IMSA Wire: Who Are These Guys? Introducing RAFA Racing

RAFA Racing Off to Fast 2025 Start in Multiple IMSA Series
June 5, 2025By Tony DiZinnoIMSA Wire Service

DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. – Only one team heads to this weekend’s IMSA trip to the venerable Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course with entries in each of the three IMSA series competing at the historic, 2.258-mile road course halfway between Columbus and Cleveland: RAFA Racing Team.
The team has made a quick and successful imprint across the IMSA Michelin Pilot Challenge, IMSA VP Racing SportsCar Challenge, Lamborghini Super Trofeo North America and Whelen Mazda MX-5 Cup presented by Michelin in the first half of the 2025 calendar. All except Lamborghini Super Trofeo are present at Mid-Ohio this weekend, so RAFA Racing Team entries will feature across the other three series. Its MX-5 program is run in partnership with McCumbee McAleer Racing, a longtime IMSA entrant.
Quite who RAFA Racing is – the RAFA here stands for “Race As Family Always” – feels worth exploring since they’ve been on a lot of podiums to start the year.
Rafael Martinez founded the team in partnership with Kevin Conway’s Smooge Racing, which had fielded Toyota GR Supra GT4 entries in Michelin Pilot Challenge in recent seasons. Conway also had extensive Lamborghini Super Trofeo experience over the years dating to that series’ inception in North America in 2013.
For Martinez, the journey has been a personal one and central to the team’s identity.
“The love of cars has always been a thing for me,” he said. “My mom and dad always talked about how the only thing I played with as a kid was cars. But being born in El Salvador and coming from a modest home, car racing or owning fancy cars was never really in the cards for us.”
After moving to the U.S. at 12, Martinez says racing never felt like something truly accessible. That feeling was validated later in his life when he started getting involved and quickly realized just how expensive the sport was.
“I had no idea what the cost of racing was,” he said. “I started writing my own checks and seeing how quickly the tires burnt out, and the costs started to accumulate. I started building what is now our mission – helping drivers who otherwise wouldn’t have an opportunity.”

Two of those drivers that have made an immediate first impression in VP Racing Challenge have been Kiko Porto and Ian Porter, who combined have won the first four races in the Grand Sport X (GSX) class with Porter adding three Bronze Cup wins. They rank first and second in points. The series resumes this weekend with a pair of 45-minute races, Races 5 and 6 of the 12-race series, with RAFA also fielding a Le Mans Prototype 3 (P3) entry for Matthew Dicken.
A past USF2000 series champion and USF Pro 2000 runner-up, Porto appeared like many young talents on the open-wheel track: working towards IndyCar but also needing to procure the budget to do so. When a sponsor withdrew just weeks before the 2024 Indy NXT season, Porto pivoted.
“Rather than wait on the sidelines, I drove to Daytona for the Rolex 24 to network and introduce myself,” said Porto, who drives the No. 8 Toyota GR Supra GT4 EVO2. “I met Kevin Conway and then spent the weekend with him at a race in Indy. By Sunday, I was meeting with the boss of Toyota Racing Development.”
“It’s got a short wheelbase and a strong front end,” he said of the Supra, noting the car suits his driving style. “I’ve always liked cars with a bit of oversteer, and this one fits my style. But it’s sensitive. You need to be smooth and precise, especially with the throttle.”

The closely named Porter has had a far different upbringing: massive gaming success before adding racing to his résumé. After years as a professional Call of Duty player, Porter made the leap into sim racing—and eventually real-world racing.
“The Supra is phenomenal,” said Porter, who drives the team’s No. 68 Supra. “It’s the first front-engine car I’ve ever driven on track. I thought it would be a big learning curve, and it was at first—especially at Daytona. But by the time we got to COTA (Circuit of The Americas), which I knew well, everything clicked.”
Porter said the mental side of competition feels familiar, even if the tools are different.
“It’s kind of like being back in Call of Duty again. There’s that pressure in the air—competition, expectations. That’s when I’m at my best,” he said.
RAFA Racing team boss Conway has had both driving and managerial experience, and that’s paid dividends as the team has embarked on its multi-series, multi-manufacturer, multi-state logistical program thus far. He’s shared the team’s No. 12 Toyota GR Supra GT4 EVO2 on occasion in Michelin Pilot Challenge, including as third driver this weekend with Martinez and music producer Jim Jonsin, another series veteran.
“It’s been an incredible start to the year,” Conway said. “It has certainly surpassed our expectations. Our goal is always to win races and run up front. This is the first year with the EVO2 variant of the Supra. Our engineering team has really been able to understand the nuances of the EVO2 package. There’s still a lot that translates. We can help our drivers develop even quicker with our knowledge of this platform.”

Heading into Mid-Ohio this weekend, the team is keen on continuing its success across the multiple series.
Porter adds Podium 1 to his entry, a large worldwide sim racing distributor. Meanwhile Porto looks to recapture his winning form after a mechanical issue took him out of contention at the last round at COTA, while also continuing to push his potential for the future. He’s also quickly serving as a mentor for Porter.
“VP is a steppingstone,” Porto said. “My goal is to grow with Toyota—to get to GT3 and eventually maybe Hypercar. Every session I treat as a chance to learn, push myself, and make mistakes now so I’m better when that next step comes.
“My teammate Ian is relatively new to motorsports, but he’s been at the top of gaming for years. His mindset, his focus, his work ethic—it’s elite. He’s constantly pushing himself and learning. That’s inspiring for me. He’s showing that with the right approach, you can catch up quickly in racing too.
“For me, leading the championship (points) is great, but I’m always thinking about the next level. If I can keep learning, keep pushing, and stay in this environment, I know I can be ready for the big stage when the opportunity comes.”