DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. – In sports car racing, it’s not uncommon to see a father-son duo team up as co-drivers in a single-car for IMSA events.
Today across the IMSA paddock, family efforts are easy to find. There is the duo of Greg and Eric Palmer piloting the No. 3 Jr III Racing entry in the IMSA Prototype Challenge while Dr. Robert Masson and son Kyle have somewhat frequently co-driven the No. 38 Performance Tech Motorsport LMP2 entry, as they did earlier this year in the Rolex 24 At Daytona.
Father-daughter duos aren’t quite as common, yet that’s exactly what we’ll get to witness when the 2020 Lamborghini Super Trofeo North America season gets underway.
Sydney McKee, a third-year full-time student at Brown University, will be piloting the No. 87 FaDa Racing Lamborghini Huracán GT3 alongside her father Bruce when the series begins later this year in the LB Cup Championship.
“My dad and I have formed a close bond through our mutual love of racing,” said the 21-year-old Sydney, who is studying for her degree in both Engineering and Economics. “It’s kept us connected even with me being away for college. We’re both extremely competitive people, but at the end of the day, we both know we are driving for the same team.”
“This year, we decided to step up to a car unlike anything we have raced before,” said Bruce. “Relative to IMSA, it’s always been sort of the target from my perspective. When I’ve watched racing, when I’ve followed racing, it’s always been sports car racing that’s the most intriguing to me.”
The duo competed in their first IMSA-sanctioned event behind the wheel of a Turner Motorsport BMW M4 GT4 in last year’s IMSA Michelin Pilot Challenge round at Daytona, where they scored a 20th place finish in the Grand Sport (GS) class.
Before its IMSA debut, however, the duo had already scored success on the track. Bruce won the PBOC R2 Championship in 2016 after scoring 10 victories, while Sydney claimed the Trophy East GT4 team championship in 2018.
Although Sydney is fully committed to her time behind the wheel, she also must balance her racing career with an education which she has been doing since high school when she built her first race car.
“Most people before a race weekend put in extra time to make sure they are prepared by watching video or running more laps in the sim,” she said. “I try to do those things as well, but I am also trying to get my homework done and study for my midterms to keep me from getting too behind in my studies from all the class time that I missed.”
For those that are asking what she will do after graduation, worry not. She won’t stray far from the allure of motorsports as she has plans to one day manage or own a race team.
The McKees and the rest of the Lamborghini Super Trofeo North American grid is scheduled to start the 2020 season at Watkins Glen International from June 25-27.