Engineering “Secret Sauce” Key to Kellymoss’ Season Success

Kellymoss team co-owner Victoria Thomas said the “secret sauce” to their season success “happens around the engineering table” after a 2024 Porsche Carrera Cup North America campaign saw the team sweep all three class championships and the entrants’ title.

After Loek Hartog clinched the Pro class championship with two races remaining, Alan Metni and Chris Bellomo secured their Pro-Am and Masters class titles, respectively, at the season finale at The Circuit of The Americas.

“The secret sauce is what happens around the engineering table,” Thomas told Sportscar365.

“We’ve been doing this with Porsche a really long time. We have more people that have a deeper understanding of the car.

“Loek being on the team gives a great reference point for everybody that’s running in terms of what they need to know to do it better.”

Thomas also noted the importance of open data sharing to the team’s success, given that all drivers and engineers under the Kellymoss tent have the ability to access and learn from one another’s data and telemetry.

“All of our data is completely shared data,” she said. “Any driver that runs with our team is mandated to share their data, so you have deep access to a lot of data points about the brake zones, the acceleration zones, your lines, and all of that is shared all the way down the line.

“It’s not just that we have more data points. It’s that we spend the time and energy to parse that data to give the drivers the best and most information we possibly can for their success. And that’s not just Loek. That’s everyone on the team.”

“But that means that that driver has to step up to the table and put in the time and energy to learn and digest and set ego aside.”

While Kellymoss has taken the Carrera Cup entrants’ title every year since the series began in 2021, this past season marked the first time where the Wisconsin-based squad won all three class championships in the same year.

“I think the formula really isn’t different depending on the classes,” said Thomas.

“Quite honestly, when it comes down to it in a lot of ways, the Masters and Pro-Am are more difficult [titles] to achieve because when you’re a mid-pack like that, you’re tied up in all kinds of stuff going on on track that you’re not seeing at the pointy end.

“There’s the ability to get caught up in damage is so much greater when you’re not at the top, so it’s almost trickier in my opinion.”

Kellymoss Expecting “About the Same Sized Team” for 2025 Carrera Cup Campaign

The organization expects to run “about the same sized team” next season after their seven-car 2024 campaign ran “pretty smooth” according to Thomas.

“We are absolutely anticipating running in Porsche Carrera Cup [next year],” she said. “The expectation is that we will have about the same size team. I don’t know that we are going to either grow or shrink. I think that the hope is that we stay about the same.

“We’re pretty comfortable with each other now and have a positive cadence, so even though it’s a big group of people, we do it.

“It’s pretty smooth running at this point, so I feel comfortable being able to do another season at that volume and be able to manage it successfully for our drivers and our crew, which is incredibly important.”

Last year saw the team also run multiple cars in the USAC-sanctioned Porsche Sprint Challenge North America by Yokohama alongside efforts in both IMSA’s Michelin Pilot Challenge and the WeatherTech SportsCar Championship.

Thomas mentioned that the team’s Sprint Challenge effort could be a potential area for growth next season.

“We will for sure be continuing in Porsche Sprint [Challenge],” said Thomas. “I would say that there is a possibility of us running a little bit larger group and Porsche Sprint.

“For us, it’s the entry ground for driver development in a lot of cases for people that are really wanting to run through the Porsche ladder.

“We do have a lot of inquiries about a Sprint [Challenge], and my guess is if there’s growth in any series, that would be where we would find it for next year.”