It didn’t take long for Madison Snow to make his name known in the Lamborghini Blancpain Super Trofeo North America paddock.
Snow is a sports car veteran, even at age 19. But before the triple-header at Virginia International Raceway in late August, he had never even sat in a Lamborghini, let alone thought about racing it against three Lamborghini World Final champions and Lamborghini factory and young drivers.
But that’s just what he did. And he won.
In just his second Super Trofeo North America race, Snow took it to the 23-car grid and pulled away for a dominant, 18.757-second victory in Round 4 of the championship Aug. 23.
“It was an absolutely amazing feeling,” Snow said. “I’ve had podium finishes, including two third-place finishes at (the Rolex 24 At) Daytona, but I haven’t been on the top of the podium since Porsche GT3.”
Snow, from Lehi, Utah, comes from a family of racers. His father and mother are accomplished race car drivers. But Snow still started his racing career like most young drivers, in go-karts.
He readily admits he wasn’t great. It wasn’t until he progressed to cars that his talent started to shine.
Snow’s first race was in a Miata in 2012 at Miller Motorsports Park, where he finished fourth-from-last. By the end of the season, he had several victories. From there he progressed to the Porsche GT3 Cup Challenge USA series, where he won the Platinum Cup championship in 2013 at age 17 after finishing second in 2012.
Fast forward to Rounds 4, 5 and 6 of the Lamborghini Blancpain Super Trofeo North America championship this year at VIR and to Snow, who was looking to once again diversify his racing profile.
“We were looking for another series to race in,” Snow said. “As a racer, the more diversifying you can do in cars and series, the better.
“What we found was that we thought the Super Trofeo series was going to be a good fit. We knew Park Place would give us a good car, and there is great support from the manufacturer.”
Park Place Motorsports preps and runs BAD Lambo Racing, started by Jim and Josh Norman. The team is a regular in the sports car paddock, but Snow was used to competing against them in the GT Daytona class of IMSA, not for them.
“I had raced against Park Place, and they were always competitive,” Snow said. “When you make a jump to a new car, it’s a lot easier when you know the car is going to be set up right and you’re going to be able to be competitive from the start.”
He jumped into the Lamborghini Huracán LP 620-2 Super Trofeo two days before his first race to get his first taste of the power behind the wheel and the nuances of the supercar.
“From the very beginning I knew it had a lot of power,” Snow said. “More than cars that I’m used to. But it always has handled well, and we were putting down good lap times right away.
“The traction control and ABS was new. It’s nice to use, but still takes some getting used to in order to be able to use it to the best of its ability.”
He was in the top five in both practices and had the second-quickest qualifying time. But it all came to fruition when he took that top step on the podium, something he hopes to repeat in the remaining six races.
“The rest of the season I’m going for race wins,” Snow said. “I wish I was in a position that I could compete for the championship, but missing the first three races doesn’t let me do that. Mentally it’s all the same. I want to win.”
Snow’s next chance for victory is at Circuit of the Americas for Rounds 7 and 8 of the championship this weekend.