McDonald “Fell In Love” With SRO America as GT3 Launchpad
Blake McDonald on how his SRO America campaign with DXDT Racing is helping him prepare for future GT3 aspirations...


Photo: Jonathan Grace
DXDT Racing’s Blake McDonald said he “fell in love” with the SRO America paddock after making his GT3 debut at last year’s Indianapolis 8 Hour presented by AWS, prompting him to use his GT World Challenge America powered by AWS campaign as a launchpad for his future racing aspirations.
McDonald and reigning Rolex 24 at Daytona GTD class winner Matt Bell form a revamped single-car GTWC Ameerica program for DXDT after near-championship success for the David Askew-owned organization last year, with the pair campaigning a Pro-Am Corvette Z06 GT3.R in GTWC America alongside select GT America powered by AWS appearances for McDonald.
After convincingly winning the 2024 Porsche Sprint Challenge USA West Pro-Am title last year, McDonald had his sights set on further Porsche single-make competition before deciding to make the leap to full-time GT3 competition this season in the SRO America paddock.
“My first GT3 event was the Indy 8 Hour last year with DXDT in the Corvette,” McDonald told Sportscar365. “I fell in love with it right away.
“The original plan was for me to do Carrera Cup this year, then I decided to sidestep that a bit and go straight to SRO.
“Everyone was pretty happy with my performance at the Indy 8 Hour for my first go at it, and I fell in love with the paddock, fell in love with the multi-manufacturer aspect, and ultimately, this is where I wanted to go.
“This year is ultimately about getting used to wheel-to-wheel fighting and a GT3 platform and used to finding the limit in a GT3 platform, and eventually, we’ll take the next steps that will lead to work.”
After a handful of select GT3 races a the Michelin 24H of Dubai and Spa 12H, McDonald seeks to use his GTWC America program to help him prepare for larger endurance events and championships in GT3 machinery. Later this year, McDonald and Bell will join AF Corse’s two-car Pro-Am effort at the CrowdStrike 24 Hours of Spa.
“I’d like to do WEC and I’d like to go win Le Mans,” said McDonald. “Win all the big endurance races.
“We’re going to be doing the Spa 24 later this year. That’ll be the first big prestigious endurance race that I’ve done, so I’m very much looking forward to that. And Le Mans eventually. All the big ones. The sky’s the limit, but ultimately, a full WEC season is the big picture goal.
“I hope people notice that I’m not playing around. I’m serious about these goals. I think I’m able to punch a little bit above my weight class in terms of my experience level.
“The better relationships that I can make with teams, the better performances I can put on, the easier it is to find drivers and co-drivers and stuff like that. It’s all necessary stuff.”
McDonald says his relationship with GTWC co-driver Bell has been largely beneficial to how quickly he has been able to get up to speed, with the duo racking up their first Pro-Am class victory of the season at the Circuit of The Americas last month. It was McDonald’s first win in GT3 machinery, despite only a handful of starts in the production-based ranks.
“Matt Bell being my co-driver and coach has certainly been a huge help in getting up to speed with the car,” said McDonald. “Obviously, he’s very familiar with it and accomplished in the car.
“I’m extremely new to this world, and this world is extremely complicated. Trying to navigate it by yourself is almost impossible. You need somebody to show you the way.
“If you have this big goal that’s these giant races, there are certain stepping stones you should take to get there, and I wouldn’t even know any of them if it wasn’t for Matt.
“Both Matt and I are very competitive. We didn’t come here to get second and third places. We came here to win. I think we’ve put together a good package, I think we’ve put together a good team, and I think the goal every session in P1. That’s just been the goal since the beginning.”