Pirelli Paddock Pass: CJ Moses

CJ Moses is set to take the jump into the ranks of professional motorsports this year with a partial-season Pirelli GT4 America program with CrowdStrike Racing in a GMG Racing-run Audi R8 LMS GT4.

This week in the Pirelli Paddock Pass, Moses fills us in his motorsports background, the decision to step up to Pirelli GT4 America, what it means to be racing for a championship-caliber team, and more.

Where did you interest in motorsports come from?

“I bought an Audi A4 1.8t and it came with a free Quattro Club membership, so I signed up.

“Soon after I got an advertisement for a track day at the newly reopened Virginia International Raceway and my wife thought it would be a great birthday present for me.

“I had a great instructor that taught me the ropes and it was at this point that the hook was set. Over the next couple years and plenty of worn out car parts later, I worked my way up to being an Audi Club Instructor.

“A couple of my instructor mentors decided they were going to race a former Motorola Cup Audi in SCCA Regional Club Racing and I volunteered to crew for them.

“That is how I learned about racing, diving deep and doing each and every task myself. After a while I decided I wanted to get behind the wheel and built a Mitsubishi Galant VR-4 SCCA ITE race car.

“It was a crazy ride, with a huge turbo that took forever to spool and when it did it would crab crawl sideways spinning the tires.

“I’m glad that you learn a lot more from your failures than your successes, needless to say I learned a lot during those years.

“In 2005, my best friend was watching the SCCA Runoffs on Speed Channel and called me to ask what it takes to do that?

“I looked it up on the website and we both set off to buying new cars that fit in to the Touring 2 rules, a pair of 2006 Mitsubishi Evo 9 that we both still had car loans on.

“It took a couple years for us to get up to speed, but we both won our respective Divisional Championships in 2008.”

What previous experience are you going to be drawing from to prepare you for the step up to Pirelli GT4 America?

“A former mentor of mine at AWS once told me that, ‘There is no compression algorithm for experience.’ Never were wiser words spoken, as the only way to get experience in something, is to do it.

“I’ll be drawing on every bit of the experience I’ve had since getting in that Audi street car nearly twenty years ago, but more importantly the experience that I’ve had in the last ten years running in SCCA Nationals and subsequently SCCA Majors.”

What are the biggest challenges you expect in your transition into a professional racing environment?

“The competition in this series is exceptionally strong. In the events I’m used to there are only a few competitors actually running for the win, but in this field every car is well prepared and if the driver can put laps together has the ability to step on to the podium.

“I’ve got a steep learning curve and lack that direct series, as well as, experience at several of the tracks, like the street courses, so I’ll be soaking in all the knowledge and experience I can get.”

What does it mean to you to be associated with a team like GMG which has been so successful in this series?

“It means everything to me to be racing with James Sofronas and the GMG team.

“I spent a good bit of time in the GMG paddock last year with George Kurtz and the CrowdStrike Racing team, which means that even with so many new unfamiliar things, knowing that GMG is there with me at every step, is very comforting.

“Who better to gain the experience from than the 2018 triple championship team, driving the same Audi R8 LMS GT4 platform they were so successful with.”

What would make your 2019 racing season a success in your eyes?

“When you’re racing for CrowdStrike and AWS there can only be one goal: perfection! My goal this year will be to continue CrowdStrike Racing’s and GMG’s winning ways.

“If that isn’t in the cards, AWS and CrowdStrike both have company cultures that use failures as opportunities to learn and I will look to learn and iterate towards the top of the podium.

“I know this is an audacious goal, but if you fail to think big, you have already failed.”