Trenton Estep

Trenton Estep[1] (born November 24, 1999 in San Antonio, Texas[2]) is an American racing driver. Estep[3] grew up racing karts from the age of 4 years old in New Braunfels, Texas.[4] He competed in various karting competitions such as SKUSA Pro Tour,[5] Florida Winter Tour, US Open and Rotax Grand Finals in Portugal. In 2016 he made the transition from karts to open wheel cars. He entered the Formula Tour F1600, Canadian F1600 Super Series and F1600 Championship Series winning two Championships. He also ran in the opening round of the Redbull[6] Global Rallycross Championship[7] in Phoenix Arizona. In 2017 Estep made his transition from open wheel to cars in the North American Porsche GT3 Cup Series,[8] with JDX Racing.[9] Estep finished on podium 11 of 16 races with multiple wins placing 3rd in the Porsche GT3 Cup Championship. In 2018 he returned to the Porsche GT3 Cup series with JDX Racing with renewed sponsorship by Hertz Global along with a new sponsor Byers Porsche of Columbus Ohio.[10]Estep went on to finish on Podium in 14 of 16 races winning the 2018 IMSA Porsche GT3 Cup Challenge Championship.[11]A final honor to end his season was being chosen by Porsche Motorsports to attend the Porsche Junior Programme Shootout in Le Castellet at Circuit Paul Ricard. Estep was only 1 of 11 and the youngest at age 18 of the top Porsche drivers from all over the world under the age of 25 to receive the exclusive invite.[12]

Trenton Estep
Trenton Estep JDX Racing Porsche GT3 Cup
Nationality	American
Born	24 November 1999 San Antonio, United States
IMSA Porsche GT3 Cup Challenge career
Debut season	2017
Current team	JDX Racing
Car number	3 - Hertz Global/Byers Porsche/JDX Racing
Former teams	Exclusive Autosport, Dallas Karting Complex, Koene USA, Piquet Sports, Texas Karts
Starts	31
Wins	6
Podiums	25
Poles	2
Awards
2017, 2016, 2015, 2014	2018 IMSA Porsche GT3 Cup Challenge Champion, 2017 3rd in IMSA Porsche GT3 Cup Challenge, 2016 Formula Tour F1600 Champion, 2016 Canadian F1600 Super Series Champion, 2015 US Open Rotax Junior Champion, 2014 SKUSA Pro Tour S5 Shifter Champion

Career

Estep started karting at the age of 4 at his local track called Hill Country Kart Club (HCKC)[13] located in New Braunfels, Texas. He was mentored and supported by Tommy Muth of Texas Karts.[14] Estep went on to win numerous club and Texas road racing championships before he started karting at a national level in 2011. In 2011 Estep finished sixth in the SKUSA[15] Pro Tour TaG Cadet series. The championship was won by Colton Herta and was competed by other young talents such as Patricio O'Ward and Sophia Flörsch.[16] In 2014 Estep joined Dallas Karting Complex (DKC)[17] to win the SKUSA Pro Tour S5 Shifter class aboard his Sodi Kart[18] chassis after sweeping both the SKUSA SpringNats and SummerNats and then wrapping up the SKUSA Pro-Tour title in Las Vegas at the SuperNats. The following year Estep raced in various Rotax Max Junior series with Koene USA[19] winning the inaugural Maxspeed US Open Rotax Junior Championship aboard his Tony Kart[20] chassis by sweeping Round 1 in Dallas, Round 2 in Grand Junction Colorado and securing the Title in Las Vegas.[21]

In 2016 the Texas kart racer made the transition to racing open wheel cars. The main focus was the Quebec based Formula Tour F1600[22] and Super Series Championships.[23] The American competed in a Honda powered Spectrum 015H entered by Exclusive Autosport.[24] Estep clinched both Championships winning twelve out of seventeen races.[25] He also set 4 track records. He shattered the F1 Canadian Grand Prix F1600 track record by an amazing 1.4 seconds. He also holds the track record at North America's oldest street race Trois Rivieres or GP3R as well as track records at Mont Tremblant and Calabogie. Because of his championship in the Formula Tour F1600 series Estep qualified to compete at the 2016 Mazda Road to Indy Shootout. Alongside the Formula Tour F1600 Estep competed in only a select few races in the Ontario based Toyo Tires F1600 Series where he finished third in the championship.[26] Estep also competed in the US in only two race weekends F1600 Championship Series events at Road Atlanta and Virginia International Raceway. Estep won the second race of the weekend at Virginia International Raceway.[27]

Estep made a one-off appearance in Redbull[28]Global RallyCross[29] with PMG Rallysport[30] replacing Parker Chase at the Wild Horse Pass Motorsports Park in Chandler, Arizona. Estep received the last minute opportunity just days before the event only having 4 laps in a business parking lot to fit seat and test radio before leaving for Arizona. He had just received his drivers license. He had to teach himself how to drive in the dirt, E-Brake and jump a rally car off a dirt ramp 50' as he raced the car. He went on to lead the Final live on NBC Sports when his front suspension broke taking him out of the lead and the race.

In 2016 Estep also made the leap from Junior to Senior class in karting. He won in only his second start in the Florida Winter Tour in Round Two at Ocala Grand Prix. He competed against an international field including European World Champion Jordan Lennox-Lamb and Canadian Indy Car driver Zachary Claman DeMelo.

2017 - After receiving 22 offers at the end of 2016 to compete in various series including Porsche GT3 Cup, Lamborghini Super Trofeo,[31] USF2000,[32] Pro Mazda,[33] US F4,[34] Formula Atlantics,[35] Pirelli World Challenge,[36] IMSA Lites,[37] and F2000.[38] After a great deal of consideration Estep signed a contract with JDX Racing to run in the IMSA Porsche GT3 Cup Challenge Series. Estep finished on podium 11 of 16 races with multiple wins placing 3rd in the Porsche Championship.

2018 - In 2018 Estep returned to the IMSA Porsche GT3 Cup Challenge series with JDX Racing. Hertz Global also continued their sponsorship along with a new sponsor Byers Porsche of Columbus Ohio. Estep ended the 2018 Porsche GT3 Cup Challenge winning the Championship over close friend and competitor Roman DeAngelis

Racing record

2018 Porsche GT3 Cup Challenge Champion

Year	Team	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	14	15	16	Rank	Points
2018	JDX Racing	SB 1	SB 2	BM 3	BM 5	MO 1	MO 2	WG 2	WG 1	RA 3	RA 3	VIR 3	VIR 2	SR 3	SR 1	ATL 5	ATL 3	1st	499

2017 IMSA Porsche GT3 Cup Challenge Results

Porsche GT3 Cup Challenge

Year	Team	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	14	15	16	Rank	Points
2017	JDX Racing	SB 3	SB 2	BM 3	BM 2	COTA 1	COTA 2	WG 2	WG DNS	RA 6	RA 4	VIR 3	VIR DNF	SR 6	SR 3	ATL 3	ATL 1	3rd	232

F1600

Year	Team	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	14	15	16	17	Rank	Points
2016	Exclusive Autosport	MTB 1	MTB 1	MTB 1	MT 1	MT 1	SHV 9	SHV 1	SHV DNF	TR 9	TR 1	TR 1	CB 1	CB 1	CB DNF	MTB 1	MTB 1	MTB 1	1st	384

F1600

Year	Team	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	Rank	Points
2016	Exclusive Autosport	F1 1	F1 1	CMP 2	CMP 2	CMP 2	TR 5	TR 1	TR 12	CB 1	CB 1	CB DNF	1st	237

GRC Lites

Year	Entrant	Car	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	Position	Points
2016	PMG Rallysport	Lites Ford Fiesta	PHO1 5	PHO2 7	DAL	DAY1	DAY2	MCAS1	MCAS2	DC	AC	SEA	LA1	LA2	15th	57

DNA - Did Not Attend.

Rotax Junior

Year	Team	1	2	3	Rank
2015	KoeneUSA	DAL 1	GDJ 1	LVN 5	1st

Shifter - S5 Stock Moto

Year	Team	1	2	3	Rank
2014	Dallas Karting Complex - DKC	DAL 1	MOD 1	LVN 5	1st

References

1. "About Me". Trenton Estep. Retrieved 15 October 2016.
2. "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 2017-02-18. Retrieved 2017-02-16.CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
3. "Trenton Estep - Official Site". Trentonestep.com.
4. "New Braunfels, TX - Official Website - Official Website". Nbtexas.org.
5. Riding Shotgun: Estep passes 32 karts at SuperNationals XX, archived from the original on 2017-02-11, retrieved 2017-02-10
6. "Red Bull Gives You Wings". RedBull.com.
7. "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 2016-06-01. Retrieved 2017-02-16.CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
8. "Porsche GT3 Cup USA". Porsche GT3 Cup USA.
9. "JDX Racing - IMSA Porsche GT3 Cup Challenge USA". Jdxracing.com.
10. Porsche, Byers. "Columbus New & Used Porsche Car Dealer - Byers Imports Porsche Parts, Repair & Leases". Byersporsche.com.
11. "Porsche GT3 Cup USA". Porsche GT3 Cup USA. 2018-11-02.
12. "Who will be the 2019 Porsche Junior?". Porsche AG.
13. "Hill Country Kart Club". Hill Country Kart Club.
14. "Texas Karts". Texaskarts.com.
15. "SuperKarts! USA". Superkartsusa.com.
16. "SKUSA Pro Tour - TaG Cadet 2011 standings". DriverDB.com. Retrieved 15 October 2016.
17. "Dallas Karting Complex - Kart Racing, Rental Karts, Karting Leagues and Corporate Events in the Dallas Ft Worth Area". Dallaskartingcomplex.com.
18. "Sodi racing team - SODIKART". Sodikart.com.
19. "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 2017-02-17. Retrieved 2017-02-17.CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
20. "TONY KART". Tonykart.com.
21. "Trenton Estep". DriverDB.com. Retrieved 15 October 2016.
22. "F1600 Canada". F1600 Canada.
23. "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 2017-02-18. Retrieved 2017-02-17.CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
24. "Exclusive Autosport Drivers". Exclusive Autosport. Retrieved 15 October 2016.
25. "Classement Général - Saison 2016" (PDF). Formula Tour 1600. Archived from the original (PDF) on 19 October 2016. Retrieved 15 October 2016.
26. "Standings". Formula 1600. Archived from the original on 18 October 2016. Retrieved 15 October 2016.
27. "2016 VIR - Race 2". F1600 Championship Series. Retrieved 15 October 2016.
28. Team, Red Bull Racing Formula One. "Red Bull Racing Formula One Team". Red Bull Racing Formula One Team.
29. "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 2017-05-01. Retrieved 2017-02-16.CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
30. "Home". Performancemotorsportsgroup.com.
31. "Super Trofeo North America". Squadracorse.lamborghini.com.
32. "Cooper Tires USF2000 Championship powered by Mazda". Usf2000.com.
33. "Pro Mazda Championship Presented by Cooper Tires". Promazda.com.
34. "Main - F4 US Championship". www.f4uschampionship.com.
35. "Atlantic Championship Series - Home Page". atlanticchampionshipseries.com.
36. "Pirelli World Challenge Championships". Pirelli World Challenge.
37. "IMSA". IMSA.
38. "F2000 Championship Series - Home Page". F2000championshipseries.com.

External links

• Official website
• YouTube channel