Pombo Jones Motorsports will be supported by Victor Gonzalez Racing for the 2023 Season. Victor Gonzalez Racing has been a proven race winning team in the IMSA and SRO paddocks, while Mark Pombo and Derek Jones will bring their development knowledge to the tent. This incredible marriage of talent will surely prove to be the team that will be fighting for the top step.
2023 TOYOTA GR Cup
Mark Pombo and Derek Jones, long-time friends and teammates will be starting there own team to run in the 2023 TOYOTA GR Cup. The GR Cup is Toyota’s all-new single make racing series. 14 events will be held at 7 prestigious circuits across the United States where race fans and series participants will get to experience Toyota’s unmatched passion for motor racing and car culture.
Each GR86 will start as a complete factory vehicle before GR engineers in North Carolina transform them into reliable, high-performance race cars. This signature spec series will showcase the full power and potential of the GR86.
Mark and Derek will be taking their years of experience in developing factory efforts to one of the greatest brands of all, TOYOTA.
Mid-Ohio : Race 3 Total devastation
We started P2 and Nate ran a fantastic stint. Nate handed the car over to me in P1. Our pit stop was perfect, and by far the fastest of the field. We reentered the field in P1 with a 7 second lead. All felt like the win was in the bag for 3 laps until the car began pulling to the left. We knew at that point we were having a mechanical failure. I was able to lead for another 5 laps but the condition continue to worsen. With 40 minutes to go we lost drive and our race was over. Another terrible weekend for the #37 MINI. As always, thank you to my team at Atelier FAS to hold down the fort while I get to represent our incredible MINI brand. #artscarsracecars
Sebring : Race 2 Nates First Pole - Wounded Race Car
Nate Norenberg did an incredible job getting our MINI JCW F56 on pole. It was Nate’s first career pole and he deserved every second of joy that followed. Unfortunately early contact with a BMW left our #37 MINI in bad shape. The care was nearly immobile with a power steering rack failure and a brake failure. We soldiered on to finish P4, just missing the podium. Our sister cars did amazing, with Mark Pombo and Jay Salinsky taking 1st and Mat Pombo and Mike Lamarra 2nd. car in As always, thank you to my team at Atelier FAS to hold down the fort while I get to represent our incredible MINI brand. #artscarsracecars
Daytona : Season Opener - Hero to Zero
We had an amazing car, the MINI JCW Team provided us with the car to win with. Nate qualified P2 and due to an aftermarket part failure on our two sister cars, we had a lead of over 40+ seconds. The race was ours… then just as the failure had hit our sister cars #73 and #52, it hit our #37 car. The axle failed. Our STEP program technicians did an incredible job quickly changing our axle and getting us out ahead of Mark (#52) and Mat Pombo (#73). We finished P4 all disappointed but proud of how strong our MINI JCW team is. As always, thank you to my team at Atelier FAS to hold down the fort while I get to represent our incredible MINI brand. #artscarsracecars
