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Scott Tucker, A Year In Review: Northeast Grand Prix Level 5 Motorsports

By Brent Arends

Level 5 Motorsports

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Level 5 Motorsports’ Scott Tucker and his Level 5 Motorsports teammates recently began the final quarter of a racing year that has included numerous podium appearances, multiple car changes, incredible accomplishments and yet still room for improvement. Tucker, owner and driver for Level 5, has been a leader for the team despite the rookie status he maintained merely months ago. His tight, balanced driving has earned him top honors in the American Le Mans Series as Rookie of the Year and Champion Driver in 2010. His races often end with stints on the podium, and his career has only just begun.

Level 5 Motorsports

As Tucker, his co-drivers Christophe Bouchut and Luis Diaz and team manager David Stone prepare to close the calendar year with the all-important Petit Le Mans and the Ferrari International Finals, the stakes are high—the team has woven itself a reputation of excellence that is best understood by looking back at what has made 2011 a stunning year for Level 5 Motorsports.

The third round of the American Le Mans Series had Level 5 Motorsports slated to appear at Lime Rock Park for the Northeast Grand Prix, but the team withdrew its two-car entry a month before the race took place. With owner-driver Scott Tucker’s hectic schedule—racing in three series and what’s more, dominating them—it wouldn’t be out of the question to assume the withdraw was due to driver burnout; halfway through the year, couldn’t the team use a break? Not quite; put simply, the Level 5 Motorsports team all but compulsively seeks opportunities to get on the podium. Less than a month earlier, Tucker and his teammates took the win at the 24 Hours of Le Mans after its debut in the race and first year in the LMP2 class. With a record that better fits the question, “What races haven’t you won?” at that point in the year, Tucker and his team were making podium finishes a habit.

Level 5 Motorsports

The decision to pull out of the Northeast Grand Prix was, like Level 5’s driving, calculated and strategic. In fact, it was not a total shock, considering the circumstances. The Level 5 entries, two Lola-Hondas, would have been the only LMP2 cars in its class. At the time the decision was made, the team was more focused on preparing for the Six Hours of Imola, a race in Italy that would end just six days before the Lime Rock Park contest.

On top of the especially demanding back-to-back races, the team had lost one of its Lola B 11/80 Hondas the month before, in the Spa-Francorchamps race in Belgium. A high-speed crash forced the team to use its second Lola Honda coupe for the 24 Hours of Le Mans, which had been intended for use in the entire American Le Mans series. After all the switch-ups, the team was left with only one Lola Honda for use in the U.S. circuit.

Additionally, recent rules changes allowed an expansion of the fuel restrictor in LMP2 cars, which allowed the cars increased speed, a tweak that made Tucker decide to drive the Lola Honda Spyder for Le Mans, as its coupes were built to 2010 standards. At this point, Tucker was short on cars and essentially had to be three places at once; logistically, there just wasn’t enough time to ship the Spyder back to the U.S. and prepare it to race in time for Lime Rock. “We want to get as many points as we possibly can,” Tucker said. The ILMC competition is stiffer, and placing at that race could mean better placement overall in the series based on points. Level 5 would also find more LMP2 competitors overseas. With Level 5’s withdrawal, the Lime Rock race had no LMP2 entries, though more were expected in time for the Petit Le Mans.

The Level 5 team would remain out of the country after eliminating Lime Rock from its schedule, with the next showing at Bowmanville, Ontario’s Mosports International Raceway.

Brent Arends has been keeping a close eye on Scott Tucker, owner and driver, of Level 5 Motorsports throughout the past year. To get more information about Tucker, check out http://www.motorsport.com/#/all/search/?q=scott%252520tucker

 

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Posted on October 22, 2011 by , Reply

Petit Le Mans Will Be The Anniversary Of Scott Tucker’s Professional Debut

By Kaitlyn Tillman

The pinnacle of the 2011 American Le Mans series takes place on Oct. 1 with the 14th annual Petit Le Mans at Road Atlanta. For Scott Tucker, driver and owner for Level 5 Motorsports, the race marks the beginning of his sixth year of professional racing. In 2006, he made his professional debut at Petit Le Mans, and from there, his career took off.

“There are not many Americans that get to race there, first and foremost, so I feel very privileged to be among that group,” he said. “This year, we’re the only American prototype team there. We feel very fortunate we were selected to race there.”

The Petit Le Mans race is an endurance race modeled after the 24 Hours of Le Mans, which is its equivalent for the Intercontinental Le Mans Cup series. Road Atlanta owner Don Panoz founded it, and the first iteration ran on Oct. 10, 1998—and Panoz must have had a thing for tens, because the race covers a maximum of 1,000 miles or a minimum of 10 hours, whichever comes first. Class winners of Petit Le Mans automatically qualify for the following year’s 24 Hours of Le Mans.

Tucker has increasingly focused on the American Le Mans Series as his career has continued. After he founded Level 5 Motorsports in 2008, his main actions have included drafting talented veterans known for incredible precision even at maximum speeds. This year’s Petit Le Mans has unofficially been the holy grail in Tucker’s eyes: Mid-season, he announced the switch from the team’s Nos. 55 and 95 Microsoft Office-sponsored LMP2 cars to a brand new, right-off-the-line HPD ARX-01g chassis, the result of a partnership between Honda Performance Development and Wirth Research. Tucker pushed hard to get the car finished as quickly as possible, of course without sacrificing quality. While making the transition between cars, Tucker even withdrew from ALMS races in Lime Rock Park and a huge one at Silverstone in Great Britain, choosing instead to focus on the all-important Petit ahead.

Now, Tucker has added a fourth elite driver to his already well-stacked team. Marino Franchitti will join the team and its new car—which Tucker marks as best in its class—for the 2011 race at Road Atlanta. Franchitti has extensive experience with the HPD prototype family, having participated in the first year of development of the ARX-01a with Andretti Green Racing before spending some LMP2 time with Dyson Racing. The addition of Franchitti to the lineup is an obvious sign that Tucker is going for the win at Petit Le Mans, though that’s never not the case when Tucker enters a race track. He is a three-time national driving champion. Level 5 Motorsports’ performance in 2010 during its debut year in the American Le Mans Series sent them to the top of the podium and bumped them into the LMP2 category.

Tucker has made giant strides since his Petit Le Mans professional debut in 2006, and this year he’s possibly the most prepared he’s ever been. A victory would mean another addition to Tucker’s unbelievable record in the past five years, and moving to the LMP1 category would mean that Tucker has made it to the top class in the sport he seemingly was born to compete in. Whatever the results end up meaning for Level 5 Motorsports, the work they’ve already put in this year make it clear that the team is one of the most prolific, aggressive racing organizations in the world.

Kaitlyn Tillman has been keeping a close eye on Scott Tucker, owner and driver, of Level 5 Motorsports throughout the past year to keep you posted about the success of the dream team. To get more information about Tucker, check out http://www.planetlemans.com/?s=scott+tucker

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Posted on October 17, 2011 by , Reply