In only its second year of operation, Megan and Mark Kvamme’s MDK Motorsports has quickly established itself as a powerhouse in Porsche racing in North America.
This year, the team ran a total of 12 cars across Porsche Deluxe Carrera Cup North America and Porsche Sprint Challenge by Yokohama and finished the season with 36 wins and four championships in the six series MDK entered.
Kvamme himself completed the season with back-to-back championship wins for himself – this year’s Carrera Cup title Am title a bittersweet win after his teammate and championship rival Scott Noble suffered damage on the opening lap at Circuit of The Americas and was forced out of the race.
With 11 years behind the wheel racing in every single class of IMSA-sanctioned competition, Kvamme had plenty of experience to draw from in establishing his Columbus, Ohio-based team.
“I’ve literally raced every series and probably for 20 different teams, and I started seeing what I thought really worked and where I thought there was some room for improvement,” Kvamme said.
“I had all these learnings in my head, and I sat down with my wife and said, I think we can build a team that’s exceptional on the track, but also provide an exceptional experience for customers – hospitality, logistics, everything.
“We decided to go for it and take a shot.”
Kvamme, however, is no stranger to team ownership – getting his start with two wheels rather than four. He ran a professional Supercross team for six years from 2004 to 2009 and resurrected MDK Moto in the past twelve months to compete in the World Supercross Championship
“I had a lot of experience of what we needed to do from the world of two wheels. Being great on track is important, but running a team is basically a logistics and hospitality business. You have to take care of your drivers and make sure everything arrives on time and is running perfectly.
“The big difference between Supercross and car racing is with bikes; the top riders could literally roll out a stock bike, tweak some suspension settings, and be in a position to win.
“In a series like Carrera Cup, you really must have everything. The car’s got to be right. The team must be right. A lot of it goes into the car, but our big expansion this year has actually been a big help for everyone.”
Last year, MDK won races overall with Trenton Estep in Carrera Cup – earning him a spot as a Porsche Motorsport North America Selected Driver in 2023 and a graduation to GT3 competition in the Fanatec GT World Challenge Championship – another addition to the MDK stable.
“It’s been a big change from last year – we have MDK cars everywhere. The more cars you have, the more capabilities you can have,” Kvamme said.
“We can break down the data and look at who is fastest in each corner and examine how they are doing it and how to put together a perfect lap. Believe it or not, sometimes I’m fastest in one or two corners. Usually, it’s Jason Hart or Jimmy Llibre, but even Scott Noble was the fast man in a couple of corners at a race this year.
“It really helps that team chemistry, and it just makes all of us better.”
Aligning with Porsche has become a perfect combination for MDK with its new Columbus race shop (the former home for Michael Shank Racing’s IndyCar program) housing GT4, 991, and 992 Cup cars and the GT3 car that raced in the Rolex 24 Hour at Daytona and Fanatec GT World Challenge.
“We’re looking at establishing a great ladder system within the MDK family. You can start in a Cayman, graduate to a 991 in Sprint Challenge, then 992 in the same series or here in Cup,” Kvamme said.
“That’s what we did with Trenton successfully moving from Cup to World Challenge this year and Jimmy Llibre, who won the 991 championship in Sprint Challenge and stepped up to Cup this season. Zachary Vanier won the 992 title in Sprint Challenge this year, and he has his eyes on moving up next year.”
For Kvamme and MDK Motorsports, there is more growth to come. The team has secured an IMSA GTD-class entry for 2024 with its Porsche 911 GT3 R and will partner with Denmark’s High Class Racing on an LMP2 IMSA entry for next year.
“We certainly have big goals. My “spirit animal” in this sport is AF Corsa and Amato Ferrari. They are everywhere, from track day cars all the way through to GTP and a factory team. Hopefully, one day, we’ll get there.
“I’ve already had a couple of discussions with Porsche about what’s going on in GTP with the 963 – you never know, maybe in a couple of years.
“In order to do that, we’ll have to have a major sponsor. There’s a lot of work to do between now and then, but I’m already starting to talk to drivers about it.
“Basically, my idea is one day, I want to have everything from PCA club racing all the way through to GTP.”
But while his goals as a team owner are big, Kvamme is still looking to improve on track in 2024 as he chases his third-consecutive Carrera Cup Am championship.
“I had Trenton Estep on my radio at COTA, and he gave me a spray to ‘stop driving like a team owner and race that thing.’ It was exactly what I needed to hear. I am fortunate that we’ve been able to assemble an awesome group of really talented people.” Kvamme said.
“Everyone in an MDK car, including myself, knows when they drive out the pit lane, they have the equipment to do the best job possible.
“For the championship, this year was bittersweet – not the way I wanted to win. Scott (Noble) was so unlucky at COTA, but he has really forced me to raise my game this year. He is going to be a really tough competitor next year, and I’m going to have to keep pushing hard.
“The competition on track is fierce, but the camaraderie and banter between the two of us this year has been so much fun.”
