For Off in the Esses Racing, the 2025 VSCA Endurance Cup wasn’t won in a single race—it was the result of a patient, well-measured campaign across the most grueling events on the VSCA calendar. From the triumph at Daytona in January to a hard-earned fifth place at Road Atlanta in October, the #83 McLaren 720S GT3 EVO never relied on luck alone.
Team owner Stuart Leslie summed it up perfectly: “This group of guys started doing sim racing together in the iRacing special events. To win the Endurance Cup—those same events, but under the VSCA banner—really brings us back to where we started.”
The squad’s two victories—at Daytona and Watkins Glen—bookended a season that was less about perfection and more about perseverance, but surely no less impressive.
The Season’s Turning Point
It all began at Daytona, where Patrick Boilard, Jonathan Duncan, Michael Garrone, Stuart Leslie, and Joseph Okopien steered the McLaren to a commanding class win in the twenty-four-hour marathon. That victory not only set the tone but built a cushion that would prove invaluable.
“Daytona really gave us a leg up on the competition,” said Matthew Elya. “We took a lot of the available points out there.”, referring to the Endurance Cup unique points system that rewards the front runners at specific hour-marks of each Endurance Cup round, plus at the checkered flag.
Sebring brought its bumps—literally and figuratively—with a sixth-place class finish, but the team rebounded at Watkins Glen with another win. By now, everybody was put on notice that Off in the Esses Racing meant business and had to be considered the top contender for this year's Endurance Cup crown in GT AM class. That weekend, four of their usual drivers were away attending the real-world IMSA Six Hours of The Glen, leaving the team scrambling for a last-minute substitute. Against the odds, they prevailed.
“Luckily we were able to get a driver last minute and still get the victory,” Elya recalled with a smile. “That was huge for us.”, in reference to William Keim, who made his series debut in the race.
Lessons at The Brickyard
The 6 Hours at The Brickyard was less kind. Indianapolis demanded precision and patience—qualities the team had in spades but couldn’t fully translate into pace. Finishing ninth in class, the race became more about survival and maintaining the bigger picture.
Through all the scrapes and warnings that mark the rhythm of endurance racing, the #83 McLaren remained remarkably composed, rarely finding itself involved in accidents or race control decisions. Rather, the bigger task was elsewhere.
“The biggest challenge for us was the McLaren,” admitted Boilard. “We could never quite find a setup balance that suited everyone. We’ll have to do some thinking about what we bring next season.”
The Finale at Road Atlanta
At Petit Le Mans, the math was simple: finish cleanly, and the championship was theirs. Ten hours later, the #83 crossed the line fifth in class—far from the top step, but high enough to put the title beyond reach.
For Jonathan Duncan, who’s been with the team since their earliest VSCA outings - Off in the Esses Racing has been since the first-ever VSCA race in history-the 2022 24 Hours of Daytona - the moment was deeply satisfying. “We’ve raced in VSCA for several years now,” he said. “To finally put it all together and grab our first championship is surreal.”
Leslie echoed that sentiment, reflecting on the team’s evolution: “Life has been busy. I had to take a bit of a backseat to driving this year. But the guys always stepped up when it mattered. It’s been cool to see how our lineup evolved.”
Heart Over Hardware
If there’s a single thread running through Off in the Esses Racing’s season, it’s trust—both in one another and in the process.
Duncan pointed to preparation as the team’s secret weapon: “The time and effort the guys put into setups and track knowledge set us apart. Going into each race confident we could win was something we’d never had before this season.”
But even confidence has to meet circumstance. For all their strategy, Leslie insisted that points were never the obsession. “We just wanted to win races. Of course, by the end we paid attention to the endurance points, but it was never the focus.”
Still, Boilard admitted that Daytona’s early points haul “was such a crucial part of our success.”
The Champions’ Perspective
In the end, Off in the Esses Racing’s 2025 Endurance Cup season reads like a masterclass in endurance itself—not only about raw speed and about knowing when to push, when to yield, and how to make it all work as a team.
They finish the campaign with forty-two points, two wins, and a top-five result in every single race—numbers that tell one story, but not the whole one.
As Leslie reflected, “It takes a village. We have guys who’ve been here since day one, and others who helped in ways that don’t show up on the timing screen. That’s what made the difference.”
And so, fittingly, Off in the Esses Racing ended their season not with fireworks or a photo finish, but with something more enduring: quiet satisfaction—and a trophy that says it all.
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