MG Racing and team driver Tom Sargent scored a convincing victory from the pole Saturday morning in the first of the weekend's two 40-minute IMSA Porsche Carrera Cup North America races at the Grand Prix of Long Beach.

Carrying the flag for sidelined GMG Racing owner James Sofronas and teammate and car owner Kyle Washington, Sargent opened up a comfortable lead from the start and then drove a smart race to the finish for a 2.245 seconds margin of victory in the No. 32 GMG Racing Porsche 911 Cup.

Sargent, a former race winner and championship runner-up in Carrera Cup, was a late call up for the one-off drive this weekend at Long Beach to continue the Southern California team's consistent participation and tradition of success at the nation's premier temporary street course race.

Team founder and driver Sofronas - a three-time career winner at Long Beach - was set to defend GMG Racing's stellar record on the 1.968-mile as recently as earlier this week only to learn a recent non-racing accident left him with several broken ribs. With Washington not scheduled to compete this weekend, the quick decision was made to go with Sargent in the more familiar No. 32 Carrera as GMG Racing's sole entry at Long Beach.

"I am grateful to both Tom and Kyle for not hesitating to make this late change up," Sofronas said. "This is GMG Racing's 25th season in racing, and to not have a car in our home race at the Grand Prix of Long Beach was not an option. Tom was the obvious choice, he is one of the hottest drivers in international sports car racing right now, knows our team and all of our Porsches and has winning experience in Carrera Cup. He drove great today in in a car perfectly prepared by the GMG Racing crew. We are looking forward to closing out the weekend with another win Sunday morning. Winning doesn't make my injuries go away but it is certainly eases the pain!"

A little over three weeks ago, Washington and Sargent co-drove to a milestone victory at Sonoma Raceway in the first three-hour GT World Challenge America powered by AWS race in the No. 32 GMG Racing Porsche 911 GT3 R Evo. Just last weekend, Sargent took the checkered flag in a similar Proton Competition GT3 R Evo to secure a victory in his European Le Mans Series debut in Barcelona with co-drivers Matt Kurzejewski and Richard Leitz.

"As a race car driver, you're naturally just looking to keep bettering yourself," Sargent said. "For me, the end goal is still a factory drive with Porsche. I need to prove myself for that, and the last three weeks or so have been a good start for that, but there is still a long way to go. I just need to keep hitting the marks, keep improving, and the big thing is every year that's gone by I'm just driving more and more and more. I think that shows in the results. I have been in the car several weeks in a row and have three more straight weeks coming. I owe Kyle a lot, and that's no lie, he's helped me to get where I am right now. James and the team are from here, they were down the road in Santa Ana now they are headquartered at the Thermal Club. It is cool to be able to do this for them at their home track. A lot of supporters for Kyle and the GMG Racing team are out here, and a lot of family and friends. It's a big deal for them."

Saturday's victory was the 10th in IMSA Carrera Cup for GMG Racing and first in the Pro class. While GMG Racing celebrates its 25th season of competition this year, the team surprisingly never raced in IMSA Carrera Cup before the 2023 finale at Circuit of The Americas (COTA). Sofronas swept that weekend's Pro-Am races in his and the team's series debut, a breakout performance that has seen him and GMG Racing continue to win at least two races a season through last year. Sofronas has secured eight of the 10 career Carrera Cup victories GMG Racing has captured as the team begins just its fourth year in the competitive series.

Sunday's second and final Carrera Cup race of the Long Beach weekend is scheduled to go green at 11:20 a.m. PDT. Livestream coverage is available on NBC's Peacock as well as on IMSA.tv and IMSA’s YouTube Channel.