunny Racing Toyota Supra started race 1 on Saturday from P19, with Hayes behind the wheel.

Charging through an extremely competitive GTO class, she and her co-drivers navigated the drying track and brought home a P3 finish, to secure their first podium of the 2024 season in their first race of the season.

Following Saturday's race, the Thunder Bunny Racing crew discovered that the backup car was running about 20hp down from the car they had originally been set to run, and they were fortunately able to remedy the issue in preparation for Sunday’s race.

For AE Victory Racing, keeping the car parked on Friday meant the No. 119 Audi R8 LMS GT4 would start from nearly the back of the field, and that both Vogel and newcomer Hannah Greenemeier would be seeing the track from the driver’s seat for the first time during their race stints on Saturday.

Sarah Montgomery started Saturday’s race on a very wet track, and in the first lap charged from P23 to P9. She held position until the track began to dry, handing the wheel first to Erin Vogel and then Hannah Greenemeier for double stints.

The two Barber neophytes quickly got up to speed on the track, settling in around P15 for much of the afternoon. Vogel jumped back in behind the wheel for the final hour, to take the checker in P12 in the GTO class.

On Sunday, on a dry racetrack, the changes the Fast Track Racing team made to the car overnight proved to be a step in the right direction, increasing the pace for all three drivers.

The Yokohama-shod black and yellow BMW fought inside the top ten until the refueling issue reared its ugly head. At the restart of the race after the quiet hour, the team was involved in their first contact of the weekend, and two pit-stops were needed to address the damage.

Despite a penalty for the contact, the team continued running top ten lap times, with a second finish just outside the points at Sunday’s checker.

Taking advantage of the better weather conditions on Sunday, Hayes brought more of her signature, consistently-quick pace in the blue and black Supra.

After leading the race both overall and in the GTO class for much of the day, the drivers of the No. 225 attained their second podium of 2024, this time standing proudly on the second step in P2.

“We had to fight really hard there at the end to stay on the podium,” Hayes told Shift Up Now. “The competition this year is tough! There were three of us battling in the final three hours. Our pit-stops were perfect, and I drove my tail off with the third place car hounding me for the last couple of hours! We were just able to out-pace them in the end. It was super intense and very fun! It felt like a win after the issues we had Friday and Saturday.”

With Sunday’s result doubling down a top-five result, Hayes and Thunder Bunny Racing scored valuable championship points in their first races of the 2024 WRL season.

AE Victory Racing’s set up changes overnight combined with the drivers’ fast learning curve showed promise for Sunday’s race. This time, Greenemeier took the green flag, running a clean double stint into the mandated quiet hour.

Vogel commanded the early afternoon portion of the race, handing the Audi to Montgomery for the finish. With a solid two hours of driving, Montgomery charged from outside of the top ten into P9 in GTO, crossing the line in the points for the first time in the team’s short history.

"I'm so proud of the whole team for their excellent work this weekend,” Vogel commented. “The crew did a great job giving us the best car we've had yet, making great strategy calls to jump quickly into action and use caution periods for our pit stops, and executing superb work in the fueling and tire changes.

“Sarah is a rockstar behind the wheel and used her many years of experience at this track to move the car up the order in each of her stints. Hannah made an incredible debut in her endurance racing career, executing clean stints and pit stops throughout the weekend, and gaining valuable experience in large fields of GT4 machinery to great up for her GT4 America debut next month.

“As a rookie team owner, I’m very happy with our progress this weekend. We plan to do more testing mid-March to continue dialing in the setup prior to the next race. We know that’s our current weakness, as our driver lineups clearly have front-running pace. Everyone should expect to see us up at the pointy end of the field once we get our heads around the Audi platform!"

Hayes, Vogel, and Montgomery will compete with World Racing League again April 5-7, 2024, at Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course.

First Podium Finish of 2024 for Freiberg at Sebring Raceway

Two Shift Up Now Athletes supported by Mobil 1 Racing competed this weekend on Yokohama tires at Sebring International Raceway in the Porsche Sprint Challenge by Porsche Motorsports North America.

In GT3 Cup, 2023 Porsche 991.2 Champion Ashley Frieberg returned to sprint competition with MDK Motorsports, this season racing in a 992 Porsche Cup Car in the Pro-Am class.

With two sessions each Thursday and Friday, Freiberg was able to get the car on track for its first shakedown as part of this program. With both days of testing and practice marred by teething issues, the team was uncertain going into qualifying that they would be able to make a showing befitting their past success in the series.

Saturday morning, under partly cloudy skies keeping the temperatures in the high 70s, Freiberg and MDK finally had the car they’d been looking for. Freiberg qualified the Mobil 1 Racing blue and white 992 machine in P3 for race 1 and P4 for race 2.

Later that afternoon, Ashley immediately went to work on her Yokohama tires at the green flag for the first of two 40-minute races for the weekend. The Porsche veteran showed impressive pace in the competitive 37-car field, jumping up into P2 on the start.

Staying right on the tail of the P1 car, Freiberg and her competitor pulled away from the field and battled fiercely for most of the race, until a late caution period stalled their competition. The race ended under yellow-flag conditions, and the Porsche Sprint Challenge veteran clinched her first podium finish of the 2024 season in her new 992 class.

Frieberg continued her performance in race 2, starting P4 on the grid. Having made changes to the car anticipating cooler weather, the team was stymied when the heat rolled in and it was all she could do to manage the tires and cross the line in her starting position, gaining another valuable top-five finish.

The points earned from a strong debut weekend at Sebring puts Frieberg solidly in third place in the championship standings.

“What a weekend!” said Freiberg. “Although everything came together extremely last-minute, I believe we maximized what we had with the tools we were given. The competition is tough this year and everyone has been testing a lot over the off season, so we have some catching up to do. I feel really confident we can get there after showing our pace with such limited time and information.

"I’m still working on gathering the budget to fund the rest of the season, but I’m extremely motivated and plan to show up in a big way at Barber. A massive thank you to MDK Motorsports, Mobil 1 Racing, Yokohama, my friends at the PCA, DreamGiveaway, Shift Up Now, Ease Logistics, and the Cleveland Clinic for getting me to the track in Sebring!”

In GT4 Cup, Loni Unser tackled the famous bumps in her debut on the Porsche Motorsports North America ladder in the No. 4 Speedway Motors and TruStage car run by Kelly Moss Racing.

With 3 test sessions on Thursday and two official practice sessions Friday, Unser and Kelly Moss knew they had a great car out of the box in their new 718 Porsche Cayman GT4 RS.

After qualifying her purple and white machine in an overall P9 out of a competitive 23-car field for race 1, Unser held that position for the 35-minute race to land a top-10 overall result, taking the checker P4 in class.

In race 2, Unser showed similar poise and pace in her Porsche Cayman, starting P8 at the green flag and once again defending that position to the checker, earning another top-ten and P4 in the Pro-Am class.

Unser leaves her first weekend in Porsche Sprint Challenge competition in fourth in the standings, with her sights set on adding to that success.

"Leaving Sebring makes me so excited and confident about the rest of the season,” quoted Unser. “I believe the pace is there to run up front. It's going to come down to doing everything exactly right in this competitive field. I believe it's possible with a world-class team like Kelly Moss Racing behind me. Racing for a woman-owned and run team is extremely special, because it further proves that women have earned their place in motorsports. To top it all off, the new Cayman GT4 RS is a pretty sweet ride. In the Porsche Sprint Challenge we are allowed to run the car unrestricted, which means it reaches speeds over 150mph. I am honored to have partners like Speedway Motors, Trustage, Mobil 1, and Yokohama behind me."

The Porsche Sprint Challenge season resumes at Barber Motorsports Park, April 26th - 28th.

Shift Up Now Announces privé products as New Corporate Member

Shift Up Now is proud to announce that privé products has come on board as a new Corporate Member of The Inside Track by Shift Up Now for 2024. To celebrate Women’s History Month, and launch the new partnership, all Shift Up Now supporters will get 35% discount on privé hair care products during March, and all Members of the Inside Track by Shift Up Now can then get a 25% discount throughout the remainder of the calendar year. The Michigan-based company will also be a presenting sponsor of an upcoming Fan Forum.

privé is a salon-quality hair care company owned by female business woman and racer, Shay Hoelscher. In addition to supporting Shift Up Now Athlete Sabré Cook in Porsche Carrera Cup, Hoelscher is a tremendous advocate for women in motorsport, and women supporting women.

As a women-led company, privé offers the highest-quality, small-batch, artisan care products, with clean and natural ingredients that are good for both the consumer and the planet. The company prides itself on crafting products pure enough to use as skincare by sourcing the highest-quality, natural, food-grade ingredients. privé is also proud to be cruelty-free, while also crafting its products with recyclable packaging.

In addition, privé partners with Project Beauty Share, donating one percent of all sales to help women in need.

“As a female racing driver, my passion to support other female racers is paramount,” said Hoelscher. “Having navigated challenges and triumphs in the male-dominated arena, I am fierce about championing and supporting other female racers.

“I strive to pave the way for future gender barriers to be dismantled, hence giving equality opportunities to all female racers to pursue their dreams. This is why I’m so passionate about partnering with Sabre Cook, along with my sponsorship with Shift Up Now, to help raise the tide for all.”

Cook echoed those sentiments, adding, “I love that privé products is further supporting women in motorsports by partnering with Shift Up Now. Shay and privé are incredible partners for me, and I’m thrilled that even more women will be reached through this new partnership!

“It’s immensely authentic that one of privé’s key initiatives is ‘Women Supporting Women,’ and what better way to show that than teaming up with Shift Up Now? Both privé and Shift Up Now are growing, and I can’t wait to see what we all might achieve together.”

Shift Up Now supporters can use the code: SHIFTUPNOW35 to activate their 35% discount during March, and then a new code for 25% off will be provided to Shift Up Now Members through their Member Dashboard starting in April. For more information about privé, and to purchase products, please visit www.priveproducts.com.

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About privé

privé is a women-owned and women-led company inspired to advocate for women and girls that anything is possible. The company is passionate about making the highest quality of clean, vegan and cruelty-free hair products that are good for customers and good for the planet. As part of privé’s ongoing mission to give back, it gives one percent of sales to a non-profit, Project Beauty Share, to help women in need. Every privé purchase will help a woman thrive. privé invites customers to join the tribe and fall in love with its specially-curated products that are more than “soap.”