Gray Newell's climb from GT4 America to the FIA World Endurance Championship

Gray Newell is an American racing driver who came to car racing relatively late and built his way up through the GT categories with Heart of Racing Team. He finished second in the GT4 America Series championship in 2024, and in 2026 he stepped up to full-time endurance racing at the top level of the FIA World Endurance Championship. His father, Gabe Newell, co-founded Valve Corporation and is also linked to the Heart of Racing team.

How did Newell get into racing?

Newell was born in 1997 and is the eldest child in his family. Early in his twenties he decided to go into game development, as his father had, and he co-founded an indie studio called Naetyr Games. Its first project was Fury, an online first-person shooter he described as similar to a well-known sandbox game and to Star Citizen.

Naetyr was still in pre-production when he stepped away to focus on racing. Car racing was the route he chose, and he began at 23 in 2021, a late start by the standards of most drivers in the series.

Starting late in a GT4 America grid, Newell built a championship-level career one podium at a time.

What did his first GT4 America seasons deliver?

In 2021 Newell debuted in the GT4 America Series with Heart of Racing Team in the Pro-Am category. He partnered the team's co-founder, Ian James. Watkins Glen was their strongest weekend that year, with a runner-up finish in race one and a class win in race two. Newell ended the season thirteenth in the championship.

Alongside that, Newell also ran a complete GT America programme in GT4 cars during 2021. He finished inside the top ten in every race until Road America, and then produced some of his best results. At Indianapolis he took the lead in race two and held it to claim his maiden series victory.

The 2022 campaign brought more consistent results, and Newell scored points in most of the races he entered that year. The pair took a class podium at NOLA, then finished fourth in race one at VIR and runner-up in race two. At Watkins Glen they also won race one in class, Newell's second victory in the series.

At Road America Newell took his first series pole. He held the lead for his entire stint, but James took over in the second half, and a late charge from Jason Hart led to contact at turn 3. James had finished first on the road, but a penalty for that avoidable contact awarded the win to Elliott Skeer. Newell and James were third.

Indianapolis gave them another pole for Newell, and the pair finished third and fourth in the two races.

Why did Roman De Angelis matter for Newell's 2023 season?

After the opening round at Sonoma, Ian James was replaced by the Canadian driver Roman De Angelis for the rest of the season. Newell and De Angelis took the win at NOLA, where Newell had qualified on pole. Road America the next weekend was a return to form, and the pair took the race-one class win there.

The season was not free of trouble. At VIR Newell received a two-race suspension from the series organisers, SRO America, for exceeding the maximum number of behaviour warning points. The penalty followed an incident in race one at VIR for which he was judged responsible. At Sebring he took another pole, but his race ended early after contact with Elias Sabo, which put both cars into the wall.

Indianapolis was their best weekend of the year, with race one won and De Angelis taking third in race two. Over in the GT America Series that season Newell finished fourth in the championship, after podiums at St. Petersburg in both races and at NOLA and at both COTA rounds. After the COTA rounds he had sat third, 23 points behind the leader.

How did Newell finish second in the 2024 GT4 America Series?

Newell and De Angelis returned together in 2024, and Newell finished second in the GT4 America championship, his highest finish in that series. It was his fourth season in the category, and the consistency was the difference.

The season started well, with second and fourth in the races at Sonoma. The pair were consistent through the first half of the year, scoring points in every race. Newell took his first pole of the year at Road America, where he fought Kay van Berlo for the lead in race one before finishing third, and the pair rebounded with a class win in race two. Later he added another pole at Barber. At Barber the team also switched to the new Aston Martin Vantage GT4 Evo, which was a mid-season change of machinery.

At Barber De Angelis started 26th in race two, but he fought his way forward to the lead and won, giving the pair their second win of the season. They closed out the year with a second place at Indianapolis.

In the GT America Series he produced his best championship result there, a third place. He collected five straight podium finishes between Long Beach and COTA, which lifted him up the order, and a second run of podiums from Road America to Barber later in the year.

What did 2025 look like in GT World Challenge America?

In 2025 Newell stepped up to full-time GT3 machinery with Heart of Racing Team in GT World Challenge America. Veteran sportscar driver Darren Turner was his partner for the season, and they finished fourth in the championship after a run of points finishes.

The opening round at Sonoma was mixed. The pair took points in race one and a non-points finish in race two. The best weekend came at VIR. In race one they were fighting for the Pro-Am win, but a late pass by Robby Foley on Turner meant they had to accept second. In race two the third-place runner retired late, which moved Newell and Turner up to third in Pro-Am.

A penalty for another car in race two at Road America gave Newell a podium. Robichon came in as a third driver for the 8 Hours of Indianapolis, and the entry took second in the Pro-Am class.

Newell also made a one-off appearance at Long Beach in the GT America Series in 2025, where he qualified on pole for race one and finished third.

What is Newell's programme in the 2026 World Endurance Championship?

In 2026 Newell took a full-time seat in the FIA World Endurance Championship, driving for Heart of Racing Team in the LMGT3 category. His teammates were Jonny Adam and Eduardo Barrichello.

His debut at Imola brought a ninth-place finish, which was enough for points. Barrichello had a clashing IMSA race that weekend, so Kobe Pauwels replaced him for that round.

Qualifying at Le Mans put Newell third in his group, sending him and his teammates into Hyperpole 1. Barrichello then took the car through to Hyperpole 2, and Adam's effort left the entry eighth on the LMGT3 grid. In the race the team fought for the class victory for much of the distance, and they finished on the podium in third.

The 2026 season was still in progress at the latest update, so the final standings are not yet set.

Racing record at a glance