Indianapolis, IN - November 13, 2023 - Shift Up Now is proud to announce a groundbreaking partnership with AE Victory Racing, including plans to make a debut run in the final round of the World Racing League (WRL) season at Circuit of the Americas on December 1-3, 2023.
Shift Up Now Athletes Erin Vogel, Sarah Montgomery and Hannah Grisham will be debuting for the first race, in preparation for a 2024 program.
The program is a culmination of an innovative idea and support from some of Shift Up Now’s best partners: Bell Techlogix, TeamOne Logistics, Yokohama and Sabelt. The livery of the team’s 2018 Audi R8 GT4 LMS will honor the contributions of these partners that have contributed to growing Shift Up Now over the years.
The AE Victory Racing concept began in the summer of 2023, in an effort to provide a “home team” for several Shift Up Now Athletes. With a goal of furthering the mission by creating even more opportunities for women in motorsports, the idea was to create a program that was fully controlled by the team.
Vogel - who won a class victory at the 2018 25 Hours of Thunderhill race in the Audi R8 GT4 LMS with an all-female team - suggested bringing the race car out of retirement. And while Shift Up Now CEO Pippa Mann was intrigued by the idea, the challenge would be finding a team with the bandwidth to properly run the program.
Vogel enlisted the help of her partner, Aaron Snair, who has almost two decades’ experience as a business owner, mechanic, chassis builder and crew chief. Coupled with Vogel’s business experience, connections and resources, the pair feels prepared to launch AE Victory Racing.
"We're so grateful for the continued support and assistance of our partners,” said Vogel. “Having the opportunity and ability to bring them along to a new program with Shift Up Now at the helm is truly an honor. It's been a dream of mine for almost a decade now to be in a position to own and manage a team where women are not only welcomed, but prioritized.
“I want to thank Pippa and Sarah for giving their blessing and support to this crazy idea from the very beginning, and for all their help in procuring resources for the program. Driving with Sarah this year has been a wonderful experience and so much dang fun. I'm very excited to race together again in December!
“A special thank you to Aaron for being my better half, my sounding board and the only thing keeping me sane some days as we've worked to bring this all together. And especially for all his hard work and long hours getting the car ready to go racing again. Finally, thank you to WRL for all their help getting us ready to slot into the paddock in good form and style!”
Mann commented, “Seeing the AE Victory Racing program with Shift Up Now come together is incredibly exciting. Especially in time for the final event of the 2023 season as they prepare to take on 2024.
"I love Erin’s vision for this team, and I’m thrilled that we’re going to be able to work together to provide opportunities for female racers in GT4 equipment. I’m so grateful to our partners, and to Erin, for making this racing program happen, and we’re ready for their debut!”
Montgomery stated, “To say the least, I’m grateful for this new opportunity. I trust Erin and Aaron to put together a program that will allow us the best chance at winning races!
"I’m excited to see where this team goes in the future and how we can help each other along the way.”
Grisham said, "Coming off two wins at our final weekend of Pirelli GT4 America, I'm thrilled to have the opportunity to be back in a GT4 car so soon. I'm very excited to share the car with Erin and Sarah, and I think we have a chance at being a real dream team!"
The team plans to host a live feed from inside the car, so be sure to check out daily social media updates during the race weekend for the Livestream links.
