🇺🇸 Drake Kemper

Drake Kemper is a semi-professional driver who raced solo and shared-car competition across United States national championships from 2013 to 2021. He holds an FIA Bronze grading, marking him as an amateur in endurance racing. His primary series was the Whelen Mazda MX-5 Cup, where he drove for Provision Motorsports and accumulated 45 starts, one win, and 11 podiums over six seasons. He also competed in the IMSA Pilot Challenge in production ST-class sportscars, TGRNA GR Cup North America, and club-level racing in PCA and NASA championships.[1]

Kemper's record across 80 starts yielded three wins and 14 podiums. The bulk of his racing came in the Whelen Mazda MX-5 Cup between 2016 and 2021, where he finished consistently inside the top half of the field. His best season came in 2021, his final year of racing, when he reached 12th in the championship standings across nine rounds. He took his sole Whelen Mazda win at some point during this run and captured two wins early in his career in PCA Club Racing competition.[2]

In the Whelen Mazda grid, Kemper typically finished behind Gresham Wagner, a regular rival who would go on to win the championship twice, while running closely matched against Alex Bachoura, another Bronze-graded semi-professional. He beat established professionals Connor Zilisch, a NASCAR driver with 36 Cup Series starts, and Brent Crews, a 2023 Trans-Am champion, once each in head-to-head racing.