Madison Snow

Madison Snow (born December 26, 1995) is an American racing driver who currently competes in the IMSA SportsCar Championship. In 2018 Snow became only the second driver in IMSA history to win two championships in the same year, winning both the WeatherTech SportsCar Championship’s GT Daytona (GTD) class as well as the Lamborghini Super Trofeo North American Pro class.

Career

Porsche Cup

After just over a decade spent in karting, Snow moved to sports car racing in 2010, competing for a short time in Miatas before transitioning into the IMSA GT3 Cup Challenge for 2011. In his opening season of Porsche cup competition, at just 15 years of age, Snow was crowned Gold Class champion, winning six of the 15 scheduled races and collecting 12 podiums. Two years later, he was crowned champion of the Platinum class, making him the youngest overall champion in series history.

At Attached 2013 24 Hours of Daytona, Madison and his mother Melanie became the first mother/son pairing in the race's history. At the tail end of the 2013 season, Snow was drafted in to complete Flying Lizard Motorsports' Petit Le Mans lineup alongside Spencer Pumpelly and Nelson Canache Jr. The team would finish the race as class winners. Due to his successes in the Porsche GT3 Cup car over the course of the previous three seasons, Snow was also invited to take part in the North American Porsche Youth Driver Academy at Barber Motorsports Park.

Alongside a full-season drive in the newly-formed IMSA SportsCar Championship with his family-owned team, Snow also competed with Extreme Speed Motorsports for a partial schedule in the Cooper Tires Prototype Lites during the 2014 season. Tallying three podiums in IMSA, he finished 7th in the GTD-class standings alongside co-driver Jan Heylen.

Paul Miller Racing

After running a partial season in 2015 with Wright Motorsports and Park Place Motorsports, Snow returned to full-time IMSA competition in 2016 with Paul Miller Racing. It was here where he was paired with Bryan Sellers in a Lamborghini Huracan GT3. In their sixth race as a duo, they earned their first joint podium. They went on to finish 3rd in the championship that year, including a win at Virginia International Raceway. Year 2 was the only one to see them not get a win, and after a penalty resulting in loss of championship points, they finished 9th. Everything went right in 2018, with Bryan and Madison winning the GTD Championship, as well as the 2018 12 Hours of Sebring and the NorthEast Grand Prix at Lime Rock Park. The duo took 9 podium finishes out of 12 races. They narrowly beat Katherine Legge in what remains the hardest fought GTD championship to date, requiring an average finish of 3rd place.
Following the conclusion of their championship winning season, Snow left racing as a result of driver rating adjustments that would have prevented him from competing alongside Sellers. While his FIA Drivers' Categorization status would remain Silver, defining him as an amateur driver, IMSA was set to upgrade his status to Gold, defining him as a professional driver in IMSA-organized competitions. Due to competition requirements that GTD class entries must field one professional and one amateur driver, Snow would not have been able to continue alongside Sellers due to both holding a professional status, contributing to his decision to end his racing career.

However, his retirement was rather short-lived. IMSA rescinded their promotion after Snow sat out the 2019 season, focusing instead on his full-time job which he still maintains today, and he returned to Paul Miller Racing in 2020.

The decision to return to the team and racing was well rewarded with a win at the 2020 24 Hours of Daytona along with Corey Lewis and Andrea Caldarelli. Due to Covid-19, however, they were unable to complete the full season and instead participated in only select races. They did still win a championship! Lewis, Snow, and Sellers took the 2020 Michelin Endurance Cup, setting a record for points accrued that still hasn't been broken.
That year, Snow also competed for Change Racing in the Lamborghini Super Trofeo North America, claiming the Pro class title while brother McKay won the Pro-Am class alongside other co-driver Corey Lewis.

In 2021, Madison once again teamed up with Bryan in the Lamborghini, and they had much success, taking their first win at the Long Beach Grand Prix. They stood on the podium 7 out of 12 races, and came just short of winning their second full season championship.

2022 brought big change to the Paul Miller Racing organization, with the introduction of a new manufacturer. The team moved to BMW, becoming one of four M4 GT3s on the grid. Unfortunately, they did not receive their car until after the first race of the season, eliminating them from contention for the full season honors before their first race. They debuted the car at Sebring International Raceway and ran well until contact from a faster class car put them behind the wall for several hours. But the team fixed the car, and they learned valuable lessons they wouldn't have to wait long to flaunt! The defending race winners at Long Beach took pole and victory once again at the southern California event. Bryan and Madison would win a meaningful Lime Rock Park race once again as well, finishing out the season with top 5 finishes at every race except Sebring and Watkins Glen, where they (along with many others) were disqualified. Their average finish in 2022 was the best of the field.

2023 once again sees Madison sharing a race car with Bryan Sellers, tying Wolf Henzler for Bryan's longest driving partnership.

The duo clinched the championship in record setting fashion, sealing it with still a race to go. They achieved victories at the 2023 12 Hours of Sebring, a third consecutive win at the Long Beach Grand Prix, their first wins at both Canadian Tire Motorsport Park and Road America, as well as win at the site of their first success in 2016, Virginia International Raceway. They also took home their second consecutive Sprint Cup.

Racing record

Career summary

^* Season still in progress.

Complete WeatherTech SportsCar Championship results

(key) (Races in bold indicate pole position)

^* Season still in progress.

References

External links

Madison Snow
at Motorsport.com

{{DEFAULTSORT:Snow, Madison
1995 births
Living people
Rolex Sports Car Series drivers
American Le Mans Series drivers
WeatherTech SportsCar Championship drivers
Porsche Supercup drivers
24 Hours of Daytona drivers
GT World Challenge America drivers
Lamborghini Super Trofeo drivers
Racing drivers from Utah
People from American Fork, Utah
Sportspeople from Utah County, Utah