Billy Johnson Fourth in Pro Class, Wesley Slimp and Tyler Hoffman Top 10 in Deep Am Class In Strong Day for TPC Racing’s Program
WATKINS GLEN, New York (June 24, 2022) – TPC Racing’s Scott Schmidt drove his No. 38 DSC Sport/Erin Levitas Foundation Lamborghini Huracan Super Trofeo EVO2 to his first Lamborghini Super Trofeo win on Friday at Watkins Glen, earning the LB Cup class victory.
The win was the first career professional victory for Schmidt and comes in just his second solo effort in the Lamborghini Super Trofeo’s LB Cup class.
“To have a first-place win in LB Cup as a solo driver after the three years that we’ve collectively worked with TPC Racing and my driver coach Trevor Andrusko is absolutely phenomenal,” Schmidt said. “With the coaching, the setup, the car and the professionalism, it’s been so much hard work, and it all came to fruition today.”
Schmidt started second and held that position through most of the 50-minute race, pulling away from third and closing the gap to the leader following the mandatory pit stop during the race. With five laps remaining, Schmidt’s gap to the leader began to shrink. As far back as five seconds, Schmidt was on the bumper of the lead car with one lap to go in the race.
By that time, word had come down that the lead car would be penalized 1.5 seconds post-race for shorting the mandatory pit stop window. While Schmidt made one attempt at a pass on the final lap, he finished the race by following the leader across the finish line and was awarded the win.
“Trevor called in and said ‘you need to get in there within a second and a half for that penalty,’” Schmidt said. “I could see him up ahead and put the hammer down and started gaining. I saw where he was slower and started picking up and got on his bumper and went for a pass down in seven. I slid a little bit and recovered on the last lap. I almost got the pass for a pure first place win, but just got up on his bumper and came across the line.”
Schmidt’s win was just the brightest moment in a strong day for TPC Racing’s three-car effort. Billy Johnson moved the No. 71 DSC Sport/Erin Levitas Foundation Lamborghini Huracan to fourth place in the Pro class and overall on the final lap of the race. Wesley Slimp and Tyler Hoffman co-drove the No. 9 HNTB Companies Lamborghini Huracan to a top 10 finish in the AM class, the largest class in the field.
“Our TPC Racing team has had incredibly long days working on the cars to put them all into competitive trim after a few technical rules were changed for the Watkins Glen circuit,” Harris Levitas, TPC Racing Director of Race Operations said. “I am incredibly proud of our team for the hard work and effort each team member has put in to have the cars run up front and with Scott today that hard work really showed. Scott has put in so much work between races and doing testing as well, which has really paid off. This is the most competitive Scott has ever run and I am beyond proud of him. this is our second win of the 022 season in LB Cup and I see many more successful runs in Scott’s future racing in the LB Cup class.
TPC Racing and the rest of the Lamborghini Super Trofeo field will be back in action for a second 50-minute race on Saturday at Watkins Glen, with the green flag at 12:10 p.m. ET. Johnson will start fifth in the Pro class and eighth overall, with Hoffman and Slimp starting 10th in the Am class. Schmidt will make a run at another win, starting third in LB Cup.
“We know the track and we know how to succeed,” Schmidt said. “We’re going to race hard and get back on the podium and do everything we can for a second win.”
Saturday’s race can be seen live on IMSA.com.
About TPC Racing: TPC Racing is the Mid-Atlantic’s premier maintenance, service, tuning and modification center dedicated solely to Porsche sportscars. TPC Racing specializes in R&D and sales of high-performance modifications for Porsche sports cars and race cars, offering a wide range of vehicle upgrades. Best known for a line of forced induction solutions for the Porsche 911, Cayman and Boxster, a long-time focus on only one make, Porsche, has enabled TPC Racing to become experts in Porsche service, tuning, and racing. In 2000, TPC Racing began entering races under its own banner, scoring an SGS-class Championship in 2004 in the Grand-American Rolex Series and was a class winner in the 2006 Rolex 24 At Daytona, and captured the 2013 and 2016 IMSA Porsche GT3 Cup Challenge USA Gold Cup Championships. More information can be found at www.TPCRacing.com.
Congratulations sir! You deserve for the hard work!