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Sloan Urry looks for strong 2014 season

Sloan Urry waits by his car during a weekend in Atlanta during the 2013 racing season. Photo courtesy of Sloan Urry Racing
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Sloan Urry didn’t grow up racing go-karts when he was a boy. He didn’t even become interested in racing until he was 16 years old and attending Park City High School.

But that hasn’t stopped the now-21-year-old from making a run at his dreams.

Urry, who drives in the International Motor Sports Association’s (IMSA) Porsche GT3 Cup Challenge USA series, got his start at Miller Motorsports Park in Tooele.

"It’s not a very exciting story," Urry laughed. "I didn’t really know anything about racing until I was about 16 and in high school. I started watching Formula One and learned about the local track – Miller Motorsports Park – and went out with my dad and brother and tooled around with some street cars."

From there, Urry fell in love with the sport, progressing at a rapid rate.

"I loved it, so I did a school program out there and the instructors told me that maybe I should try it out for a little longer," he said. "So now I’m here."

And "here" isn’t a bad place for Urry – after a seventh-place overall finish in 2012 in the IMSA GT3 Challenge, the Parkite finished second last year. Urry hopes that rapid progression continues in 2014, which will be only his fifth full season of racing.

Because he doesn’t have the experience of many of his competitors, Urry often notices that his racing intuition is lacking compared to other drivers.

"It’s mainly just the situational experience of a lot of it," he said. "In the race or in qualifying, it’s just those little tidbits of knowing when to do what and how to get the car to do that. It only shows up once in a while, but when it does, it’s really frustrating. The more seat time I get, the better I’ll be. Soon, there will be no difference."

But, though his lack of experience is a disadvantage at times, Urry also notices some benefits to starting the sport at a later age.

"One advantage is I’m not making bad habits along the way," he said. "I’ve been serious from the get-go. I’ve always had good people around me and I’ve been pretty mature – I’m not a four-year-old trying to learn it for the first time. There’s still obviously a slower learning curve, though."

As Urry learns more about the finer points of driving, he’s confident he can contend for a championship.

"The biggest difference between my series and a lot of others is that it’s all Porsches – it’s a one-make series, all the exact same car," he said. "It features the driver as far as making it stand out. It’s not about one car being faster than the other – it’s about who’s the better driver."

With one race of the 2014 season under his belt, Urry acknowledges he’s got room for improvement still. But, he added, the race in Sebring, Florida, was a difficult one from a logistics standpoint.

He had just finalized a contract for the race season days prior to the race, forcing his team to hustle to get things ready.

"We showed up and hadn’t even seen the car yet," he said. "I wore someone else’s suit, drove someone else’s car, it was absurd. My team did the best job they could with it. We got a sixth and a third [place finish]. It’s not how we wanted to start, but it’s OK – we got some OK points."

Though he’s encouraged that he’ll drive better once he’s more familiar with the car and his team has more time to work on it, he’s looking forward to getting back on the track this weekend at Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca in Monterey, California.

"This year, it’s championship or bust," he said. "That’s the only goal – nothing else will suffice. We’ve got high aspirations, but the only reason to race is to win. That’s all me and my team are thinking about."

To keep up with Urry as he chases a championship, visit his website at sloanurryracing.com.


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