CrowdStrike CEO George Kurtz on winning the Rolex 24 at Daytona — and how endurance racing mirrors business resilience

so some of these moments are are kind of a reactivation.

Well, we have George from Crowdstrike. Your business is AI. His business is securing it. Crowd Strike secures AI and stops breaches. And without further ado, let's bring in George from Crowd Strike to break down his weekend. How are you doing? Great to see you. Thank you so much for hopping on the show.

Uh great to see you guys doing well.

Congratulations. Uh

incredible,

incredible performance. Uh did you expect this? Take us through it emotionally. By the way, by the way, I kept I kept telling uh telling people about Crowd Strike's performance this weekend, and every single time they were like, "Oh, that's cool, but like George isn't." I was like, "George George won. George and the team won." They're like, "That's cool, but like George isn't actually driving, right?" I'm like, "No,

he's in the car.

He's in He's in the car. Deserves uh plenty plenty of credit

plenty of credit."

But yeah, uh take us through the weekend. Uh, how are you feeling?

Well, feeling great. I think this is one um this is one race that has eluded us for for many years. We came really close in 23. We lost by 16,000 of a second. So, we've been trying to after 24 hours, by the way. That's a foot if you actually do the math. And um you know, it's been really just eating at us for for the number of years since 23. So, we've been trying and getting close and getting close. and to finally uh do it and get the monkey off our back was a big deal. Team did a great job. You know, the the other drivers that we have were just fantastic. So, um yeah, I I mean, I was out in the car. I did the first three hours of the race and um you know, it was just kind of a crazy race. Certainly at the start, I can tell you that.

Yeah. What what were the what moments stand out in hindsight for for you guys as a team and then, you know, across the race generally?

Yeah. Well, you know, look, it's a 24-hour race and um I've never seen one of these races won on the first turn at the start of the race. Like, it's just not going to happen. And a bunch of guys went in there and, you know, it was like bowling pins. And unfortunately, we got taken out uh minding our own business, you know, just trying to get through turn one. Um we got the car back, had some suspension damage. The team actually changed a uh one of the parts, suspension parts in about a minute. So, we were able to get back on track. Um, we got a bit of a penalty because we serviced the car under yellow and those sort of things, but we were down a few laps and I think the biggest thing, which is always the case, is you're never out until you're really out. So, you have to keep fighting. And we're number laps down. The great thing about endurance racing and and IMSA, which is the uh the series that I race in, is you can always you're still in it even if you're a few laps down. a few yellows, few things have to go your way. So, I think it's the perseverance uh to finally get it done and um you know, it was a nailbiter at the end, but uh to see it actually go over the finish line and not have something bad happen uh was a great feeling.

Uh what what was the how how would you guys now that the race is over, what what was kind of the strategy going into it? What what what uh obviously taking lessons from from prior years and obviously 2023, what was the game plan? And then specifically, how how are you guys approaching the night? Because I think a lot of people uh that are that have maybe watched F F1 or watch racing recreationally don't fully process that uh a lot, you know, everybody here uh goes to sleep and you guys are still out there.

Yeah. Look, the strategy in a 24-hour race is you circul you circulate around for 22 hours and then you have the the race, you know, the last two hours. And the challenge that you have is that that doesn't always work out. There's a lot of folks that want to be racing and in multiclass racing um it is it's very challenging because you know we we're the middle class right you have the GTPs which is the hypercars you have us and LMP2 and then you have the GT cars and and there's a whole flow to the race and you have to get around traffic so it isn't necessarily the fastest outright sort of pace anyone has. It's really how fast can you get through traffic and what does your average look like. So the whole idea for us was to, you know, not have anything happen to the car to bring it, you know, the least amount of mistakes and incidents and then obviously turn one, you know, we go into it and bang, um, you know, we we get hit and, you know, there goes the strategy. So then it was like recovery mode and, um, and really just, you know, getting through all the different, uh, dynamics that we had to, the challenges that we had to, uh, fight through. And, um, you know, part of it is the night. you know, there was there was a big fog um part of the race where you had a long yellow. Um I actually got

six hours, right?

Six hours. Yeah. So now I I've been involved in the in the you know two of the longest uh yellow races I guess in history. One was Lama uh a couple years ago and now this one.

But um anyway, we got it done. But yeah, I was out for a couple hours at night and it's just a way different racetrack. All your references change, all the headlights behind you. Um, you have spotters, but they couldn't see because of the fog. I was actually out there in the in the fog before it was actually uh yellow flag, red flagged, not yellow, not red, yellow flagged for 6 hours.

And um it was just like crazy to go through cuz you couldn't even see the turn in front of you. You're just kind of looking for the headlights and you're counting like, okay, I normally break here and then I turn and you know, you just hope you hit your apexes. Can you talk about the process of working up to being able to race at this level for hours and hours and hours? I mean, plenty of people have done like a couple laps on a track, myself included, and it's hard to stay on the track for for five laps. Um, what what uh what was your uh career working up just to get into endurance and actually build up that muscle?

Yeah, so I I got into it a little bit later in life. Um, and uh, I like to say I'm a I'm a bit of an older pro than some of the younger pros that are out there, but um, you know, you have to look at um, how some of the the folks start. So, the way endurance racing works and different classes, you have different categories. I'm in the bronze category, you have bronze, silver, and uh, gold and platinum. And, you know, a lot of the young kids, I always say if you see a sk a skinny young guy, you know, u, and and there's, you know, plenty of females in the sport as well, but if you see a sk A a skinny young kid is probably a pro. And they look like the nicest kids. They look like Xbox kids. And I tell you what, when they put the helmet on, they will slice and dice you. So,

we did we did some we we were at the track not yesterday but a week before out at Willow Springs and uh there's this

kid who uh was a recent uh he he won the Super Trafo

last year and he's just like the nicest looking guy exactly like you described like scrawny like looks like incredibly humble quiet like super fun and then he uh he was my coach for the day and then we went out at the end of the day and I was like you're just like an absolute animal. Yeah. I don't know how it's like it's like dual personalities. Like they have their like off track, you know, just funloving and then they're out there and it's just like the most savage experience you can imagine.

Yeah. They won't give you hints. So, I mean, part to to get to your question, part of it is um you know, I I graduated up when I started almost 20 years ago in racing from sort of like, you know, the the club level and then kept going into different classes and ultimately into um IMSA and LMP2, which is, you know, probably the second highest level of professional racing. You have India in the US and then you have this um certainly from the US and F1 is worldwide. But at the end of the day, you know, you have to be prepared. You've got to do all your homework. You got to understand the data. You've got to practice. You got to put the time in. You have to be fit. I mean, I was in the car and if you you've seen the LMP2 cars, I mean, you could barely fit in the thing and I was in it for 3 hours.

Um, there's no real air conditioning. It's hot. It's, you know, it's just crazy uh what goes on. So, you have to have the right mental preparation and you have to have the right physical preparation as well. Uh, and then you got to like know how to drive. So, it's uh you know, and you've been you've been out there with some of those young young folks. I mean, they they can drive the wheels off it. So, I think having the right coaching and if you don't start when you're five, you're never going to be as fast as those kids, but you can get pretty close and um you know, you just got to have the right team around you to to to make sure that you're doing the right things.

Talk about Yeah. Continuing on that, talk about practice. Uh do you have the opportunity to go out on the weekends and spend three hours in the car to practice? like what does it take to actually build up that endurance?

Well, some of the tracks um you you know you you can practice that but it has to be sanctioned like like they had tests at Daytona,

right? But they you know they're very limited in time and plus you have other drivers.

So a lot of what I do is a simulator work which is actually pretty accurate.

Oh, sure.

So I can I can look at my laps, I can look at, you know, some pro laps and

um you know, you're only a little bit off here and there. um it adds up over a lap but you know you want to be as close as you can to the pro time and then really you know you got to train and and that makes it difficult I mean I'm always traveling for work and those sort of things but you know running and cycling um you know lifting weights and those sort of things just to to stay in shape and I remember the first time I got in this car I asked about like where's the second radio because if you have a radio failure like you want a second radio and the guy who runs the team stew he's funny guy he goes yeah that's too much weight so I'm talking about like a kilo and he's like, "Yeah, we're not putting a radio in, that's an extra like kilo." Like, that's the level they're at. So, you better be in shape because if you add more kilos to the car, it's just not going to perform as well.

That's amazing. Can you uh can you describe what makes racing so special for you? on a person on a personal level. I've never actually done, you know, proper racing, but being on the track is is uh the closest I feel like that I've ever gotten to what some people would describe a meditation as where like every thought is just disappeared from my brain and it's just like pure, you know, focus on this like sort of singular uh singular task which is just, you know, probably ADHD and it's it's hard for me to get that experience. But, uh, what what's so captivating about it to you other than other than, you know, going out and competing and winning?

Well, it's a good question and I think, um, you know, when you the pros, their job, they get paid to go there and race, right? That is their job. Um, I I don't, you know, make my living by by doing racing, but we certainly do a lot with Crowd Strike. We had all of our guests there. We had a CXO roundt. Um, so we do a lot of business there and we, you know, get to race. So, it's uh it's the best of both worlds. But from my perspective, I'm not thinking about an email. I'm not thinking about a text or a phone call or something, right? You're thinking about full focus in the car. And that's a bit of an escape for me, which helps me perform better on the track and off the track. And um like you said, you get in this zen-like state for 3 hours, I can assure you, you know, you're you're worried about the race and what's going on. Um and that helps me perform better in the car and outside the car as well.

Totally. Yeah. you start thinking about an email, you're spun out, spun out on the nose.

We we we had a question from the chat about uh caffeine or diet or sleep before any sort of uh performance uh decisions that you make uh when you're going into something like this.

Yeah, it's a good question. Um I don't eat a lot of car. I have a very low carb diet. So before a race like this, I have I have some different drinks that I use and then um different, you know, sort of meals where I'll increase the carbs a bit

just because you're out there and if you run out of gas, it's really problematic. So I I have a bit of a regimen with, you know, the food I eat plus the drinks that will help in uh electrolytes plus um you know, sort of just give you some fuel. And um you know it's one of those things you you you've got to be hydrated enough but you don't want to be you know over hydrated because you're going to be in the car for 3 hours.

Yeah.

You know you might have a problem in the car for 3 hours. Right. So it's all managing that getting in the right state getting enough sleep. I was actually in Davos. So I went from Davos to Daytona.

That's right. That's crazy.

You know like what time zone am I in? and you know trying to get the right amount of sleep you know before the race and then and then during the race because you're in the car then you're out and then you got to get back in the car. So it is a lot around diet preparation and sleep for sure.

Yeah. Yeah.

Uh what are you most excited about uh for the upcoming upcoming Formula 1 season?

Well, I'm excited about the car. I think so far um you know I I caught up with uh our Mercedes drivers for a bit and they they they like it. you know, obviously it's early days and, you know, testing's going on, but I think given the engine change, hopefully Mercedes is ahead of the pack and some of the challenges they had with uh, you know, last generation of cars um, just in handling characteristics. Um, we're hoping we're engineered out of it and we've got a competitive car, getting back to, you know, the competitive ways for so many years. So, I'm excited. I They certainly sound better. I mean, I got the videos from, you know, on track and they sound a lot better. I'd love to see uh you know proper V8 or V10 or something in the future normally aspirated, but you know, we'll see.

Incredible.

Let's hope for it.

Let's hit the gaunt for the whole Crowd Strike team.

Uh absolutely incredible, incredible stuff. We were uh we so proud watching from home. So, congratulations and uh excited for the rest of the season

and thanks for taking the time.

Thank you. And it is a team sport. So, everyone on the team side, APR to Proud Strike, uh great job. Thank you again.

Cheers.

Fantastic. Have a great rest of your day. We'll talk to you soon.

Cognition. They're the makers of Devon the AI software engineer. Crush your backlog with your personal AI engineering team. Uh did you see Veils DRI datadriven marketing? Veil is getting into the data driven marketing game.

This was an incredible

and they sent an email.

Yeah. For Steven's Pass. Steven's Pass emails you. They say it snowed zero in in the past 48 hours.

Wow. This is

skip. Honestly, maybe they're just honesty maxing.

Bullish for bullish.

Maybe they don't want people to show up and and be disappointed by by snow conditions.

Yeah, but then why do they say in the second one it's like who's up for a powder day adventure? Like the the subtext of this rough. Um yeah, very very silly. Uh you need to you need to pass all of your all of your uh generated this is clearly just uh like deterministic software like look up the number of inches fill in the blank send the email generate the image you need to pass all this through an LLM and say like does this sound good what do you mean you don't need an LM you could just do like if number equals zero

don't send the email

otherwise you could send

but this is but this is this is one of many edge cases I'm sure uh

I guess like one inch is also maybe bad But two inches, you could email,

right?

It's no two inch, I guess. Yeah. Uh so yeah, you could hardcode it, but there's probably a variety of edge cases that come up in these uh data driven marketing emails that could be reality checked with an LLM before they go out the door.

You could also talk about artificial snow when it's a when it's a zero, right?

Yeah, that's true, right? Because it's snowing, but we're making snow. We made x amount of

Yeah. And they probably have a base from previous snowfalls already. is probably in the multiple feet. So, fall back to