Take a peek inside the race program for the 24 Hours of Le Mans happening this week, and you might find an interesting name among the list of drivers. In the LMGT3 class, driving for The Heart of Racing Team, a certain G. Newell is racing...
Of course, this isn’t the beloved co-founder of Valve and Steam Gabe Newell (also affectionately nicknamed GabeN). This is his eldest son, Gray Newell, who has a full-time career in motorsport. Newell dabbled into game development briefly before starting his racing career back in 2021 at age 23.
Through The Heart of Racing Team (which GabeN also co-founded), Newell got his start in motorsport by competing in both the IMSA SportsCar Championship and the GT America Series. From 2021 through 2024, he was a fairly consistent competitor in both series, picking up points in most races along with the occassional podiums and wins.
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Newell moved up to the World Endurance Championship (WEC) this season, racing in the LMGT3 class. As early as the Imola season opener, Newell has already found success in the premier endurance racing series with a points-scoring debut.
The Heart of Racing Team was founded back in 2014 with the mission of raising funds for charities such as the Seattle Children’s Hospital. It also happens to be an Aston Martin works team; Heart of Racing fields both the Aston Martin Valkyrie and the Aston Martin Vantage AMR GT3 Evo in the WEC, for the Hypercar and LMGT3 classes respectively.
Newell will be one of the drivers for the number 23 car for Heart of Racing at Le Mans, alongside Jonny Adam and Eduardo Barrichello (son of former F1 driver Rubens Barrichello). The race week has been off to a good start for the team, with Newell and company ranking third in qualifying for the LMGT3 class. Race proper at the Circuit de la Sarthe happens this weekend, with lights out at 6am on Saturday, Philippine time.
