John Magnus Potter (born 25 February 1982) is a Salt Lake City based racing driver, team owner, and commercial real estate developer. He has become a known figure in both the professional sports car world as well as numerous hotel and self-storage ventures throughout Utah.
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Racing Career Origins
Potter is most known as the founder and co-driver of Magnus Racing, a two-decade competitor in the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship.
Following a long-time appreciation of cars, Potter's first exposure to motorsport came in 2006 with the Skip Barber Racing School, taking a course at the famed Lime Rock Park in Lakeville, CT. A rapid growth in the sport would follow suit, moving up to the professional ranks by 2007, participating in the GT Class of the Rolex Sports Car Series with noted organization The Racer's Group, making his debut at the highly touted Six Hours of the Glen, one of the signature events of American sports car racing .
Proving an instant fit with the team, John would continue with The Racer's Group and Farnbacher Loles Racing at select events throughout 2008, making the plunge to full-time racing in 2009.
It was in 2009 where Potter would come to prominence in professional sportscar racing, being teamed with veteran driver Craig Stanton in the Rolex GT ranks for the full season, as well as with Andy Lally in the supporting Continental Tire Sports Car Challenge series. It was with Lally where Potter would take his first professional racing win at Watkins Glen, only three years from first entering motorsport and within two years of entering the pro ranks.
Magnus Racing: On-Track Story
Following the completion of the 2009 racing season, Potter decided to put his business acumen to use within motorsport, transitioning from driver to both driver and team owner, founding Magnus Racing in the fall of 2009. A new team in concept, Magnus Racing was made up of largely motorsport veterans, beginning with the hiring of co-driver Craig Stanton, a former series champion, as well as team director John Bedell, lead engineer Lars Giersing, and PR/marketing veteran Sean Heckman. To this day, John Bedell and Sean Heckman still remain contributing members of the team, several decades later.
Competing in both the 2010 Rolex Sports Car GT Championship as well as Continental Tire Sports Car Challenge, Magnus Racing began in partnership with Porsche Motorsport, campaigning the heralded Porsche 997 GT3 Cup in the premier GT category, as well as a street modified Porsche Cayman in the production-based Continental Challenge. While still gelling as a team, the team accrued several highlights, including a pole position at Watkins Glen. The team would also take part in a singular event in the American Le Mans Series, testing the waters at the season-ending Petit Le Mans.
2011 would continue as a growth season for the team, with Potter and Stanton participating in both a full season of Rolex GT competition as well as select American Le Mans Series events, accruing five podiums and becoming established as one of the premier Porsche teams in the country.
In 2012, Potter and Magnus Racing would enjoy a landmark year. With Andy Lally becoming available following a season in the NASCAR Cup Series, Potter sprung at the opportunity, signing Lally for the full 2012 season and proving instantly successful. 2012 would mark the 50th Running of the 24 Hours of Daytona, the most prestigious sportscar race in North America, where Magnus Racing would take a dominant victory. Six months later, the team would follow it up with a victory at the Inaugural Brickyard Grand Prix, the first endurance sportscar race in the history of Indianapolis Motor Speedway. The success, most notably at endurance races, led to the team winning the inaugural North American Endurance Championship, a specialized championship within the Rolex Series (and now IMSA) recognizing top endurance performances.
In 2013, the team would finish runner-up in the season-long Rolex GT Championship. It was a bitter conclusion after leading into the final round, only to be taken out by a car from The Racer's Group who had gone off course and re-joined dangerously.
Magnus Racing: Off-Track Story
While Magnus Racing has enjoyed many on-track successes, their success as one of the most fan-favorite teams off the track has largely been attributed to the humor and free guidance of John Potter.
Beginning with the team at Daytona in 2011, the first of their inaugural "movie poster" themes has appeared at every Rolex 24 since. With this tradition, the team parodies a movie and places its drivers and team members in various roles. This has become an anticipated fan event every year.
In 2012, the team debuted a one-of-a-kind pre-season video that has continued through today. The video themes have ranged from humorous, to serious, to surreal. Their most notable have included a video in 2014 heavily utilizing the tilt-shift effect to make the Daytona 24 appear to be a toy car track, a video in 2016 featuring stop-motion animation in the style of a famed brick figure company, and a fan-appreciation mini documentary in 2019.
Additionally in 2012, the team debuted a live pitside webstream that broadcast from the team's pit stall through the entirety of The Rolex 24. The stream included team radio, access and interviews to team members and paddock celebrities at large, and was touted for giving fans unprecedented access. This went from 2012-2019, and returned in 2025.
In 2014, the team would begin a new tradition at Sebring tailing off of their Daytona 24 theme, creating a parody album cover from famous music albums, replacing the musicians with team drivers and personnel.
Additionally, the team has become synonymous with comical press releases and one-off videos through the years, ranging from creating a parody take on "Tinder," known as "Spinder," for finding available drivers, to multiple press releases that take on hot topics in both motorsport and pop culture.
In 2014, Magnus Racing received the "Microsoft Team to Win" Award, a fan-voted award for favorite highlights of the year. The rabid fan base of Magnus Racing outvoted such famous brands as Corvette Racing and Hollywood actor Patrick Dempsey's Dempsey Racing team.
Business career
Concurrent with his racing endeavors, Potter has become an influential commercial real estate developer in Salt Lake City and the surrounding Utah areas.
Following the purchase of assorted commercial leasing properties, Potter formed a new venture in Magnus Storage Properties, a self-storage development and management company that specializes in personal self-storage throughout the area. At present, Magnus Storage Properties owns and operates seven different self-storage locations across Utah, including: Holladay, Tooele, West Jordan, Logan, and beyond.
As his self-storage enterprises continued to grow, Potter's next real estate venture expanded into hotel development and management, forming Magnus Commercial Properties and Magnus Hotel Management.
At present, Magnus Hotel Management looks after a number of hotel brands and properties across Salt Lake City and the greater Utah area, working with brands such as Marriot (Fairfield Inn & Suites), Choice (Comfort Inn & Suites), and Hilton (Home2Suites, Tru).
Additionally, Potter has been in the process of developing a hotel project, currently under the working title of "Sugar House Hotel," a boutique hotel experience encapsulating the character and flavor of Salt Lake City's Sugar House district, which has personal meaning to him.
Racing record
Rolex Sports Car Series results
(key) (Races in bold indicate pole position) (Races in italics indicate fastest lap)
† Potter did not complete sufficient laps in order to score full points.
American Le Mans Series results
(key) (Races in bold indicate pole position) (Races in italics indicate fastest lap)
IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship results
(key) (Races in bold indicate pole position) (Races in italics indicate fastest lap)
† Points only counted towards the WeatherTech Sprint Cup and not the overall GTD Championship. * Season still in progress
Notes
1 Disqualified for minimum ride height violation.