Shift Up Now Athletes Erika Hoffmann and Loni Unser each earned a podium finish during two sprint races in round three of Porsche Sprint Challenge North America presented by Yokohama, at Circuit of the Americas (COTA) on May 16-18, 2025.
Both Athletes competed in the ProAm class for Kellymoss Racing in Cayman GT4 RS cars. Showcasing new partner Southwest Business Corporation (SWBC) on her livery, Hoffmann piloted the No. 21, with Unser behind the wheel of the No. 4 “Be Your Own Hero” / Speedway Motors entry.
The first practice on Thursday afternoon marked Hoffmann’s first time driving on the 3.426- mile, 20-turn racetrack, despite having been to COTA several times before.
On Friday, practice two took place in the morning, ahead of qualifying later that afternoon. The weather was dry and sunny, and both Shift Up Now Athletes worked with their teams to dial in the cars.
Later that day, under the hot Texas sun, the 19-car field took to the track for qualifying. Unser had a strong session, laying down a couple of stellar laps on her Yokohama tires to put herself in third place overall - and second in class, just 0.2 seconds off the pole. Meanwhile, despite still learning the new track, Hoffmann qualified fourth in class and seventh overall.
The first of two 35-minutes-plus-one-lap races took place early on Saturday morning. The heat hadn’t yet rolled in but the humidity brought hazy conditions for the drop of the green flag.
Starting from the inside of row two, Unser made a strong start and eyed a pass for second heading into turn one, but found herself squeezed tightly to the apex. She was forced to slow and avoid contact, but maintained her third-place spot.
Hoffmann started from the inside of row four and elected to hold that line into turn one. Despite being three-wide briefly at the exit, she held her seventh-place spot as the field headed into turn two.
The race settled into a green-flag rhythm as the top three began to build a gap to the rest of the pack.
Ten minutes into the race, a pass for the overall lead put an out-of-class car between Unser and her competition. She went to work trying to pass for the second place spot overall while the leader started to pull away from the field.
Then, after spending nearly half the race behind the second-place car, Unser made a clean pass and set her sights ahead on the overall leader, now four seconds ahead. Her first lap in clean air
was the fastest lap of the race and victory seemed almost imminent. However, with just two minutes left in the race, an electrical problem forced her to pull the car off track, retiring in second place.
For Hoffmann, Unser’s bad luck meant she was promoted from fourth to third in class, giving her her second podium of the season.
“I had a ton of fun racing at COTA this weekend,” said Hoffmann. “Huge thank you to the whole Kellymoss team for giving me a fast, dialed-in car all weekend. I learned a lot and made real progress with my race craft. So grateful to have the support of SWBC behind me!”
Later that afternoon, the field lined up again for the start of race two, this time under the brutal Texas heat. Unser started from the outside of the front row and, in a repeat of race one, tried to make a pass heading into turn one. Once again, she was squeezed toward the outside of the track, losing momentum and settling for the second-place spot.
Slightly further back in the pack, Hoffmann dodged contact in turn one and came through cleanly, running in seventh place overall and fourth place in class.
With no out-of-class cars running between Unser and the leader, she set off in pursuit, and the two lead cars began to pull away, running a full second ahead of third place by the end of the first lap.
The leading duo widened the gap even further during the next few laps, and Unser focused on the lead. She forced the leader to defend at the end of the back straight into turn 12, then again into 13.
Ten minutes into the race, a full-course yellow emerged for a stopped car on track. The caution period was short and the field lined up for a single-file restart with 20 minutes remaining. Once again, Unser and the leader pulled away, with Unser training by less than a second.
Meanwhile, in what Hoffmann later described as “eventful,” she was spending most of the race battling back and forth for the sixth-place spot overall. As her tires got hot later in the race, she got loose coming out of turn 19. The car running fifth in class went for a pass as the duo headed into turn 20, and as Hoffmann went for the cutback, they ran side-by-side. Her competitor then had a bobble, hitting her car and spinning her toward the pit wall. She was able to avoid contact with the wall and keep going to finish fifth in class.
Five minutes remained in the competition when Unser closed the gap to half a second. By the final lap, she was 0.3 seconds behind, and filling the leaders mirrors with every turn. She tried an over/under pass into turn one but the leader defended. Then, when an oversteer moment at the exit of turn 11 stymied her, she closed out the race in second place. When Unser and the leader crossed the finish line, they were 13 seconds ahead of the next car.
“I couldn’t be more grateful walking away from COTA with a strong P2 finish,” said Unser. “I was heartbroken after the first race, having an electrical issue that no one could have predicted or prevented. It was just one of those ‘that’s racing’ things. So, ultimately being able to battle for the lead in race two showed just how strong of a team I have behind me.
“I’m endlessly grateful for everyone at Kellymoss Racing for always having my back and giving me a such stellar car. I can’t wait for the next few rounds! Thank you to Speedway Motorsports, Acumatica, Mobil1, Yokohama Tire, and Shift Up Now. I am honored to be able to represent some amazing brands.”
Next up, Hoffmann and Unser head to Virginia to take on round four of Porsche Sprint Challenge North America presented by Yokohama at VIRginia International Raceway on July 11-13, 2025.
