Third-Place Pro Podium for Johnson in the No. 71 DSC Sport/Erin Levitas Foundation Lamborghini Huracán and P4 Am-Class Finish for Wesley Slimp and Tyler Hoffman in No. 9 HNTB Companies Lamborghini Huracán Highlight Competitive TPC Racing Performance at VIR
DANVILLE, Virginia (August 29, 2022) – TPC Racing and team driver Billy Johnson scored their first Pro-class podium finish of the IMSA Lamborghini Super Trofeo season Sunday at VIRginia International Raceway (VIR) with a third-place showing in the No. 71 DSC Sport/Erin Levitas Foundation Lamborghini Huracán Super Trofeo EVO2 in the final North American race of the season.
Johnson started from the outside front row, led the 50-minute sprint twice and overcame a late-race car issue to secure the long overdue Pro-class and overall podium finish. Johnson took the lead for the second time in the race with a perfectly timed restart just past the halfway point but also had to deal with the mandatory additional three seconds single-driver Pro-class entries must spend in the pits during stops. He battled in the led pack until the checkered flag and crossed the line for the No. 71’s best finish of the year after defending the final podium position to the finish.
Saturday’s TPC Racing highlight was a fourth-place Am-class finish by co-drivers Wesley Slimp and Tyler Hoffman in the No. 9 HNTB Companies Lamborghini Huracán Super Trofeo EVO2. The No. 9 was in a position to improve on that result with a podium finish in Sunday’s final race but Slimp unfortunately slowed and retired the HNTB Lamborghini on course with a driveline issue early in his race-ending stint.
The VIR doubleheader brought the North American portion of the IMSA Super Trofeo season to a close. TPC Racing and its pair of Lamborghini teams now shift their Super Trofeo focus to preparing for the season-ending event in Portimão in Southern Portugal, November 3 – 6, where both the Super Trofeo North America final rounds and the 2022 Grand Finals will be held.
Next up for TPC Racing is this Labor Day Weekend’s Porsche Sports Car Together Fest event at Indianapolis Motors Speedway (IMSA) where the team fields an expanded and season-high entry of five cars in the weekend’s Porsche Sprint Challenge North America by Yokohama doubleheader. A press release on the five entries will be issued later this week.
Harris Levitas, TPC Racing Director of Race Operations: “I am extremely proud of the whole TPC Racing team. Everybody has done a fantastic job all year long. They guys just never say no. They never stop. I am proud of the team and all the drivers as well. We have had a lot to work on and learn all season long with the Lamborghini Super Trofeo car. It is our first year running with a Pro-class car and it has been a lot of work, but Billy drove amazing as always. Saturday we finished in P5 but on Sunday we were finally able to get a podium finish in the Pro class, which is a first for TPC Racing. We ended up having a small issue with the car at the end but Billy Johnson still had an amazing drive. The issues just kept him from getting the win that he truly deserves, but his lap times were there all weekend. Wesley and Tyler in the No. 9 car did an amazing job to and were looking at a podium Sunday to go with Saturday’s fourth-place finish but a mechanical issue took them out. We will get both cars all sorted out and ready to go for the North American and Grand Finals in Portugal. It’s great to end the North American season with at least one podium for each of the three teams we have fielded this year in three different classes. It really comes down to the hard work that the TPC Racing crew puts in, at the track until the early hours of the morning, or back at the shop doing the same thing. It’s really great to have podium success with all three cars this year and a nice way to round out the races in the U.S.”
Billy Johnson, Driver – No. 71 DSC Sport/Erin Levitas Foundation Lamborghini Huracán Super Trofeo EVO2: “It’s great to finally get a podium for the No. 71 TPC Racing Lamborghini. We have just been working so hard this year, have had so many hurdles thrown at us and the guys at the shop have just been busting their butts going through the whole chassis. They have addressed a lot of underlying issues, we came to the race this weekend and the car was really fast, but those issues reared their ugly head again. The guys pulled nearly an all-nighter getting the car repaired once again for the race. We qualified second and led in Sunday’s race but unfortunately the problems that keep holding us back arose again. But I had an awesome restart call from Harris to get us into the lead and give us a big gap to stay close after the pit stop. I am just really proud of everybody for all of the hard work, at the shop and at the track where the guys are working non-stop. Hopefully we will get all of these things solidified so they don’t hold us back and we can shoot for the top step in Portugal. I am really looking forward to being back in Europe, particularly with the TPC Racing guys.”
Wesley Slimp, Driver – No. 9 HNTB Companies Lamborghini Huracán Super Trofeo EVO2: “I like how I approached this track in adapting the way I drive. Continuing to chip away is what I can take out of this weekend. I don’t think the results necessarily reflect the work that we are putting in at all, but we will be there. Everything just has to happen at the right time and all at once. My comfort level going wheel-to-wheel with some really aggressive drivers with all sorts of other stuff going on out on track has grown and been monumental for my driving.”
Tyler Hoffman, Driver – No. 9 HNTB Companies Lamborghini Huracán Super Trofeo EVO2: “It was a great weekend. The TPC boys busted their ass all weekend to give us the best car they could. We had some very unique mechanical issues, but the guys never quit, never complained, kept their heads down and got it done. To end with a DNF is not what we wanted, but all things considered, we had a lot of fun. It was good to see the fans, see some friends and Wesley did a great job all weekend.”
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.
